La Nouvelle Reine✔(Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Rayne's POV

The final week with the kids flew by and I was sad to see them go home, but also somewhat relieved. Me and Illeya stood by the foot of the plane whilst the kids got on and waved at them as they headed off. We then watched the plane take off from inside the departures lounge and then headed home. Needless to say, when we were alone Illeya only had one thing on his mind and that one thing was mind blowing!

The following weeks after the kids had left, me and Illeya had spent doing intensive wedding planning. We had also chosen a date, October fifteenth next year. In the same church where mom and dad got married. Illeya and I had chosen a theme, that theme being vintage elegance, it was a timeless, classy look that suited us. The church was also the perfect venue to suit it. It's architecture was just amazing and perfectly fit what we wanted.

Also, Illeya fell back on his word about adopting after we were married, we had decided to formally start the long adoption process now and get our home prepared to give a teen a new, safe home and give them love. Having the kids here, probably reassured him and made him more confident about us being adopted parents. We knew that the likelihood of the teen that we adopted of accepting us as their parents immediately was slim so we had to mentally prepare ourselves for that aspect.

Today was the big day though, I had handed in the paperwork that was to be reviewed and would lead to us being vetted, our home being checked over by inspectors and our placement with a child. It was nerve wracking. I couldn't bare the thought of potential rejection, but I had to trust that our links to organised crime were hidden deep in the system and almost impossible to find.

Illeya had joined mine and Olga's team at the bookstore and we both insisted on not being paid because we both enjoyed it and we definitely did not need the money. I hadn't even touched my trust fund and inheritance from mom and dad and not to mention my cut from the legit businesses. I was still technically a primary shareholder of Marshall enterprises, it was just run on my behalf. Leya had initially joined because Olga had fallen ill and was in hospital so he offered to lend a helping hand, and turns out that he really enjoyed it and decided to permanently join our team. The weeks just seemed to be melting into one, they were flying. Everything was almost perfect.  That was until we got the call,

My phone buzzed and I quickly picked it up, I didn't know the number.

"Hello, this is Rayne Marshall. How can I help you?" I asked and the person on the other end of the phone answered,

"Rayne, my name is Ylli. I am Olga's son. I am sorry to tell you but she passed last night."

"She what? Oh my God. I am really sorry for your loss. May I ask how?" He sighed,

"Heart attack. She died on the way to the hospital."  I took a breath and then said a final goodbye and apologised for his loss before I hung up. I approached Illeya who was lifting the shops shutters and suppressed the tears that threatened to fall,

"Leya honey. Olga's dead." Illeya froze, just for a brief second before putting the shutter fully up. We entered the store and I sat at our table, he took my hand in his and I then took a breath.

"How?" He asked and I responded,

"Heart attack. On the way to the hospital." He sighed and we sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before we began to debate whether we should shut or inform our clientele today and shut tomorrow. At the end of the day now it's up to her son as to what happens to the shop. I loved working here, and if her son insists on shutting it I'll offer to buy it off him. Olga wouldn't want this to be a forgotten memory. Me and Illeya could remodel it and bring in more customers. Maybe expand. There was an empty building next door and we could buy it from the owner and expand into it and have more space for more books. That would work. My thoughts were running at thousands of miles per hour, but I was getting ahead of myself. I had to get the permission of Olga's son first.

The news was devastating, but we had to get on with our day. I brought the chalkboard out of the cupboard and placed it on the table, quickly writing on it, 'we will close at one pm today due to unforeseen circumstances. Sorry for any inconveniences cause by this.'  Illeya grasped my hand as I stood it upright on the countertop and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.

The day from there dragged, all the customers were heartbroken about Olga. Everyone loved her and especially the older customers asked us to tell them when the funeral was when we found out so that they could pay their respects. The day had started with me and Illeya starting a new journey and getting ready to live our new lives happier than ever. To me consoling Mrs Jenkins who had been visiting the shop for over ten years and had known Olga as a dear friend. Needless to say, both mine and Illeya's moods nosedived entirely. We kept the shop open until one and at one we packed away all of Olga's personal belongings to give to her son when he presumably would come back to Russia or I could give them to Noah to pass down to him through his place of work.

Once we had arrived home, I headed straight to bed, Illeya followed me and sat next to me,

"I swear I'm cursed." I announced, placing my head in my hands, "I just kill all the elderly people that I get close to. My father, your mother, Olga. Who will be next." Illeys chucked slightly at my remark, "Seriously Leya, they should call me the grim bloody reaper. Everyone over the age of sixty that I come to know and love dies." I was off on a tangent now and Leya just sat and listened to me. This went on for what felt like hours, I couldn't help but blame myself, but I had to remember what my therapist taught me, you can't cause your fathers illness, I am not the problem. I took a breath and snuggled further into Leya's chest and let the grief and exhaustion overwhelm my body.

Things always get bad, just as they are getting better, that is the story of my motherfucking life. Everytime something is somewhat good something twice as bad happens and completely outweighs the bad. It was like my life was the work of a twisted sadistic author who adored inflicting pain to their innocent characters and readers. Except this was not fiction, for me atleast this was real life! And it hurts alot. It's an unfathomable pain that burns in your chest and leaves you wondering, can I ever be truly happy in life?

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