Chapter 23 I'll take care of you

Ethan's POV

I came home from work earlier than usual today. My mind wouldn't let me be at peace at work knowing that Rachel went to meet her mother that day.

I wanted to call her to ask how it went but decided to just come back home and see how she was doing for myself.

I saw John pacing around the car he drove out in the morning with worry written all over his face.

"What happened to her?" I immediately asked.

A few minutes before I arrived, I had called him to ask how the outing with Rachel went, and his tone didn't sound good.

"Boss, she... Ms Rachel..." He stammered.

Fear began growing in my heart. My patience ran thin.

"Tell me what happened, goddammit!" I cursed impatiently.

Could it be that she ran away again?

"Ms Rachel is inside the house... But she left her mother's with tears." He explained slowly.

Thank God she's home... But what could they have possibly done to her again to make her cry?

I gave John a nod before walking into the house, heading straight to Rachel's room.

I was about to turn to the corridor that led to Rachel's room when I heard Aunt Victoria's worried voice.

"Mr Wright... Thank goodness you're back early."

"Ms Rachel has been in her room since she came back from her outing and has refused to come out." She explained.

Rachel... What are you doing to yourself?

"I'm going to talk to her now."

Victoria nodded in understanding, before making way for me to pass.

As I arrived at Rachel's door, I raised my hands to knock, but I just couldn't bring it down.

What if she didn't want to see me? The question rang in my head.

I shut my eyes tightly. Whether she wanted to see me or not, I just had to make sure she was alright.

With that new notion in mind, I placed my hands on the knob and turned the door open.

My heart jumped from my chest when I saw Rachel lying on the cold floor, her rolled like a ball on the ground.

It literally stabbed my heart to see her like that.

I bent down, slowly bringing my hands to caress her smooth face that had turned pale.

Her eyes were swollen, proof that she cried... A lot.

"Rachel..." My voice cracked.

I shook my head firmly. This wasn't the time to be emotional.

I gently scooped her up from the bed and carried her bridal style before laying her on the bed.

Her skin felt cold... Probably from lying on the ground for too long. She just looked so vulnerable at the moment, it was a part of her that I never liked to see.

I covered her up with a blanket and was about to leave when I heard her mumble my name.

"E... Ethan?" I heard her mumble again and I turned around to face her.

She was fast asleep. It was like she was dreaming about me or something.

What could she possibly be dreaming about me?

"Ethan..." She mumbled again and I ran my hands across her face.

"I'm here... I'm here." I whispered in answer.

Her hands suddenly reached out and clasped mine. I was shocked by her actions.

Was she still sleeping?

"Stay with me... Don't leave me..." She pleaded still very much asleep.

Though she was still sleeping, it looked like she was about to cry again if I'd leave her. Something I'll never do.

I smiled, slowly settling down on the bed so I could be close to her.

"I'll never leave you..." I promised.

It was as if she could hear me because after my promise, her expression turned calm, and she continued her sleep, but she still held my hands firmly in hers. It's not like I wanted her to let it go, either.

I stayed like that for a while before adjusting myself on the bed so I would be more comfortable. I reached for my phone in my pocket, just past seven, still very early.

'I'm just going to rest here for a while,' I told myself, looking at the time.

I then let my hands feel the smooth, soft locks of her hair, brushing it softly with my fingers.

She is indeed an epitome of beauty.

A woman I've loved all my life for as long as I could remember, but now she's in my arms, though broken and disoriented... She was still in my arms and I was sure as hell not letting her go now.

Rachel Andrews... The lady that captured my heart since the first day we met.

My mother recently decided to divorce my father, and some of the consequences were that I had to move away from where I was living before, which also meant that I had to change schools.

I screamed and begged my mother not to change my school but she was so adamant, saying that we no longer had money anymore.

I felt so lonely that day, it was like the entire world was against me, but that was until I met her.

She was walking in the middle of two other girls, her long golden locks swaying at her every turn, she was just perfect.

Since then, I tried all I could just so I could talk to her, but every single time, she left me hanging. When the results for the semester came out, I came out first, as I usually did in my previous school, while she was a close second. That was the day she began to notice me... Maybe a little too much.

She and her friends began to bully me... Adding all sorts of honorifics to my name just because of that. If I thought I had a chance with her before, I knew all hope was lost after that. Because every year, I kept coming out first and the second.

The bullying continued up until the last year of high school, the year I was so determined to tell her how I felt about her, even if I was very sure that she would reject me.

I braced myself up and was about to walk up to her in the cafeteria when one of her friends, the one I despise the most, Marina, walked towards me and dumped all her food on me.

I lost my confidence as I watched the entire school laugh at me, including her.

It was as if fate was on my side because when I arrived home that day, my mother informed me that she and my father were getting back together.

We left the city a few days later, and I went back to being the person I used to be before my mother brought me here. Ethan Wright.

The one and only son of Anthony Wright, one of the top billionaires in the whole world. Years later, I built my own company and took over my father's, making mine a subsidiary of it. I expanded it so much, that my father allowed me to change the name of the company to mine.

I worked hard day and night just so I'd forget her, but I just couldn't. She was always there, her smirk... Her laughter, even her smile, which was never directed at me, everything stuck to my brain like a memory that was on replay.

Finally, I allowed myself to ask about her and found out that she got married to David Hart, her high school boyfriend; it was like my heart.

But a part of me still wanted to see her.

When my assistant informed me that we had a business in LA that needed my presence, I couldn't explain my joy.

I immediately agreed to go just so I could see her again, for her to see what I'd become, and as fate would have it, now she was in my arms.

She may not know who my father is now... But I'm planning on telling her very soon, after I've helped her to get her revenge on her family, David, and her stupid friend Lana.

That bitch just got to pay for making my Rachel cry this much.

I leaned down, giving Rachel a light peck on her head.

"I'll take care of you... I promise"