Chapter 3 The Face Of Hate

Kelly felt like her whole existence had just shattered in her face and she didn't know if everything would ever be normal again, not that anything had ever been but this?

Alexander was the first man she'd ever fallen for, he had shown her kindness like no one else but she had lost him, Jennifer had won finally and there was nothing else she could do, it was all over.

She had lost him, just like she had lost everything else in her life.

She hadn't expect him to come meet her when she had bent over to barf and neither had she expected the anger that enveloped her when touched her.

So she was surprised when she heard herself yell at him, "do not touch me Alexander!"

And her tone had shocked her; she had never in her life spoken to anyone so rudely.

"OMG! Kelly! Are you okay?" Jennifer asked hurrying over to her, "Get her water please." She said to the butler before placing a hand on Kelly's back, she guided her towards a seat.

"You have to forgive her babe," She said to Alexander in a sweet voice even though her fingers were digging deep into Kelly's back, she winced. "Kelly gets nervous about meeting new people."

Alexander had on a pained look on, "I know Kelly, we work together." He said.

"You do?" Jennifer asked in a genuine voice but Kelly knew her to the core, she knew Jennifer was pretending that particular piece of information was unknown to her; she could hear the mock undertone.

"Are you alright Kelly?" Aunt Maddie asked and Kelly nodded giving her a smile, Uncle Tom only stared at her as if regretting why she'd been brought along.

"Uhmm I didn't know you know Kelly." Alexander said awkwardly, Kelly's heart twisted as she took full on his appearance, the man was gorgeous.

His dark hair was rustled, falling on his face, with sharp jaw that served to perfected his features, his piercing grey eyes were fixed on her with an unreadable look even though he was talking to Jennifer.

She laughed in the girlish manner of hers, "know Kelly? She's my cousin; we grew up together, right Kells?" She asked grabbing her by the arm and then pinched her, a signal she was to reply.

"Yes." Kelly muttered before bowing her head to avoid contact with Alexander.

"Here you go ma'am." A lady said handing her a glass of water.

"Thank you." Kelly said before taking a sip. "Can I use the restroom?" She asked Alexander still avoiding to look at him.

"Of course, I'll show you where..." Jennifer immediately interrupted him.

"It's alright babe, I'll take her." She said pulling her up. "Are you alright enough to walk?" She asked in a concerned voice.

"Yes." Kelly said meekly going along with her.? They walked out into the hallway and took a turn that led straight to the restroom and as soon as they entered, Jennifer turned to her in spite.

"What the hell Kelly!" Jennifer yelled.

"I'm sorry." She murmured and tried to sidestep her, needing to rinse the lingering taste of vomit but as soon as she'd made the move, Jennifer pulled her back by the hair, Kelly screamed out in pain.

"I'm still talking to you, where the hell do you think you are going?" She asked hatred in her voice.

Kelly simply massaged her now painful scalp, she'd endured everything for this long but this was the last straw, she'd kept shut because she didn't want to offend her aunt or Uncle Tom, she had nowhere else to go but now?

With everything so far and then the fact that she'd just lost the one thing she'd held dear for so many months, there was absolutely nothing stopping her from standing up to Jennifer Hardy.

"Jennifer I've..."

"Shut the hell up!" Jennifer interrupted. "Listen, I've had enough of you already, I've had to put up with you all these years because of mom's guilt but you see this?"

She demonstrated with her arms, "all of these belong to me, I've worked hard to be here and you're not going to ruin this thing with Alexander for me, I'd rather die alongside you than allow you get in the way of my well laid plans. I swear to it!"

And she glared daggers at Kelly before turning on her heels and stomping out.

Kelly remained motionless for the seconds following her departure; something Jennifer had said kept nagging at her head;

"...I've had to put up with you all these years because of mom's guilt..."

What was Aunt Maddie guilty about? But most importantly what'd it have to do with her and her cousin's endurance towards her? And for the first time in her life, Kelly feared she didn't really know Aunt Maddie like she'd thought she did and that was scary, very scary.

Dinner went by awkwardly for Kelly, she could barely stomach anything, not especially in the face of such lovey-dovey between Alexander and Kelly, he'd caught her eyes few times but it was obvious to Kelly that Alexander was smitten by Jennifer.

he dedicatedly listened to her chatter and indulge in it, he stared at her in the face like she was the most beautiful thing ever and as if he was just seeing her for the first time, whatever it was, the man was hooked to her cousin, Jennifer hadn't needed any tricks to get this one, Kelly realized she'd simply been wrong about him.

Having never been treated as a fellow human by most people and very much often neglected, she'd grossly misinterpreted Alexander's gestures and like a fool.

she'd gone around dreaming he could be the prince charming who'd come and sweep her off her feet, maybe it was time this princess got her feet planted firmly on the floor and do things herself... Prince charming was obviously unavailable; she smiled to herself in self-pity.

Kelly had finally come to a decision; she was going to leave the Hardy's house!

They'd never welcomed her into it and she had never for a nanosecond considered it home so she felt nothing in her when her decision settled itself in her heart, just a little voice in her head whispering she'd stayed for far too long.

"Dinner was absolutely amazing Alexander." Aunt Maddie said as they headed out.

"How's work going?" Uncle Tom asked clearing his throat, "You know around the time I'd met Madeline, long before we ever thought we'd have a daughter as gorgeous as Jennifer obviously." And he chucked to himself.

"Dad!" Jennifer protested in feigned shyness.

"What? I'm proud of you, anyways then I used to work for this real estate company but it went down eventually and we were all out of our jobs and I just...

Real estate is a tough one to handle son and your family, your family's success with it is just astounding I must say."

He finished off tapping a hand on Alexander's back and Kelly scoffed to herself, Uncle Tom couldn't be more obvious.

"It's a tough job and requires a lot of work, over the years we've had real estate companies sprout out and try to be competition but all the same, we've watched them sink with time." Alexander replied nonchalantly.

Kelly ignored them all and simply got into the car before anyone else; she settled herself on the backseat and began fiddling with her phone.

"He is a fine young man I must say." Uncle Tom said as they drove off.

"Of course he is dad, he's Alexander Hanks… He's perfect!" Jennifer said proudly.

"And you my dear are perfect for him, I can't believe this. I was stunned when I saw him; I kept asking myself if this was the Alexander Hanks. He's even more handsome in person, how'd you ever meet him?" Aunt Maddie asked quivering with excitement.

Kelly was slowly dying as she listened to Jennifer narrate her first meeting with Alexander at some stupid cocktail party and how he'd kept staring at her the moment.

She walked in, Kelly could barely wait for them to get home and as soon as they did, she jumped out of the car before it fully stopped.

She hurried off to her room and collapsed on the bed in tears, despite everything else that has been done to her, this was by far the most hurtful.

She finally had enough of her sobbing and got up from her bed, she headed out to the bathroom for a shower, a shower would definitely make her feel better.

Kelly climbed up the stairs slowly, even walking was proving to be something she could barely do, her body shook and she had a splitting headache.

As she passed her aunt's bedroom to use the bathroom in the guest room, Kelly heard laughter coming from it. Of course they were happy; Alexander was a perfect man for their little perfect daughter. She shook her head before making to continue on her way.

"I told you there was absolutely nothing to feel bad about Madeline, it was all for the greater good as you can attest to it now." She heard Uncle Tom said in that self-satisfied way of his, Kelly halted her steps.

"I was such a fool right? All these years wallowing in guilt and I was blinded to the success our lives had become, we get invited to the most amazing parties, we can take vacation to anywhere we want, we haven't even had the need to work for years." And she laughed, Kelly's curiosity heightened... What were they talking about?

"And now our beautiful daughter has been able to get herself a man like Alexander Hanks, those silly Hepburns certainly did a lot for us." Uncle Tom said, "Getting rid of them would forever be my greatest achievement, we're literally swimming in money because of them."

"Who knew my baby sister and her husband had so much money? I don't think we'd ever have to work again Tom! Never!"

Kelly could barely believe her ears, could this be true? Aunt Maddie and Uncle Tom had something to do with her parent's death? She pushed open the door to their room and barged in.