Her Sacrifices For The Billionaire

Akira Defended Herself

"You evil bitch... what kind of spellbound did you put on my son?!" Rayner's mother shouted at Akira with pure anger.

"Me? Evil witch...? OK, fine. Then let me tell you what I've done for all of you so that you can judge me based on that...

I will start with the murderer, Evelyn... You killed Mel, and you are quite aware of that, but you put the blame on me, causing me to suffer for almost ten years for your crime. Seven good years on the run, and three solid, loveless years in a marriage that made my life a hell.

All of you just take pleasure in torturing me and bossing me around, all in the name of a crime I didn't commit.

Now my question is... Who was Mel to all of you? Were you all closer to her or did you only pretend in front of her but hate her behind her back?"

Everyone fell silent at the question thrown at them. Akira took that as a cue to continue.

"And you, Regina... When I was your age, it would have been very hard for me to look an elder straight in the eyes. But you, little brat, keep slapping and yelling at me as if I were your equal or your peer.

I really can't blame you, since you grew up without manners. But guess what? I think it's high time you stop night partying because I won't be your watchman anymore!" Akira snarled at her.

Regina's eyes grew wider. How did Akira know about her sneaking out?

"What?? What night partying?" Mr. Miller asked, fuming and confused.

Regina became terrified. If her parents and older brother got to know about this, she would be dead.

"Y... you. Li... liar. What... are... are yo... you talking about?" Regina managed to say, her words betraying her.

"Oh really? I'm a liar? Then we can call the security guards to confirm it. Have you ever questioned yourself why they never say anything to your parents, or why the main gate is always opened for you when you return from your parties?

It's because I HAVE TO ALWAYS WAIT AT THE GATE FOR YOU AND BRIBE THE SECURITY GUARDS NOT TO MENTION A WORD TO YOUR BROTHER. I've never wanted your brother to get upset because he has already suffered enough," Akira said seriously at first but whispered the last part as her eyes met Rayner's.

"REGINA MILLER, WHAT THE HECK IS SHE TALKING ABOUT?" Mr. Miller shouted at his daughter, making her feel scared.

But Akira spoke before Regina could even get the chance to respond.

"Why get angry, Mr. Miller, as if you haven't done anything wrong? Remember the woman who blackmailed you with a fake pregnancy?" Akira questioned, seeing how everyone gawked at Mr. Miller.

"What is she talking about, Miller?" his wife asked him softly but sharply.

"I was the one who threatened that woman to leave you alone or else I would have the police arrest her since you were so weak in front of her. Now let me ask you, Mr. Miller, have you wondered why she stopped bothering you? IT'S BECAUSE OF ME, THE EVIL AND THE MURDERER YOU CALL."

Mr. Miller lowered his head out of embarrassment.

"Now for you, uncle, regarding the file your opponent stole from you just last week—do you have any idea how it reached your office? NO? I guess you won't know either.

I had to burn the midnight oil, look for my opponent's weakness, and use it to threaten them to give it back to me. You were happy because you found the file, but did you ever bother to look into how it reached your office?"

Tears started forming in Akira's eyes, but she blinked them away. This was not the moment to cry.

But Tristan was different. He held his mother's hand and sobbed.

"Coming to you, Dylan... I've been married to your brother for three good years, but have you ever shown me any kind of respect? NO!! Because all of you just use Ma'am Mel's death to disguise your maltreatment of me.

You got Lydia as your girlfriend after trying to woo her on the first day at your university, right? But did you ever question why she accepted you after two good years of rejecting you?"

Dylan, Rayner's second brother, looked at Akira with utter surprise and shock. How did Akira know about that?

"It's because I had a talk with her about you. No matter how rude you are to me, no matter how much you constantly insult me and throw things at me, I felt you were actually sincere toward Lydia. So I made her see the other side of you. Did you ever question or wonder why she accepted you all of a sudden?

Ha! How funny that I'm the devil and the murderer, yet I'm the one solving all your dirty secrets for you," Akira said, and this time she couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

And that's what Rayner hated to see—her tears. Her tears pained him deeply. He just didn't want to ever see her cry.

"Are you done with your drama?" Catherine, Evelyn's sister, scoffed at Akira and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I'm not done yet, Cath, because I haven't said what I've done for you." Akira wanted to smirk, but she wasn't raised with such things, so she didn't know how to smirk. Her smirk obviously turned into a warm smile.

"And what have you done for me? Huh? You liar," Catherine hissed at her.

"Oh really?" Akira said and rolled up her long-sleeved shirt, showing everyone a scar on her hand.

"I got this scar when I saved you from being r***d when you were returning from college last year." Everyone froze... they knew Catherine was nearly r***d if it hadn't been for some girl wearing a black cardigan, which covered her face.

"You..." Catherine wanted to say something, but Akira beat her to it.

"Yes, me... How funny. I got worried when you complained about being stalked. Luckily, I didn't go to work that day and decided to follow you secretly to college. Thus, I wasted all my time and energy as your bodyguard. When you were taken by two guys all of a sudden under the Marple tree, I quickly ran after you, and when I saw them tearing your clothes... I guess I don't need to continue since this is such a sensitive topic for you."

"LIAR!!! Okay, tell me, I said something to my savior that day. If it was actually you, then tell me... TELL ME WHAT THE f**k I TOLD YOU THAT DAY!!" Catherine shouted, not believing that her savior could be Akira.

"Excuse me... are you a man or a woman? It's okay if you don't want to answer me. But I just want to tell you how grateful I am... Actually, I have been stalked for almost three months now. My classmates make fun of me all the time, saying my family is the reason why I'm in this university because I don't deserve to be here. I badly want to leave this school. I'm sick and tired of them pointing fingers at me all the time and talking behind my back. But I can't tell my family. I can't tell them because... because they won't even believe me. I have a big house full of maids and everything, but I'm really unhappy... I feel like a total stranger in the house. My parents only care about my elder sister. And me..."

"ENOUGH!!!" Catherine cut Akira off, her tears flowing. "Enough, Akira, please..." she pleaded for the first time, shocking everyone.

"I was just narrating what you said to me that day. I got hurt saving you. But guess what makes everything funny? You came home and vented all your anger on me. I remember you pressing hard on my hand that was stabbed just to prove to everyone that I was faking my pain. I bled a lot but couldn't even go to the hospital."

Akira cried out.

"You all say that you hate me... but I guess what—I HATE ALL OF YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!!" Akira shouted and ran upstairs with her tears flowing.

Rayner stood up abruptly and followed her.

"Ray... Where are you going? I'm not feeling well, Ray," Evelyn pretended.

"Then go visit the hospital. And where I go is none of your business," Rayner snarled, making Evelyn flinch from his anger.

"Come here, buddy... Let's go check on your mama," Rayner said, then carried the crying Tristan upstairs, leaving everyone who looked at him with nothing but utter shock.

*******

"Stay in my room for now, buddy. I will go talk to your mommy first, okay?" Rayner said to Tristan.

"Will my mommy be okay, Uncle Ray...?" the boy asked.

"Sure, buddy. I promise that I won't punish your mom anymore," Rayner said to the boy.

Tristan's eyes shot up with sparkle. "Really?"

"Sure... Uncle Ray promises you that," Rayner said and ruffled his hair.

"THANK YOU, UNCLE RAY!!" Tristan threw himself at Rayner and hugged his middle waist with his small hands.

A small smile crept onto Rayner's face. "How nice it would be if you were my baby Brandon. Or if my baby Brandon were here, I bet he would be the same age as you," Rayner said inwardly, feeling sad all of a sudden.

He let go of Tristan and walked out of his room to Akira's room.

The door was already open, so he just entered and saw Akira curled up in the corner of her room crying. His heart immediately ached to see her like that.

"I can see you don't want to go to work today," Rayner said without realizing how much his words affected Akira.

He initially wanted to calm her down, but the tone he used made Akira flinch. In the whole house, the only person Akira is afraid of is Rayner.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rayner, I will wash my face and get ready now," Akira said without looking at his face. She knew Rayner was angry with her because of her actions downstairs. Or at least, that's what she thought.

"I'm... so... sorry for misbehaving... downstairs, Mr. Rayner. I let... my emotions... take over me. I will... apologize to them... after I clean myself up." Akira paused before continuing.

"I will take any... any punishment you give... me," Akira said and prayed for him not to starve her.

"Oh God, please don't let him starve me today too. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday because he punished me. I don't think I can last any longer without eating," she prayed aloud without realizing it.

Rayner's eyes widened. He had indeed punished her by not letting her eat yesterday. He never thought the woman still hadn't eaten. "I'm totally a piece of s**t," he scolded himself inwardly.

Akira got up from the floor with her head hanging low. She walked past Rayner, but what he did made her eyes widen in disbelief.

Rayner pulled Akira into his chest and hugged her for the first time in three years of their marriage and for the second time in ten years since they met.

"I'm sorry, Akira... I promise to be good to you from now on," Rayner uttered.

Akira was shocked as hell. What was just happening? First, he said in front of his family that she was innocent and not a murderer. And now...

Nevertheless, it had really been a long time since someone hugged her. Akira's eyes welled with tears, and she lost herself to Rayner, hugging him back tightly and wailing her heart out.

"Why??? Just why me??? Why do I have to suffer for almost ten years without committing any crime? Why has life been so hard for me since the beginning? I hate all of you... I hate you, Mr. Rayner... I... I ha... hate you..."

Akira cried out, but Rayner didn't say anything. He just rocked her back and stroked her hair.

"I am sorry, Akira..." was the only thing he kept on saying while soothing the crying woman in his embrace.