Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Florence's POV

I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew for a fact that sometimes, your eyes tended to play tricks on you, especially when one was hungry or high on pills. Right now, I was beyond hungry, famished could easily pass for my condition, so did that mean I was imagining the very person who stood in front of me.

I blinked back a couple of times, but that only helped my tears fall the more. I had everything to believe it was her. Even with my blurry vision, I could still make out her silhouette and the physique in front of me held a striking resemblance to the one in my head. The smell of her perfume didn't go unnoticed either. I'd been around it for so long, that I'd etched her signature scent into a tiny part of my brain.

“Florence?” Even her voice sounded the same. It wasn't hard to tell the emotions that had a grip on her words. They varied from sorry to sadness and shock. The biggest of them all was pity and it made my stomach churn. “Is that really you?”

“Aunt Olivia.” I croaked. My voice was a tiny whisper and any effort to even take it up a notch would result in nothing but me breaking into tears. And I didn't want that. Not yet. “I should be asking you that question.”

“Oh, Florence.” She cooed, her hands wrapping around me. With my feet still placed on the ground, I allowed the tears to flow. I sniffed and sobbed gently into her hair as her fingers threaded through my luscious locs. “Florence, dear, what happened?”

“I…” I had barely gotten any more words out when someone cut into my sentence.

“Florence!” My step mother yelled from inside. From her loud octave, I could tell she was walking towards the living room, and it took her no time to arrive. “Who the hell is at the door and what do you think you're still doing there?!”

“Hi ma'am.” Olivia slowly retracted her limbs, and I found myself shifting to the side a little, just so the two women could get a good look at each other. “ Hi.”

“Oh hi.” It didn't take so much as a second fit Jenny's mum to switch up. In a more gentle tone, one I didn't even know existed, she added. “Welcome, please come in. Are you looking for someone?”

“Thank you.” Olivia gingerly stepped into the living room. With permission from my stepmother, she took a seat on one of the couches. The couch had definitely seen better days, but I doubted Olivia minded.

“Can I get you anything?” My step mother's warm demeanor was shocking to say the least. What exactly was she trying to play at? “I could get you some juice if you want. Would you prefer just a glass of water?”

“I'm fine, thank you.” Olivia's smile didn't falter. “I'd just like to speak to Florence. Alone, if you don't mind.”

“Oh.” Was all Jenny's mother muttered. I watched her gaze dart to me. Her eyes lingered on me for more seconds than I would have liked, and I could swear that she peeling open like an onion with many layers. I'm sure she must be wondering why Olivia was here to see me. “ If that's what you want, then there's no problem.”

“Florence,dear.” She called out to me and I was startled. In all my life, I wasn't sure my stepmother had ever used an endearing term for me, talk less of pairing it with my name in the sentence. With how loving she had sounded, I almost didn't believe she was the woman mistreating me in the kitchen just a couple of minutes ago. “If she eventually changes her mind, you can come grab her a glass of juice.”

“Okay.” I mumbled awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. Was I supposed to use the same endearment she'd used on me? Or was I supposed to ignore it? Luckily for me, she was gone even before I could make a decision.

“Florence.” Olivia turned to me the moment my mother in law was out of sight. I could see her heart break through the pitiful gaze she threw my way. “ Oh my God, what happened?”

I lowered my gaze immediately. From here, I had a good look at Olivia's dress. As always, she looked stunning and I would be lying if I said the purple dress didn't make her look any longer. Her gray hair was worn in a short bob, with a hair clip by the side. With her signature red lipstick smeared on her lips, she looked like she belonged on the front cover page of a magazine.

“Florence?” Her voice broke through my thoughts again. “You do know you can talk to me about anything right? Anything at all.”

I nodded. Maybe this was what I needed. Maybe talking about it would help me out in a tiny way.

“Florence.” I raised my head to the sound of her voice. “ I'm listening.”

“Okay.” I nodded. I let out a low exhale, because it was about to be a lot. “A lot of things actually happened, but I'll just cut them short. I stole from Dominique.”

I paused. My ears buzzed and my heart beat rapidly in my chest as I waited for her reaction. Would she yell? Tell me how disappointed in me she was? How she never expected that of me and the likes?

Seconds slowly ticked by and nothing happened. Surprised, I stole a glance at her, just to be met with a sad smile on her face. Almost like she could read my mind, Olivia stretched her hand, before taking mine in hers.

“Go on.” She nodded and I mirrored her expression. “I'm listening.”

“I only stole from him because my father was threatening me.” My voice was soft and gentle, almost nonexistent if you asked me. “Then I found out I was pregnant and Dominique assumed it was for someone else.”

I heaved a sigh of relief after I'd let out everything else. My chest felt lighter, almost like the biggest burden I was carrying had been suddenly lifted. I felt lightweight, and I wouldn't be surprised if I flew away if a small gush of breeze happened to blow by.

“Is that all?” Olivia asked and I nodded. Even as she spoke, there was no hint of judgment in her tone, and it made my insides warm. “did anything else happen?”

“No. No.” I shook my head.

“Is the baby really his?” Olivia asked. I had actually seen that coming. Every sane adult who cared for their ward would have asked too if they were in her position. “ Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I whispered, my head hanging low again. A wave of emotion engulfed me immediately apbd I recognized it as shame. Even if she didn't tell me, I knew aunt Olivia held me in high hopes and I was basically a daughter to her. By getting pregnant, I had probably soiled that trust and belief she had in me. “It's his. And I'm sorry, I know you're disappointed in me and everything …”

“No darling.” She cut me off with a hand to my cheek. “It's not your fault. Sometimes we do things that we're not proud of, but if what you say is true, I see no reason why you should be sad.”

“Why did he say it wasn't his?” She continued. Obviously, she was referring to the baby. “ Why did Dominique deny it?”

“He was drunk.” I remembered it like yesterday, but instead of replaying it over and over again like I usually did, I decided against it. The last thing I needed was inflicting more pain on myself. “He was so drunk that night that he didn't remember what had happened when he woke up. And I, I didn't tell him.”

“Why didn't you?” Olivia asked. “I'm sure if you did he would have understood.”

“In fact, I really think you should have spoken to him about everything.” She continued. “I know my nephew comes off as harsh and uncaring, many have rumored that he's as heartless as they can get, but I guarantee you, he's none of those things, and the time you spent in his life proved it. Dominique is a lot of things,but he's a good man who would listen to you if you had spoken to him about it. Do you not know how he feels about you?”

“What?” My ears perked up at her question . “What do you mean?”

“I have eyes, Florence.” She chuckled lightly. “You both tried to hide it, but you didn't do a good job. Dominique might hide it, but I can promise you, he loves you a lot, and if you had just spoken to him about it, I'm sure he would have understood you. And forgive you too.”

I just couldn't believe it. How could he? A memory of the hurt flashing in his eyes popped up in my memory. After seeing him go through all of that, how could I expect him to forgive me and take me back? No, it wasn't possible. At all.

“No,.” I shook my head. “I can't, I don't think I can't.”

“I understand.” Aunt Olivia shook her head slowly. “I understand where you're coming from, but there's one thing I'd say ; I'd say you should think about it, before it's to late.”