15

Last night was the best thing that had happened to me in nineteen years. I couldn't stop grinning, I was so happy. After breakfast we left and drove back home. I was grateful to Kian for the wonderful days here, which I always had to let him know. I certainly didn't want to take it for granted.

After three hours we were at Kian's property. He'd been holding mine with his free hand for the entire ride, as if he'd been afraid I'd jump out of the moving car. It was a sweet gesture, though, which I was happy to have. But I still didn't know what it was between us. Were we a couple?

I was already in the room and unpacked my clothes from the suitcase. Kian retreated to his office because he seemed to have received an important call. I threw all the things in the laundry basket. Even though I wasn't wearing any, I didn't like the smell of the suitcase.

Just as I had stowed my hygiene items back in the bathroom, Kian came towards me. “Princess, I have to go. Something important has happened, which is why I have to go to the office on site.« , he explained slightly depressed. I was somehow aware that he didn't want to go voluntarily. But I could understand it and let him know that it wouldn't be bad. Although I would have liked to end the day with him, but if you were self-employed, you probably had to reckon with the fact that he would have to go away. "I'll be there as soon as I can." He kissed me and then disappeared back down the stairs.

Now the question was what I could do until Kian was back.

[...]

First, I decided to take a long bath. I used the huge bathtub, which even had a whirlpool function. Somehow it was something great when you had a rich man by your side. While I didn't take advantage of him for his money, it was clearly an advantage. Better than the life situation I had with my mother before. Now she came back to me. How was she doing? Did she notice that I was gone and that she missed me? Maybe I should go visit her...

yes i should do that After all, weeks had passed since I no longer lived at home. That was the second thing I decided to do today. Kian would certainly understand if I was away for a few hours. I also thought that he wouldn't be coming home any time soon. If it was something important, he was certainly busy.

After spending about an hour in the tub and treating myself to a face mask, I got dressed in my dressing room. I chose something looser as it was still very warm outside. A white dress with a floral pattern clung to my body. I had put on gold-colored sandals. Then I called a taxi, which was there after about ten minutes. I grabbed some bills from Kian's office and left him a message. He once showed me where to find the money if I ever needed it.

As I sat in the cab, I worried a little about how I should act when I was about to face my mother. It was hard to believe that she might have changed over the weeks. Her addiction was out of control. She was heavily addicted, so there was no way she could ever make it out on her own. Unless she finally got help.

I just let the coming situation surprise me.

After about a twenty-five minute drive, I finally arrived at my old home. It felt like I had been gone longer than a few weeks. This place suddenly seemed foreign to me, even though I had lived here almost all my life.

I ran to the front door and found my mother's name tag: Graves.I pressed the bell and waited for someone to answer. And indeed, after less than a minute, the door downstairs was opened for me before I went up the stairs towards the apartment. But instead of my mother standing in front of the door, there was a somewhat broadly built man who gave me a funny look. A queasy feeling rose in me, but closing a retreat now was too late. "Can I help you, little one?" came the man's deep voice. I swallowed hard, feeling a little scared too. "I wanted to see Jane, my mother." The stranger nodded and stepped aside. It was probably one of her lovers again, coming and going. Despite the fact that it seemed dangerous, he was strangely friendly. Or looks were deceiving.

I walked towards the living room where my mother was sitting on the sofa watching some documentary. She seemed different, healthier. When she saw me, she stood up in surprise. "Saphira?" Seeing me for the first time made my throat tighten. It was an indescribable feeling that I could not put into words. "Oh honey." She came over to me and pulled me into a hug. That too was a long time ago. "Where have you been these weeks?" "Didn't you read my message?" "Yes, but what exactly does that mean?" she said sadly. I took a deep breath before I spoke. "Mom, you know it yourself." She looked down ruefully and let her shoulders sag. "Listen, I know it wasn't easy-" but before she could finish her sentence, I cut her off. "Mom, you don't know anything! Ever since dad died you let me down too You didn't see me anymore. You didn't know how I was. You had no idea how I found the money to pay the damn bills!' I said loudly. Now that she was sane, I just had to have said it.

The man, who looked well groomed, stepped a little closer to my mother. “Jane isn't clean yet, but she's getting there. I am obliged to help your mother since she asked for support. She didn't want to go to the clinic because she wanted to try it first,' he explained. "By the way, I'm Owen, an addiction counselor," he added, holding out his hand, which I politely accepted. So he was responsible for getting my mother out of there somehow. On the one hand, it relieved me because she finally accepted help. She did it voluntarily.

We sat down on the sofa as Owen then also told me a bit about my mother's progress. Apparently my sudden disappearance had been the trigger. She told me that after a few days had passed she realized that I would not be coming back. I was a little surprised that she had somehow noticed. “I ran out of money for the stuff, so I was sober again. But then the withdrawal symptoms came..." , my mother said. And then Owen came into play.

It was nice to hear that she hadn't completely thrown her life away. Just because Dad wasn't alive didn't mean she couldn't be either. I also revealed my thoughts and confessed to her that I had already considered burying her emotionally. I had lost hope in her and this made her cry. Not because my thought was wrong, but because she was ashamed that she had pushed herself to this point.

The joint conversation was very good for both of us. It was probably the right decision to visit my mother.

"I see you're fine too." She pointed to my clothes, which didn't exactly look cheap. Now came the part where of course she wanted to know where I lived at the moment and how I could afford it all. "Yes, I met someone there who became very important to me." I wasn't sure how she would take it now. After all, this man was seventeen years older and rich as hell. "Does this someone also have a name?" she asked curiously. I smiled as it was kinda cute that she suddenly took an interest in my life. "Kian Sheeran." I said his name. Now Owen looked at me skeptically. "The Kian Sheeren who's a lawyer?" he asked. I nodded in reply. "He's almost forty." "Thirty-six," I corrected him. Now my mother looked over at me in shock. What was wrong with that? 'Saphira... you're-you're not serious, are you? He could be your uncle.” I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Why did some feel it was bad if you had a slightly larger age difference? I was slowly getting bored with the topic.

“Mom, I'm almost twenty and I can choose who I want to be with. Besides, you didn't care before either.” My bitchy tone wasn't intentional. But it just annoyed me. My mother acted like it was suddenly a natural disaster. She snorted resignedly. "Nice. But I warn you. If he hurts you, think again about the advice we wanted to give you.” It was only well-intentioned by the two of them, but Kian would never want to hurt me on purpose. I was more than sure of that.

We decided to let the topic be for now and drank a cup of tea together. Then I took a taxi back to the property.

I would like to visit my mother again very soon and support her in her progress. She promised me to hold on. It wasn't easy for her, but she wanted to fight to her goal. And that's how we developed our relationship, which we want to cultivate in the near future.

As I walked in the door, I heard loud voices coming from a room. I was able to assign a woman to this. Confused, I walked towards the office and opened it. I stood frozen and couldn't believe my eyes.

What the fuck was going on here?! Kian's shirt was half torn while Ruby stood half naked in front of his chair. Her lipstick was smudged, which only confirmed what was going on here. He couldn't have been fucking serious. He just looked at me in shock while Ruby wore a victorious smile. The bitch had taken advantage of it in all seriousness.

"You bastard." was all I could get out before storming out of the room and running to my room. I didn't want to stay here any longer, so I packed my bags.

Owen and my mother were right...