A Deal With The Billionaire

EPISODE NINETY NINE

THEME: Raven’s Decision

CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATE OF AMERICA

Raven had never felt so shattered and scared like she felt in this moment. Pain rippled through her heart and it made her scream uncontrollably. Why does it always have to be like this with her? She thought.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

There was always a bit of clause in her moment of happiness. She had let herself get carried away by thinking it was all fine. In one day her whole life came crashing down on her. He had just professed love to her less than twenty four hours but he was already finding warmth in another woman’s arms. It felt surreal.

Raven drove the car down the road with bleary eyes. She had no idea of who to call or what to do. However, she knew for sure that she wanted to be far away from here as much as she can.

Driving the car home safely, she staggered into the house like her legs had lost their friction. Matilda had been cleaning up the living room when she sighted her, looking so white.

Matilda ran towards her. “Oh my goodness! Raven, what happened?” She queried with worry laced on her expression.

Raven sniffed unable to keep the tears from falling. “He is still in love with her. He had me fooled.” She said.

The older woman stared at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Raven was crying loudly now. “Christopher… I saw him having sex with… another woman in his office.”

Matilda’s eyes widened and gasped out in shock. “What woman?!”

“His ex girlfriend… Jessica.” Raven wailed as she leaned into Matilda’s hold. She needed all the comfort she could get.

“Oh dear!” Matilda lamented. “I am so sorry Raven. What do you want to do now?”

Raven kept mute as she tried to process her next step. “I just want to leave here! I don’t want to see him.” She responded.

“Will you go to your mom’s place?” Matilda asked.

Raven shook her head in disagreement. “No. I need to be far away from everyone.”

Matilda took in a deep breath. “What can I say to change your mind?”

Raven looked up at the older woman with her eyes heavy with tears. “I just want to be away from all of this pain. I don’t deserve to be constantly treated this way.”

Matilda patted her hair softly. “I know baby. But I want you to know that, Christopher loves you sincerely and he would come find you. Just do whatever it is you feel will bring you peace of mind at the moment.”

Raven hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much Matilda.”

“You are welcome. You might want to go and pack up now. I have a feeling he would return anytime soon when he gets a hold of himself.”

Raven shook her head repeatedly as she sniffed. “Thanks Matilda.”

Different thoughts kept running through her head as she entered the room. She had to stay far away not just from Christopher, but to prevent Jacob from getting a hold of her son too. She would protect her boy till her very last breath.

Raven decided to pick only the clothes she brought from her house. She didn’t want to hold on to anything in relation to the Crawford.

Packing a small bag, she pulled out the contract that had the divorce papers attached to it and she signed her own part without a second thought. Raven tore up a paper and wrote that she was leaving, but promises to pay Christopher back his money.

Since she couldn’t complete the contract as promised. The tears pooled together strongly again, as she thought of how she had been dreaming of spending the rest of her life with him when it wasn’t even the slated six months yet. She felt stupid.

Giving the room one last look, she left it and moved swiftly downstairs. Matilda looked up at her with sadness in her eyes, attempting to say something.

Raven cut her off. “Please don’t Matilda. My mind is already made up.” She said.

“Be safe my dear.” Matilda murmured as she hugged her for a brief moment before letting her go.

Raven didn’t bother to take any of the car because her intention was to not take anything she didn’t bring into the house along with her. She was going to go and pick up her old car at her mother’s house.

Hailing a taxi, she dialed Tiana who picked on the second ring.

‘I really need to talk to you please. I will be at my mom’s house. But please make it quick, I don’t have much time to spare.’ Raven said into the phone when she finally reach her.

Knowing how busy she would be at work, Raven had called the restaurant directly first to get to her. Tiana who had been feeling off thinking about Raven, didn’t wait a moment before rushing out of the restaurant and driving all the way to Eva’s house.

Fifteen minutes later, Raven dropped off the cab. She was thankful her mother wasn’t around so she didn’t have the mind to face her. She headed to Rowan’s room first, picked up his suitcase and piled in his essentials. She did the same into another box.

She hurriedly dragged them out of the house before piling it into her car booth. The car looked clean, her mother must have been taking a good care of it. She went through her bank account, she still had a bit of a saving to keep her and Rowan for the time being till she gets a job.

The only problem was where she was to go to. However, she had trust in Tiana to find a solution to it. Raven wanted to believe Tiana would help her find a way out of the whirlpool she was in.

Checking her time again she was seeming impatient, she wanted to leave before anyone noticed her disappearance and she still had to pick Rowan at school. The moment she tried opening her car door, Tiana’s car drove in private driveway.

“What the hell is going on?” Tiana panted as she opened the door of her car in a hurry and jogged towards Raven.

Raven felt tired yet again before telling her all that happened since this morning.

“That son of a bitch! Who the hell is this fucking bitch that is his ex girlfriend?!” Tiana screamed.

Raven dabbed at her eyes. “Please forget about them, Tiana. All I need right now is your help, I need to get away from here.”

Tiana pulled her in for a hug. She also had tears in her eyes. “I am so sorry for all this Raven. You don’t deserve any of this.” She pulled away and held her by the shoulders. “Do you need to stay in my house?”

“I can’t stay with you, Tiana. They would find me in your house. I need to be somewhere else.” She thought for a moment. “How about your boyfriend Kendrick? His place?”

Tiana rubbed at her face in frustration. “Oh actually Raven, let me make a quick confession. I and Kendrick weren’t actually dating, we were just kicking it.”

“What?”

“Don’t be like that, it’s not about me now but this is about you.” She paused for a some minutes. “Wait a minute, Kendrick always talks about this family house that he inherited from his parents in Brooklyn.”

“And?” Raven sounded off, she didn’t appreciate the fact that Tiana hid such information from her.

Tiana noticed her countenance. “Don’t be like that Raven! I never told you I was dating him, you just sort of concluded.”

Raven sighed. “Fine. I get it. I was in cloud nine. So, how will you get his say on me using the house?”

Tiana beamed. “We might not be an item but he never said I couldn’t call him for help. Let me make a quick call.” She moved back towards her car.

Tiana dialed Kendrick’s number and he picked almost immediately. She began to speak in a low tone.

Raven watched her friend’s back. Tiana always had a way of keeping her pains and emotions to herself. She had been too engrossed being happy with Christopher that she had been blinded to her friend’s sadness. Tiana’s posture was everything as she spoke into the phone. It was obvious she wanted more with Kendrick than she let on.

Just then Tiana turned towards her looking excited.

“What did he say?” Raven asked anxiously.

“He seemed really elated and happy to help. He just sent me the address. He also said the key is at the back of the house in a brown old flower pot. You don’t have to worry about cleaning it up because he has someone who comes up to clean the house twice a month. And he said the neighbors are friendly too, so you all can get acquainted. Most importantly, you could use the house for as long as you want. But do not heed to that advice, wait till your head is clear and come back home to me. I will know what to tell Allen.”

Raven didn’t wait for her to finish before hugging her tightly. “I will be forever indebted to you.”

Tiana patted her back. “Just get better please.”

“I need to hurry to pick up Rowan.” Raven said as she released Tiana.

“I will come with you, I have forwarded the address to you. You can make the drive right?” Tiana asked.

“Sure, I can. Tiana?”

“Yes?”

“Please don’t tell anyone.” Raven pleaded.

“You have my word.”

Smiling at each other, they got into both of their cars and drove down to Rowan’s school. Raven gave an excuse that he needed to go with her for a important family function. Rowan was super excited to see her and Tiana.

“Mom!” He ran towards Raven in excitement, letting her go and he went next to Tiana.

“Aunt!”

“Hey champ!” Tiana kissed his hair.

“Come here son!” Raven motioned towards him bending down and he ran back to her. “We need to leave town for sometime and it’s really urgent. Like we have to leave today itself.”

“With Grandma?” Rowan asked.

“No, just he both of us.”

“Aunt isn’t coming along too?” He asked again.

Tiana knelt in front of him on one knee. “It’s just you and your mom. You both need to spend sometime away and breath some new air.”

“Like a vacation?”

“Yes, like a vacation.” Both Raven and Tiana responded at the same time looking at each other.

Rowan ran towards his mother’s car and got inside, after Tiana handed him a chocolate bar.

“I will miss you, please take care.” Tiana said as she hugged her tightly.

Raven held on to her as she sniffed repeatedly. “I would never forget this favor Tiana. Thank you so much.”

Letting go of each other, Raven headed to her car and drove out of the school parking lot. Tiana stood still waving at the both of them frantically. And she didn’t realize she had been crying until a tear rolled down her cheek.