CHAPTER NINE: STRANGER

2847 Words
“They’ve got him!” Viola came running through both Nick and Amber’s house, startling both Nick and Amber who were having breakfast and the dining table. Viola appeared, she did not look scared but she was crying.  Making both Nick and Amber wonder what it was that Viola was crying about. “Good morning Viola” Nick greeted Viola calmly, trying his best to bring order back into his home. Viola held up a newspaper and Amber began crying but Nick could not see what was printed on the front cover. Nick grabbed the newspaper from Viola’s hand and now that he saw what it that was printed on there, he was pleased. “Why hadn’t the police called to inform us of his arrest?” Nick asked Viola, but she too had no answers for him.  Amber walked back to her seat, almost robotically; she could not believe what was printed on the newspaper. Amber was in tears, not because she was sad but because she was very happy that Mr. Ridge was being sent to jail. Amber had not even read the article, because she was content with his arrest. That lawyer had killed Steven and he had almost killed her too. She felt a hand land on her shoulder, when she looked up, she saw her husband smiling down at her. Seeing Nick’s smile assured her that everything was all right and that he was with her throughout the way. Amber was happy that now she could finally walk out of her house, without having to look behind her back without worrying that, Mr. Ridge would try to kill her or even worse that he could get his hands on their son Aaron. Amber looked away from her husband her attention now on her eldest sister, Viola. “How did they find him?” Amber managed to ask her sister. Viola walked towards her sister and pulled out a chair and she sat next to Amber at the dining table. “He went back to Steven’s house; he was looking for some document or some brown envelope. Unfortunately for him one of the neighbors recognized him and called the cops” Whilst Viola and Nick did not understand what was going on as Amber did. Without waiting for both her husband and her sister, Amber ran to her room and rummaged through her cupboard, throwing out everything in her path. Tears streaming down from her eyes and her husband and sister ran into the room after her. “Honey, what is going on?” Nick asked his wife, he was scared for her and Amber knew this but there was so much going on and she had to find what she was looking for. “Amber what is going on?” her sister asked her and when she did not answer, Viola swung her around so that she was facing them. “What is going on?” Viola asked her sister, Amber who was now shivering with fear. “I know what Mr. Ridge was looking for, I think I might have it” Amber said. Viola let go of her sister, not understanding what it was that her sister was saying. “I don’t know what you are talking about Amber” Viola told her sister and even Nick looked confused. “On the day of Steven’s funeral Mr. Ridge gave me a brown envelope from Steven” “What was in the envelope?” Nick asked his wife and her face went blank. “I don’t know, I’ve never opened it” “Then where is it?” Viola asked her sister, without saying another word Amber turned around, facing her cupboard. She looked at her tiny bag lying in the far corner of the cupboard, which was it. She remembered all those months ago went she placed the envelope in that bag and forgotten about it. With shaking hands, Amber reached out for the bag and she grabbed it.  She turned around, this time again; she faced her husband and her sister. “Here’s the bag,” she said to both her husband and her sister. Amber reached her hand into her bag. Scarlet had no idea why she was scared. It was only an envelope. An envelope was a simple paper, but it was the secrets that were in them that Amber worried about, secrets that might just come back to haunt her. “We’ll leave her, to deal with this herself” Viola told her brother in law and the both of them left Amber all by herself in her room. Amber pulled out the brown envelope, it had been long since she had seen this piece of paper, it brought back so many memories. Memories of her putting the brown envelope away. Every time she wanted to open it. Amber gathered up the courage, it was today that she would have to bury the skeletons of her past. She pulled out a thick piece of paper and she unfolded it, the first was a letter and she smiled at herself because she knew Steven’s handwriting so well, it was never neat, and Steven always looked like he was in a hurry when writing his letters. Dear Amber By the time you read this letter, I might already be dead and probably being hauled deep down into a six-foot hole. I was never a saint to begin with and I can never truly blame my horrible childhood for it, I had choice and I had laid my bed and I have to lie in it. I never want you to believe that what we had was just a fling; you have opened my eyes to the possibilities of love, without you I would never had believed that love existed. You welcomed me into your home and your family treated me like a long lost son, welcoming me in with open arms. I am sorry my love but I think my luck might just have run out, there are people after my life and unfortunately, I can feel it in my bones. The people closest to me will betray me. You are the only one I trust. Sorry for leaving you so soon, I wished that our love had time to blossom but unfortunately, it could not. I wished I could live longer so that we could water our love, like a beautiful flower but we might not. With this letter I have left a few documents, these documents are important, because they are property documents as well as ownerships to all my shares, don’t worry they are all legal. I am sorry my love, I hope you find someone that loves you just as much as I do. It pains me to write this but please move on, seeing you happy makes me happy because your smile brightens my day. Hope you find happiness in your life, from the heart that beats just for you.   Steven The letter had ended and Amber wished that there were more to it; she wished that Steven had said more. Amber raised her hands and placed over her mouth, stopping herself from screaming out of pure frustration. She stood up from her bed and walked over to her window, she looked out aat how peaceful the world was, if only her life was this peaceful before Steven had died. Amber knew that Steven was right, she needed to move on and she did. Her husband Nick was the best and she was thankful for finding him, together they had a very handsome son, named Aaron. She knew to complete her happiness she had to meet one person, she had to settle her score with the one enemy on her list, that enemy was none other than Mr. Ridge. He was the worse person that Amber had ever come across, she needed one thing, just to look at that man in his eyes and ask him the one question that was burning in her mind. Amber stepped out of the room, her bag in her hand. She was heading to the prison cell where Mr. Ridge was detained until his court date. She walked into the living room, where her sister and husband sat, having a coffee together. “I’m ready,” Amber said and nick smiled. Even when Amber had said nothing, she had said a million words. Nick understood just what his wife meant and he was willing to support her no matter the cost. “I’ll get Aaron and we’ll drop him at Viola’s home with mother and father in-law” Nick said. Nick came out with baby Aaron in his arms, their son was sleeping peacefully in her husband’s arms and Amber would not have given that up for the world. Now that it hit her, she did not care about the pact that she had made with her sister’s years ago, now driving towards the prison Amber understood what her sister; Viola had felt when she first fell in love with Tate and now Amber realized just how much she loved her husband Nick. It was a shame that two sisters had bowed out of the pact but Amber could not have been happier than she was now. The pact had kept her away from her happiness and now that she had pulled away from it, she was happier. She turned her head and she looked at her husband, she was so blessed, more than she would have ever imagined. Here she was, about to face her biggest fear but she was not scared, her husband was with her after all and that was all she really needed right now. Amber could not believe that she had dragged herself all the way to New York to see the very same monster that had ended Steven’s life a few months back. She was on edge, so much that she did not mind the body search or some police officer rummaging through her bag. Amber knew that she had one goal and that was to see Mr. Ridge, that killer and look him in the eyes and have him answer some of her deepest questions. Amber tried to stop herself from hearing the clicking of her heels on the hard concrete floor, Nick held his wife’s hand as they marched towards the visitation room. Nick felt his wife’s grip tighten around his hand, he looked into her eyes and she into his, assuring her that he was here for her. The both of them sat down, waiting for the officer to bring in Mr. Ridge into the room. There was a glass window between them but Amber felt as if, the lawyer might just walk through it and hurt her. She tried to stoop herself from shivering in fear but it was too late, her husband, Nick noticed it before she could do anything about it. “Honey you don’t have to do this” her husband told her, Amber could not help but think that this was the perfect time to see that minster.  She was sick and tired of living in fear of the unknown, she hated regrets and she wanted to have some answers. Amber, startled by seeing the officer on the other side of the window and next to him was the man that Amber despised, the man that had killed Steven, the man that was smiling down at Amber with a wicked smile.  Amber felt like standing up from her chair and beating him right through the glass window, she looked at a man that she once trusted… a man that even Steven trusted with his life, only for him to betray the both of them. Amber had made up her mind; she was going to face her fears head on. She turned to her husband and she let go of his hand. “My love, what are you doing?” Nick asked his wife. He knew Amber very well and the look on Amber’s face told him that she was about to do something serious. “I think you should leave” Amber asked her husband who now looked worried about what his wife was saying. “What are you saying?” Nick leaned closer to his wife ear and asked her. He knew that he needed to stay with his wife, to protect her from this evil man sitting on the opposite side of the glass. Amber turned to her husband, her eyes tearing. She knew that she was not sad and all she needed was to get the truth no matter the cost. “Please, let me do this by myself” Amber begged her husband. Nick loved his wife and he would never allow any harm to come to his family but looking into his wife’s eyes, he knew that she was sure of what she was saying. Nick nodded his head and he kissed his wife one more time on the lips before stepping away from her and leaving the room. Amber turned her attention to Mr. Ridge; it was now him against her. Amber picked up the phone on the wall, the entire time she looked into his eyes and not once did her eyes waver from his. “Hello, Ridge” Amber said, not a hint of softness and kindness in her tone and Mr. Ridge just laughed it off. He too picked up the phone and his smile grew wider. “Hello Amber, long times no see” He teased Amber and she knew not to react to his taunts, people like, Mr. Ridge fed off people like that. “I know. You know I always thought that you would be locked up in a prison cell but I guess it happened sooner than I had expected. Anyways, how has jail been treating you so far?”  Amber asked him, not really wanting to know about him— she simply wanted to torture him. Ridge smiled at her, countering her attack on him and Amber’s heart sank. “I’m making a lot of friends here, would you like to join me?” Ridge asked her and Amber knew just where to get him. “As much as I would like to, I’d let you have all the fun. I mean you seem very close to these friends of yours—very close” Amber teased and she saw Ridge’s eyes twitch, she had him right where she wanted him. Ridge sat himself, properly onto the chair and leaned forwards at the glass window, immediately Amber leaned back. She did not know why she did that. Perhaps deep down Amber still feared him because men like him were unpredictable. “What are you doing here? because I know you’re not here to wish me luck with my trail that is happening in a few days’ time” the matter of the fact is that Ridge was right, she was not visiting him in prison for the fun of it neither was it a friendly visit, she was here to get answers. “Why were you at Steven’s house, looking through his documents?” Amber did not ask him, she demanded that Ridge answer her question. She did not know where all the burst of confident was coming from but she knew that it was coming from deep within her. “I don’t owe you any explanation!” Ridge yelled at Amber and she leaned forward, this time she was not afraid of him, after all they were speaking through the phone and there was a thick glass between the both of them. Amber knew that the glass was not enough but for now it was all she needed and on top of that, she needed answers. “See Ridge that is where you are wrong, you owe me and Steven an explanation,” She told him, raw anger coming from her tone. Her face was hot and red with anger and she stopped her tears from falling from her eyes, she would not let him see how worked up she was over this matter. Ridge’s smile disappeared and his facial expression was one that she could not read but she knew that he must have been scared or at least weary of what Amber might do next. “What do you want to know?” Ridge asked Amber and she knew immediately that she had him right where she wanted him. “Good” Amber said, trying her best to make it seem that she was confident and not one bit afraid of him or nervous to hear the truth.        
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