Chapter 18 \u2013 Deserves Compassion\u00a0<\/p>\n
DARIUS\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence in the house was stifling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat at my desk in the study, trying to focus on reports my assistant had forwarded to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since Sera left for New York, I\u2019d been working from home to be closer to Luna and though Sera was back, I felt the need to remain home, to speak to her properly at least.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sera had been home for three days now, and she barely looked at me when we passed in the hallway. When I tried to talk to her, she gave me one\u2013word answers and walked away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was driving me crazy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After our kiss, I thought things would change, I mean I knew things would change but not like this. She avoided my eyes, barely smiled yet when she was with Luna, her eyes lit up like the night sky, her laughter and Luna\u2019s laughter bounced off the halls harmoniously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was she upset about the kiss?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or about the incident with Vivienne?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne had already apologized, right in front of me. Then she left. I haven\u2019t heard from her since either.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence from both ends were unnerving and it kept me on edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache building behind my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just when I thought I would have to give up on reading the files in front of me, my phone buzzed on the desk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHi, are things okay at home now?\u201d her text read. \u201cI just wanted to check on you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the message for a long moment before typing back: \u201cIt\u2019s complicated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d already apologized, and it hurt me to keep her away when I knew she needed me, but I had to win Sera\u2019s trust again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWant to talk about it? I\u2019m always here for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The kindness in her words made my chest feel tight. At least someone cared how I was feeling. At least someone understood what I was going through. Sera walks past me as if I\u2019m invisible, and I don\u2019t know what else I can do so things can return to the way they used to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe later,\u201d I typed. \u201cI have to take Sera and Luna to see my mother tonight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a new weekend and my mother had been complaining about not seeing her granddaughter so often\u00a0<\/p>\n
anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d insisted that Sera and I ce along with Luna.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 18 Deserves Compassion\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
And quite frankly, I wasn\u2019t sure I could handle such a long evening with my mother and sister breathing down my neck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still. I couldn\u2019t say no to her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d There was a pause before the next message came. \u201cActually, I was hoping we could talk about that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned at the phone. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I call you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could answer, my phone was ringing. Subconsciously, I glanced toward the door to make sure Sera wasn\u2019t nearby, then answered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey,\u201d I said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHi.\u201d Vivienne\u2019s voice sounded small and uncertain. \u201cI know this might sound strange, but I was wondering\u2026 do you think your mother would be open to meeting me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked, caught off guard. \u201cMeeting you? Why?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about what happened in the past, how we left things, and I\u2019m worried your mother might have the wrong impression of me,\u201d Her voice got softer, more vulnerable.\u201d And now with my sudden\u00a0<\/p>\n
presence in your life, I know she probably thinks I\u2019m some kind of homewrecker or something awful like that\u2026i don\u2019t know what Sera might\u2019ve told her about me after\u2026\u201d Her words trailed off, but I got her point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVivienne, that\u2019s not-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m not, Darius. You know I\u2019m not. I would never try to come between you and your family. I just\u2026 I care about you so much, and I don\u2019t want your mother to hate me. Especially not when\u2026\u201d Her voice trailed off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I don\u2019t have much time left to make things right,\u201d She finished weakly. Even from her tone I could hear how weak she was, I could hear the fear and uncertainty in her voice and it unsettled me even further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled shakily. The image of Vivienne\u2019s eyes closing forever came to mind again, leaving pin pricks of pain as it did. She was right. Whatever time Vivienne had left, it was limited. And the thought of her spending it worried about what my family thought of her made me feel sick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to come with us tonight?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly if you think it would help. I know it\u2019s a lot to ask after what I did, but I just want her to know who I really am,\u201d She murmured, I could hear the reluctance and determination mingle in her words and I let out a heavy sigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I leaned into my seat, feeling my head throb with the makings of an ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to behave, Viv, please,\u201d I pleaded softly. I heard her low gasp and then a bit of shuffling on the other\u00a0<\/p>\n
end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She knew what I was speaking of. I couldn\u2019t let what happened three days ago repeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes, picturing how this would go over. Sera would no doubt take offense yet again. But maybe that\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Souls Remember What Matters \u2014 Corey Gibson 18 Chapter 18 \u2013 Deserves Compassion\u00a0 DARIUS\u00a0 The silence in the house was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-day-i-signed-the-papers-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}