And Then It Rained (Sequel to Rain Again; Stand Alone Book) (Completed)

Chapter One: Crying Rain

With great difficulty, Victoria got to her feet. The rain-sodden, many layers of her dress had gotten tangled to her legs. Who knew wedding dresses could be so torturous!

He didn't give her a hand of help. She noticed he didn't flinch at her hardship. It took her down memory lane.

He stared at her with scrutinizing eyes for a long minute until his lips pressed into a tight line. He began to turn around like he couldn't wait to get rid of her as fast as he could.

A sort of urgency burned in her veins. 

She had hurt him in the past, and it didn't matter that she had no choice. A sin is a sin despite the reason for its making. Her eyes teared up, guessing that it must be karma that has reached up to her now. The villains of her life, old and new, were now in the middle of surrounding her and burning her. 

Her voice had turned hoarse. "Victor," she called out in that voice, stopping him.

And for a moment, she thought that he wouldn't stop. But he did.

"It's happening," she said, her voice shaking. Lightning flashed above them, splitting the sky in two. "Karma is finally ruining me. You were right."

As she inched closer, he looked over his shoulder.

"I'm glad. Now go home, Victoria," he was cold and unmoved.

At last, the thunder cracked down to earth, much later than its brilliant prelude.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Home? Her home had tried to burn her alive to climb the ladder of riches and conserve the family values. Now, because she brought herself out of that eternal fire in such a volatile way, its doors were tightly closed for her for an uncertain amount of time—perhaps forever. She had nowhere to go back to like others. There would be no roof over her head that could keep her safe. Realizing she was homeless now made her tremble from the inside. 

She started shaking her head; her eyes crinkled at the corners. He turned a bit towards her. 

"I'm afraid I don't have a home to go back to," she more like mumbled to herself.

A look of confusion flickered across his eyes. She couldn't blame him for the confusion. She had never allowed herself to look this weak—this broken. 

At some point, the rain stopped. She watched him swipe a hand across his face. He looked quite mad as he did so, and then he brought something out of his pocket. Her face paled, realizing it was money. 

Storming down the distance between them after that, he thrust them into her hands. "Here, take this."

It felt like a slap across her face.

Karma was on a roll today, wasn't it?

She wanted to refuse the money so much. She wanted nothing more than to return the money. 

Yet she knew she needed it.

Her bank cards were all at home under his father's thumb at the moment and she wasn't sure what conspiracy he was going to pull up with her hard-earned money. 

On earth, the lack of money puts someone in a very rough spot. We cannot buy happiness or safety, but with money, we can buy the commodities or means that can bring us those. 

Drenched, shattered, and frightened, she clenched her fingers around the money. And the humiliation scarred her insides. But she knew she needed it tonight to survive—tonight, Victoria Davies would survive.

Because behind the mask of strength, Victor or any other person under the sky never knew the extent of her torments.

Her blurred view noted Victor's departure.