CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

“Please pick up”

“Claire please pick up!”

Sharon was crouched on the floor of her room with her phone in her hands.

Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. But she just couldn't get the image of her battered mother out of her mind

Like a sick horror tape, it kept playing. Over and over again

“Hello Sharon, what do you want?”

Claire's voice was cold. The indifference in her tone was evident

Sharon was lucky that she picked. All of a sudden, Claire lost interest in anything related to her

“Claire please I need your help”

“Not right now Sharon I'm bus—”

“I fucking need your help Claire! I have no one to run to”

“You always need my fucking help Sharon. When have I ever asked anything in return?

The one time I felt like I had to ask for your validation something, you wrote me off

Some friend you are!”

“Listen Claire, I don't have time to fight with you

I need your help”

There was silence for a few seconds, then Claire said something

“What's the problem?”

“I need you to go to my house Claire, you're the only one I could trust. They know you so it shouldn't be a problem”

“Get to the point, I'm busy!”

“My mother is locked somewhere. I'll text you all the passwords to the house and the location of the room

She's fucking claustrophobic Claire, I

need you to unlock the door with the password and leave the house as quickly as you can

Please Claire

“Fine I'll help you, but you shouldn't expect me to pick up after you every damn time!”

Claire hung up

At that point Sharon did care if they weren't really friends anymore.

Her mother could not spend another 30 minutes inside that room

******************

Claire drove her brand new car to the Gray's mansion

It had been a fairly long time since she last visited

She was having such a great time, before Sharon interrupted her.

Donald was being his usual sweet self, and she was enjoying every moment of it.

She replayed her conversation with Sharon and a thought struck her.

Donald had always been curious about the Gray's, for some reason, he was interested in knowing things about them that the public couldn't get a glimpse of.

But here she was on her way there, with virtually the passcodes

Now that was a miraculous coincidence

Her access to the Gray's had never been restricted before, because of her almost sisterly relationship with Sharon

So they let her pass when she said she wanted to deliver a message from Sharon to Mrs Emilia Gray

That was after they searched her.

When Claire entered the house, she got to work.

Sharon had given her clear directions, and the location of said room was very specific

But she had the passcodes—

A little snooping around wouldn't be such a bad thing.

And wouldn't Donald be delighted if she brought along some information

No

Sharon's mother was in trouble. The woman had always been kind to her.

She had the passcodes, so she could come by the house sometime later, and fish for info

After navigating for about ten minutes, she finally got to the room.

It wasn't easy, the servants were asking her questions. But she was persistent

She looked at Sharon's message on her phone and identified the password

4 9 5 2 3

She hurriedly imputed it. If she remembered correctly, she needed to be out before Mr Gray came back

The door opened,candy she couldn't believe her eyes.

Mrs Gray was lying on the floor, scrunched up into a ball. There were very visible bruises all over her skin, and she looked terrified

But it wasn't the fresh injuries that surprised her, it was the old scars

No wonder she always wore long sleeved clothes.

Physical abuse was written all over her

Mrs Gray didn't realise the door was opened, she was still very far away from reality

In those few seconds, Claire did something only a sick, depraved individual would do

She took pictures

because Donald would like something like that, because for some reason, he loved to know the not so pretty details of the Gray household

And she loved giving them to him

Because he seemed to love her more

“Mrs Gray, its— it's me

Claire”

Emilia's eyes were finally able to focus on the woman standing in front of her, and her mind which was out of her body a while ago came drifting back

“Claire”

“Yes Mrs Gray”

Claire helped her up, guilt written all over her face

The servants took care of the rest. They were unfazed, like it wasn't new to them. Like it was something that happened everyday

It probably was

Mrs Gray thanked her, and made sure no one spoke a word about her entrance into the Gray mansion that day.

Mrs Gray cooked up a story, and that was what happened

As Claire drove back to Donald's suite, she had mixed feelings

What she just witnessed was tragic, she would be a very bad person if she showed him those pictures

But alas

Claire was becoming a fool for love

“What happened baby, why did you have to leave in such a hurry?”

He said as he hugged her

Any moral restraints Claire might have had before went down the toilet

Along with her conscience and sense of shame

I was at the Gray family mansion

Claire said

She watched the smile creep unto his face

Satisfaction settled within her

She pulled off her shoes one after the other

In a very slow pace

Watching him yearn for something, seeing him so eager, having him look up to her brought a certain kind of happiness to her

“So what happened in the Gray family mansion”

His eyes were still fixed on hers

Claire took out her phone slowly and gave him a coquettish look

He was getting impatient, she could sense it

But he was in for a big surprise

She flashed her phone screen in his eyes and he finally made sense of the picture

Mrs Emilia Gray, curled up on the floor, battered.

Donald blinked, over and over again, trying to decide if what he was seeing was true

She just gave him a piece of evidence that would destroy the Grays in the near future