Chapter 30 Exposed To The World
Darcy's POV
It's been a week since Hazel was discharged from the hospital. It took a while for the fever to finally leave her body but thankfully, she's back to being the most happy kid on earth.
I push the trolley as I walk from section to section as I picked out somethings we would be needing at home. Especially Hazel's stuff.
I walk in to the kids section. The corners of my lips stretch into a small smile, my eyes widened as I saw a lot of cute stuffs.
I take out a medium size fluffy hat and add it to the cart. I'm sure she will love it.
Suddenly, I start hearing whispers. I turn to look behind me and three young ladies are staring at me.
I raise my eyebrow and tilt my head. If I'm not wrong, I think they were talking about me.
Funnily enough they don't bother to hide the frowns deeply carved on their faces.
I look away and begin to push the shopping cart. As I get closer, their voices become louder and their mean comments were brutal.
Unable to ignore it, I stop abruptly and face them. "I don't remember offending any of you neither do I know you from anywhere. So I suggest you watch your tone before I call the corps on you."
Two of them keeps quiet but the third one isn't willing to back down. "Go ahead and let's see who gets thrown into jail, gold digger," she smirks.
My hold on the handle of the cart tightens as I bite my lower lip. This is about Adrian.
Not wanting to exchange words with them, I start walking away. But with each step that I take, people turn to look at me.
"No wonder she wants a rich man to pearch onto. Parasite."
The words were like a two edge sword to my heart. These people don't even know me, yet they speak of me so cruelly.
I wore my hoodie, quickly pay for the stuffs I bought and flag down a cab to take me back to the house.
I rest my head against the window as the driver drives through the busy road.
The rumours started the day, I accepted to be Hazel's nanny. Adrian has always been kind and respectful towards me and yet people read to much meaning into it.
I've lose count of the number of times, they tag me a gold digger but none of them has the guts to say it to my face.
And now, its as if their confidence went over the roof because they suddenly know what they are not supposed to know.
The words of one slim girl at the mall rings in my head. "Did you see the news? She's trending."
Wait... My eyes widen in horror. My chest pounds against my chest.
Something is wrong and I need to find out before it causes more harm.
"Please sir, drive faster," I urge the cab driver and he nods.
I fiddle with the hem of my dress and swallow the big lump in my throat.
Some minutes later, I arrive home.
Adrian is playing with Hazel but their giggling stop the moment I storm into the living room.
"What's wrong Darcy?" Adrian ask as he stands up to face me with Hazel on his arm.
I don't answer. There is no time to search for my phone, so I take the remote control and turn on the television.
I could feel Adrian stand beside me.
"Please, talk to me Darcy. What is going on?"
The television comes on and it is already on the news channel.
The headline boldly reads: "Adrian Ashford's Lover's Dirty Past Exposed"
I stagger as evidences of my past is showcased on the screen.
"Apparently, the so called nanny is a gold-digger who just wants to use the Billionaire to fund her family."
"It's really unfortunate, how rich men fall victims of scheming bitches like her."
The remote control drops from my hand. Tears blur my vision as I shake my head, take a few steps back.
This is not true. I'm not trying to use him. I've never wanted to use him.
"Who the hell did this?" Adrian's angry voice boom and Hazel starts crying like she understands what is going on.
My throat tighten. The weight is crushing down on me. My world is crumbling.
Adrian continue talking but his voice fades into the background.
Before I could think of anything, I run upstairs into my room. I close the door and lock it. My phone is on the bed.
Tears starts pouring down my face. My legs give out and I slump on the floor.
I didn't have the strength to walk, so I could only crawl to take it. With shaky hands, I log into my social media account.
My stomach tie into knots as I read the tweets. My pictures have been turn into memes.
"It's better to be honest about being a whore, than pretending to be an innocent saint."
"Poor Adrian, can't believe he fell for such a trap."
My lips quivered. The tears spill without stopping.
"I'm sure someone close to them reveal the whole truth. Someone who sees her for who she truly is."
"Did you watch the interview of her father? She abandoned him. Their family is a nuisance."
That man went on national TV? How did they find him?
I dig my fingers into my skull and pull my hair. Yet, the pain is nothing compared to the ache in my heart.
He claims that I abandoned him but he didn't talk about all the things he has done to me. The pain, the trauma I had to endure for years because of him.
I feel sick to my stomach. I ran to the toilet and throw up everything in my stomach. After I wash my face, I slowly go back to the room.
I sit on the floor with my back lean against the bed.
They mock my background. Twisting my kindness and sacrifices into wickedness and manipulation.
It's unfair. If only children have the opportunity to choose their parents, I would never choose that irresponsible and run away man as a father.
I raise my knees and rest my chin. Tears mixed with snort.
A knock lands on the door, follow by Hazel's cries.
"Darcy, please open the door," Adrian pleads in a low voice.
Why should I do that? He now knows the secret that I have bury for so long. One I promise myself that no one would find out.
Shame clothe me. Does he think of me like every other person?
"I know you are having a hard time and I know what you're thinking. With the little time we've spent together, I know your character and no, I do not share in the same opinion as those people. They don't know you but I do."
I raise my head to stare at the door. His words just lifts the weight off my shoulders. I smile through my tears.
At least there's one person in the world who believes me. If only he knows how grateful I am.
Hazel kept whining. I want to hold her close to my chest but I still feel like filth.
"No matter what, Hazel and I are here for you. About the mastermind, I will find out who it is and make them pay for this stunt they pulled." He reassured me with certainty in his words.
A few seconds later, I heard his retreating footsteps.
The mastermind... who could it be? Is it someone that can be punished?