Denierys Refuge

I was sitting on one of the couches inside the Denierys Refuge. If I was not wrong, I was in the lobby. The building looked like a hotel.

I haven’t talked to Nicholai yet about why he named the place after our baby. When we arrived a while ago, someone approached him right away. He was in a hurry. I just followed him inside and was left in the lobby. He mouthed sorry before the man took him somewhere.

"Hi, have a snack first." It was Sally. She was smiling as she put down the cookies and juice in front of me. He was one of those who greeted us. Nicholai handed me over to her. She was younger than me. I think she was in her early 20's. I guessed.

"Thank you, Sally." I took the juice and took a sip on it.

"This is the first time Sir Nicholai has brought a woman here. Are you his girlfriend?"

I choked on drinking juice. I took the handkerchief from my bag and wiped and covered my mouth.

"Are you okay, Ma'am?" worried Sally questioned.

"It's okay. I'm not Nicholai's girlfriend. We are friends," I said and smiled wryly.

"Is that so? I thought Sir had already moved on with his ex-wife," she said disappointedly. My eyes almost widened at what she said.

"How come you said that Nicholai hasn't moved on with his ex-wife yet?"

I want to pinch myself. I felt like I was fishing for something.

Isn't it?

I want to glare. My brain was telling me that I was really fishing, but I kept on denying it.

"He built the Denierys Refuge because of his ex-wife."

What she said answered the question that was running in my head when we got here.

Did he build this refuge for me? Why?

"The Denierys Refuge is home to women who their husbands abuse. The Refuge helps abused women rebuild themselves. We help them not just by sheltering them here but also by giving them workshops for them to learn and they can find a job later on and also seminars. "

"—At the opening of this Refuge one year ago, Sir Nicholai told everyone why he built it. He said that his ex-wife left him because he was hurting her. He admitted to everyone that he laid a hand on his ex-wife. He said he regrets everything, and he doesn't want any more women to be like his ex-wife. That's why she built it to protect other women," she continued.

I was beyond shock after I heard what Denierys Refuge was all about. I couldn’t believe everything I heard from Sally. I was speechless.

"Almost all of us cried because Sir also cried while he was saying that. We felt that he really loved his ex-wife. He really made a mistake, and now he is slowly correcting his mistakes. Am I too talkative, ma'am? "

"No!" I shook. "Please continue. I want to hear more about it."

I want to know everything. Everything he did to those two years we never met, especially in regards to Denierys Refuge.

"Okay. Actually, back then, I didn't believe that a man would change, especially those men who hurt their supposedly loved ones. Because I'm one of the women abused by those shameless men, those shameless men always hurt me. My ex always hurt me. I had a lot of bruises back then. But when I met Sir Nic, he showed us that there is hope that someone will change if they want to. I’m thankful that the Refuge found me. Sir Nic educated me and gave me a job here," she said with a smile.

"Your past, no matter how bad it was, does not define your future. The choices and actions you make today will ultimately define who you will eventually become. Make the decision to learn from your past and apply it in the present so that you can live the life that you were meant to live because You deserve it. That's what Sir told us then. And we all believe that. But my boyfriend, there is no hope for him to change. He’s still an asshole. "

I could no longer hold back the tears that had been suppressed. What she all said made me emotional. I didn't know. Hearing everything from her about Nicholai's struggle to change and be a better man touched my heart. That he really regretted what he had done to me before and made way for his change.

"Oh my god! Ma'am. Don't cry. Sir Nic might say I made you cry," he said anxiously to me.

I wiped my tears and smiled at her. "I'm sorry. I was just carried away by what you said."

"True. I’m also touched. I really want to become Sir’s girlfriend. But he's still waiting for his ex-wife to come back. Maybe Sir's ex-wife is so beautiful that he can't even move on. Don’t you think so?"

"H-huh? I don't know." I just took some cookies and ate them to avoid her question.

It was a good thing that I didn’t say I was Nicholai’s ex-wife. The girl is babbling about this. I might be questioned for leaving Nicholai.

"I have one more chika ma'am about Sir," she said smiling.

I suddenly laughed at what he said. "You're not obviously a chatterbox, Sally."

"Ma'am, again." She pouted. "But seriously, ma'am. Someone said that it's not true that Sir has another woman. Because it's also one of the reasons why Sir’s ex-wife left him, it's not true."

I raised an eyebrow at what she said. A lie? Eh, my two eyes saw them.

"I heard that it was real. His ex-wife even saw them," I said here.

"Ma'am. It's just a show to make Sir's ex-wife jealous."

"What? What do you mean?" I was suddenly confused by what she said. Just a show? Was she just kidding me? What for?

"It seems to be planned. The woman was his accomplice. They said that she’s an actress—-"

"I'm sorry for making you wait," I almost jumped in shock when I heard Nicholai's voice behind me. Sally couldn't say what she wanted to say.

"O-okay," I said with a small smile on my lips. My heart was pounding like crazy.

"Hello, Sir Nic!" smiling, Sally said with another wave.

I looked at Sally, who was smiling at Nicholai. Is what she said really true?

"Sally. Thank you for accompanying our guest. Shane was looking for you, asap," Nicholai said.

"Okay, Sir," Sally said. "Bye, ma'am. I'm sorry if I made you cry," she added and then quickly left the lobby.

"She made you cry?" Nicholai asked crookedly.