As Astra sat in the car that drove both her and Ray, she wondered why she had not seen the signs. Well, there was also the fact that she might have seen the signs but had ignored them. At first when they were in high school, it was taken as just a crush and it was even looked upon as cute back then. It had made Astra feel a bit good that someone liked her that much. Over time, Astra saw that it was posing as a problem, but she did not take it seriously. It was when she got into college and realized that he was trying to sabotage her relationships that she even took a little seriously, just a little though. Astra had actually thought that if he met someone else that he would leave her alone.Astra did not want that person to be Stephanie at first but her friend had been so hooked on Ray that Astra could have not dissuaded her if she tried, and Astra tried. She did a lot to make Stephanie leave him, but it did not work. After a while, it seemed like Ray's attention shifted from her to S
CHAPTER 49 ASTRAAstra had been missing for two days and Nicholas was sure that he would go crazy. There had been no hints from the police. Nicholas was regretting not letting Astra become bait for Ray. It would have been much easier to track down Ray. The police had tried to track the vehicles that brought Stephanie and Theo back home but the plate numbers were fake. The only thing that gave him a bit of joy was the fact that both Theo and Stephanie were well. Steph was discharged from the hospital that day, thankfully she did not lose the baby. Nicholas was sure that she would be having conflicting feelings, she was carrying the child of a man that had threatened to kill her and was obsessed with her friend.Nicholas was hoping to get some information about Ray’s hideout from Stephanie. She was better than she was before and so it will be easier to talk to her. Sarah, Jared and Nicholas together with Steph were seated in Nicholas’ living room. Jared started living in his house te
Chapter 50Astra felt hungry, tired and weak. Ray had driven her to his hideout that day and the emotional and physical torture had begun. Astra felt like she wanted to die. Like she had to die. She could not continue anymore. It felt like she was going crazy. Like she was becoming just like Ray. She was becoming unhinged and mad like him.She had learnt more than a few things since she got to his hideout. The first was that Ray was more obsessed than she thought, there was a room, the place he first took her to, it was like a shrine, it was filled with her pictures from top to bottom.All the time that she had felt like someone was following her, Ray was actually stalking her. He had pictures of he right from high school. Astra remembered vaguely that he had a camera back then, and he was always taking a pictures of her. She liked it at a point as it made her feel pretty, but after a while, she was annoyed. That did not make him stop though, he kept on taking pictures of her and it s
“Brian has leukemia,” Yvonne said. Nicholas looked at her with shock with his eyes. He did not know what to think, what was he supposed to do? The woman that he loved was kidnapped and he did not know what she was going through in the hands of her kidnapper, and now the son that he did not know existed was sick with cancer. Nicholas just stared ahead and held Brian in his arms, he could not say anything to Yvonne. The car drove them to his house in quiet. Nicholas did not say anything anymore. The words died on his tongue, and for a while it felt like all he could do for Astra was to pray.“Why was Brian with you? Why not Astra’s parents?” Nicholas asked. It seemed like a safe topic. Nicholas figured that Astra’s parents would have told him about the child. They had been so sympathetic during the divorce. “Did you not know?’ Yvonne asked. She looked shocked.“What?” Nicholas replied. He was curious as to what she meant.“Astra’s parents had disowned her because of the divorce.
Chapter 52Nicholas looked at Ray as he pushed the men holding him and brought out a gun. It seemed like something was holding him as he was transfixed to the spot. He stood there as Ray dashed out the gun and shot himself in the head. Nicholas moved then, he did not want the bastard to die. He did not deserve to end his life himself, he did not deserve not to be tried or even acquitted for all his crimes. Before Nicholas could get to Ray, policemen pushed him away and covered the bleeding man. What happened after that was confusing. Medics came from the ambulance and they declared Ray dead. It was all over. Nicholas went then to find Astra, he was angry at how easy Ray's death was, but at least he was gone. When Ray managed to find Astra, she was lying down and she looked like life had left her eyes. She was opening her eyes but Nicholas could see that she had seen hell. Nicholas wanted to raise Ray from the dead and kill him again."He is dead Astra," Nicholas told her. She smiled
Chapter 53Astra wanted to die. It was not the first time she felt like that. When Astra thought about it, she wanted to die a lot of times in her short life. Maybe she was not meant to live then. Maybe she was born to die. She first wanted to die when she was a child. It was the issue with the dress and Charise, she felt so bad that she thought if she died no one would miss her. Her parents would not worry because they had Charise, they loved her more anyway. Astra never did anything about the need then. She wondered if she would have done something if she had the chance, maybe a drop of poison or a knife to her wrist. Both options sounded appealing to her at the moment, she would take any route, but Brian.There had been many thoughts throughout when she was a teenager to her adult life. Astra had been pretty depressed when Nicholas dumped her, but nothing came close to when she lost Brianna. Astra was not the one that started the fire but she would have not minded the fire burning
Chapter 54Nicholas looked at Astra, he thought that he had at least to her with his words but it looked like he didn't."You will have to come stay with me after you are discharged, you will also have to get a therapist. You need to get better," Nicholas said to Astra and her head turned to him immediately. She clearly did not like the idea."What do you mean?" Astra shouted and Nicholas wondered if he should keep on saying things like that to Astra. It was the most emotive he had seen her since the issue with Ray. He did not know that she had the ability to be angry, she seemed like she had just been floating through life till then."You are not well Astra, I will not let you end your life and the life of our child. You really should not make that decision alone. Your son needs you Astra, I need you, and I understand if you may want to stay alone but this is not the situation for that. You need to stay with me until I am sure that you are okay and strong enough. If you want to stay
Chapter 55Nicholas woke up that morning with his son by his side. Nicholas had never slept with Brian before, but the boy said he was scared and he did not want to sleep alone. Nicholas had no choice but to oblige.The previous night, they had planned Theo's party, from the cartoon theme, to the balloons and all. Sarah had also told him that she was ready to move back to her house, that was after Theo's birthday. Nicholas knew that Sarah would want some privacy with Jared. Nicholas also called Yvonne to make sure she was okay last night, she was, and Astra slept through the night too.Nicholas kissed his son on his forehead, Brian looked so peaceful while he slept. He was also very peaceful when he was awake. Brian was generally not a problematic child. Nicholas almost wanted him to be more active, but he was sick and his brain was active enough."Brian," Nicholas said as he tapped the little boy. He already stood up from the bed. Brian opened his little eyes with a smile."Daddy,"