Chapter 78


    (Nick)


    "That''s great son! Congrattions! " his father tapped his shoulder lightly.


    His brother shook his hand. " Well done bro! Popping the question tonight is a good decision! Don''t


    give Stacey the chance to change her mind about staying with you!" he joked.


    He chuckled. This morning he realized that he was ready to marry her. He had the ring in his pocket.


    He had nned to tell Stacey everything about "Derick" before the night was over. He knew she would


    be very angry of course but he was hoping that she would soon forgive him. He was going to show her


    how much he cared for her to make it up to her. He was confident that because she loved him, she


    would forgive his. He would do everything to get her forgiveness.He would never let her go whatever


    happens and she would be his wife.


    ***


    (Stacey)


    She told Nick''s mother and Vivien that she had to get her bag in the living room to make an important


    call. to get away from Nick''s mother and Vivien. Her mind felt a bit numb from shock but she had to be


    alert so she could get away from the house.


    When she saw that the living room was empty, she quickly got her bag and walked to the front door.


    She was hoping that the house didn''t have anytv cameras.


    He saw a ck van and a man and two women were putting trays of probably food inside. She


    recognized that the man was Nick''s personal driver.


    "Norman!" she called him while closing the distance between them. Her heart was thumping but she


    had to lookposed.


    The three turned to her. They all have a questioning look but after a few moments,the two women got


    in and closed the van''s door while Norman was waiting for her toe nearer .


    "Can you give me a ride please? I will exinter." she said with a small smile.


    Though still looking puzzled, he nodded and opened the door of the shotgun for her. " I hope you don''t


    mind sitting here. There''s not much space at the back. Mrs. Alcantara gave all the food to us. We will


    drop them off to our families then be back here."


    She said thank you and said hi to the two females at the back. She said a silent thank you when the


    van was out of the gate.


    "I am sorry to trouble you but I had no choice. I have a surprise for Nick. I let his mother in on the


    secret. that''s why I was able to escape. I will meet my friend at the nearest convenience store then we


    will drive back to the house. She is bringing my gift for Nick. " she lied and the driver nodded while the


    two females oohed and aahed


    She was praying that Nick wouldn''t get angry with his driver once he learned that he sort of help her


    get away.


    "Could you drop me off that convenient store? I think I saw my friend''s car already." she said casually.


    She said thank you before getting off. She muttered a silent thank you when she saw an empty taxi.


    (Nick)


    All the staff were on tenterhooks when his angry voice vibrated in the living room.


    His woman was nowhere to be found. He had been calling her but she wasn''t picking up.


    "She said she will just get her bag." His mother said for the nth time puzzlement in her voice.


    "Where were you anyway?" His father asked Vivien.


    "At Nick''s old room."


    He cursed and everyone looked at him with disapproval.


    This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org.


    "Nichs!! " came his mother''s voice which sounded a bit annoyed already.


    "For Pete''s sake Mom! Why did you bring her to my room?!" he asked in a thunderous voice.


    "Don''t speak to your mother like that!" his father reprimanded him.


    He turned to him. " Look dad, I am sorry. I''ll exin everythingter ." then his eyes went back to his


    mother, " Why mom? "


    "I wanted her to see your awards."


    He grabbed his hair in frustration while his family gawked at him .


    He heard his phone making a sound. His breathing hitched when he saw Stacey''s name shing on


    the screen. He quickly took the call.


    "Honey? Where are you? We need to talk. Let me exin." he pleaded.


    "Don''t you dare reprimand Norman. I l tricked him into giving me a ride." her voice was void of any


    emotion.


    "Okay, I won''t. But please tell me where you are. I will get you. Let''s talk honey. I will exin...please."


    he once again begged but there was no reaction from her.


    "Game over..Derick.." she said in a cold voice. She hang up on him. And when he tried to dial her


    number again she seemed to have turned off her phone.


    "F*cking hell!!" he furiously threw his phone which startled his family.


    "Nichs! What is going on?!" he heard his mother asked.


    (Stacey)


    She went to Lucille''s house because Nick could easily find her if she went to Eve''s unit. Eve was on her


    way. She was thankful that Lucille didn''t ask her questions upon seeing the state she was in. She was


    so nice and considerate . She let her wait for Eve alone in her bedroom . She offered to wait for Eve in


    the living room.


    She was sitting on the carpet and her back was on the wall. She was hugging her knees and crying. All


    these time Nick/ Derick had been making a fool out of her. She was so angry with him thinking that he


    was so proud of himself because he had been sessfully making her look so stupid. She had been


    crying for a long time when she felt someone''s arms went around her.


    "Oh Eve!" she cried again and buried her face on her shoulder.


    After her sobs subsided, she told her friend everything. A lot of different expressions crossed Eve''s


    face as she revealed all that happened.


    "Oh my God!" her friend uttered when she was finished.


    She wiped her eyes with the tissue Eve handed her.


    "So what are you nning to do? Don''t you want to talk to him first?"


    She shook her head. "I don''t want to see him. I don''t even want to talk to him."


    "Girlfriend you have the right to be furious with him and hate him. But you said he was very sincere


    when he said sorry. I know that rape must never be justified and I am not in the position to judge your


    feeling about the whole situation. He also tricked you in believing that Nick and Derick are not the same


    man. All those will really make you loathe him. You said that ording to him, he abducted and took


    your innocence forcefully because he made wrong assumptions about you. He misjudged you badly.


    But please don''t take what I will say in a wrong way, he is Nick Alcantara and if he was used to doing


    such hateful things sooner orter news will leak out. The press thirst for news about people in the high


    society more so the worst ones. And I don''t think we heard or read anything like that about him or even


    his family. "


    From what she had seen firsthand tonight, she agreed with Eve. Nick''s family would never tolerate any


    immoral activities in the family.


    "I feel that he did that because subconsciously he liked you from the beginning but he couldn''t ept


    the fact that some other men had you before him. There is no excuse for what he did but at this point I


    just think that maybe it''s best if you talk to him and listen to what he has to say. I have seen him with


    you and I know and feel that he has very deep feelings for you. After you talked and you want to break


    up with him then do it. " Eve suggested.


    What she said made her think deeply.


    "Must I remind you that he is Nick Alcantara and he has all the resources to find you, so before he


    does, contact him."


    " I don''t know what to do yet. My brain seemed to have stopped functioning." she said.


    Eve''s phone started to ring. "Hold on girlfriend! It could be ke!...Hello? H-How..?" she sighed heavily,


    "Wait..I can''t do that..hold on... I''ll call you back." Her friend ended the call with a heavy frown.


    "Who''s that? "she asked.


    "As I''ve said, you can''t hide long from your boyfriend. That was Nick. He got my number from one of


    the staff at the bar. His driver went there. I have a strong feeling that Jodie gave it. She was probably


    bribed!"


    "I don''t want to talk to him." she said firmly.


    "He said his mother wants to talk to you."


    She frowned. "Why? What for?"


    "We better call him back and ask him."


    She heaved a sigh then she said without looking at Eve, "Okay I will talk to his mom . Just his mom."


    "Okay." Eve dialed his number and talked to him for a second or two before she handed the phone to


    her.


    "Stacey," came his mom''s sad voice. "Nichs told us everything. I am deeply sorry .My son made a


    terrible mistake. What he did to you is unforgivable. But if you could only see him now, you would see


    how broken he is. He regrets what he did . My son loves you very much but we will understand if you


    couldn''t forgive him. The whole family agreed to his decision. He said. that if the only way for you to


    forgive him is to file charges against him, then he is willing to face the consequences of what he did.


    We will surrender him to the cops now."