Chapter Forty-two Estera Roberts’ POV (Ten Years Before)

After Evan’s stunt with the car and Henry, I figured he would return in a day or two and I would be able to grill him as he said but that didn’t happen. And after waiting for his return for about seven days, my feelings changed from indignation to anxiety. I grew more anxious with each passing day he didn’t show. And when three weeks passed without him reaching out to me I waited for my aunt to return from the Sterling’s mansion one Friday night.
“Aunt Sophia, have you heard anything about Evan Sterling?” I asked after she had settled down for her nightly reading. She removed her reading glasses and peered at me.
“He is out of town, darling,” she replied with a knowing glint in her eyes. “He sometimes leaves for months, global throttling, overseeing his family businesses. But he always comes back,” she explained.
“Okay,” I said in a small voice and turned away, feeling really close to tears that he would still be gone for much longer. I suppose my aunt saw my dejection at the news, and she decided to have pity on me.
“Would you like me to find out when he would be returning?”
“No. It’s okay I was merely curious. I haven’t had the chance to thank him for his assistance that’s all,” I lied. She nodded but the glint in her eyes was still very much there. It was obvious she wasn’t buying my bullshit.
“I will see what information I can gather tomorrow, and I am sure he is fine. Mrs. Catherine Sterling was on the phone with him this morning when I went to serve her morning tea.”
“Thank you, Aunty,” I said. She smiled at me and wore her glasses back. My heart constricted. My aunt evidently didn’t know she had just given me a rude awakening. Evan was reaching out to the people that matter to him. I was nothing but a niece to their housekeeper, regardless of the kind of relationship he had asked to share with me. He probably still thought of me as a minor, and his kind gestures were probably nothing but just him being kind with no hidden meaning as I would have wished. And with that thought in my head, I carried on, trying to survive each day without him. And when Brian showed up at my work about eight weeks after, inviting me to a party at his place, I agreed to go.
The party fell on the day before my eighteenth birthday but I didn’t mention it. I wasn’t planning to have a party or do anything special for the day anyway. Left to me, I would have preferred to take a pill of oblivion for the day just so I would forget that this would be my first birthday without my parents. I decided to buy a lovely dress to look my best for the party at least before the birthday blues hit. And because I have Henry now, I figured it wouldn’t be that much of an effort.
On the day of the party in the afternoon, I went to town to get myself a lovely and fairly expensive dress, I didn’t want to look like the pauper at the party and thought I deserved it anyway. I visited a hair salon to wash and treat my hair into its natural loose curls, completely grooming myself for the night. But then an hour to the time I had planned to leave, I started to feel jittery about the whole thing, reminding myself that Brian was Evan’s friend, not mine and all his friends would probably be Evan’s friends as well. I started to pace, resisting the urge to bite my freshly done nails, reminding myself that Evan had told me to stay away from his friend. But then Brian invited me and I agreed. I figured it would be rude to just go back on my word and not go. “Besides, Evan isn’t here,” I said aloud. “And if I get there and don’t like the crowd, I can always ask Henry to bring me back,” I rationalized as I picked up my small purse and headed out. Henry gave me a warm smile when he saw me and that gave me a boost. I figured that meant I did good in my party look.
When Henry drove inside Brian’s compound, I had a rush of anxiety and I almost asked him to turn around. The only thing that stopped me was the feeling of defeat that loomed over me at the thought of retracting into my shell. This was Evan’s crowd. I have to at least try to fit in. Besides, I can not hide in a shell forever. I have to learn to make friends, mingle, and embrace life again. I have a few months more in Charlestown before I pave the way back to the plan I mapped out with my mother. I have to learn to live again and face my future. I mused, pressing my lips together in my bid to hold back tears. “You can do this, Estera,” I muttered under my breath. “It is now or never,” I added and took a deep breath.
Henry parked the car in front of the imposing mansion and a man in a uniform pulled my door open, giving me no choice but to step out of the car.
“Thank you,” I said with a polite smile and walked up the porch stairs, and inside the house with nicely dressed people milling about with drinks in hand. The foyer was quite expansive and opened up to the back of the mansion where the party was in full swing. Servers with trays in hand paused each time they walked passed a guest to offer them a drink. One walked towards me with a polite smile and lowered the tray for me as an invitation.
“Thank you,” I said and picked up one bubbling drink. I have never drank alcohol in my entire life and didn’t think a party packed with Evan’s friends was the place to start, but I figured since I had made the effort to blend in with my choice of clothes and hairstyle, I might as well act like I know what I was doing. I held the glass cup like everybody else, heading to the back of the room and scanning the room for Brian.
“Oh, my God! Is that who I think it is?” A familiar voice cried from my back, making me halt my strides. I groaned internally, thinking to ignore her, but then hurried footsteps echoed in the room and then a hand gripped my forearm, turning me around. Joyce, Evan’s fuck face bitch glared openly at me.
“I can’t believe this! What the hell? Who invited the help?!” she added, making every single person in the foyer stop and stare at me.