Dared to love のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

Celeste's threats were chilling, having never encountered any life threats before. In less than a week, Lorraine's life had been threatened twice, but each time she managed to remain calm and collected. But this time, this was her breaking point. She was questioning whether a relationship with Clay was worth it all. He had lied to her from the start and once again betrayed her trust, but she couldn't have anyone but herself to blame. She was the one that left down her guard and allowed his sweet sentiments to fool her, but something still made her believe there was more to this than Clay was letting on. They had to be. The innocent sparkle in his eyes had held her captive, the tingles she felt whenever they touched, sending goosebumps up her spine and butterflies in her stomach. He couldn't have faked all that, she tried to reassure herself. Her marriage wasn't a sham, and neither were her feelings or Clay's; she needed to find out the truth, and only one person held the answers she n

"Lorraine! Lorraine!" Maia shouted, making her way towards Lorraine's room. Her footsteps thudded loudly against the wooden floor. Lorraine tossed and turned uncomfortably, covering her ears with her pillows. Between the sound of the alarm blaring and Maia's thunderous calls, she didn't know which was worst. After her call with her brother last night, she had drunk herself to sleep, finally quieting the voices pushing her to call Clay again; he still hadn't called back. When Maia came home from work, it was already 8:45p.m, and by then, Lorraine was fast asleep. She didn't even hear her best friend unlock her bedroom door to check on her."Lorraine!" Maia called again, approaching her room "If you're gonna sleep in, you should at least turn off your alarm", she complained"Some of us are trying to sleep as well". Maia's apartment had thin walls, and her room and Lorraine's shared a wall. It was pretty difficult to ignore any sounds across the room. Luckily for Maia, they were not bac

As Lorraine walked through the streets to hail a cab, she was flooded with thoughts on why Celeste had invited her for dinner. Surely, it could not be she was dying for her company, she had made it very clear that Lorraine was just an obstruction to her long-awaited and dreamt marriage with Clay and that she had to go. Why else would she now be calling her for dinner? As Lorraine's mind delved deeper into these thoughts, an e-scooter slightly passed her,causing a gust of wind that tousled her hair. It snapped her back to reality and made her realize the toll her marriage had taken on her. From David's attempts to tarnish her reputation to Shawn's attempts to use her, and now Celeste's invitation, she questioned how her life had spiraled into these troubling events, and stopped and wondered how her life had gone from a small girl living in The Bay, meeting up with her friends on Taco Tuesdays, movie dates and arcade nights to being at the center of these disturbing events. Did love h

Winter was almost three weeks away, but it was still really hot in Manhattan. Lorraine felt tired as she walked slowly to her room and sat down at her work table. She found an old portable radio from the 90s, a gift her father had given her when she first went to college.Her father had said, "This will help you during tough times." Back then, Lorraine didn't understand what he meant. She was much younger than her classmates when she finished high school, so she had no idea what college life would be like.On her first night out in college, when she met him, standing across the college bar chugging down a beer with his fraternity boys, he had a desirable body and a more striking look. She stared at him with desire, an intoxication quite different from the alcohol she had taken. She was drunk enough to know she was drunk - "I know you're growing up, and soon you'll be off to college, but if you're drunk and you know you're drunk, that's probably the right amount", her father had educat

As the taxi drove through the open roads of The Bay, she couldn't shake off the overwhelming feeling from Grandma Edith's generous gesture. Suddenly, the day felt brighter, and her mind wandered into thoughts of becoming a homeowner as she soaked in the soft ambiance of the open road, the freedom and peaceful atmosphere it now brought. Lorraine had traveled on these roads for a more significant part of her life, but now, she noticed the little things she had never paid attention to before, like the sweet fragrance of the Daisy gardens by the bridge.The fact that the man she loved wasn't behind her difficult situation brought her excitement. Maybe it was all thanks to Grandma Edith, fulfilling her wildest dreams and granting her this wonderful gift, perhaps it was her journey back to Clay as she looked forward to reuniting with him and the promises of romance their meeting held. For the first time in weeks, Lorraine Davis felt completely happy.She took out her AirPods and put them in