A Lovely Obsession ( Billionaire Romance Novel )

Chapter 26

Nora's POV:-

What was Derek doing with Detective Huang? Did Derek have some sort of telepathic powers and know I was about to contact the detective just then? Or maybe the two of them were in cahoots with each other all along? That meant contacting the police was out of the question and would be literal suicide.

I didn't know why that thought suddenly made me feel relieved. Or maybe I did know the reason and was too ashamed to admit it to myself.

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“Will we sell the house?” Nadine asks me, looking on the verge of tears.

“No, that would alert Derek, and selling off the property in a hurry means we might end up with a bad deal. Instead, we are going to sell off the furniture and nearly all of our jewelry to pay for the rent and other expenses. And we will have to use camping beds, suitcases, and a picnic blanket in place of our beds, wardrobes and dining table respectively. It will be difficult but we will get used to it. Maybe in time, Grandma would think it's safe for us to come back. Maybe Derek would have forgotten all about me.” I try to sound optimistic.

“What if he doesn't? What if Grandma thinks it's never safe for us to come back here? Will we spend the rest of our lives sleeping on the camping beds?” Nadine's voice breaks.

“If grandmother decides to stay there permanently we will sell more of our belongings and some time later we will have to risk returning here to sell the house. I know it will be hard because Dad built this place but it would bring in sufficient money for us to live comfortably in Laura's Dale.”

My words seemed to leave Nadine looking even more forlorn than before. She has taken barely a few bites of the omelet I have made for breakfast.

“I don't know how to apologize to you.” I earnestly say tears springing to my eyes.

” I have become the source of all problems in this house. It's because of me that we are leaving. I wish there was something I could do but I can't.”

“You are the person who sacrificed her chance to go to college so you could do grueling low-paying jobs to feed us. It's not your fault that you ran into a guy like Derek.”

I turn around to see Nigella standing at the door. After the words she said to me that day, I hadn't expected her to give such a speech but she seemed to want to make it up to me.

“I agree with Nigella. You have nothing to apologize for.” Nadine pats my hand as Nigella goes into the kitchen.

“ But I need to ask you one thing Nora, how do you feel about this decision? When Nigella claimed you were in love with Derek you never denied it. Since you developed feelings for him despite everything, why are you willing to run away now? What changed? Is it just to please Grandma?”

“ I don't think he would kill you just so you wouldn't tell anything to the police. If he wanted to do that wouldn't he have done so already? And I don't understand why he even confessed that he had Simon Miller murdered?” Nadine fires one question after the other and for a while, I just silently sit there not knowing how to answer all of them.

Nigella also chooses to join us at the dining table just then. I wonder how they will judge me after what I have to say but I want to be completely honest with them.

“Yes, I did…. fall in love with him. I am sure you two probably find that disgusting considering what I saw him do the night we met. But he was kind to me afterward and started doing favors for me that I never asked for. Maybe I am terribly lonely or I have really poor self-esteem but that was enough to make me fall for him.” My sisters watch me in silence as I continue.