Audrey turned and looked at her mother.
"Mummy, do you know how I always feel whenever Anna smiles at me and says I AM FINE?" Audrey asked, looking at her mother eyeball to eyeball.
"I always feel like my heart is being ripped into tiny pieces and do you know why I always feel this way?" Audrey said a painful smile appeared on her face.
"It's because I know very well that she was nowhere close to being fine. I was always in pain when I saw her in pain but unfortunately, I was useless and helpless and this was because I was a child but guess what, Mummy…," Audrey smiled and turned her back on her mother.
"I am not gonna just sit and watch anyone bully my best friend and this is because the era of being a helpless child is over…,"
"Do you think things are that easy Audrey?" Mrs Lopez sneered.
"Hell no! And you are gonna realize this very soon," Mrs Lopez said. She left where she stood and walked to the window.
She stood and stared outside.
"I know you might say you had no obligations to take care of her since she wasn't your child but Mummy, one needs no blood ties to take care of a child…,"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"You said these because it is very easy for you to say these words but Audrey let me tell you something," Mrs Lopez diverted her gaze to her daughter's face.
"The world is not as simple and safe as you think. They are those who call the shots for everything that happens. You dared not go against them if you want to keep your life intact…,"
"And who are these people who call the shots that none dares to go against them?" Audrey asked sternly.
"You don't have to know it now but I wish that one day you will get to realise that everything your father and I did was for your safety and that of our family," Mrs Lopez said seriously.
She walked back to where she had dropped her handbag and took out a brown envelope and dropped it on the centre table.
"The money in there is enough to last you for a long time. Make sure to return home because your Dad and I are waiting to receive our only child back home," Mrs Lopez said.
She took a long lingering gaze at Audrey before she turned and left the room in the same manner she came.
After her mother had left Audrey walked back to the couch and sat down.
"No matter what anyone or society says, I will never give up on my best friend. We grew up together and did everything together, society or others can never get to define our relationship and this is because I believe this is how best friends are supposed to be," Audrey said with a clenched fist.
After the conversation she and her mother had, Audrey didn't feel too good so she decided to take a stroll to clear her head.
She was coming out of the building when she sighted Chris from outside.
Her whole countenance changed the instant she set eyes on him.
"I thought the words I told you had sunk into your brain, that is why you stopped following us so why have you started again?" Audrey, now obstructing Chris' path, asked angrily.
"Are you not tired of seeing my angry side or do you think my words weren't harsh enough…,"
"You don't own this place so why do you think I am following you?" Chris replied in the exact tone she used on him.
"Besides, you are not that important to me or the King so why would I bother to follow you…,"
"You…," Audrey pointed her index finger at his face, not able to come up with the proper words to scold him.
"You can act as proud as you want right now but let me tell you something," Audrey said after about a minute of silence.
"The day I see you following Anna or talking to her about the King is the same day we will totally fall out with each other and do you know why…," Audrey said while looking into his eyes.
"Because I won't just talk that day but we are gonna fight and not merely fighting but we are gonna battle with each other to the point that people would not resist asking the reason why we are fighting".
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Why do you hate the King and me so much?" Chris held her hand to stop her from walking away.
"Do you even need to ask that question?" Audrey snapped, instantly flinging his hand away.
"If you are still angry about what happened on the night that Miss Joanna went missing, isn't she back now so…,"
"What does her return have to do with what you and that wicked King of yours did? Did her return change how the two of you behaved that day?" Audrey asked harshly.
"You know you are just being unfair by hating the King for what happened that day…,"
"Point of correction, it's not just the King that I hate but I hate everyone who had a hand in her death that night," Audrey corrected fiercely.
"Also, let me tell you that I am the type to hold grudges for a long time so don't even expect me to be reasonable because I won't," Audrey stomped away not allowing Chris to speak further.
Chris stared at her back until she was no longer in sight.
"I really want to tell her that everything she thinks about His Majesty is wrong but what can I do when the King has ordered us not to disclose anything to her?" Chris muttered.
He was lost in thoughts as he stared into space.
"This is no time to pity the King because I would be the one pitying myself if I don't get the task he gave me completed in the allotted time," Chris muttered as he walked into the building Audrey came out from.