NIRELLE - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

I angrily step into the room, my eyes darting around the place as if I am searching for something when I am just trying to calm down. I couldn't put my finger on why I had been so triggered by whatever it was that he was doing. I remember what he said about my family being in the news and needing consolation. Maybe this was a good idea for me to get my mind off whatever I was feeling.
I take my iPad and begin scrolling through the news, and my mouth drops in shock. It had been revealed that Cory might have to go to jail for embezzlement. I wonder what Enoch would be thinking of his perfect child now. What on earth did Lucien do? How did he know what was going on in the company? Did he have more insider knowledge than the owner of the company?
I quickly checked to see if Enoch was trying to restore the image of his son and family, but it seemed like nothing was popping up. Was he not trying, or was his effort getting drowned?
I took the paper that he had given me earlier and stared at the numbers on it. Yvette is still the only person among them that I can freely speak with. I sigh and punch her number into the phone ever so slowly, then put it against my ear. With each trilling ring, I hope she does not pick up. At least it would be on record that I tried. The last ring was followed by a beeping connecting sound and then a sigh.
"We are not giving out any information at this time," she said. She sounded stressed, more stressed than I remembered her to be.
"Mom?" I say feeling the word gets stuck in the air and does not flow over. I hear a deep sigh, and then she clears her throat.
"? Is that you?"
"Do you have another daughter?" I wonder if I have a death wish because I could never get so sarcastic and cheeky with her ever. She does not respond to the sarcasm but goes on.
"How are you doing? Is that house treating you well?" Her questions seemed forced. I know it is forced because even while I was right under her nose, she never cared how I was doing. And when I had moved away, she did not try to know how I was. "I had seen the news of you, I must say; for him to show you off like that, he must be impressed with you." She was shifting the topic.
"Yeah," I say, because I am not sure what I am supposed to say next.
"Did you call to say hi? Should I put Enoch on?" Her question is almost threatening. It makes me wonder how far technology has gone and if they could pry themselves through the phone and harm me.
"No need," I almost shout out, then I clear my throat and sit higher. "He must be busy trying to clear the mess," I add. I want her to know that I am not totally alienated from the world anymore.
"There is a mess here, but you don't need to worry about it; he would clean it up," she said, and I nodded. Her tone makes me believe that she did not suspect that Lucien might be behind it, and now I want to know how it happened.
"How did it happen?" I throw it in the air. I know it's a wild card, and she might not answer, but at least it is worth a try. "It must be some false accusations against Cory; I know he won't do something like that," I add, trying to butter her up. I know that Cory was very well capable of doing something so stupid, and even more stupid to get caught so easily by someone on the outside.
"Huh!" she sighed, and I can imagine her tight face in my mind; she would be worried, but there would be no lines across her forehead, almost like a baby face. "Someone is framing Cory; at least that is what his claim is."
"That is what it has to be." I wonder why I am digging deeper. Lucien had asked me to only deliver consolations, so I wonder why I was trying to butter them up so badly. "There is no way Cory would betray Dad like that," I say and almost gag immediately.
"Don't you worry about us here; just be a good girl for your husband," she says, and I can't believe she was still hung up on something like that even in this situation. "Show him how good you are, and how good I raised you, too," she added. I respond with a sound of approval.
"I have to go now; Enoch is setting up meetings, and I want to help him," she said, and the line beeped dead. I am sure it was far worse than she was letting on; she still wanted to present her little family as perfect, even to me, who was no longer interested in her. I sigh as I throw the phone on the bed and follow it almost immediately.
My mind can't help but think of how this was the start for Enoch and his perfect little family; even if Lucien did not plan to strip everything they owned from them, I was going to make sure of it. They deserved it after all. My mind slowly shifts to how I never heard Yvette refer to Enoch as her husband. In his absence, he was just Enoch and something Mr. Thamore. In his presence, he was Cory's father, your father, or my lord.
Maybe she was just as much the victim as I was, and all she did was make the best of the situation. If I had agreed to allow him to have his way with me every night, would things have been different? Would I have been a different woman by now? Would I not have been locked up in the basement after huge gates were drawn in my face?
I close my eyes and shake my head because I do not want to talk about any of this again. I sigh and push myself out of bed; I am hungry since I did not get anything to eat. Dinner should be over by now. I step out and walk as silently as I can, and somewhere in the hallway, I see Lucien walking towards me with a tray in his hand, and without thinking, I turn and run back into the room, closing the door behind me and locking it.