Unappreciated Treasure

Rachel and Chelsy disengaged from the hug. Rachel dropped her head and started crying and apologizing to her at the same time. ''Chels, I am so sorry. This happened all because of me. If I hadn't told you I was having period cramps, you wouldn't have made the ginger tea to bring to my house. If you had stayed at home, you wouldn't have been kidnapped, and you wouldn't have missed the interview with Whitemore Foundation.'' Rachel cried profusely as she spoke.

Chelsy looked at her and said, ''come on sis, you know you shouldn't say that, right? It wasn't your fault. So please you should never feel guilty, okay?'' Chelsy raised her hand, and cleaned the tears that were flowing down from Rachel's face. ''You look a mess when you cry like this.'' Chelsy tried consoling her best friend, with her own face covered in tears. 

As they were talking, Leonel rushed into the room looking so distraught. He crashed into Chelsy giving her a hug. ''Chels. Thank God you are safe. I thought something terrible had happened to you. Thank goodness you are okay.''

Chelsy gently patted her brother's back and said, ''Oh Lenny, I am fine. I wasn't harmed, okay? You don't have to worry so much. I should probably be going home later today or tomorrow.''

The two siblings hugged each other for a while and disengaged. "By the way, how did you guys find me?" Chelsy asked, looking at both Rachel and Leonel.

Rachel gazed at her best friend and said, ''Chels, it was Jade. Thanks to his connections, his friends were able to find you.''

When Chelsy heard this, she smiled and said, ''Oh Jade. Even though he is not around, he is still able to help me from a distance. I will have to thank him once I have my phone with me.''

It was the next day, and Chelsy was discharged and sent home. When she got home, Melinda looked at her and didn't utter a single word. She just eyed Chelsy from head to toe and continued scrolling through her phone. Chelsy said nothing, but Rachel couldn't hold her tongue. ''Melinda. Even if you are the worst human being, didn't you even feel a little bit bad that Chelsy was kidnapped and almost hurt? I can see the witch in you wouldn't let you act kind. Who knows? Maybe you had an idea she was going to be kidnapped.'' Rachel snorted, looking at Melinda with piercing cold eyes.

Melinda, who was agitated, stood up and said, ''You listen to me Rachel. You are crazy. As much as I don't like Chelsy, I would never do such a thing or physically hurt anyone.''

Leonel, who was already tired from all the bickering, shouted. ''Enough, the both of you. Rachel, please take Chelsy to her room. Mel, please just let this go, okay?'' He spoke and walked over to the nursery to see Fiona.

Rachel and Chelsy moved to Chelsy's room. ''Rach, did you tell Ken what happened? I can't seem to get in touch with him.'' Rachel looked at her best friend with so much pain in her eyes and responded, ''Sis, I don't think Ken still has feelings for you. I'm sure he is acting cold so that you would be the one to end the relationship. When you were kidnapped, I tried reaching him to find out if you were at his place. But his secretary told me he was busy and on a business trip in Turkey. I am certain his secretary told him I was looking for him. If he was someone who cared, he would have called back to find out what had happened. Chels, I think you are alone in this relationship. Ken has definitely moved on. So just forget about him, okay?''

When Chelsy heard this, it felt as though her heart had been pricked by a million nails. She took a deep breath and said, ''I would like to see Ken face to face and let him tell me it is over in my face. Our one-year anniversary is coming up in three days. I will go over to his place and let him tell me this himself.'' Chelsy spoke with a firm face.

''Do not worry Rach, I guess I have started realizing Ken has changed. He is no longer the Ken I used to know and love. But I will find out the truth for myself.'' Rachel squeezed Chelsy's hand and gave a gentle smile. 

Two days later. Chelsy was in her room writing in her journal. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. ''Come in,'' she said. Leonel walked in with a smile. ''Hey Chels. Are you busy?''

Chelsy looked at her brother, closed her journal and smiled, saying, ''Hey bro. No I am not. Do you need my help with something?'' Leonel walked over and sat beside her and replied, ''No. I just wanted to check on you and see how you are doing. Hope you are feeling much better. Please, I would like you to forget about that incident, okay?''

Chelsy looked at her brother and nodded. ''Again, I will be leaving for Bedworth tomorrow morning. Our hospital is sending eight of us to assist with the pandemic outbreak. I will be there for two weeks and I will probably be out of network. So you won't hear from me as often as you would like. But I will ensure that I find a way to communicate with you at least once a week, okay? Please take care of yourself and little Fiona as well. Be patient with Melinda. I know she is a thorn in your flesh, but please just tolerate her excesses for my sake, okay?''

Chelsy looked at her brother and nodded. ''Sure, Lenny. You can count on me. I'll take care of everything and everyone.''

They hugged each other and he left her room.

It was the next day. Chelsy woke up and decided to go for a quick run. When she got back, she took a quick shower. It was her one-year anniversary with Ken. She picked up her phone and called him, but there was no response. She decided to send him a text message.

''Hey love, Hope you are doing okay. I don't know if you remember that today is actually our one-year anniversary. I know a lot has been going on, and there has been a strain on our relationship lately. Let's meet up and talk about it and probably fix whatever issues we have.''

The message indicated that it had been delivered, but there was no response. She kept looking at her phone from time to time, but there was no response from Ken. Two hours had passed and Chelsy decided to go to Ken's house. She took a bus to the Northern Ridges. Since it was a private neighborhood, there were no bus stops there. Chelsy had to walk over one mile from the closest bus stop to Ken's Villa.

When she got to his front porch, there were about five cars parked in his yard. What could be going on here? Why are there so many cars at Ken's house? Chelsy thought to herself. She rang the doorbell, and a lady dressed in a maid's attire opened the door. When the lady saw Chelsy, she smiled and asked, "Who are you ma'am and how can I help you?"

Chelsy smiled back and replied, ''Hello. My name is Chelsy Powers, and I am here to see my boyfriend Keneth Roberts.'' The lady looked at Chelsy with a bewildered look and said, ''Excuse me, ma'am. But I am sorry. You are probably in the wrong house. The person who lives here already has a fiancée, and they are both inside right now for their pre-wedding dinner with both families and some friends.''

When Chelsy heard this, she could not breathe. She felt as though she had been locked up in an airtight container. She took a deep breath and walked past the maid into Ken's living room.

There they were. Ken and his entire family, Helena Richards and her family. When Ken saw her, he had a shocked look on his face. He cleared his throat and asked, ''Chelsy, what are you doing here? And who let you in?''

Chelsy was stunned. She didn't know whether she should laugh or cry at Ken's unexpected questions. Helena, who was by Ken's side and holding his elbow, looked at Chelsy like she was some hungry stray cat. She pulled on Ken's shirt and asked in a condescending manner. ''Honey, isn't this the lowlife girl we saw at Club Q some weeks back?''

Chelsy, who was standing there, looking shocked, stuttered, ''Ken. What is going on here?'' Before Ken could say anything, Myra Roberts stepped forward with a smug look. She scoffed and said, ''Chelsy, did you really think my brother was going to marry you? Have you ever asked yourself why he has never introduced you to anyone as his girlfriend or taken you out on official outings ? Have you asked yourself why he slept with you only once?'' Myra gave a malicious cackle and continued. ''I will tell you. It's all because him dating you and dumping you was a form of revenge. Sleeping with you was not part of the deal. But when he found out you were a virgin, he couldn't just let that slip by.''

Chelsy was numb and couldn't even cry. She stood there looking lost. Myra continued. ''Do you remember sometime two summers ago when you threw your slipper at a car, and called the people inside stupid capitalists? That was my brother and I inside. I vowed to find you and deal with you. Unfortunately for you, you attended the Holloway charity event, and bumped into Ken. That was the beginning of your bitter days. When Ken called me and told me he had found you at the charity's event, I asked him to befriend you and that was how I came up with this plan.''

Flashback to two summers ago, Chelsy was walking back from the supermarket around Bellaview Avenue. She was waiting for the bus and suddenly, a luxury car splashed dirty water on her and didn't stop. Chelsy was stunned when the car didn't stop.

The traffic lights turned red, and the car slowed down. Chelsy walked up to the car, furiously throwing her slipper at the car.

She knocked on the window, but the glasses were not rolled down. She shouted angrily at the person sitting inside. ''Hey you in there. Didn't you see that you splashed dirty water on me? Don't you have any conscience? Are you a stupid capitalist who tramples on the poor?''

There was no response nor any reaction from the people inside.

The lights suddenly turned green, and the car drove off. Chelsy stood there looking shocked. ''What a terrible society we live in.'' Chelsy muttered to herself while clenching her fist

What will happen after Chelsy has found out that she was only a pawn in Ken and Myra's game?