Revenge of The Furtive Billionaire Heir by Ryker Helios

28. Letting go of past is important.

Coraline instantly gets up from her seat and embraces me.

“I’m sorry, Jace,” she says, squeezing me.

I let her friendly warmth comfort me and wrap my arms around her. I do not like the fact that my mother’s death makes me feel so out of depth. I feel like I’m weak for still getting this emotional over it after so many years. The rational part of my brain understands that losing a parent, especially a parent who entirely raised you is going to be hard, and that kind of wound cannot be healed easily. But the smaller, illogically macho part of me that still reels over the fact Stone managed to send me to the hospital urges me to man up and bottle all my feelings inside. It’s a constant battle to not give into that voice because I’m well-read enough to know bottling up feeling ultimately leads to a nasty climax. So, I force away those feelings and focus on the present, on the tickle of Coraline’s hair on my cheeks, and the pleasant smell of her body wash that still drifts.

“It’s alright,” I say, “I mean, it’s sad and all, but I’ve come to terms with it. It was a hit-and-run, and the driver of the car didn’t even stop to see if she was okay. She had been crossing the road, you see,” I feel the old anger rise, “that bastard left without even slowing down.”

Coraline breaks away from me to give me a calculating look. “No one even saw the number plate?”

“Nope, no one did. Everyone was too busy trying to help my mother. She was…it hadn’t been pleasant. There was a lot of blood.”

Coraline covers her mouth in her sympathy. “What happened to you afterward?”

“Well, I was nearly eighteen, so I was given a choice to stay out of the foster system and get emancipated. Mom had a little money saved, and my father was willing to help as soon as I let him.”

“But you did not let him,” she guesses, and I can’t help but huff a laugh.

“I was angry, so angry at everything,” I whisper, “so I told him that I wanted nothing to do with him. I could live alone; I could survive alone. I didn’t need his money. Deep down, I blamed him for not choosing my mother over his wife. I irrationally thought that if we had been a family, mom would’ve never had to move away from him, and thus get killed by the hit and run.”

drag a hand over my face, my emotions tumultuous, “I wasn’t in a good headspace, so

Coraline says, “I didn’t visit because I was out of state at the time.

was under this sort of haze throughout, watching everything as I was underwater. School gave me some

did you do afterward? How

somehow, I found a balance Had to work two jobs, though I also freelanced on the internet, writing academic paperc and such. After I graduated, I applied to a bunch of schools. King’s College was not my choice, but Gerald always called me despite my protests and encouraged me to apply for the

provides, “I’m not surprised.

as I remember.”

So, yeah. Moved to Empire city, got a job and an apartment, and started

we are,” she repeats, “why did

when I decided that

to take a bit of a break and stretch our legs. We have an adequate cafeteria in Zelt Tech, but there were little cafes and food joints strewn all around, so most of the time we went out to eat. Today, we decided to visit a pizza joint we were both

arrive and chat amicably. I ask Coraline what happened

accelerated business studies program at the state university, and it’s going great. I only got one more year

raise my brows, impressed, “and you manage to do

with a smile, “I like keeping busy Besides, you’re the

really, my program is a normal bachelor’s degree.” I point out, 1 got plenty of downtime compared to