Chapter 14 - RARE

{ S*x and Hate... }

THEME: I DARE YOU

By, Dammrare

CHAPTER 27🦋28

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{ BREAKING THE NEWS }

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"Neither did I. However, we have to tell them. Because from now on, we are temporary partners."

"Temporary partners." Maynard repeated and they both shook hands, sealing their agreement.

______

< 𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙰𝙽 𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙸𝚁𝙴 ★ 𝚂𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙴𝚃𝚃'𝚂 𝙱𝙴𝙳𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼 >

"Do I need to keep reminding you this, young lady? You are a woman for Christ's sake!"

"Mom, can you please stop scolding me? It is becoming really annoying."

"What? So telling my daughter to act like the lady that she is, is annoying?" Mrs. Osvaldo frowned.

"Listen, you don't need to keep reminding me that I am a lady. I mean, what are these b**bs and p*ssy for?" Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Thank goodness you haven't forgotten your gender. So tell me, what's keeping you from getting a man?"

"Oh, f**k. Let's not do this right now. I beg of you. I have a lot of things going on in my head and this conversation is the least of my worry." She said.

"Really, Scarlett? Really?" Mrs. Osvaldo let out a few deep breaths and then started scrolling through her phone.

"What are you doing?" Scarlett asked, eyeing her mother closely.

"I am going to call my friend and ask her to set up a blind date for you and her son."

"You are joking."

"Am I? Well, we will see about that. You see that b**bs and p*ssy that reminds you of your gender, you are going to use it to get a man for yourself."

"Mom, stop it." Scarlett said calmly, trying to maintain her composure and sanity.

"Stop what? Are you asking me to stop being a good mother to my daughter? If yes, then think again!"

Mrs. Osvaldo dialed her friend's number and put the phone on speaker so that Scarlett can hear the conversation and know that she wasn't joking nor was she going to stop.

"I swear I'm going to kill him." She threatened, frowning deeply.

"You will kill who?" Mrs. Osvaldo asked, narrowing her eyes a little bit.

"Whatever guy you have arranged for me, I will kill him."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Then try me, Mother. You of all people should know that I do not joke with my words. I will do whatever I say I will."

An uncomfortable silence fell between both mother and daughter as they stared into each other's eyes until a voice broke the stillness.

"Hello?" It was a woman's voice from the other line. "Mrs. Osvaldo, are you there?"

"Oh," She broke eye contact with her daughter, clearing her throat. "Yes, I'm here. Hi, how are you?"

"I'm fine. It's very surprising to see your call, you know. How have things been with you and your family?"

"Good."

"I'm glad to hear that. So why did you call?"

Mrs. Osvaldo gazed back at her daughter and Scarlett gave her the 'Save a life, Mother because I will kill him if this blind date dare work through' look.

"I uhm, I called to check up on you and your family. I just thought of you and decided to give you a call. It's not a problem, right?"

"Aww, that's so nice of you. My family and I are doing fine. Thanks for calling."

"Yeah. Speak to you later,"

"Sure."

The line got disconnected as she hung up the call.

"I don't know what to do with you again, Scarlett. I don't even know if you will ever get married."

"Mom," Scarlett stepped closer to her mother and reached out to hold her hands. "I will get married someday so please stop pressuring me. I can get any man of my choice without stress, trust me."

"Hmm." Mrs. Osvaldo simply hummed.

"I love you, Mom and I always want to see you happy." She added.

"I love you too, child. I am not pressuring you to get married, I just want you to have a man in your life so that you can be happy."

Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Having a man in my life doesn't guarantee happiness, okay? I am happy with the kind of life I'm living right now," Mrs. Osvaldo threw a hard glare at her and Scarlett chuckled. "But I will still get myself a man when I'm ready."

"Alright." The woman let out a breath and took a step back. "Gosh, your room is as dark as hell. I can barely find my way around."

"You walked in here just fine. And besides, must you complain about everything?"

Mrs. Osvaldo just scoffed and left the bedroom.

••••

< 𝚁𝚄𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙰𝙽 𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙸𝚁𝙴 ★ 3:30 PM>

Jesse and Hugo entered the house at the same time.

He had just picked her up from school.

She was heading to the stairs when Harry strolled into the house alongside Hudson.

"Hey, baby sis." He smiled, waving a little to her.

Jesse only rolled her eyes and clambered upstairs to her bedroom.

Harry turned to look at Hugo, raising a questioning brow at him.

"Did you talk to her like I asked you to?" He asked.

"I tried."

"You tried? Why then is she still giving me the cold shoulder?"

"How would I know? Go and have a conversation with her in the room if you are curious." Hugo groaned.

"I wanted to talk to her this morning but she refused me to enter her room."

"Have you tried now and she a refuse you?" Hugo asked and Harry shook his head as a no in response. "You see? Now go and try again. If she turns you down," He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how else I'm going to talk to her."

Harry sighed and attempted to climb the step when Hugo threw a question at him.

"Are you going to tell her the truth?"

"It is not in my place to tell her anything. Father already forbid me from doing so." He answered.

"Jesse is no longer a child. She noticed how everyone acted cold during her mother's return. She knows that there is something about her mother that no one is telling her about. You can't keep lying to her, you know."

"We lied to her that her mother traveled and now that her mother is back, what are we going to tell her is the reason her mother won't be staying in the same house with her?" Hudson added.

"Listen guys, I really want to tell her the whole truth but Father is the one who is against the idea. You don't expect me to go against his command, do you?" He stated.

Hudson and Hugo nodded their heads in agreement and understanding.

"I will go and speak to her now," Harry said and went upstairs to Jesse's room.

••••

"Jesse, can I come inside?" He knocked softly but there was no answer. "Jesse?"

A few seconds later, the door opened and Jesse peeked her head through.

She rolled her eyes as soon as they fell upon her brother.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, going back inside and leaving the door ajar for him to enter.

Harry wasted no time to enter and slammed the door shut behind him.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine but that doesn't answer my question. Why are you here?"

"You know, it is wrong to speak to me in that manner." He told her.

"And if I do, are you going to yell at me again? Or send me to my room? Oh, wait. I'm already in my room. Maybe you will send me out of the house." She snapped and sat down on her bed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled deeply.

"I'm sorry for how I yelled at you that night. I was pissed off and_"

"Exactly where my confusion lies." She cut him off, rising to her feet.

"Huh?"

"Why were you pissed off when you found out about our mother's return?" She asked.

Harry didn't answer.

"Are you going to go all silent on me again? What are all of you hiding away from me? What is it do I not know about our mother?"

"Jesse, we don't have a mother." He plainly stated.

"What?" She frowned at him.

"That woman who claimed to be our mother isn't related to us at all." He said.

"Does this look like a joke to you? Do I look foolish, Harry? Are you going to keep lying to my face like this? When will all this nonsense stop?" She flared up.

"Calm down, Jesse. You are overreacting."

"I am overreacting? My brother just told me that I don't have a mother and what, I am overreacting? You know what? Get out of my room."

"Jess_"

"Leave my room, Harry. I don't want to see your face or anybody's face until you all are ready to tell me the truth that I need to know! Get out of my room!!" She cried.

Harry hesitated before quietly walking out of her room.

Jesse stormed close to the door and locked it up with its key.

"I can't believe he would still lie to me." She sank down to the tiled floor and continued crying.

••••

< 𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙰𝙽 𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙸𝚁𝙴 ★ LIVING ROOM >

"Ugh, Mom, I am not a child." Nelson groaned in frustration.

"Then stop acting like one. How can you have a lot of dirty clothes and not do anything about it?"

"The maids were going to do my laundry, Mom. I already told them about it." He replied.

"Can't you do your laundry yourself?" She questioned.

"What? Weren't you the same person who asked me to focus on my school activities?"

"I did. But video games are not school activities, young man." She scolded.

Scarlett descended the stairs, carrying Scar in her arms, and at the same time, Mr. Osvaldo walked through the front door, just returning home from his meeting with Maynard.

"Good afternoon, everyone." He greeted.

"It's 6:15 pm, honey." Mrs. Osvaldo corrected, giving him a quick kiss on his lips. "How was your day?"

"Good."

"Dad, can you please tell Mom to stop bothering my life? I'm too old for her countless scolding." Nelson scoffed and ran upstairs, disappearing from the living room.

"What were you scolding him about?" He asked his wife.

"About his dirty clothes that he refused to wash." She answered.

"What? The maids will take care of that."

"I know you will support him. I don't know who has my back in this house."

"I do." Scarlett said.

Both her parents turned to look at her, having surprise looks on their faces.

"You do?" They asked in sync.

"Scar asked me to tell you that." She made a joke without laughing.

Mrs. Osvaldo's face dropped as she moved her gaze to the poor furry white cat in her daughter's arms.

"Meow!" Scar purred.

"Did you just make a joke?" Mr. Osvaldo was even more surprised.

"Was that a joke?" Scarlett huffed.

"Of course. And here I was thinking my daughter is beginning to develop a sense of humor." The woman shook her head as if sad. "I'm outta here." Mrs. Osvaldo started walking towards the stairs when her husband quickly said.

"Don't go and scold Nelson. He has had enough of you!"

"I don't go about scolding my son, Mr. Man." She retorted and went away.

Scarlett dropped her cat on the floor and the pet scurried away.

"Hey, Father."

"Hey, Love. How are you?"

She slightly shrugged. "I'm fine. I didn't know this secret meeting of yours will take much of your time." She pointed out.

"Hey, you made it sound like I am going to betray the empire." He joked but as usual, his dear daughter didn't laugh. "Anyway, I will like to have a word with you."

"Okay? What is it about?"

"Let's rather talk in my office."

••••

Osvaldo and Scarlett entered his office and both sat down comfortably on a chair.

It was silent for a few minutes until Scarlett spoke up.

"What do you want to talk to me about, Father? Does it have something to do with your secret meeting?"

"Stop referring it to as a secret meeting. And yes, it has something to do with it." He said.

"Okay. I'm all ears."

Osvaldo hesitated for a while before saying,

"I met with Maynard."

A deep frown plastered on Scarlett's face immediately after she heard that.

"You what?"

"I met with Maynard." He repeated.

"I heard what you said the first time. But I don't understand, why would you have a secret meeting with our sworn enemy? What could the both of you possibly talk about?" She asked.

"Stop calling it a secret meeting. There is nothing secret about it."

"But you never told me about the meeting."

"Well, I am telling you now, aren't I?"

She didn't comment on that.

"Why did you meet up with Maynard? What business do you want to probably discuss with him?"

"It has something to do with Justus..."

"Justus? That bastard?"

Osvaldo nodded his head. "Yes. That bastard."

"So?"

"Maynard and I have decided to be temporary partners until Justus is caught."

Scarlett quickly rise to her feet as she stared at her father in complete shock.

"What?"

••••

< 𝙼𝙰𝚈𝙽𝙰𝚁𝙳'𝚂 𝙾𝙵𝙵𝙸𝙲𝙴 >

"Dad, where have you been?" Harry asked, stepping inside the office.

"Oh, son. I went out for a meeting." He answered.

"Okay? A meeting I don't know about?"

"Well, it is complicated."

"Anyway, I have to discuss something with you." Harry stated.

"Me too."

"Wanna go first?"

"No, you go first." Maynard said, taking off his suit jacket and hanging it on the coat rack.

"It's about Jesse. She really wants to know what's going on with Ellen."

Maynard let out a deep breath.

"Would it be okay if I tell her the truth?" Harry asked.

"I don't want Jesse to be hurting."

"Leaving her in the dark is already hurting her."

Silence,

Silence,

Silence.

"What do you want to talk to me about, anyway?" Harry questioned after a moment of silence.

"Oh, it's about my meeting." Maynard answered, taking his seat while Harry remained standing.

"Okay?"

"So, uhm, I don't know how you are going to react to this news but you have to stay calm and listen to why I decided to make the choice."

Harry furrowed his brows, wondering why his father was talking like this.

"Okay?" He didn't know what else to say.

Maynard cleared his throat, studying his son closely as he decided to drop the bombshell.

"I met with Osvaldo and we've chosen to become temporary partners until we catch Justus and whoever is working with him."

"Huh?"

••••

< JESSE'S BEDROOM >

Jesse was lying flat on the queen-sized bed. Her gaze was resting upon the ceilings.

She was preoccupied with a lot of things that has to do with the secrets her Father and brother were keeping away from her.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing, disrupting the quietness of the room.

She reached out to her phone and frowned when she saw it was an unknown number calling.

She hesitantly answered the call and brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Jesse, it's me, mother." Ellen said from the other line.

"Mother? How... how did you get my number? And why are you calling me by this time?"

"How I got your number shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Ri...ght."

"Can we see right now?"

"What?"

"Listen, I will send you an address of where we should meet. Don't tell anyone about it." Ellen said.

"What are you saying? Why should I meet you anywhere? And why shouldn't I let anyone know about it?"

"Your father and brother didn't tell you anything that happened between me and them in the past, right?"

Jesse kept quiet, confirming Ellen's words.

"I'm going to tell you everything that you need to know, Jesse so let's meet up."

°