Chapter 31

Kharis POV
We shared such a beautiful night. The way he touched me, the way he held me, the way he kissed me and rubbed his body against mine. It was the most wonderful night of my life.

After stretching my body, I turned to look at Frederick. I couldn't even maintain gazing at his face for five seconds, I was too shy. But, he kept staring at me. Do you know that part in the movies where the man is staring sweetly at the woman beside him? It was too different with Frederick. He looked at me as if there was something wrong. It was as if he was confused or bothered about something.

For a minute or two, he glanced at me with a quizzical expression on his face. His brows and eyes were raised. But, I think something stopped him from talking or going ahead with his question.
I couldn't stop gazing at him. I wanted him to spill out whatever was inside. I was scared too, maybe he had regrets! Maybe he didn't enjoy the sex! Maybe he wants me out of his house!

"What's wrong?", He asked me.

"Good morning". I noticed the way you look at me! Is everything okay? Are you regretting it now?", I said all of these at once without giving him time to answer each question.

He made me feel like having sex with him was the wrong thing to do. A few minutes ago, I was happy. I thought that it was the most wonderful night of my life and right now, it's beginning to change to one of my worsts nights.

"How was your night?", He asked and turned his face away from mine.

"Frederick, what is wrong?"Why are you being cold all of a sudden", I asked.

He was making me worried. Little did I know he had seen something I had been hiding for a while. Something that was a part of my past. I thought about getting up and leaving the room immediately since he was putting up a character. But then, he asked "Are you okay?", And that made me decide to remain calm.

"You seem confused or worried about something. I can tell from your facial expression", I said.

His next move was confusing till it then occurred to me what had been wrong. He held my hand and took his finger to a scar on my arm. I could feel my body shale and my heartbeat intensify. I wondered if he had seen the other scars on my back. I wondered what he thought of me already. Was that why he looked at me like that.

He also took the same finger to the side of my back where another scar was. I couldn't utter a word, I sat on the bed with my face down. Where was I going to start to talk about my life from the moment my stepmother appeared?

"Who are you?", He asked me.
I raised my head to look at him. I couldn't restrict the tears forming at the corner of my eyes. I began crying. Heaven knows I prayed for an earthquake. I wanted to get swallowed with him so the interrogation would end.

Many scenarios of torture kept playing in my head. I remembered every single scar, pain, tears, all over again. I remembered that life was cruel. It dawned on me that I was always this girl, who was so lonely and sad. Broken into depression, not confident, and no matter how hard I cried nobody cared or listened to my feelings.
Would Frederick treat me better after listening to my story!!

No one is listening. I promise not to judge you", he said to me. Maybe he could see that I was fighting a battle between telling him and not telling him, in my head.

I adjusted my body and rotated to one side revealing my back with some slightly fresh wounds and scars. My heart was racing fast. I was waiting for a word from him.

"Who hurt you like this? Who the hell did this to you? Were you involved with bad people?", He said in a calm voice without even giving me room to speak. I sat properly on the bed and covered my body with the duvet, in shame, with tears streaming down my eyes.

"You were not meant to see my scars. No one should see anything as disgusting as this".
I said and turned to look at the man beside me.

I could see through his eyes, that he felt sorry for me.

"It is okay if you do not want to talk about it. I'd understand", he said and held my body. My forehead was resting on his chest and it made me feel safe. I summoned courage and began opening up to him about myself.

"My name is Kharis Carter. All my life, I have dreamt of finding peace and love. When my mother passed away, my dad remarried and that was the beginning of my torture. I was only 21 years old and still in college. The first terrible moment of my life was when I quit school because my dad or stepmother wouldn't pay the tuition fee. I stayed home while my friends went to school and studied their dream courses. I wanted to build my career", she started talking.

"Frederick, There was no single day that my dad or stepmother did not hit me. My back is a work of terrible art. From irons to wires, to shoes, anything that was easily accessible to them was used on my back".

" I slept in an uncomfortable room. No lighting. No duvet. Just a small sofa with no piece of bed spray on it".

"I ran two jobs at the same time. One as a waitress, and the other, as a babysitter. And I kept these jobs away from my parents. If they ever found out, I was in trouble. I woke up every morning by either 4:00 am or 5:00 am, to clean the house, do the laundry, and prepare breakfast".

"My life was a living hell. I lived without parental love and care. Everybody needs somebody. One to rely on. I had nobody to talk to or express my feelings to. I was alone and scared of every minute."

Talking about everything made me cry. He listened without uttering a word. Although it felt so good to be heard, it was painful too.