A Lovely Obsession ( Billionaire Romance Novel )

Chapter 31

Nora's POV:-

"Nora?'' The moment I hear Nigella's voice, I immediately open my eyes.

Her blonde hair looks golden in the morning sunlight streaming from the windows. I wrap her in a hug.

"Nigella, what are you doing here? Who let you in?''

"Derek sent one of his goons to my school. He told me you weren't feeling well. I was scared to death, Nora, and when he asked me to come with him, I willingly got in the car. I didn't tell Nadine or Grandma I was skipping school. I didn't know how they would react."

"Nadine would realize you aren't in school. We should call her so she doesn't worry. I am so glad you are here. You have no idea what it's been like." Tears fill my eyes and Nigella hugs me even tighter. Then she notices my hand.

"What happened to your hand, Nora? Did Derek do this?''

"No. It wasn't him. Strangely, he's been behaving himself ever since he brought me here. Tell me about how Grandma and Nadine are doing."

"I won't lie to you. Things have been pretty bad at home. Nadine keeps bursting into tears now and then. Grandma cleans the house nonstop, or she stays in her room." Nigella grimaces when she sees the expression on my face.

"Tell Nadine I am okay. Also, ask Grandma to rest now and then. I don't want any of you near Derek, but I don't think you can avoid him forever. Maybe I can convince him to let Grandma and Nadine visit me here. Or maybe I can visit you someday if the bastard lets me." My voice is laced with frustration.

Nigella watches me quietly for a while and then bursts into tears.

"What's wrong?" I cup her face in my hands.

"I don't know how you are dealing with all of this. The restrictions, this sick man who's obsessed with controlling everything about your life. I know how much you must hate all of this and I feel so powerless. Our lives have become so abnormal and there's nothing we can do about it." She sobs.

I am about to tell her I will find a way out of this mess when I see Derek standing in the doorway. Before I can catch the expression on his face, he turns on his heel and disappears.

I talk to Nigella for a while, but I have to tell her to leave before Nadine freaks out and says something to Grandma. As I walk her to the door, a worrying thought crosses my mind.

"The due date for your tuition fee. When is it?"

"Oh, my God Nora. I totally forgot. It's due in three days. Everyone was so out of it since we came back and before that, we thought we were permanently shifting to Laura's Dale. It completely skipped everyone's mind."

"Thank God we were in such a hurry to leave that we didn't tell the headmistress to remove your names from the list of students." My mind is busy calculating the money we will need. I wince at the thought of walking into Theo Georges after disappearing so suddenly. I wonder if I will get this month's paycheck.

"What are you thinking, Nora?"

"Nothing sweetie."

"Before I leave, I want to apologize, Nora, for what I said that day. None of what is happening is your fault."

"Nigella, I had forgotten about that a long time ago. It's not wrong that Derek's obsession with me started all of this. And I did shamelessly fall in love with him." I shrug.

"There's nothing shameless about love. And I can see why you fell for him."

"Yeah, because he's rich and handsome?'' I say drily.