Against All Odds (Completed)

Chapter Sixty-Eight

"Yeah, that's what happened." Michael said into the phone and let out a sigh. He'd spent hours explaining to his family all that had happened and why Paula was in the police custody.

It wasn't easy for him and he knew his family was finding it hard to absorb all the information.

"How could you allow them to take her away? What sort of a cousin are you, Michael!" She yelled.

"And why shouldn't I have done what I did? Michael asked. "She's evil, Mom. She tried to kill me, and she-"

"And so? Did she kill you?" His mother snapped. "You should understand that she's still your sister!"

"Not anymore. She's lost that right, and I can never see her as anything less that a monster. She can still be your niece, and that's your problem."

"You're talking back at me?" She yelled, "Go to that station and get her the hell out of there!"

"You can do that yourself, Mother. I'm not stepping a foot there, and you won't force me to."

She sighed. "I'll be I'm Kumasi early tomorrow morning. I'm getting her out of that place myself!"

"Yes. You do that."

She disconnected the call and Michael sighed, laying his back unto the bed, he stared at the ceiling.

He should've known his parents would still be in support of Paula. He could swore they loved her more than him.

How could they overlook the fact that she'd done evil and still want to help her? They were impossible!

He rubbed his hands over his face and tried to relax, even though it was difficult for him to do so.

Hearing a knock at his door, he lifted his head and glanced at the wall clock on his left. It was 6pm.

He got up from the bed, shoved his feet in his black slides which rested on the brown carpet and pulled up his gray tracksuit, leaving his chest shirtless.

Walking towards the door, Michael rubbed his neck as it began to throb, reminding him how stressful the day had been. With his hand on the knob after turning the key, he opened the door.

A smile crept the corners of his lips and his face brightened up. "Ellie...?" He  wasn't expecting her. When was the last time she came over at his place?

"Hi." She smiled back at him. Dressed in a blue, shortsleeved dress and her hair loose on her shoulder, her eyes shone brightly. She looked beautiful, as always.

Knowing he on the other hand looked like a mad man judging from his disheveled hair, he groaned inwardly. He hoped he didn't look too hideous though.

"Come in." He stepped aside and gestured her into the house.

Ellie nodded, "Thank you."

She walked straight to the hall as her eyes darted around as if inspecting all the things that'd changed in the room.

Looking over her shoulder, she pointed at a painting on the wall. "You never told me you bought that picture."

Michael smiled. "I had to, it's a great epitome of the person standing in front of you."

She grinned. "It's lovely."

He nodded and stared at the picture. It was a portrait of him a random kid painted when they were on a date at the beach.

"Let me get you something to drink. Sit down and make yourself comfy." He told her and without waiting for an answer, he strode into the kitchen.

He approached the fridge and got himself a chilled bottle of orangeade and grabbed a glass. Setting them on a tray, he carried it to the hall.

Ellie was seated on the sofa as he'd said and he placed down the tray on the coffee table in front of her. He poured the juice into the glass and lifted it towards her, "Here you go."

She smiled. "Thank you." Taking the glass from him, she took a sip.

Michael sat down beside her and sighed. "I know you wouldn't randomly come over without a reason. Is there a problem?"

She looked at him, "No. There's nothing wrong." She said, shaking her head. "I came to check up on you."

His heart fluttered as a slow smile tickled his lips, "Wow. Thank you. I wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah. After all the brouhaha, I figured you must be hard for you."

"Uh..." He nodded. "You're right. But I'll be fine."

She smiled.

"Thanks for the care, Ellie. And I'm sorry too, for what Paula did, I didn't know-"

She touched his arm, "There's no need to beat yourself up, Mike. You didn't know, and I'm doing fine too. Nothing bad has happened."

"That's a relief, Ellie." He sighed. "But I still want to apologize."

"Don't." She shook her head. "At least the mystery has been solved."

He nodded and took her hand. He kissed it and heaved a sigh of relief. "And I'm glad to know I still have you."

Right now that everything was finally over, all he wanted was to wrap his arms around her and kiss her like crazy. She had no idea how much he'd missed her. The days he'd spent separated from her on his quest to solve the mystery felt like eternity.

He'd restrain himself each time he felt the urge to go to her and tell her the truth, but Paula would stop him. How foolish he'd been for listening to her. 

Not anymore. There was no one to stop him from been with her. Not this time.

Lifting his head, he looked at her. "I love you, Ellie." He said and sighed shamefully, "I was stupid to let you go. I broke your heart and forced you to forget about me. That was so foolish of me."

"Michael-" she tried to cut in.

"You can call me all the ugly names in the world and I won't mind." He wrapped his hands around her hand. "I deserve all the name-calling for letting go you."

She pursed her lips and silently stared at him.

"We can still be together, right? You still love me, I know."

He looked into her eyes, eagerly waiting for an answer. Her silence was causing his palms sweat and he couldn't take the awkwardness any longer.

"Ellie?"

"No, Michael." She blurted.

He frowned. "What?"

"We can't be together." She shook her head.

His heart sank and with his mouth agape, he couldn't find words to say.

"I'm sorry." She added, slipping her hand from his.

"Why? I just said I'm sorry." He asked. "Are you just going to let what we had waste away?"

"I didn't want it to happen like this either, but it did. It's gone, all the feelings I had for you."

He looked at her incredibly, still not believing his ears. How could she move on so fast? Did she not love him as much as he did?

"Who's he?"

She furrowed her brows. "Who's who?"

"You've moved on, right? Tell me who he is."

Ellie looked away. "I don't think that's necessary to know." She got up from the sofa and set the glass back on the coffee table, "I'll leave now."

Michael sighed and hang his head. "It's him? Ashton?"

Ellie stood there for a while and without a word, she patted him on the shoulder and headed out of the room.

Michael groaned when he heard the door shut. He lifted his head and leaned into the sofa. He'd fucked up. He'd lost the most important part of his life out of his own foolishness.

All thanks to Paula for messing up his life.

Don't forget to vote!!! 🤗❤