Raine Woods thought her life would always be like the rain: gloomy, gray and undesired. She was lonely and quiet , living with the bitter memories of tragic past. But little did she know that there was a man out there. A man who was in love with the...
"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness." -Kurt Vonnegut
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After yesterday's encounter with the new owner of Raine's childhood house, Xavier and Raine found themselves discovering more things about the past. Things that Raine had never known.
Raine had thought for far too long that the only reason for Irida's ill treatment and resentment of Raine was due to the hefty cost that raising a child came with. But if Raine's discovery of her parents' trust fund in her name that had been mercilessly sieged by Irida wasn't enough, the discovery of the true sell price of Raine's house drove her to realization.
Irida was in it for the money. And Raine had been too young, too innocent to realize that early on.
"Hey." Xavier's soothing voice brought her out of her thoughts in an insant.
"Hey." She replied back, turning around, away from the balcony where she had been lodging all morning.
With them staying at a Thorn Inc property, Xavier's arrival had brought forth a lot of matters that needed his attention, thus having him busy in staff meetings all morning long.
And while Xavier was busy working away, Raine had made the balcony her kingdom, leaning against the railing as she watching the blue ocean in the distance.
California meant the world to her, but it was also a place she had learned to fear.
With everything that happened with Malin, she had learned quiet early on after running away, that returning back home just wasn't an option for her. For two years, she had kept herself away from the memories, both the bitter ones as well as the sweet ones. But now things were different. Her past wasn't in the past anymore, it had become her present.
The home that she had been running from all along, was now in front of her, and she wasn't sure of what was to come next.
Life wasn't simple. That was a teaching that every person learned early on in their lives. But Raine had never thought that her life would be this complicated.
"What are you thinking about?" Xavier asked softly, his warm hands handing atop the soft skin of her cheeks.
"I don't know." Raine let out, turning her body away from Xavier, letting his hand fall off of her.
She hated that Xavier cared so much. She hated that he was here with her. She hated that he'd put his company aside for her. She hated all of these things because she cared. She cared enough about him to save him from her past. She cared enough about him to protect him from the demons. Her demons.
Xavier signed. This wasn't the first time Raine had closed him off and he had become accustomed to it. He was the same. He was closed off too and perhaps that's why he never pushed it with her. He wanted to know everything, every single little detail he could possibly know about the girl who stood in front of him, the girl with the chocolate brown eyes.
