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Home / The Calm After the Storm / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of The Calm After the Storm: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

24 Chapters

Chapter 1

Both my childhood friend and my older brother fell for the new student in class, the impoverished Anna Jones.My childhood sweetheart, Walter, called off our engagement, saying, "I can't stand a spoiled heiress like Emma."My brother seemed to have forgotten what our mom had asked of him on her deathbed. "Anna's had a tough time. It's only fair to give her half of the love I have for you, right?"On my birthday, Walter chose to spend time with Anna instead.On the day he was supposed to be remembering our mom's passing, my brother was having a great time with Anna and her mom instead.When they went with Anna to Nexus City to receive her impressive design award, I burned down the house that held all our memories.I pretended to be dead and left the city.When the news of my 'death' reached Nexus City, the two guys whom I thought were tired of me hurried back home in the middle of the night.They stood in front of the house that was now ashes, unable to hold back their tears.…

Chapter 2

The clubhouse we were in was part of the Lawson family's estate.Walter thought I had forced Anna to work there.However, the irony was that Anna was being pampered by both him and my brother.She had always been treated like a princess.She had more money than she could ever spend.Why would she bother getting a job?I knew the truth.Even if I told everyone and had the supervisor back me up, Walter still would not believe me.I was the villain in his eyes, the mean witch who used her family's power to bully his precious princess."Emma."Walter hugged Anna close, protecting her."I can't imagine marrying a rich brat like you."Let's just forget about the engagement, okay?"His words hung in the air, and the room went silent.Anna's face went white as she shook with fear, clinging to Walter.Her friends watched me, their eyes full of suspicion.I could not help but laugh.Ever since Anna's mom got involved with our family and Anna got between Walter and me, I had crie

Chapter 3

Anna pulled away from him."Ms. Lawson, don't be hard on our senior."It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come and bothered you..."She spoke, and tears started to fall from her eyes. "I'll go now.""Anna, I told you I'd take care of everything."Walter felt a pang of heartache.He gently wiped away Anna's tears and then turned to look at me.Any trace of pity in his eyes had disappeared and was replaced by disdain."Emma, can you please stop bothering us?"I cut him off, "Fine. We can break off the engagement, but I want my things back."Walter looked puzzled. "What things?"I reached up and untied the red string that was around my neck.Hanging from it was a jade pendant.It was a family treasure Walter's mom had given me when our engagement was arranged.My mom had given him something even more precious.It was an item that had once belonged to a royal palace, blessed by a respected religious figure from ancient times."Here's your pendant back. Now, return my bracel

Chapter 4

I felt like laughing, but I cried instead."Matthias."Nobody's going to take Mom's things."If you want to give Anna something, that's fine. Give her whatever you want from what the Lawsons have.""What good stuff does the Lawson family even have?"Matthias stopped talking suddenly.Yeah, what good stuff did we have?We had nothing good, from the people in the family to the things we owned.I tossed the torn paper into the trash and headed upstairs."Mom's memorial is in a few days. Don't forget.""How could I?" Matthias gave me an awkward smile."Go to bed early. I'll be in the office for a while longer."I did not answer or look back at him.I spent the whole night wide awake.I gathered everything in the house that had to do with us three—Me, Walter, and Matthias.I burned the pictures.I broke and took apart anything that could be broken.I packed up whatever could be given away and sent it to the orphanage.All that was left in this little house were the memorie

Chapter 5

It was the day we were supposed to remember Mom's passing.I waited and waited.Dad had someone bring over fresh flowers.However, there was no sign of Matthias.After three unanswered calls, the fourth was finally picked up.It was Anna's mom on the line. "Emma, is that you? Are you looking for Matthias?""Today is my mom's death anniversary.""Oh dear! It's your mom's deathday? We're so forgetful. I'm so sorry."Our puppy just had babies today, and Matthias and Anna were so excited that they forgot all about today..."It's too late to come over now. What should we do?""Mrs. Jones, who are you talking to?""It's Emma. She sounds upset. What should we do, Matthias?""Hey, Emma?" I heard Matthias's voice.I hung up right away and blocked his number.Mom's smiling face looked down at me from the black and white photo on her gravestone.Her smile was full of love and kindness.April had rolled around again.I sat there on the ground, feeling like I was at the bottom of a

Chapter 6

"Emma, you've been stubborn since you were little, and I've put up with it for so long."Anna won the prize fair and square. You’re accusing her of stealing your design, but where's your proof? Without evidence, you're just making things up.""Emma, I swear I didn't copy your design."You've never liked me, so when would I even have gotten the chance to touch your computer?"Feeling upset, Anna just crumbled into Walter's arms.I whipped around to face Matthias.My computer was always in the study.He spent a lot of time there too.Matthias looked away, his guilt clear.Was it not obvious what was going on?"Emma, just look at yourself."Walter towered over me, all high and mighty.He flung a bracelet at me, and it clattered to the floor by my feet."I can't figure out why I ever liked you."I was about to snap back at him, but then I saw the necklace Anna was wearing.My whole body shook with anger when I recognized it.It was the tulip diamond necklace Mom had left fo

Chapter 7

"She's got nothing to do with our family’s past rivalries.”Anna was crying, her face in her hands. Walter stepped up and wrapped his arms around her. "Emma, that's enough!" he said. "It's just a silly old necklace. Let her have it." He yanked off the necklace and threw it down hard. "Come on. I'll buy you a new one that’s way nicer and more expensive." Matthias looked at me and let out a heavy sigh. "Emma, why do you always have to be like this and cause such a fuss? "Anna's already having a tough time, yet you just can't seem to let her be. "Can't you try to be a little nicer? You should be more ladylike.”"Emma, you've won plenty of design competitions before. You'll have other chances to win big."Anna really needs this win. It'll help her make a name for herself so the Reagle family accepts her." He reached out to help me up. "Emma..." "Go away!" I pushed his hand off and started to laugh. "Brother." That was the last time I would ever call Matthias that and t

Chapter 8

It was late at night.I tossed a bunch of old letters into the flames and then grabbed a photo.Walter and Matthias were standing next to me in the photo, both of them grinning as if it were the best day ever.Their smiles just seemed silly now.The photo burned up, and their grins turned to ashes.The firelight filled my eyes.As the flames ate the letters, I caught a few words.My brother had written, "I'll always love and protect my sister. I’ll make sure Emma stays a little princess forever."Walter had promised, "I'll marry Emma when I'm older, and we'll have two amazing kids—a big brother and a little sister."They had been so serious when they made those promises.They said I was more important to them than anything.Those letters were old and yellow now.The black writing had faded, just like their silly promises had.The last of the letters burned, hot against my fingers.I let it fall onto my dress on the floor.The fire got bigger, catching the curtains and a

Chapter 9

Anna was downstairs in a fancy dress, waiting to go up and get her award.Right then, Walter's phone started ringing.Annoyed, he pulled it out to turn it off.However, he saw a message pop up.[Walter, call back quickly. Something's wrong with Emma.]Walter just laughed.Thinking about what Emma had sent him earlier, he felt even more annoyed with her.He answered without much interest: [What's she up to now?]Anna was just about to step on stage to get her award.He did not have the energy or the time to deal with Emma right now.Whatever she was planning was probably just to ruin Anna's big moment.His friend's call came in quickly.Walter declined, annoyed.Anna glanced over, a bit worried. "Walter, I'm feeling nervous."Walter took her hand. "Just relax. I'll be right here with you."They called Anna's name on stage.Walter stooped to lift her dress's hem.The spotlight hit her.Right now, she was the star of the show.Anna breathed in deeply, smiled, and walked

Chapter 10

The ceremony ended smoothly.To celebrate Anna's win, Walter and Matthias took her on a vacation shopping spree.On the way there, Anna brought up the phone call from the ceremony."Did Emma call you? I thought I heard her name before I got the award.""Don't worry about her. She was just trying to pull the same old stunt to get noticed.""Walter, don't be like that," Anna gently argued. "Emma just wants your attention. She didn't mean any harm."It's my fault. If you and Matthias hadn't been there for me, she wouldn't have done something so silly..."Let's go back and check on her."If she yells at me, I'll just ignore it."Anna's eyes were teary, like those of a gentle kitten that had been treated unfairly.Walter hugged Anna gently. "Anna, you're just too nice. That's why she keeps picking on you."Matthias nodded and added his own words of comfort."Anna, it's not your fault. She's the one who's mean and bossy."Right then, Matthias's phone started to ring.The caller

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