Chapter 153
With that, I swallowed the lump and gave Lionett a final smile while excusing myself, telling her that it was getting late.
Lionett gave me a smile as I waved at her goodbye.
"It was nice meeting you, Sandra." Lionett smiled. I exited the store, subtly rushing to my car and quickly drove home.
When I finally reached my house, I stored the ice cream tub in the freezer and took out my phone to called Preston.
The phone rang twice before someone picked up.
"Hello?" Pres' groggy voice greeted me and I finally let the tears slide down my face.
"H-he did it for the kids, Pres," I sobbed out. I've turned into a blubbering mess as what I've done hit me full force. Everything
had barely sunk in when I plopped down onto the couch and dialed Preston.
"Woah, Case." Preston breathed out and I took a deep breath, halting my words.
"I bumped into Cole's mother in the store," I started slowly, swallowing a few times.
"Who's Cole?" Preston asked, sounding puzzled.
"He's the guy that went to your mother's funeral and threatened to hurt everyone I love if I didn't re-enter the competition and fight him." I explained to him, still sniffling and wiping the tears that slipped out from my eyes.
I heard silence from Preston and I took that as my cue to continue. I took a deep breath, trying to refrain from turning into a sobbing mess once again.
"His mom took in three little kids as her own and they're struggling to support the kids. Cole and his brother entered the competition to help their mother care for the kids. I rendered his brother disabled and took him out of the competition. No wonder he was livid, I'm a monster!" I exclaimed, hitting my head.
"That poor family," I whispered, sniffling. "What have I done?" I sobbed into my hand.
"Case, you can't protect everyone around you." Preston's voice was soft and I took comfort in his words, calming down slightly.
"You can't continue to hold yourself responsible for every single horrible thing that happens to the people you know," Preston continued to say. I breathed out a trembling breath and a shiver ran down my spine as I tried to pull myself together.
"You're the best person I know, Case. You've always tried to take care of everyone around you and you've always put others before yourself. But sometimes you have to remember that you're human and there's only so much you could do." Preston whispered and I clung to his every word for comfort.
"Sometimes things happen for a reason and I believe there's a bigger picture to it all. Don't beat yourself up for these things, Case. You couldn't have known and you did what you had to. At least try to remember your limits as a person. You're not God, you don't have the power to take care of everyone." Preston continued to coax me out of my self-loathing state. By the end of his speech, I felt myself calming down and my breathing had returned to its normal rate.
I sniffled quietly when Preston finished his mini-speech and thanked him. I don't know where I'd be without this guy having my back.
"Now that you're somewhat okay, care to explain what happened with Adam earlier?" Preston questioned and I frowned.
"Is he okay?" I asked Preston. Preston's ability to read people's emotions rarely comes to him and he was often dense when it came to reading situations. If he knew something happened to
Adam, then Adam must've done something very off to catch his older brother's attention.
"Well, he stormed into his room when he got back from dropping you off and he hasn't come out of his room ever since. He yelled at me to get lost when I offered him some lunch."
I sighed, feeling my heart go out for Adam. I can't imagine how hard he must be taking this. He believed in Kiara's innocence all this time and to have seen her standing beside Dom with his own eyes must've been heartbreaking.
"When we went to grab my bike at the basecamp, Dom and Levy were there. We saw Kiara with them. Hell, I don't even think that's her real name. I remember Levy calling her a different name. It's probably an alias. Adam took it hard." I explained to Preston and I heard some shuffling.
"Well at least he's got his head out of his ass now," Preston said I could imagine his shrug. I felt a scowl forming on my face.
"Be more considerate to your brother's feelings, Pres! He's heartbroken; he really believed in her innocence," I scolded. I heard him snort when I used the word innocence to describe Kiara.
"The bitch is nowhere near innocent," I heard Pres mutter. I chuckled lightly at what he said, unable to disagree with him on that.
"I guess I have a heartbroken little brother to tend to now." Preston sighed as I heard a door swing open through the call.
I smiled at how he was trying to play the big brother role. He was such a dick when I first met him that I couldn't help but be proud at how much my perspective of him has changed.
"Good luck, Pres."
Preston thanked me before hanging up. I laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling for a long time, processing what Lionett had told me properly. I sniffled as I remembered what I did to Cole's brother.
I covered my eyes with my arm and breathed slowly through my nose. I felt a new resolution course through me.
I took out Cole's brother, which meant his chance of winning the prize got narrowed down. I wouldn't be able to fix Cole's brother. I didn't know how to fix someone's mentality and I wasn't a miracle worker. I was only human.
But what I could do was win this competition and keep my loved ones safe from Cole's thirst for vengeance.
I couldn't make the sons Lionett was so proud of a cripple and a criminal.
With that thought, I swung my feet off the couch and stood up, ready to train as much as I could with the bruises I'm sporting. I have a competition to win this thing.
