The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

CHAPTER EIGHT

MILA'S POV.

After Carter had successfully persuaded Felicity to go sleep, that we were going to retire afterwards, we went ahead to seat on the Sofa and began reminiscing the night's events.

"I'm sorry you had to break off your relationship because of me."

"You shouldn't be" he replied looking indifferent. "I think I brought commotion into your life, as much as you did mine. So, no hard feelings" He gave a tight smile. "By the way, why were you being so inquisitive about us. I mean, I and my ex?" He queried.

"To be sincere, I wanted to know if you both were still together." I answered honestly.

"What would you have done if you had found out we were still together?"

"Probably.....find a way out of this mess?" I said unsure. "I didn't have anyone in my life before the news of you, but I can imagine how it feels to let go of someone you still love, for something that has an alternative. I was scared that I would probably live the rest of my life regretting why I had to entrap an innocent man into living the rest of his life with me, a woman he has never loved."

"Would you have been able to convince Claudia against it? I can see she's really trying her best to see the union between us works out, even if it means lying to me. You know, she had told me that you were the one who pressurized your Father into letting you come live with me." When I heard Carter say that, I was shocked to say the least.

"That was the exact thing she told me too. That you had told Dad to let me come live with you until the wedding. That woman is so manipulative indeed!" I smiled in unbelief. "What else did she tell you about me? I smell lies everywhere."

"There was a certain time she told me how petty you could be, if you didn't get what you wanted. Hell! I even thought she was your biological mother until recently."

"Yes, she is not my biological mother, and for that I'm grateful. I remember when I used to wish Claudia had bore me. I thought, maybe she could genuinely love me then. Maybe she could care for me as her own. But now, I honestly can't be more grateful that God blessed me with Claire Edward Monteiro, may her gentle soul rest in peace. She was, and will always be the best mother I could ever have. There is nothing as the love of a biological parent."

"I would love to disagree with you on that, now" Carter countered. "There are some step parents or foster parents, that will be the best a child could ever have, and there are biological parents who don't deserve having a gift as blessed as a child."

"In as much as I beg to differ, I would love to know the reason for such ideology."

"You remember earlier this night, when Nathan made mention of his Spanish root right? We were both silent in anger, pain and grief, because his parents weren't there to act as such, when they should have."

"You can't blame his parents for that! Blame death Carter!" I couldn't believe what Carter was onto at that moment. "It's just like saying I should blame my Dad for dying, as he wouldn't be able to walk me down the aisle on my wedding. Carter that is life! Death happens, you don't blame the victims."

Carter became silent and didn't utter a single word.

"Wow! So you are gonna go all silent on me now? All I said was the blatant truth." I was about to utter another statement, when he spoke up.

"You know, I wanted to let you both take things slow, brew a great kind friendship betwixt you, and then probably, he would finally tell you about his life by himself. But then, I have come to a point where I have no other option but to let you know the whole story." He said calmly. "First of all, I understand that we all have different destinies and purposes in life, we can't all be the same. So also, we have all passed through different tough periods, and everyone thinks their story is the most painful, until they hear the story of another. The burden and grudge that they carry in their hearts everyday of their lives. The burden that deprives them of peace."

"Nathan is just 24, but had gone through a kind of rejection that no adult deserves to go through even in their old age." My heart was already sunken with the kind of words that Carter had spoken. "At age 12, Nathan Daniels, formerly known as Nathaniel Ricci, resided in Italy with his both parents and a twin sister Giorgia Ricci. In as much as Nathaniel's parents were below average in terms of finances, he and his sister were content with just being with their parents and living in the dilapitated building, with leaking ceilings. A day had come, when Nathaniel came back from school to find they had visitors at home, which was quite weird."

"From a tender age, he had learned that people do not like to associate with poverty except those who are equally poor. But that day, it was clear that their visitors weren't the regular poor ones, these ones were rich, judging from their shoes he had seen just at the doorstep. He was about to walk into the house, when he saw two huge men, dragging a struggling Giorgia out of the house. He screamed for his mama and Papa who eventually came out, but seemed unfazed by the whole situation. He eventually tried to fight one of the men, with such young Hope's of defeating the hefty man, but ended up on the floor, with blood flowing from his broken lips."

"He was still on the floor, when the last man stepped out of the house in all his Glory. The man looked like a typical drug lord. The next thing that happens is the man giving his now smiling parents a huge envelope that contained cash, as he said the words 'Nice doing business with you'. It was then that it dawned on poor Nathaniel, what his Parents had done to his sister. They had sold her. A griefed Nathaniel cried continuously for weeks. He hated his parents, but he hated himself more, he wasn't able to protect his sister. A lot of times, he tried to run away, but wouldn't go far and find himself coming back home. Being poor was a thing, but being on the streets was an entirely different thing. He couldn't cope all on his own."

"Whenever his parents would come back home with an expensive food or clothing, he knew it had come from his sister's sales, but he had no other choice than to eat, the child was hungry. Soon enough, they left the slums and moved into a decent apartment in a bubbling city. Still, never for once had his parents thought to have a conversation with him about his sister. He hadn't enrolled in a new school yet, since they had just moved in, or so he thought, until one afternoon. His parents came back home with another visitors. These ones were a mature looking couple. They looked nice and decent, so he didn't think ill of their arrival, until his mother had asked him to go get his bags and follow his new parents."

"No!!" I shouted in disbelief, but Carter countered me and continued his story.

"Yes. So this time, suprising both his parents, and his new parents, he quietly went into the room he had only moved into a few days ago, packed his bags, and followed the couple back home to America. He knew, his parents had sold him, just like they did his sister. Were they going to maltreat him like those men had manhandled his sister? Where they going to sell him over to someone else? Was he going to be their servant boy? These were the questions he asked himself, and silently prayed that out of the three, the last should be the case. Atleast, he could manage with doing the chores and being an errand boy. He thought back about his twin sister Giorgia. He hoped she was faring well, and he hoped she was still alive."

Carter went silent, and after waiting for him to talk, which he didn't, my curiosity got the best of me.

"So? What happened?" I asked.

"Eventually, the couple; Mr and Mrs Daniels, who took Nathaniel were wonderful, just as Nathaniel thought. Irrespective of the fact that the kind of luxury he had walked into was second to none, it was very clear that his new parents were rich. Maids all around, gardeners, chefs, security professionals and all, but still that wasn't home to him. He had lost his home the day his sister had left his life. A month after they arrived America, Nathaniel was still so withdrawn, and it got his new parents worried, so they went to have a talk with him."

"It turned out they were a very rich but barren couple that needed adopt a child. They had gone to Spain for vacation, and also as a facade to bring a child back home to America. The plan was to create the impression that he was Mr Daniel's bastard son. They had run into Mrs Ricci, Nathaniel's mother, who was out with her husband in some high class restaurant, obviously spending the money they had gotten for selling their daughter. They immediately kicked off and had a few discussions. Mrs Daniels goes ahead to ask for a well recommended orphanage, and Mrs Ricci asks why?"

"Eventually, the Daniels opened up about their circumstance, and told them they were looking for for a teenage boy to adopt. Obviously the criteria fit into Mrs Ricci's 'goods at hand' and she took the bait. Although, Mr and Mrs Ricci had told the Daniels that Nathaniel was just some poor orphan boy they have come across, and had been accommodating for a few weeks, because they knew that was the only way the Daniel's would accept to take him along."

"After Mr and Mrs Daniels, had narrated their own part of the story, Nathaniel narrated his, and the Daniels became mad with rage. They promised to take Nathaniel as their own, and also take care of him to their best capabilities. He changed his name to Nathan Daniels, and underwent all legal processes to become their son. When Nathan got into high school the following year, we met each other. At age 18, he was named heir to all the companies, properties and investments they had. Now that is the story of Nathan Daniels. He never lost his biological parents, they gave him up for money."

By the time he was done with the story, I felt my eye sting with emotion, as tears slid down freely. It's was how he went through all these at such a young age, and managed to come out of it strong. Nobody deserves to be treated in such manner. Carter scooted closer to clean the tears that had stained my cheek.

"Come on, now. It's all in past, and he came out victorious." I was still nodding in agreement, when I remembered Giorgia.

"What about Giorgia? What happened with her? Did Nathan find her?"

"Nathan has been out of the states for a while, he just got back recently. He has been trying to trace the whereabouts of Giorgia. They had started the hunt ever since his foster parents got to know about it 12 years ago. So far, they haven't found a thing about her yet. Lately, Nathan has grown quite obsessive about the whole search. His parents believe the girl had died already, as you can imagine the harsh life she led, living with a drug lord, but Nathan doesn't want to even consider the option, talk more about believing it."

"I wouldn't want to believe it too if I were him" I muttered sadly.

"But that maybe the harsh truth. All I pray for him every day, is for the lord to give him peace. That's what he needs."

"It's so shocking how a lot of people mask pain with a smiling face, you know. He looked so happy tonight, like he didn't give a care to the world." I reminisced.

"He's a strong one, and I'm very glad he has my back at all times."

"So about Felicity..." I changed the subject. "I see you both a quite close."

"That we are! that we are. They woman had been there for me my entire life. She practically bathed me and dressed me up for school" Carter reminisced as I laughed in realization.

"Carter! She was your Nanny! Felicity was your Nanny. Really?!" I laughed hysterically.

"Yes, she was!" He accepted without putting up a debate. "But what's so funny about it?"

"What's funny, is that you haven't matured yet. You cannot survive on your own without her" I jested, and he laughed.

"In truth, the bond between Felicity and I, go beyond a baby and his Nanny. Felicity took care of me as her own, when my mother could no longer manage to."

"Uh oh! So sorry. What was the matter with your mother?" I asked.

"She was sick" He smiled.

"She got better eventually right?"

"Yeah she did, but I was already accustomed to being brought up by another. Felicity had protected me, and stood in the gap, whenever my mother couldn't. I owe the woman a lot." He said.

"There's this memory I always like to reminisce with Nathan. It was on a certain day. I was just Seventeen, and Nathan had come visiting. I can't really remember how, but some how, we had hit the grande Chandelier in the center of the sitting room, with the hand soccer we were playing. That was my Dad's favorite, it was completely made of clear glass and it caught the eyes of everyone who came visiting at the mansion. Nathan and I almost died of shock, when the Chandelier fell to the floor and crashed to bits."

"My Mom had rushed in to see what happened, and was already chastising me. Nathan eventually had to go home, and I was all on my own with no one to defend me. My father came back and saw the mess, I had made. He had hit me immediately, and gave me a good beating. But then, I was shocked when he got a whip, everything had happened so fast, that by the time both I and Dad could comprehend what had happened, I was under Felicity's cover, and her back her taken the rough whip. When Dad realized what had happened, he left in anger. We took Felicity and tended to her injury. Up until now, she still wears that scar"

"I'm speechless. But your father was being unnecessarily harsh. It was just a Chandelier"

"His favorite Chandelier" I corrected.

"Even at that! In as much as Claudia used to hurt me physically, never again will she have the opportunity to do so, It never went beyond the slaps, the kicks, and the verbal abuses. It never got to the level of using a whip"

"I'm glad it didn't. It's not a nice experience"

"Well, how do you know that the scar hasn't healed yet?"

"I see it everyday"

"You check her back every day?" I shrieked!

"The scar extends to the back of her neck. So I see it everyday"

"That's so sad... Poor Felicity"

"That was the last time my father whipped me ever again"

"It is supposed to be." I concurred. "That's why you are responsible for her daughters right?" Carter looked at me immediately.

"You had a discussion with her?" He asked

"Oh yes, I did. Infact, we spent the better part of our day chatting."

"I thought you said you were crocheting?"

"Yes we were. Do we crochet with our mouths closed?" I laughed.

"So... What did she say about me?"

"Afraid she snitched on your childhood mischiefs?" I teased.

"A man can never be too careful, you know." He laughed nervously.

"Hey! you don't get to be nervous now! She only said how you took care of her family, and how she had looked after you since you were little. Nothing else that is out of the ordinary." I shrugged.

"Okayyyy. Yeah! She was a good friend of my mom"

"Was?" I asked

"I mean, Is. Forgive my mistake" He smile uneasily.

"I really do hope to meet your mother soon" I blurted out, before I could hold it in. I knew i was blushing deep red by now.

"Hmmm I see someone wants to get familiar with the family of her future husband" Carter teased. "Well, luck is on your side, you just reminded me about the Family dinner we were invited for."

"When?!" I squealed.

"The day after tomorrow" He replied with a light chuckle.

"I greatly anticipate!" I grinned.

"It's actually a merged dinner. To celebrate my engagement, and to welcome my brother. Smith just got back from college today. He is a graduate now." Carter grinned widely.

"You must love him so much. Your grin is so wide, your lips may bleed" I joked.

"Yes, I love the kid. He has got my back for the longest time. He's a brother indeed. He can't wait to meet you in person."

"I can only hope I'll impress him." I smiled.

"That should be the least of your problems, Mila" He laughed.

"But what?!" I giggled. "I have to create a good first impression, if not....." I trailed off

"If not what? They'd convince me to call of the marriage? Don't forget that getting married to you was Father's decision to make after all."

"True" I agreed. After a while of discussing other random things, we both bade each other good night, and went to our separate rooms.

As I walked into my room, I stripped my clothes and stepped into the shower. As the water dribbled down my face to my body, I was thinking about one thing, or rather person.

Giorgia Ricci, where in heaven's name are you?