Unappreciated Treasure

Back at Robert's corporation, Ken was sitting with a furious look on his face, while looking at the link on his phone. He brushed his fingers through his lush hair, then picked up his phone and placed a call. "Larry, get in here."

In less than a minute, his secretary, Larry, went into his office. "You called Mister Roberts." Ken lifted his phone from his table and flashed it before Larry. ''What is the meaning of this? And who posted this nonsense?'' He showed Larry the news posted about him, Chelsy and Helena. 

When Larry saw its contents, he trembled with fear and stuttered, ''Mister Roberts, it was published by the Sun publishing house. I contacted them, and they took it down from their page. But it had already been shared by many blogs, and other private accounts. I don't think we can make the news disappear. And one more thing sir, your younger sister Myra, gave the publishing house the pictures and the story to be published.''

When Ken heard this, he hit the table and shouted, ''Damn you Myra. What have you done?''

He took out his phone and placed a call to Myra. When the call got connected, Myra answered with a playful tone. ''Hey Ken. What's up?''

Ken, who could not hold his anger anymore, shouted over the phone. ''Myra Roberts, what have you done? Who asked you to publish that article about me, Chelsy and Helena? Do you know what you have just done?''

Myra, who was stunned at her brother's tone, said, ''Ken, why are you shouting at me? I thought this was what we both wanted. To destroy Chelsy.''

Before she could continue speaking, Ken cut her off and said, ''Shut up Myra. This was what you wanted and not me. You only dragged me into this stupid plan of yours, and I foolishly followed you like a sheep all because I wanted to make my younger sister happy. Now, I have not only hurt Chelsy's heart, but you have destroyed her life and personality.''

When Myra heard this, she was so upset and started crying. ''How can you talk to me like that, Ken? Is it because of that girl, Chelsy? Do you think she can ever be a member of our family? That will be over my dead body.''

Ken could no longer stand her annoying cry, and he hung up. He sat in his chair, leaned back and muttered to himself. ''Oh Chelsy, how could I have been this stupid? I have messed up big time.''

Meanwhile, at Wolverton University, Philippa and one of her minions, Emma Miller, were sitting in the school canteen having lunch. Kate Smith, one of Philippa's other minions, rushed to them with a giggle in her face. ''Girls, listen. That social climber is not only leeching on rich people, but is a homewrecker as well. A picture of her in the arms of a man is circulating all over social media. Do you know that she tried crashing Ken Roberts and Helena Richard's engagement dinner? That stupid girl tried seducing a man already engaged to another woman. How pathetic.''

The three of them laughed and Philippa, who had been silent, said with a wicked smile, ''Chelsy, I told you, I would deal with you. Now, I just have to sit back and let others deal with you.'' She gave an evil cackle.

The school news forum was filled with news about Chelsy's indecent behavior. There were so many negative comments about her. Others who were jealous of the fact that she was beautiful with brains, wrote negative and degrading comments about her. Those who actually admired her, backed her up by saying her private life had nothing to do with others.

Rachel got to Derby as soon as she could. Grandma Flora's home was a warm little house, found in the heart of a small local setting. Her home was a blend of timber and stone construction. It was surrounded by lots of different types of herbs and a garden full of fresh vegetables.

When she got to grandma Flora's house, she was welcomed by the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, and the aromatic scrumptious smell of chicken soup which seemed as though it had been simmering on low heat for the whole day.

''Oh my gosh, that smell is so inviting.'' Rachel murmured while flicking her nostrils. She cleared her throat and knocked on the wooden door.

A very handsome boy who was about seventeen years old opened the door. He gave a warm smile and said, ''Hello. You must be Rachel. I am Collins. You may come in.''

Rachel smiled and said, "Hello Collins, and thank you." She walked into the small living room which had two sofas and one center table. There was a little dining table with four table chairs in the right corner of the house.

''Please, where is Chelsy? I would love to see her.'' Before she could complete her sentence, Chelsy came out of one of the rooms.

"Rach." Chelsy called with a painful smile on her face. When Rachel saw her, she rushed to Chelsy and wrapped her in an embrace. ''Chels, are you okay? I am here now.''

All Chelsy could do was whisper, "I am not okay Rach." Tears were streaming down her cheeks like a broken water pipe. The two friends stayed in that hugging position for a while before disengaging.

Grandma Flora, who had been standing by the side and watching, said, ''You must be Rachel. You are quite on time. Dinner is ready. You can all come to the table and have some dinner.''

Rachel, who was cleaning the tears from Chelsy's face, said awkwardly, "Greetings ma'am." Grandma Flora smiled and said, "you can call me Grandma Flora." Rachel smiled back, ''Okay Grandma Flora. Thank you for looking after my best friend.''

They all walked to the dining table, which was made up of a variety of side dishes and lots of vegetables.

After they had finished eating dinner, they moved over to the sofa and started talking. ''Chels, what really happened? Why did the tabloids post all that stuff about you?''

Chelsy, who was shocked, asked, "What stuff are you talking about?"

Rachel, who realized that Chelsy had no idea about the rumors spreading online about her, took out her phone and showed her. When Chelsy saw this, she could not help but give a very painful chuckle. ''Wow, the Roberts are truly amazing. I didn't know they would go to such an extent to punish me.''

Then she gave another painful laugh with tears streaming down her face.

When Rachel saw the pathetic look on her best friend's face, she moved closer and held her hand. ''Chelsy, can you please tell me what is going on? I am going crazy trying to figure out what is happening to you.''

Chelsy lifted her teary eyes and said, ''Rach, love is so wicked. I am tired. I give up. My heart hurts so much Rach. I feel like a double edged sword has been plunged into my heart. It hurts so much.'' She clenched her fist on her chest as she spoke with tears streaming down her face. Everyone could see Chelsy's heart was bleeding.

"Do you know I was actually a pawn in a game of chess for Ken and Myra?" As she spoke, she gave a very painful laugh. She went ahead and explained in detail how everything between her and Ken was all a setup and how his wedding to his pregnant fiancé, Helena Richards, was coming up.

Rachel's eyes were already filled with tears as she listened to Chelsy. She clenched her hand into a fist and couldn't help the tears from rolling down her eyes.

When Chelsy was done narrating everything that had happened, she said. ''Rach, I used to think I would not end up heartbroken like my dad. But I ended up even in the worst state.''

Rachel looked up at Chelsy and said, "Chels, what are you talking about?" Chelsy gave a painful sigh and replied, ''I am sure you are wondering why I have never mentioned my mother. My brother and I were actually born in France and into a very wealthy family. That is the reason why I speak French so well. My mom is French and from one of the most influential families in Monte Carlo. My dad was biracial, British and of Carribean descent. My dad used to be one of the top white-hat hackers in the south of France. When my mother gave birth to us, she and my dad were very happy. My grandparents, most especially my grandmother, never liked my dad because of his race. When I turned seven and my brother Leonel was eleven, my grandfather passed away. My mom was to be the heir of their company. She was asked to choose between the company and leaving my dad and us. You know what? We were the easiest thing to let go of. I saw my mom leaving without looking back. My dad started drinking and smoking. He went into depression, and we were taken from him by the social services. My dad went to rehabilitation for a year and was clean. He took over custody of us, and we relocated to Britain and moved to Wolverton. He became a shadow of himself and never continued in the tech industry. He started working in factories and doing odd jobs. Due to the excess alcohol that he consumed, it affected his liver and that made him sick for over eight years. So five years ago, we lost him.''

When Rachel heard this, her eyes were wide with surprise. ''No way. Then where is your mom now? Did she ever try finding you guys?'' Rachel asked.

Chelsy gave a sigh and said, ''I don't know, and I definitely don't care. She died the day I saw my dad dying. She might be alive in her wealthy world. You see, Rach, love is not for people like me.''

Rachel moved closer and gave Chelsy a hug and both of them couldn't help but cry profusely.