MY TOXIC TAURUS

CHAPTER 30

Veronica was directing Ethan to a beach house her father owned in the outskirts of the city knowing that Chris still knew nothing about her family or at least hoping he did not. On their way there, his car broke down and they had to stop and seek shelter from the storm headed their way in a small house they came upon deep inside the forest that was  on the roadside.

It was an abandoned shelter, old and rickety. Some of the floorboards were broken and you could see the basement from part of the living room. It was safer than being outside though since soon it was raining heavily outside with extremely strong and violent winds.

The house had some furniture covered in white sheets and they were lucky to find a bed. They knew they would have to spend the night there judging from the storm's intensity.

Veronica used the time they had there to find out exactly what Ethan knew and what he did not. It turned out that Cassie had not told him anything about what was happening. Quite the contrary, she had made sure to make him stay far away from Veronica as possible. She was in cohorts with Chris and all she did was gather information from Veronica. Now that she thought of it, she highly doubted the doctor who had been attending to her was sent by her dad. It must have been Cassie's plan to make sure she did not doubt anything. But why was her best friend helping Chris?

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"Try it again," Chris yelled at Cassie who was busy trying to get a hold of Veronica but to no avail.

Her phone was not being answered and Ethan's phone had been switched off too.

"You know if only you listened to me and not played that stupid fake marriage announcement,none of this would be happening."

"How else did you want her to forget Ethan? I had to give her a good reason and it was your job to keep her in check anyway. You had one simple task yet you failed."

"Well she's supposed to be your wife, isn't she?"

Chris dropped everything on his desk in anger, taking even Cassie by surprise. She herself was also angry and she blamed it all on Veronica. If only she had accepted Chris and gotten married to him as planned, things would have been much easier.

All she needed was to get Veronica out of the way then she would have Ethan for herself.  He would not be easy to persuade, as expected, but she was going to find a way. She was the reason Chris had let go of Ethan so easily yet she let Veronica take all the credit.

The deal they had was simple. She had to make sure Veronica agreed to the wedding without creating any scandals and in return, Chris would let go of Ethan so she could have him. She had taken care of Esther by finding out her price. A bit of money was enough to have her gone and she would only show up when called for, like the one time he was in hospital. She knew everything. She even knew Chris'  plan to attack Ethan and made sure he was taken to hospital on time.

Now with Veronica interfering and all so suddenly, she feared she would have to do more than she expected. Their being together meant Veronica had to have figured out that she was not on her side like she was posing. That gave her more reason to urgently know where they were.

"I have an idea," Cassie said garnering Chris' attention fully, "she must have contacted her dad. If we head to her home we might just find out where they are. Or even better, they might be there."

Chris was not going to argue over the first solid lead they had to find Veronica, and he immediately left for her home.

There was no need for introductions on arrival since he recognized Veronica's father. Henry had not heard from Veronica for a while and all he had received from her was a wedding invitation. He was surprised to see Chris in his house accompanied by Cassie whom he was now well acquainted with. She had visited a number of times and every time she claimed Veronica had sent her. She never really explained the reason as to why Veronica never came on her own. The only thing she would tell them was she was busy planning for the wedding.

Chris explained to Henry that he and Veronica had a fight and she had left the house without telling him where she was off to. He was worried and had been looking for her with no success on finding her. That was why he reached out to her dad to see if he knew anything.

It was disappointing to find out that Henry too knew nothing about her whereabouts. She had not even called her own father and Cassie had not expected this.

" I can think of one place she loves going to when she is angry though," Henry said.

"Where could that be?"

"Our family beach house. She loves going there but its really far from here."

"That's no problem. I just need to find her and clear things up."

"Okay... I guess I'll just tell you where it is ..."

"I'll go with then dad," Gia barged into the room clearly having eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Gia!"

"I know, I'm sorry I listened in but you guys were loud. Besides, she's my sister, I might just make it easier to talk to her."

"This is a matter between them. You should not interfere."

"Actually, it's okay. She can come."

Chris thought of Gia as the perfect way to get to Veronica and lure her out of hiding. Gia was the perfect persuasion for Veronica and the opportunity had just presented itself.

They took Gia along with them and spent a night at his house planning for the search the following day after the updates of a storm somewhere along the way.

Veronica on the other hand cleared up the misunderstanding between her and Ethan, coming to terms with the betrayal from Cassie. They spent the cold night in each other's warm embrace passing through the storm. They were both quiet, knowing what was coming. Both of them knowing just how dangerous Chris could be and aware of the fact that he would do anything to get Veronica. She was scared even though she did not say it.  In that moment all Ethan thought of was moving away. Away from Chris, away from the country. It was the safest distance he could think of.