Night Before the Swing

It's not over

CHAPTER 33

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Instead of going back to Reentha town, Long and Gwen returned to the hotel for a week. Long needed rest for one night, after which he embarked on another project. The houses around the Danver area were even more beautiful inside. Nala and Narrel were never going to be permanently at home but Long ensured they both had a bedroom in their new house. Gwen never again wanted to live in a house big enough for twenty people when there were less than five occupying it so Long only viewed four to five bedroom houses. The decision to choose a house on the hill was solely for Long to look down and Danver apartments and gloat at the fact that the original owner will never again set foot there. Besides, Danver had a breath taking view. The new house also got a proper view of the mountain Long had gotten to know well. The hill silently kept a lot of their money in its belly and that made it especially special. With Christian's money, Long felt like a king. He had never had so much money at his disposal and he wasn't going to be humble about spending nights in a bush and getting rewarded for it, even if the reward was stolen. He liked having money because of the power it had on other people. As soon as he told the estate agent that he was buying the property cash, other bidders fell off immediately. He made the agent's day when he told her he wants to sell his other home via her agency too.

All it took to move was a shower and a drive. The same agent made sure there were people working around the clock to have the house ready in less than a week. When the chaos started weeks earlier, all Gwen and Long wanted was their old life back. But now that it was over, they felt they deserved a better one. The day after they moved in, Nala and Narrel joined them temporarily.

Nala spending days at her aunt's house reminded her of the time when she was young and would get a break from her father. Aunt Gloria would always say Christian's wealth was questionable but no one paid her any mind. Nala wondered what would've happened if her mother had also questioned their lifestyle instead of blindly enjoying it. They would've definitely avoided national embarrassment but Nala knew she wouldn't have had a million stolen for her from her father by Long. She had to give away two hundred thousand of it to Lizzy and her parents paid five hundred thousand together. The whole country joined forces with them to find Christian but Lizzy's lawyer continued with the law suit against the Masons.

Instead of dragging the case to court, they agreed on a settlement. Lizzy and her family know full and well that Gwen and Nala are innocent but Lizzy's anger wouldn't let it go and she demanded a million. After a brief negotiation, they settled on seven hundred thousand which was to be paid within a month. Nala's resentment for Lizzy retuned and she knew that she and Lizzy would never be friends again. Lizzy didn't even acknowledge Nala's presence at the meeting between their families. She was the spokesperson for her family and she directed the lawyer as to how the meeting should go. Nala couldn't help but envision her sitting at the director's chair in a boardroom meeting of a big company. Lizzy's confidence and appearance had shot up to that level. She was also calm in her effectiveness. She didn't smile or make small talk. And when it was all over, everybody got up and shook hands but she simply whispered something to her lawyer's ear then walked out like a boss who was done addressing her employees. Nala felt small and shy, something she first felt when she met Lizzy when they were children.

*****

Six days after arriving at her parents' new house, Tony finally made contact. The directions Long sent were easy enough for the taxi man to arrive there without a GPS. Tony's car was so badly smashed, Long begged him to not fix it but let him buy a new one. Tony felt shy receiving such a big Gift but Gwen insisted he'd earned it and that it wasn't a gift. Tony promised to visit a dealership soon to choose one.