Chapter 5 (Letting go of the past that I can not fix)

Aurora Avery Brooks.

I was only shown my space and allowed to go home. According to Liam, my resumption starts tomorrow morning so I came back early.

Although it's night now, I have managed to tuck Aria to bed but I just couldn't sleep no matter how much I struggle. So at the end, I strode to the kitchen thinking a glass of water was going to help quench the flames in my heart down.

But the moment I walked in, my gaze flickered to the closed drawer beside me. With a trembling hand, I retrieved the small golden-colored necklace from there, my heart breaking as I opened it – it was a picture of Jax and me in our college days. My eyes burned again, and more tears streamed down as I traced my finger along his handsome face.

We both had this piece back then as our sign of love for each other, until that very day... I cried out and squeezed the necklace close to my heart. Regret washed all over me, although somehow I wasn't regretting the decision of choosing my mother...just the regret of losing Jax and allowing them to deceive me.

Going to Germany was how I got to know Dex. Broken, left in the cold streets of Germany with my dying mother in the hospital was how I got to meet Dex, a stranger that had turned friend and family for over five years now.

He had come through for me in a way that I least expected, but yet, I needed to pay him. I couldn't depend on him forever.

Knock*

The sudden knock at the door had me jumped up, catching off guard, the necklace almost slipped off my hand. On the attempt to grab it, I knocked down the glass of water on the counter.

Fuck it. I hissed in annoyance. Opening the drawer, I shoved that necklace into it, hiding it there.

Knock*

"I am coming." I shouted and wiped my tears before walking up to answer the door. Though I first peeped into Aria's room to make sure she was still sleeping before heading to the door.

Who could be visiting me by this time? It's almost 9 o'clock pm. I opened the door, and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon was swirled in front of me.

"Drink?" Emme flashed me a wide grin, and I scowled, rolling my eyes.

"I..." she didn't allow me to reply, and she forced herself inside.

"I am not drinking." I still managed to protest. Emme stopped to throw me a sarcastic look.

"It's not alcohol." I rolled my eyes. I fucking know.

"Still, I am not drinking. I am not in the mood for any drink." I persisted, and she shrugged, heading into the kitchen like she owned the damn apartment.

"Too bad. But I am drinking." She threw me another look over her shoulder, her lips curled into a naughty smirk. "I fucking need a drink for this gist." She winked and proceeded inside the kitchen.

And my shoulder just slumped. She can't possibly be serious? What does she want me to gist her? That I got to the interview only to find my ex-boyfriend, the father of my daughter as the CEO and then him and my step-sister now a thing?

Does that even make sense? I am fucking broken, and she wants me to still talk about him, Jax. Just the name still makes my heart flutter.

"Rora!" The surprised gasping of her voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I rushed inside the kitchen to find her rigid on her spot.

I frowned and followed the direction of her eyes to find them glued on the broken pieces of glasses on the floor.

Sighs. I have even forgotten that the broken pieces were still there.

"What happened?" Her concerned deep hazel eyes shot back to me.

I tsked. "Mistakenly got it slipped off when you knocked."

"You sure?" I just shrugged.

"Yes, of course!" She gave me a long stare before tiptoeing to the other side. "And Aria?"

"Sleeping." I replied.

She opened the upper cabinet and brought a new fresh glass tumbler.

"So you are cleaning up or we are heading straight for the gist.." she giggled, facing me.

Doesn't she fucking have a damn work tomorrow?

My gaze flickered to the shattered pieces on the floor, I huffed a sigh and turned tiredly walking back to the sitting room.

"Hey, come on. Cheer up, you are not fucking gonna gist me in this mood!" I heard her tantrums behind me but I ignored her.

I have a lot of other things bothering me right now. The past is back on my face!

I sat down. Emme plopped on the couch in front of me.

"So_"

My phone started ringing, vibrating on the center table that it was.

I dragged in a sharp tired breath and reached my hand for it. And in front of the screen was Briarwood Medical Facility.

I swallowed, my heart pounding fast, as I stretched out my trembling hands and picked up the call.

Emme's full concerned eyes were fixed on me.

"Yes," I stammered, my voice calm and tinged with fear.

"Good evening, Miss Brooks. It's Doctor Harrison," the man said from the other end, and I muttered a greeting.

"Good evening, Doc. Harrison. Hope everything is fine?"

"Yes, just that your mother's last month's medical ventilation fees had expired. You need to pay in for another replacement."

I bite my lips as tears threatened to slide down my eyes. The lines on Emme's forehead twisted into a worried frown, and I quickly blinked back the tears, not wanting her to suspect anything.

We aren't that close. I can't call her my best friend but just a friend. Well, we are typically kind of close because we both used to work at the Brew Haven, a cafe across the road before I got this job now.

So I am still not that close to her to enclose certain things to her. Her life is already tough, so I don't want to burden her with my own mess.

"How much?"

"$2000," he said, and my heart fled instantly.

Where do I get such an amount now? I just got hired today. The only amount in my account right now is $80.

"Oh," I heard Doctor Harrison suddenly blurt out, drawing back my attention. "Someone just paid for it now. Talk to you later, Miss Brooks." The call ended, and a message popped up immediately.

"I got the hospital message. I just paid for your mom's medical ventilation fees this month. Take that as your congratulatory message."

Dex...

I bit my lips, a hard painful lump forming on my throat. I was about to type "Thank you." When another message popped in.

"Before I forget, I will be coming down to Boston by the weekend. And I will be staying over there for long." My heart skipped instantly.

I should be excited, but I felt the opposite. Don't get me wrong, and don't call me selfish. I know he has a life, but I have this satisfaction and a little ease knowing that he's there, in Germany, at least close to my mother.

He's the only one I trust over there.

As if he read my mind, he typed in immediately. "About your mother? Don't worry, she is in safe hands, trust me."

"Rora, are you alright?" I flinched immediately, but upon seeing Emme's face, I let out a sigh of relief. I have even forgotten that she was still here.

I typed a quick thank you to Dex and okay, to his message and tossed my phone to the side.

"I am fine." I forced out a smile. The words felt like a burning acid on the tip of my tongue because deep down, I know I was far from being fine.

But seeing my mother's condition and Aria, I think it's high time I pushed away everything that I couldn't fix and focused on the money.

She can't continue lying there, in the coma. I need to get her money for surgery and then pay Dex back all his money, though he didn't ask for it, but I know I have to. And again, give Aria the type of life she deserves.

She doesn't deserve this shithole I called life. I wish I could give her the best.

No matter how it hurts, I need to focus more on gathering the salary. After all, Helena and Jax are together now. And the look on his face earlier today shows that we can never work out again.