Chapter 195

Ariana couldn't stop her tears from falling. She felt like she could have stopped her father from dying if only she had contacted them earlier. If only she didn't cut them off her life after what they did to her...

"Honey, you need to stop blaming yourself," Calhoun whispered to her ears.

"How can I not blame myself? My mother is right, do I have a right to be here?" She said pulling away to look into his face.

"Do I have the right to cry when I was the one who walked away? Do I Calhoun?"

Calhoun held her hands and squeeze them gently.

"Do I have the right to feel this pain I feel in my heart when I was the one who turned away from them?"

"You didn't turn your back on them, Ariana. They turned their back on you. You kept helping them with open arms. You did all you could but it was never enough for them... honey how do you want to love a person who considers your love as financial freedom? Do you have to hurt yourself before you see it?" Calhoun whispered to her.

She stopped crying as his words sipped into her mind. She had given them all she had. All the money she worked for during her hard time with the Brentwood sisters, she sent to them. When she was out of the country for her education, she still had to send them money even if it meant she would starve for a couple of days. She did it happily knowing her parents were safe and healthy.

She had even stood by them when they went ahead to work hand in hand with Ethan. She was going to accept the humiliation if it meant her parents wouldn't be arrested and she did. The whole world called her names. The whole world thought she was a gold digger and nothing more. No one thought she truly loved Calhoun and maybe till the end of time no one would completely believe in her love. All these are because of her parents.

Calhoun's family found it hard to trust her. Especially Grandfather and grandmother, all because of the kind of parents she had.

Yet she didn't reject them, she still loved them. She only withdrew from them so that they wouldn't continue smearing her with their evil deed.

"Your father— your parents brought it upon themselves. It isn't your fault. If they didn't try to hurt you, you wouldn't have cut them off." Calhoun went on.

Ariana wiped the drying tears from her face and looked at Calhoun. "You are right my love. I was just shocked that this had happened so suddenly. I never thought it would happen this soon," Aria stated in a soft voice.

"Honey, no one wishes for any of their parents to die... at least you were lucky to have met yours," he said.

He didn't have to say more. Ariana understood it completely. Calhoun had just spoken about himself. He never even knew his parents were dead until his cousin told him so wickedly. Yet he had grown up to become the young president everybody feared.

"Come, let's go see your brother. You never actually mentioned him before Ariana," Calhoun suddenly said as he got to his feet. He figured sitting in her old room and talking about their sad past was only going to make them feel more depressed.

"Oh, well he—" Ariana trailed as she tried to find the right words to explain why she had never mentioned her older brother to Calhoun.

"What is he a ghost?" Calhoun teased. It was a serious matter and naturally, he could have been angry at her for hiding that fact about herself but Calhoun understood. He knew there was a dark story attached for her to have never mentioned him and aside from that, he never actually asked because he thought she was an only child. That was why he tried to make the conversation as light as possible.

"No, he isn't a ghost, Calhoun!" Ariana said with a small smile. His plan was working for she was starting to loosen up.

"So why haven't I, the love of your life, never heard of your brother before?" Calhoun asked wiggling his brows as he stepped out of the room after her.

"Well, love of my life... I never mentioned him because he was never really there," She said in a low voice. The guests were starting to leave and her mom and brother stood by the door thanking them for coming.

"How?" Calhoun asked as he held her hand. If the one who died was not her father, he would have taken her away from there because the aura was very depressing indeed.

"He left when I was fifteen," Ariana stated. Her eyes were fixed on her mother who only cried when one of the guests handed her an envelope. Anyone who left without giving her one got a long stare before they walked past her.

"Woah, that's a long time," Calhoun commented. He was thinking of a way to move them away from the spot for the drama Brenda was acting was both painful and disgraceful.

"Yeah, a long time. I barely thought I will ever see him again in life," Ariana admitted. Seeing her brother was the last thing on her mind. But she was glad she had seen him. She stared ahead at where he stood by their dramatic and shameless mother. He looked pale like the person standing beside him was a plague. He looked impatient as he tapped his feet on the carpet and looked on to the last guest.

"I guess that's the only good thing that came of these, right?" He led her towards the door. The last of the guests had left and it was just them Lisa on sat a corner couch watching them. Brenda's brows went up her forehead. She was waiting in anticipation of what Calhoun would hand her.

"I offer my sincere apologies ma'am," Calhoun said as he stretched his hand toward Brenda. She took it but she kept a Hawk eye on his left hand.