Chapter 0015

Words once spoken cannot be unspoken.

Regret is the bitterest pill to swallow.

Time can only flow forward.

Erica silently wished she could undo the last 10 minutes so she cover her mouth, silencing herself and blocking the bitterest pill from ever being swallowed.

The remorseful Ruse Maren sat in a dark corner of the town square watching two people chat with the others in their party in perfect harmony. She wanted to be a part of the group, but she doesn’t know how to enter their circle of friendship.

Now she doesn’t know if she’ll ever be forgiven.

Laurie is the most amicable among her family members while John had the greatest patient.

She cross their bottom line today. She knew it, but she couldn’t help herself. Guilt, envy, jealousy and self recrimination follows her when ever she was near Jessica.

Erica never hated her parents as she did today. They filled her head with lies and temptation, urging her to take what was her right. If she wasn’t going to take her rightful place for the family then they will do it for her.

They intended to get Uncle Jason in trouble at the family reunion by ‘losing’ their valuable onto Laurie. It did not work like they intended. Laurie was with Erica the entire time. When Laurie spilled the drink on her dress, Erica’s took the chance to make a fuss.

Eric Deveraux, as the CEO of a multi billion euro company didn’t get where he was by being stupid. Only with hindsight did Erica realized their antics were nothing but a cheap performance in front of the multi-millionaire. He knew what they wanted and he played along. He offered them money to never show up in front of his face again.

The amount was the a lot to the Burkett. However, they knew Eric had more. They were not satisfied with what was offered but they took the money anyways.

They promptly appear in front of Uncle Jason and tried to blackmail him too.

Her parent’s greed and sense of entitlement embarras Erica. She never made friends because everyone in school knew if they were to befriend her, her parents were going to scam them. Erica was lonely growing up. Laurie’s friendship, albeit however short it was, was a balm to Erica’s soul. It gave Erica a taste of a decent life.

Erica’s guilt and envy towards Jessica started here. They took her money and immediately broke the clause of the contract. Furthermore, it destroyed any chance of Erica befriending Laurie. Laurie could have been her best friend. Laurie was a kind and considerate child who grew up to be a gentle woman. They could have grown up together.

Eric Deveraux retaliated against her parents betrayal immediately. It was as if he knew they were lying when they took the money. Erica’s fear of the Deveraux started here. Looking back, the punishment was not harsh as it could have been. It could have been worst. Instead of a three day imprisonment with conditions similar to solitary confinement in jail, the Deveraux could have sold Erica to recoup their money or sell her organs.

The agonizing screams were the worst. Erica hid there in the dark, listening to people being raped and tortured, believing they were coming after her next. What kind of torture goes days without end? What kind of sick mind created the torture chamber? When will someone come rescue her?

Then the questions plagued her. Why was she here? Who was behind this? What did they want with her?

The unknown scared the little girl. Those three days, she lived of the edge of fear. Intermittent paralysis, mind numbing terror and acute helpless engulf the frozen child.

Then she was set free with a warning. Eric was waiting for her in the car. He took her back to her parent’s house in broad daylight, dropped her off like she coming from school, walked her to the doorsteps and told her parents next time it won’t be so easy.

The young child wanted to retaliate. She wanted to call the police and report him, but her parents stopped her. They could do nothing against the millionaire. There were no proof.

Erica was missing? The Burkett never filed a missing persons report.

Torture? There was nothing physically wrong with her.

Eye witness? The words of a child is not reliable.

Motives? The Burkett blackmail the Deveraux. This is nothing more than another scheme to get more money.

That devil held a child hostage, mentally tortured her for three days and walk away like he knew he was going to get away with it, like he did it a million times before.

Everytime she saw Eric Deveraux, she either quake in her shoes or become paralyzed from fear. Years later, she found the courage to ask him why? Why did he kidnapped a child? What did she do to deserve the punishment?

Even now Erica remember the enigmatic smile on Eric’s face as he ripped away the lies her parents surround her with. He showed her proof after proof of her parent’s wrongdoings, that they went into hiding leaving Erica behind to stall their pursuers, that when they were caught they offered Erica as a sacrifice. All this came with a bill of sale for one Erica Burkett to Eric Deveraux for $100,000.

He walk away from the event nonchalantly, like destroying Erica’s world was just an everyday occurance, like she was worth less than the soles of his shoes, like a king sentencing a convict to jail.

That day Erica swore to herself she’d rise above her family background, that she’d become a better person no one can look down upon.

She took out a loan and started her own accounting company. It wasn’t a big firm, just sixty employee, but it was enough for her to stand tall and proud. Everything she has, she earned with her own two hands.

Erica is proud of her accomplishment.

Except her pride and dignity can never stand under the weight of Jessica’s enigmatic eyes so similar to her father.

When Jessica looks at her, the paralysis and sense of helplessness Eric instilled in the young child comes back to a lesser degree. The trauma manifest as anxiety, which cause her to talk and talk and talk until she becomes a babbling mess.

Now she is here, in a new world with the two people who destroy her composure by just breathing.

Erica said what she said to drive Jessica away. She wanted to get away from center of her negative emotions. She wanted to rekindle the friend that could have been. She made things worse.

Erica wiped away the tears threatening to fall. She’ll try again later. She can only do this. She can only try.

____________________________________________________________________

“Don’t believe what that witch was saying Sylphie. You are not worthless. Yea, you are kinda impaired, but the physical therapy is working. After a few years, you can even walk again.” Leviene’s attempt at comforting Sylphie was awkward at best but very hilarious to Sylphie. “You have your brains, your beauty and your youth. You have time to recover from the accident. Even though you sit in a wheelchair now, you can still be a leader. The internet is all the rage these days. You can work from home over the internet.”

“Someone sitting in a wheelchair isn’t pretty.” Sylphie knew she should accept the comfort given, but seeing a silly flustered Leviene warms her dreary heart though her words can be better.

“You have your own charms.”

“Leviene, when a man make a pass at a cripple, they are after something else.” Sylphie adores her cousin’s expressive face. What is she thinking about to blushing so hard she looked like a red balloon.

“You can still do it no problem,” Leviene mumbled underneath her breath.

Ah sex. With all the books, magazines, tv shows, videos and who know what else talking about sex, you would think children knew what sex is. Teenagers casually do it everyday.

Sex is a wide spread topic. It is one of the necessities of life. Yes, it has been accepted by the American Medical Association that sex is a necessity.

Leviene is studying to be a nurse. Sex ed, contraception, in vitro fertilization, pregnancy, giving birth, Leviene studied all of it in school.

Yet she still blush like a Victorian Era virgin while talking about copulation. Speaking of which, she reads those romance book and Sylphie knows for a fact there are sex scenes in them. She even read a few of them to see what why Leviene was interest in them.

Personally, Sylphie prefer reading financial states.

“Are you still a virgin?” Leviene’s pink face zoom to red at Sylphie’s question. She look left, then she look right, then she look down. She look anywhere except at Sylphie. Really too cute.

Leviene tried to change the topic. “Why are talking about me? We were talking about your ability to perform.”

“Guys have performance anxiety, not girls. It’s why Viagra sells faster than pancakes at the breakfast when it first launched.” The pure little Perrian Let wanted to get off this topic pronto. Her teasing Tajin Nost cousin was unwilling to let it go. “Besides, it was you who brought up the topic of sex.”

“It wasn’t what I meant. No wait, it was what I meant to say, but not in that context. Paraplegic can feel sensation in their sexual organs. You are getting some sensation to your lower body there is a high probablity of orgasim during copulation.” Leviene was flustered trying to explain her thought process.

A speech writer she will never be.

“Yea, but when I said men hit on a disabled woman because they were after something else, I meant money.” Sylphie delivered her explanation in a serious manner. There were no signs of her amusement at Leviene’s muddled state. The best jokester is a person who tease without the victim… ahem fool … ahem participant knowing how amusing the joke was to the jokester. They live to joke another day. Ah the little amusement in life makes it worth living.

“Oh.” Seriously, Sylphie wanted to laugh at her cousin’s dumbfounded expression. Only years of learning how to control her expression by her father’s side prevented from bawling in front of the befuddled Perrian Let.

What was it, rolling on the floor laughing, ROFL, this truly is the case.

“You were the one who had her mind in the gutter.”

“Ah ummm. Anyone would have thought it was .. um that.” Bewildered to blushing raspberry red in three seconds flat. Leviene is still an innocent girl. There is still hope for the world yet.

“Sex. What is so hard talking about sex between members of the same sex?” Leviene’s blush spread from her faces to her neck and reached the tips of her toes. She knows about the reproductive process. She’s studying to be a nurse. She seen a penis fergodsakes. There was nothing to be embarrassed about.

When she has a daughter, she will have the birds and the bees talk with her. She can talk about it now.

Or not.

“Look Sylphie, don’t take Erica’s words to heart okay. She just jealous. Don’t let the words of a petty minded individual running off under a lot of stress get to you.” Leviene sincerely express her thoughts.

“Think nothing of it. I never took her words to heart,” Sylphie reassured her cousin.

“That’s good.” Leviene smile brightly. It has been awhile since Sylphie saw that joyful expression on the short Perrian Let’s face.

In the beginning, Sylphie never minded Erica antics. Sylphie found Erica amusing in a different way. Whereas she view Leviene as a silly adorable child playing around, she saw Erica as the scared mouse and she was the cat.

In her own way, Sylphie understood Erica better than Leviene, hence where her tolerance of Erica’s behavior.

Her father kept it hidden from the Calbots about his more unsavory side. It show how much he cherished his half brother. Truly the Deveraux curse works in mysterious ways.

Towards his heir and daughter, Eric was loving but ruthless in his training. He knew she had the same curse he has, therefore since the day of her birth, Jessica was groomed to be the future CEO of Deveraux Incorporated. Two of a kind flocks together. Eric truly cared for Jessica and doted on his daughter in their private lives. She was the only one who understood what he was going through, what he intend to do and why he did the things he did, because in his place, Jessica would do the same. Eric knew what Jessica will be going through, since they were afflicted with the same curse thereby suffering the rollercoaster ride of emotions. It comfort him to have his daughter by his side.

Yet he was a tyrant in the business aspect of their lives, expecting Jessica to be smarter, better, more cunning, dangerous and willing to go where other hesitate for their goals.

Jessica grew up in Eric’s large footsteps. She didn’t become like him though. She had different people around her, the people she cared for had a different personality, and Jessica herself was more cunning than her father. Where as her father handle the Burkett situation with money then a show of force, Jessica would have prevented from happening in the first place.

The circumstances surrounding the Burkett was a tragedy waiting to happen. It was inevitable.

Given the personality of the couple, of course they tried to scam others of their money. At the time, Eric felt a fleeting nostalgia for the concept of family instead of the curse Deveraux mentality of these people are mine, everyone else is the enemy, so instead of preventing the Burkett from meeting the Calbots he allowed it.

Human greed were truly hard to deny.

Erica was caught in the crossfire between her parent’s greedy selfishness and Eric’s anger.

Erica didn’t suffer long. Only three days.

Three days in the hand of a rich madman can feel like an eternity in hell. Jessica didn’t realize how much torment an insanely possessive despot can be when their people was inconvenience.

What the Burkett did was trivial in Jessica’s eyes, like a fly buzzing around an oblivious cow, unworthy to put the effort to swat them away.

Jessica underestimated Jason’s existence for her father. She knew her father punish the avaricious family. She just didn’t know the particulars.

Years later, at another Calbot family gathering Eric and Erica attended, she saw the result of her father’s handiwork on Erica. The girl was a pathetic mess of paralyzing fear and unadulterated terror at Eric’s mere shadow. She had a panic attack in the bathroom.

Jessica wasn’t please.

Despite what Laurie said, she formed a small, weak bond with Erica. Laurie was one of Jessica’s people. She was too late to clean up the mess.

A little tolerances towards a tormented girl was nothing.