Chapter 197

Daniel and Ariana held hands and walked to the small park they had in their home town. They used to go there a lot with their father. It had a lot of memories and they sat quietly just enjoying the feeling the park brought to them.

"You remember the day your ice cream fell and you started crying so bitterly?" He asked her and Ariana smiled as she also saw the image of her two ponytails flying around as she cried that day.

"You gave me yours," Ariana whispered and they stared at one another.

Silence filled them again and Ariana stared out at the little children that were playing around in the field. They looked very happy with their missing teeth as they jumped around and tagged each other. She was suddenly reminded of her childhood. Her brother had been her backbone. They use to come to this very park to play. They ran around and tagged one another just like the kids she was looking at.

In the house, he acted like her second daddy. He protected her whenever their parents were arguing and he made sure she stayed safe when there was a thunderstorm. Yet, she felt left out. One morning, he just left her.

When her father had asked her and she told them she didn't know his whereabouts no one actually believed her because of how close they were. Maybe it was that loneliness that had made her associate with Sofia. Or maybe it was the need to have that older brother figure in her life that had led her to fall for Ethan. She couldn't tell but she knew that her life lost its meaning the moment he left her. And even as she sat beside him she couldn't tell why he had done it.

Back then she had spent several nights crying. She had blamed herself over and over again. She thought maybe she had done something wrong that was why he left. And then she thought. maybe he fell in love with some girl and ran away with her. She couldn't find an answer even as she grew older. So she did the best she could and just forgot about him.

"Why did you leave?" She suddenly asked breaking through the silence that had taken over them.

He took a deep breath before he clutched his hands together. "I had come home that day and heard mom and dad talking about cheating on someone... Again."

Ariana furrowed her brows at his confession but she held her tongue. She would wait for him to finish before asking anything of him.

"I walked in and confronted them but dad said he couldn't stop because that was the only way he knew to put food on our table. I rather took it or left it..."

Ariana felt her heart squeeze in pain. She felt betrayed. So her father had actually been taking from people for a long time. He didn't just do it with that guy that Sofia had brought?

"...I tried to make them see reasons but none of them listened... that night I told myself I wouldn't be able to have a bright future if I kept surviving on people's tears for that was what my parents enjoyed doing... I got a job and started taking care of myself." He explained.

"About a month later, I caught mom with another man in the house..."

"What?" Ariana exclaimed she couldn't hold back her tongue in this kind of situation. She had thought her parents were very faithful to one another till the very end.

"I was also shocked... I thought we had the perfect family but I realised we were living in a dream. The worst is father knew about it and he permitted it even because the man in question had a lot of money to give his concubines and mother was one of them," he said.

"Oh my God!" Ariana whispered. She was disgusted at her parents.

"From that moment on, I started saving some money from my salary. When my scholarship came through, I just packed and left... staying with them wasn't just going to work anymore."

Daniel finished his narration and rubbed his hands together to drive away the cold. The sun was starting to go down and the evening breeze was picking up the temperature.

Ariana realized he had finished speaking and she sort of understood him. She might have done the same thing if she were in his position. If she had seen the kind of disgusting things he saw with his eyes, she might have done it too. But one thing bothered her. He had seen all of these and his explanation was justified but what about her?

"Why didn't you tell?" Ariana asked.

He turned to stare at her. He moved a strand of her hair that had flown to her face. "I wanted to... I wanted to take you with me. But I was barely able to feed myself. I couldn't watch you starve Ariana. I couldn't drag you into my uncertainty... I am sorry," he said bitterly.

"And you couldn't keep in touch either?"

"I was afraid," he said as his voice dropped. "You were so innocent Aria, I feared you will tell mom and dad about my whereabouts. That was why I couldn't reach out," he said in a low voice again.

"Even as we grew older?" Ariana countered.

Daniel knew that was where he had failed as an older brother. After he left, he regretted leaving her behind every day.

"You remember your eighteenth birthday?" He asked her.

Of course, Ariana remembered it perfectly well. She had just gotten her letter to study abroad and her parents were celebrating it for her. Her mum didn't want her to go for at that point they had no money. There was no means for her to get money to pay for at least her transportation to the place. Plus her father had cried that he had no money to take care of himself. Ariana was all he had, if she left what would become of her?

She had also made up her mind not to leave anymore until that morning of her birthday when she found an envelope filled with money.

"You brought that?" She asked referring to the envelope of money that solved her problems back then.