Desolation

thirty three

This chapter is dedicated to @CurlyAnocas :) Her comments made me so fucking happy and I could feel the love for my book so thank you so much !

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"It's good to see you too, Aunt Brittney," I said while nodding my head, "Look, it'd be great to stand here and chat with you but I have some important people I need to see. I can't waste my time with you so excuse me," I smiled sarcastically at her before grabbing Stephen's hand and walking away.

Stephen tugged at my hand once we were away from her and I turned back to him, letting my hand drop from his. "What was that?" he raised his eyebrow and questioned.

"Nothing," I quickly said, "Come on," I spotted Uncle Xavier standing with some other people along with Kenneth. I made my way towards him while Stephen followed behind me.

"Here they are," Uncle Xavier smiled at us before thumping Stephen on the back once we made it to their little group.

"Kenneth, this is my nephew Stephen who's finally taking over the business and Stephen this is Kenneth Edwards, our close family friend," Uncle Xavier introduced them to each other and they both talked for a little bit while I was lost in my own thoughts.

Why was Aunt Bitch over here? No one fucking liked her in the family. She was an absolute bitch, always taunting everyone and making people feel like shit. She thought she was some high goddess who was above everyone else. Fucking bitch, I could knock her out cold with just one solid punch.

"Noelle?" Uncle Xavier called my name and I snapped out of my daze.

"I'm sorry, you were saying?" I asked politely, I had missed out on what he said earlier.

"I want you to meet my brother and his family. This is John Hendry and his wife Annalisa. Sarah must be here somewhere, she's their daughter and Stephen's sister," Uncle explained.

I looked at the couple standing in front of me, somehow I had completely missed them before, blame it on that Aunt Bitch.

Stephen's Dad looked like a powerful man with his perfect suit and tie. He had blue eyes and really dark brown, almost black hair. He had some greying hair but he looked good for his age. He had a well kept beard which was greying in some spots too. Stephen didn't look necessarily like him but I could see a little resemblance.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Hendry, I'm Noelle Grayson," I shook hands with him and smiled. I didn't think he was gonna smile back but surprisingly he did.

"You can call me John. I've heard a lot about you from Xavier. He tells me you're an architect and an interior designer," he spoke in a think accent.

I nodded my head and smiled politely. I switched my gaze to Stephen's mother. She was beautiful and Stephen looked exactly like her. He had the same bright green eyes like her and brown hair. She wore a black midnight dress and it looked extremely well on her. She looked fit and I admired that about her. Her hair was short till her shoulders and she had a kind look on her face.

"Lovely to meet you Mrs. Hendry," I smiled and extended my hand but she pulled me in for a hug. She was kinda petite but it made her look adorable. I liked her and I could tell why Stephen was closer to his Mum.

"My son's told me a lot about you," she spoke in a hushed voice before pulling away from me, "Call me Lisa, love," she gave me a kind smile and I nodded.

"Noelle, where's Caspian and Kathy?" I turned to Kenneth who looked around before looking back at me.

"I haven't seen them in a while, let me go see," I told him before excusing myself and leaving the group.