Chapter - 6 | Douche Bag

I was home early as Mili came back from her work earlier. So, Noah was not alone.

We both didn't speak about the near-kiss experience. We just hung out like the old times, talking and watching movies. I told him about my mom receiving a gift from an unknown person supposedly in love with her.

Noah asked me not to judge my mother and to have an open mind to accept whatever she had to say. I would never judge my mother. If she liked the guy, I would advise her to divorce my dad and move on with her life.

I was deep in my thoughts when I stumbled against someone and Trixie let out a displeased growl beside me. A strong pair of hands steadied my clumsy being and I sighed in gratitude.

However, my gratitude didn't last. When I looked up to thank my savior, words got stuck in my throat.

Guess who it is?

It was none other than the great Irwin Pierce, elite Douche Bag of the decade.

"Thanks," I mumbled in a clipped tone and tried to walk past him when he stopped me.

"Nice to meet you again, Sophia," he purred in a husky voice which made me shiver in disgust.

"Can't say the same," I quirked my eyebrows and met his gaze.

"Still feisty, I see. So, I was wondering if you would be willing to be my date for the party this Saturday." He asked with fake politeness and I felt my blood boiling.

The audacity of that fool! What was he doing here anyway? I vaguely remembered seeing my dad's car parked outside. So, he was home early.

"Why? You ran out of stock?" I shot a sarcastic reply towards him and walked away with a scowl on my face.

I can't bear to stand with that guy in the same room for over five seconds and he got the guts to ask me out. In his dreams, I huffed in anger. Instead of going to my room like I planned earlier, I went out to the beach with a Frisbee, much to Trixie's delight.

Playing with her always seemed to work and take my mind out of the things I didn't want to think about. Thinking about Irwin, only took me back to the night when I found him on my bed drilling a wasted brunette.

So much for my virgin eyes right? I kicked them both out of the room. I still remembered how confident he carried himself out even when he was naked. Eww...

No matter how hard I tried, that night came popping out of nowhere whenever I saw him. That reminded me of the deed he did on my bed and though, I changed it, I still felt disgusted.

An hour later, I was exhausted and Trixie was busy with Mr. Crab once I again. I plopped down on the sand, not bothering about my clothes and stared at the sky, thinking about my future.

I had no big dreams or whatever. Seriously? I never planned my future. I went wherever my life took me. The moment my dad forced me to pursue business management, I knew that I would be involved in his company.

What was the point of dreaming when you may not pursue your dreams? At the moment, after so much of thought, I had only one wish. At least, I get to choose my boyfriend, which I kind of already had. I hoped it worked out with Noah.

I mean he is the only guy who knows me like I know my back of the hand. We get along well and I believed that he will never hurt me like dad hurting mom every day.

"Sweetie!"

"Huh! Oh, mom, you're back."

"Yeah, honey. I got your message and when I couldn't find you in your room, I knew you would be here," she said, placing the tray she carried on the sand. Smell of fresh lavender tea and biscuits wafted through my nostrils. Mom always said lavender calmed the nerves.

Trixie abandoned her crab and raced towards mom for her evening pampering. Mom engulfed her in a hug as a bright smile spread across her lips. The only time mom smiled a real smile was when she was with Trixie.

"Mom, why don't you laugh all the time?" I asked and watched as her smile dropped and the familiar sadness crept onto her face. She laughs, only it never came from the depth of her heart.

"Mom..."

"You've grown up a lot," she commented as she sat down beside me before feeding a cookie she brought along to Trixie. "You are the only happiness in my life, Sophie."

"I know, mom. But, I can't see you wither like this. The life you are living now is not a life at all. When will you accept this?" I asked helplessly as she took my hand in hers, rubbing them gently.

"Speaking of the past is not easy. If given a chance, I would go back and change the choices I've made, except you."

"I won't judge you, mom. Please... speak to me. Seeing you sad makes me sad. Do you think dad has an affair, is that why you both are always fighting?"

She gave me a surprised look, but shook her head no. "Your dad can never cheat on me," she said and I scoffed.

"Yeah, and unicorns poop rainbows."

Mom let out a loud chuckle. "Where did you hear that?"

"Don't know. I read somewhere, I guess," I answered, loving the smile on her face.

"It's true, sweetie. You see, it is one of the reasons we got married. He- you know, he met with an accident when I was pregnant with you. He was injured badly and was told by the doctors that he can never bear children."

"Whoa! That's-"

"If you want to listen to my story then keep quiet," she chastised and I shut my mouth. That was definitely not something, I was prepared to hear, trust me.

"I, your dad and Nolan went to the same school. Your dad used to be the popular rich boy in school and me, the introvert girl with good grades. Nolan was my best friend," she paused taking a breath and looked at the ocean.

A distant look settled on her face as she recounted her past. "Nolan was in love with me and I was oblivious to his affection. One day, I bumped into your dad in the corridor. I should say that your dad was the most handsome man I've ever set my eyes on and my heart fluttered at his touch."

I couldn't help feel bad for this Nolan guy. How would Noah feel if I married someone else?

"After a few days, he started speaking to me and I was on cloud nine that he was paying attention to me. It went on like this for a month before he asked me out."

"Nolan didn't like Jaxon and warned me several times not to go on a date. He said that Jaxon only wanted to get in my pants. But, as a teenager, I was smitten by Jaxon's charms and I thought Nolan was just jealous."

I didn't like where this was going. I could already say it didn't go well and, several questions popped into my mind.

"I went for the date anyway. It was perfect in every way. Jaxon didn't attempt to touch me in an inappropriate manner which proved Nolan's claim wrong. So, I continued to go out with Jaxon. We soon became a couple and one day, he took me to a party," her voice cracked a bit and I tensed.

"That was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. I went to that party in spite of Nolan's warning. We were having a good time until I started feeling dizzy. My head spun and I felt someone supporting my body."

"Mom..." I could only whisper as my heart raced.

"I don't remember what happened that night. When I woke up next morning, I was in an empty bed, naked. Jaxon walked in from the bathroom with a huge smile and claimed that I got drunk and forced him to be intimate."

"I have clearly told him that I won't sleep with him before marriage. He sounded so convincing that I believed at that time. Everything went back to normal and after a week, I didn't see him. He didn't come to school and Nolan was angry with me for going to the party. He didn't know what happened there."

"Jaxon won't answer my calls or texts. When he came back after two weeks, he had a new girl in his arms. He didn't even have the decency to break up with me, face to face. Nolan chastised me for not paying heed to his warnings," she said wiping her tears and continued to look at the ocean.

Trixie whined beside her and licked her cheek before nuzzling into neck offering support. I swallowed the hard lump that formed in my throat. My own father raped my mom and I was a product of the rape.

How could she love me? How could she call me a blessing? I was her curse–an abomination–who reminded her of something that shouldn't have happened in the first place.

"When I confronted him, he laughed on my face and said that he slept with me to win a bet his friends had placed on him. That was all I was to him, a stupid bet. Nothing else mattered. I felt disgusted with myself and wanted to kill myself."

"Mom..." My voice cracked and I couldn't continue.

She gave me a sad smile as she continued to tell her story. "It's true. I wanted to die, but Nolan stopped me. He didn't ask me any question–he just hugged me and held as he promised that he will be with me throughout this."

"I became a laughing stock at school. Nolan would fight for me, but I couldn't stop them. Because now I was one of the whores, who would stoop so low to get a rich man."

"How did you cope?" I asked unable to hold my tongue.

"Nolan," she answered. "My parents were ashamed of me. They couldn't believe their daughter would do such a thing. We might be poor, but we lived with honor and their daughter lost her honor the day she slept with the boy."

"Two months passed and Jaxon was on his second girlfriend when I found out that I was pregnant. I didn't know if I wanted to be happy or sad. My parents broke down when they found out. I was a teenager and falling pregnant at seventeen was not a good thing, you see."

"Nolan was upset, but he claimed that he loved me and he will be the father of this child. That he will marry me and will bring up the child as his own. I, being the fool I was going to speak to Jaxon. I didn't know why I did what I did at that time."

"What did he say?" I asked unable to contain my tongue.

"He wanted me to kill you in my womb. To get rid of the evidence that proved his guilt. He threw me a roll of bills for the hospital expense," she sighed. "I couldn't. I knew I would suffer, but I couldn't kill my baby or hate it. The baby was a consequence of the choice I made and I decided that I would love the baby no matter what."

"How did you marry da- Jaxon then?" I asked. He lost the right to be called a dad the moment he asked mom to abort me. If that was not the reason enough, he fucking raped her. My blood boiled at the thought.

"Jaxon was pretty destructive at that age. He drank and partied hard. His socialite parents never bothered. Then one day, he drove his car while he was drunk. He ran over a pedestrian and drove off."

"He killed someone?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"Fortunately, the lady lived with major injuries," Mom sighed.

"What happened?"