Chapter 55

CHAPTER 55

|| Third Person's POV ||

" Cheers!!", two wine-stuffed glasses clung together along with the victorious laughter, coming from the boys around. Finn curved his lips up in amusement, his eyes stuck on the tabloids that released horrific news about Ares each hour. His eyes read through the comments satisfyingly,

" Ares is a jerk! He doesn't deserve this position!"

" Kick him out of the team right away!"

" A playboy can't be our idol!"

Finn's lips turned wider into a smile as he sipped from his fresh wine. He was satisfied with the outcome. The first time, he was too rushed and made mistakes repeatedly. For that reason, he was banned and had to live this miserable life. Still now, whenever he made a public appearance, people would comment on his face.

" Oh look at that boy! He is banned!"

The invisible slap was solid in his life that it took days for him to accept the reality. Then, he refocused on his training, making sure that there would be no Ares on his path anymore. After the last win from Ares, he understood that he had lost a lot of his potential to be a part of the national team. If Ares didn't get out of his way, he had no chance to join the team anymore. At that moment, he came up with a mastermind plan even if it cost his reputation.

Jaden Weasley gave Finn a withering look, a look of worry could be seen in his eyes. He twisted his lips before saying,

" You took a big risk, buddy!"

Finn smirked devilishly and swiped the corner of his lips slyly,

" Big things require risk, buddy."

Jaden nodded in agreement and clung their hands together before pulling his eyes back to the TV screen. The recent news from the Sports channel was making them happier when a big screen flashed with the headline,

" BREAKING NEWS: Ares Thatcher might be taken down from taking part in any other games."

" REPORTS from an insider stating that Ares Thatcher can be blacklisted permanently if the accusations turn true."

Finn couldn't stop himself from grinning. He assumed that Ares would be blocked temporarily probably but the word ' permanent' made his joy twice. When he finally gets the ban, he will humiliate Savannah in front of everyone.

When he began to sink deeper into those thoughts, Kelly made a sudden appearance inside his apartment. Stopping in the doorway, she saw how Jaden and Finn were smirking at the news. Her heart raced in tension. Finn was already banned once from games.

Was he still behind Ares's accusations?

" Finn!", Kelly called his name, causing him to tear his eyes apart from the TV. Finn's smiling face faded slightly as he got on his feet before telling Jaden,

" I get to do some things first. You stay here, Jaden."

Finn dragged her out by her forearms, pushing her outside. Kelly made a mewl of discomfort, twisting her lips to hold back her tears. As soon as they were alone, Finn barked impatiently, glaring hard at Kelly's face,

" Did you have your abortion?"

Kelly sniffed her nose before giving him a small nod. Relief morphed on Finn's features as soon as Kelly responded positively. It wasn't even a week ago when Kelly learned that she was pregnant unexpectedly. Although she was having pills, that didn't stop her from falling pregnant. After all, no company could guarantee one hundred percent assurance.

At first, Kelly was excited about her pregnancy and went on to tell Finn excitedly. Finn was firm with his decision. He didn't want any child so fast and slammed some money in her face to get the abortion done as early as possible. Kelly didn't have a job at that time. Her conservative parents would be killing her if they knew that she was pregnant at this young age. Hence, she had no choice but to follow Finn's instructions.

But she was too hurt mentally and physically. Every mother had a big dream revolving around her first baby and she wasn't exceptional. She was just sad that the baby came at an unexpected time when Finn was having a shaky career. She convinced herself, telling that Finn was just having a bad phase of his life and didn't want to bring a new life into their mess. That's the reason, he asked her for an abortion. With their second baby, nothing like this would happen.

Kelly's sob turned harder, sniffing and whimpering in pain. She muttered, wiping her tears repeatedly,

" Our baby..is gone...gone...Finn.."

Finn exhaled heavily, secretly relieved that he got rid of this new trouble. Forcefully, he patted Kelly's shoulders, faking the console,

" Don't cry, Kelly! We are still too young!"

Kelly nodded, thrusting him blindly again and making the same mistake. After a soft sigh, she mumbled smiling at Finn,

" I understand, Finn. You are having bad times. It's just..I am a bit emotional..we will have our time.."

After a long silence, Kelly finally mustered up her courage to question Finn,

" I came to ask you that..did you go after Ares this time? All those scandals?"

Finn appeared uneasy a bit but quickly covered them up with a shrug. He responded weirdly as if Kelly had done any grief by asking him,

" Do you think that I have plenty of time to chase his shit always, Kelly? Go back to your home! I am worrying about my future and here, you put all the blame on me."

Kelly believed that indeed Finn didn't take this foolish mistake to go after Ares again. She just hoped for a better career for Finn who was previously punished for taking malicious actions. Twisting her lips in discomfort for doubting Finn, Kelly responded with a smile,

" I didn't mean like that Finn... It's just..you were already blamed for the earlier incident...You should stay away from those awful actions...You might get permanently banned, you know that."

Finn quickly turned around to leave, hating to hear her lecture anymore,

" I know better than you, Kelly. Go back now!"

__________

|| Aria's POV ||

" Here is your coffee, Grandpa!", I placed the hot mug on his table. I had no idea that Ethan had a grandfather. He never mentioned it to me. Then I remembered that we didn't know each other for a long time. I guess, I had a lot to know about him.

Harvey Weinstein, the man who introduced himself as Ethan's grandfather was now sitting inside the dining room. His old face had wrinkles, defining his age as over fifty. His face was cold, emotionless as if I owed him a thousand dollars. He didn't utter many words during his stay here. I considered him a cold-hearted person, always having the vibe of being unapproachable. But I tried my best to act friendly because sooner or later, we were going to become one single family. It would have been best that he had opened himself more for me.

Although I was smiling at him, I was nervous inside. After all, it was an unexpected official meeting from my in-laws.

Oh, Ethan! Where have you gone?

Without having him by my side, I was more nervous, especially the way Grandpa Harvey sent me an obvious look sometimes.

" Are you pregnant?", his cold voice jerked me back to reality. Taking me off-guard, I stared at him awkwardly until gave him a small nod.

Was I too obvious at moving?

Although I was only three months, my body had developed a strange behavior of walking around carefully. Even I noticed that my hand subconsciously went over to rub my belly. Maybe, that's what everyone calls 'motherly emotion.'

I looked up at him, wishing to see a big smile as grandparents always liked little children naturally. But I found nothing in his expression and also felt that he didn't appreciate it from his mind. It was another round of awkward silence as he went quiet after asking just a single question.

Was he unhappy?

To avoid this awkward environment, I muttered, smiling and looking at the door,

" Ethan..has gone..for groceries...He should be coming back already.."

Grandpa Harvey finally pulled his eyes up at me. I noticed the way, he didn't even touch the coffee. He revealed his true intentions,

" I came for you actually to see what kind of woman, my grandson is dating. Our relatives have already done the responsibility of informing me."

I didn't know how to react but I tried to smile and mumbled,

" Yeah..we just.. shifted here.."

See! That's the reason, I hated relatives! They had nothing to do except pass the news to seniors. I just prayed that they didn't pour venom in his ears.

He added scoffed, staring at me discreetly,

" No, wonder, you got pregnant so fast. Were you knocking down my grandson as soon as you met?"

I never knew that words could make someone so disgusted. Even with his few words, he made sure that he was sounding dirty. I clenched my teeth hard, using all my might to act respectfully as much as possible,

" With all due respect, Grandpa! Your grandson was the one who asked me to move over to his house!"

He lifted his one hand, signaling me to stop before standing up on his feet. His expression darkened as he eyed me like a dirty object. Trust me, I didn't feel this much disgusted when my father sold me to some local gang members. Probably, because I detected them as a bad person from the beginning but Grandpa Harvey was good in my eyes at first.

He scoffed, leaving no room for discussion,

" I know women like you. Do you think that I have come here without checking your background? No wonder, you are pregnant too fast because you were raised without your parents. No culture, such an uncivilized girl is never suitable for our family."

Tears spewed over from my eyes as I bit down my lips fiercely. No one ever humiliated me this cruelly and Grandpa Harvey made sure to use all those unpleasant memories with me.

Why did Ethan never mention that his family didn't appreciate a girl like me? I would have stepped back without entering his life.

Grandpa Harvey continued, shaking his head furiously,

" You just want a child to tie up my grandson. Girls like you are obvious to trap this promising star's career. But as long as I am alive, I won't let that happen in my grandson's life. Your brother's career is already doomed because of some sex scandal. What are you doing then? Using this baby to create another scandal against my grandson? Shame on you girl! I mean, who becomes pregnant after months of dating?"

I looked down and couldn't meet his eyes. It was an undeniable truth that this baby could bring trouble in Ethan's life. Besides, Ares was already suffering from his scandal. Perhaps, I was pushing Ethan too much. He deserved much better than me. I wasn't anywhere close to his liking. Although Grandpa Harvey mentioned it rudely, this baby, and I were going to be a huge burden for Ethan and his flourishing career.

Why was I too foolish to love him so suddenly?

Grandpa Harvey continued, glaring at me hatefully one last time,

" If you have shame for your actions, you better leave him as fast as possible. You are already doomed. Don't invite doom for him and his career."

His back dissipated through the door. My eyelids began to turn heavy from teardrops after he left, venting all of his anger on me. I smiled at myself bitterly. How did you consider yourself lucky Aria when your parents left you in childhood, and your boyfriend cheated on you after putting a baby inside you?

Someone like Ethan deserved better.. unfortunately, that someone wasn't me..a scarred girl like me who was having a baby of another man in my belly...