THE BILLIONAIRE'S CRYBABY
Chapter 59: CORE MEMORY

Chapter 59: CORE MEMORY

Fay stepped back and withdrew her hands. Her head darted around in search of an escape route.

"What is it, Fay? Are you not glad to see your Aunt?"

"How— How di-d you get– in he-re?" She stuttered with quivering lips.

"What do you mean? Oh, I get it," the fake glint in her eyes switched to an evil glimmer. "You’re rich now. Living in a big house, with servants at your beck and call. Suddenly, you don’t want to be associated with the family that raised you. Your sisters are struggling to eat, but it’s no business of yours, right? What an ungrateful brat!" She snapped.

Alice stepped Forward as Fay flinched. "Excuse me Mrs, who are you? And what do you want from Mrs Fay?" She asked.

Marilyn stepped forward too, pulling Fay behind her. Together, they formed a wall to protect her from the intruder.

Lynne scoffed. "What do you two think you’re doing? I’m talking to my niece. She has an obligation to her family. Excuse me," she tried to slide her way through, but Alice moved and blocked her from going through. "Are you hard of hearing? I said move!"

"You have no right to talk to me in that tone. I don’t work for you. Now if you don’t leave, I’ll call the police and they’ll come pick you up for breaking and entering," Alice warned.

Lynne broke into a maniacal laughter. "Fay? Would you let them do that to your aunt? You’d stand there and watch these maids talk to your Aunt in that tone? To think I’ve been so worried about you, after learning you were just at the hospital. This is how you repay me?"

"You don’t have to respond to her," Marilyn whispered, holding her shoulders.

She knew she didn’t have to, but how could she not. Her Aunt was right. She was the reason she was still alive. If not for her generosity, she would never have gotten this life she was currently living, because there wouldn’t be any life to live.

"Let her through," she said, her voice a little less shaky than before.

"What?!" Alice whipped her head behind in absolute shock.

"I’d just talk to her quickly." She pleaded with her eyes.

"I didn’t think I should," Marilyn said, keeping a cautious eye on the aunt who had a smug smile on her rigid face.

"It’s okay, Alice. Please move out of the way."

She moved, but only beside Fay. While Marilyn stood to her left, she stood to her right ready to throw a punch if it was needed.

Her eyes trailed beyond the evil woman, and she found one of the house securities resting a scrutinizing gaze on them. Her heart calmed a little, knowing there was someone to step in if things got messy.

Lynne stepped forward, and stopped in front of Fay. Her hands reached out, causing Fay to jerk reflexively.

"Don’t fret, I’m just trying to see your hair," she said, touching its length.

Marilyn threw a look at Fay, but her eyes were too busy roaming the ground to respond.

Her fingers itched to call Ace. Not only had the woman come in disguise, following the aggrieved workers, she made his wife uncomfortable. Regardless of the problems between them, she knew he would never let that slide.

"It’s time for you to cut it, Fay." she tugged the hair with a little too much false, and Fay yelped.

"You’re hurting her!" Alice marched forward.

"Mind your business! That’s my child. I raised her along with her sisters. You don’t know what’s best for her the way I do."

"And how’s the length of her hair bad for her?" Marilyn snapped. She had been trying to contain her bile towards the woman, but the more she spoke, the less control she had over her reaction.

"Fay, tell them. Why are you quiet? Tell them why you can’t keep lengthy hair."

Fay began to tremble. It started with just her fingers, and then her toes followed. Soon, her eyes watered. She didn’t want to think of the past, but her aunt’s presence had brought back memories she thought permanently locked away.

"Mrs Fay, what is she talking about?" Marilyn nudged her gently.

"Yes Fay, tell them what your hair is capable of doing to innocent souls."

Alice hissed aloud. She didn’t want to hear it. The woman was clearly trying to get under Fay’s skin. She preferred kicking her out before she could cause more damage to Fay, who was barely recovering from her last encounter with Ace’s aunt.

"I– I didn’t mean–" her hushed voice grew silent, as her eyes adorned a faraway expression.

She was reliving that day all over again. It should be something she never had to think about. One of those scars bottled, and never reopened.

"Please–" she whispered.

"Mrs Fay?" Marilyn called in an alarm. "You don’t have to say anything. I’ll take you in if you like."

"No. Not before she tells you why she can’t keep long hair. Go on Fay. Tell them, or I will."

"Please," a single tear fell down her face, her lip quivering ferociously. "I can’t."

"And you don’t have to. Let’s go in. If I have to, I’ll bundle her out of the compound," Alice said. To show she wasn’t kidding, she threw a daring glare at Lynne.

"You’re not going to speak? Then allow me to do it," she said, ignoring Alice’s stare.

"Are you deaf? We don’t want to hear it!" Alice insisted dangerously.

"But you need to be told. Fay is not the kind of child you let grow wings. She’s a sin cast upon this fragile world. If allowed, she’d ruin the heir. I’m the only one that can contain her. Ask her. She knows the truth."

Fay closed her eyes. She wanted to close her ears, but she couldn’t move her hands. It was a long time ago. She was just a teen. A foolish teen who didn’t know better.

Her chest hurt from all the pain she was confronted with. Memories so dark and twisted, it would take an eternity to completely erase.

But she had successfully put a cover on them, until now. Stupid of of her to think she could even be happy with a history like that.

Her karma for being born was perpetual sadness. Not even a miracle could change the course of her fate.

"Mrs Fay, let me take you in." Marilyn grabbed her trembling shoulders, gently turning her around.

"She seduced the father of my children with that hair," she blurted in a loud voice.

Fay froze, and Marilyn felt her body still.

"No," Fay mumbled. "No." She shook her head.

"What did you just say?" Alice took another step forward, fully ready to pounce.

"Ask her! She wrapped that hair around my husband’s hand, and told him to sleep with her. She told him she was a better option than me. Still, I forgave her when I found out. With my bare hands, I worked and she ate. Ask her!" She continued in a vicious voice.

Fay wept. The day she had successfully buried, resurfaced in a whoosh.

That evening, the air smelled like chicken. The father of the girls, her aunt’s husband, had returned home after thirteen years of being away.

She was fourteen. Her Aunt had been so happy. He brought a lot of food too. They all ate, and celebrated his presence.

Two days later, she was left alone with him. Her Aunt took her daughter for their monthly dentist appointment. A luxury she was never afforded.

She was given careful instructions to microwave the food from the freezer if they didn’t return by noon, and serve it to him.

She cried profusely, as her thoughts inched towards the bedroom. His bedroom. The one he shared with her Aunt.

The food was carefully placed on a tray she wielded, she knocked and was told to come in. She entered the room and met her aunt’s husband, stark naked.

Before she could pull her eyes away, he jumped on her, causing the tray to fall to the ground.

She stumbled out of Marilyn’s hold, and grabbed her chest as she bent her knee to the ground.

"Mrs Fay?" Marilyn screamed.

He released her hair from the band used to tie it. Told her she was the most beautiful piece of art he had ever seen, and how much he was struggling to keep his eyes off her.

"Mrs Fay, please get up," Alice said, looking around.

Some staff were beginning to file out in their numbers. They stood, watching the boss’s wife on her knees, weeping profusely.

She pleaded with him not to hurt her. But he wrapped his hands around her hair, telling her how fascinating he found it.

With his hand playing with her hair, while she struggled to run out of his hold, the door pushed open, and her aunt came into the room.

He quickly pushed her away. When he opened his mouth, lies sweeter than honey were expelled from it.

Ten years later, her aunt still believed the lie that a fourteen year old tried to seduce her husband.

Pain rocked her body, as she buried her head to the ground, and wailed.