At the End of the Day

21

Chapter 21// Apollo

It's our last day in Barbados before we leave to go back home. I don't know what dirt Cameron has on me, but I've been preparing myself for the worst as soon as the plane touches down in London. I have seen little of him for the past two weeks, but when I have, all I've wanted to do is punch him.

Nothing new.

Not only have I got Cameron to worry about, but my little sister has been upset all day, and I do not know why.

"Bella, please. Stop crying." I sigh, wiping a fresh set of tears that are falling down her cheeks. I adjust her in my lap and dab the tissue gently on her skin. "What's wrong? You've been sad all day, and your big bro can't help you if you don't tell him." I run my fingers through her curls and raise my eyebrows, waiting for an answer from her.

She continues to look at me through wet lashes. My eyes close when she shakes her head and buries her face back into my chest.

"Bella." I pull her head back and furrow my eyebrows. "Tell me what's wrong."

"You're going to l-leave me." I'm shocked at her confession and pull back slightly with wide eyes.

"Bug, I will not leave you! What's got you thinking that?" I question her in confusion.

Why on earth would she think I would leave her? She's all I really have in this world, and I'm all she has. I could never leave her.

"C-Cameron told me you're going away. He said that when we get home, I-I'll never see you again and that I'll go into care." My whole body tenses and I try my best to hold back, especially when my sister is sitting with me.

All I want to do is kill Cameron. First, he tells Blue that I tried to kill my dad, which was never the case. I was protecting me and my sister when the police found me with a knife aimed at him. Our mother had just died, and he was in his deepest stage of grief. He tried to kill my baby sister. At the time, I was already depressed and suicidal, and as soon as they saw the marks on my arms, they put me in the psychiatric ward. It was the worst six months of my life. I was sick with worry for my sister, in the hands of our poor excuse of a dad.

But now, I've got another person trying to ruin my life, and I'd be stupid to allow Cameron to achieve that. He needs to go.

"I'm not going anywhere, Arabella. Don't listen to a word that man says. Do you understand me? You stay away from him. He's a bad person." I dry her eyes and she nods her head, sniffling. "I'd never leave you, Arabella," I whisper, my eyes brimming with tears because yet again, I feel like I'm failing her.

"Cameron hurts people. He hurts Blue."

"How do you know that?" I furrow my eyebrows, checking her over for any injuries.

"August told me, but Cameron told him not to say anything or something bad will happen to him. He gives him loads of lollipops. That's not okay, is it Apollo? You told me if someone does that, then it's not good." I release a deep breath, my jaw clenching tightly at the new information. My little sister is so smart and I couldn't be any more proud of her.

Who is sick enough to blackmail a little kid?!

"Apollo?"

I look up to see Scarlett standing in the doorway. She doesn't smile, but her eyes still have that warm, welcoming look that she usually has.

"I told the kids I'd take them for ice cream." She nods her head towards Arabella and my arms tighten around my little sister.

"You want ice cream?" I question her. Arabella nods her head and jumps from my lap. "Go put your shoes on." I watch her run out of the room, and then I look back at Blue's mother.