Nothing But The Truth

20: Be Honest With Me

"I can't be with someone who can't be honest with me."

Tiara's words echoed in my head as she walked away from me.

Every fibre in my body told me to run after her but I couldn't move an inch. I couldn't chase after her even if I wanted to. What was the point? My life was in pieces. I had lost all my money and my properties all thanks to my father and his craze for power and control. What could I have offered Tiara when I had nothing to my name except this house? She deserved someone who could give her all his attention, someone who could take care of her. I couldn't do any of the above.

Tiara was my joy. Her presence alone uplifted my spirits and everytime I looked into her eyes, all my worries washed away. I wanted nothing more than to hold onto her and drown myself in her beautiful, mesmerizing brown eyes but I couldn't afford to be selfish. I didn't deserve Tiara anymore. She deserved much more than a loser like me, so, I had to let her go. I didn't want to be a burden to her.

I walked to the window the moment I heard my front door slam shut and I watched as Tiara stormed off to her car. She had been crying and it broke my heart into a million pieces.

It had been much easier when I could hate her for cheating on me with Jordan James. A part of me had been relieved even, that she had found a way to get away from my horrible luck but now that she had informed me that nothing happened between her and Jordan, my heart ached to be with her but I couldn't hold her back.

My phone began to ring, pulling my attention away from the window. I checked the caller ID to see Alex's name on my screen. I hadn't talked to him since I left for London.

I declined the call and placed my phone in the pocket of my trousers. How could I tell Alex that I had lost everything I owned? How could I tell him that I might have needed to resell the house I had just bought? I had no job, no money and no investors. The properties I had tried to sell had fallen through because my father had repossessed the land.

It was my fault though. I should have known my father never gave anything for free. When he had purchased those properties and lands across the country, promising they were all mine, I should have insisted on having them transferred to my name. The truth was, I had relied too much on my father, his name and his connections. He was well aware of that, that was why he was stripping me of everything, so, I could realize just how much I needed him.

"Bloody hell!" I gave a humorless laugh, shaking my head in disbelief. I had just learnt my first life lesson. 'Trust no one'.

My phone rang once again but I ignored it still as I proceeded to lock the front door.  I had a lot of replanning to do. I had been relying on selling those properties to raise the capital to support my business solo but those plans had been laid to waste. I had to come up with another plan and soon or I was going to rot at the bottom where I had fallen.

I had just walked into my study when my phone rang for the third time. It was Alex again. I sighed, knowing he was just going to keep calling if I didn't pick up. It must have been pretty urgent if he had been calling constantly.

"Derrek, what the bloody hell, mate?" Came Alex's angry voice.

"Lex—"

"How could you let me find out from a third party that you were fired?" He sounded really pissed off.

"It is what it is, mate."

"Bullshit!" He hissed. "A lot has gone on the past few weeks and you kept me in the dark. Is that what mates do now?"

"I was going to tell you after the league was over. I didn't want you to worry unnecessarily. I'm doing just fine."

"Like bloody hell! Jo told me everything! I can't believe your father, mate! How could he just ruin your business like that?"