CHAPTER 45: THE RISE BEFORE THE FALL

Yohan and Mia sat on the last stairs, staring into oblivion. After an experience like that, the poor girl was a bit shaken. Her hands trembled in her lap, her breathing uneven, eyes fixed on nothing. Yohan glanced at her, unsure of what to say at first. The silence pressed down on them, heavier with each passing second. Finally, he exhaled, breaking the silence.

"Damnit!" Yohan said loudly as he tousled his hair, "I can’t believe I was forced to pay that bastards debt after he trashed my shop,"

"I’m sorry about that, it’s all my fault," she said sadly, tears once again welling up in her eyes.

Yohan looked at her, there was no way he could actually be mad at her when she was so sad about everything.

He sighed, "We both know it’s not your fault, you’re a victim just like me,"

"Still you had to give those men money because of me... what would have happened if you hadn’t co–" her voice broke and she took off her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"No need to cry, nothing bad happened," he patted her gently on her back,

’I’ve seen Mia cry a lot these past few days, she really has it tough... I guess this is what happens when you trust the wrong person’

She sniffled, trying to regain her composure, "I promise I’ll pay you everything back,"

"There’s no need for that, we are friends,"

"No please, you’ve helped me a lot and all I keep on doing is causing you even more trouble,"

She grabbed his hand, "Even if I don’t have a job right now, I’ll find a way to pay you back,"

"If that’s the case then come back to work for me,"

Mia went silent, her expression shifted then she let go of his hand and turned away, "sorry but I don’t want to do that,"

"Is this because of what happened between us?... if that’s the case you don’t have to worry about anything, I’m not some kind of animal that can’t control himself, I will–"

"That’s not the only reason why,"she said softly, "I saw you and Chloe yesterday,"

"What?" Yohan was a bit surprised, "I already told you me and Chloe aren’t actually together,"

"Okay, but have you told her what happened between us?"

Yohan fell silent,

"Chloe might be trying to pretend but it seems like she really likes you, as her friend I can’t do something like that and keep it from her,"

Mia got up to leave, "Thank you for helping me out, and I’d promise to pay you back but I can’t come back to work until you tell Chloe about the things that happened between us,"

Then she left.

Yohan remained seated for a while reflecting on everything she had just said before finally going home.

That night he went to sleep with a lot of thoughts on his mind.

I’m truth he couldn’t say he didn’t know how Chloe felt about him. At first he didn’t mind since he hadn’t made any promises to her but was it really okay to continue acting ignorant just so he could have sex with her...

He wasn’t a good person but if he at least cared for Chloe maybe this might be the right thing to do. He wanted her but he didn’t want to lie to keep her, because that would only end up hurting her in the end.

’This isn’t going to be easy’ he sighed.

Thinking about it, she already knew he was having sex with other women,

’so maybe telling her that I had sex with Mia wouldn’t change anything’

The next morning he was woken up by a loud noise, when he rushed outside he found his uncle jumping and shouting for joy.

"What is it Honey?" Vivian asked as she joined them at the living room.

Cassie also came out of her room rubbing her eyes,

"Why are you being so loud this early in the morning?" She asked tiredly

"Because we are about to become filthy rich, the Riverway I bought yesterday has shot up by 1000 percent, that means my money increased by 10 times," He said happily,

"Wow, honey that’s great!" Vivian was just as joyful

"Yeah dad, good job!"

"I told you all it was going to be a blast," His uncle said proudly

Only Yohan wasn’t joining in the celebration because only him knew the truth, that this was the rise before the fall.

’It’s happening already’

"Congratulations Uncle, you should trade the stocks now before anything happens,"

His uncle shot him a look, "why should I do that when this is just the beginning?"

Yohan shook his head hearing his uncle say exactly what he expected to hear. There was no way the strong headed man would listen.

"Honey don’t you think it’s better to get out while we are still ahead?"

"And let this opportunity go to waste? Don’t tell me all that nonsense, you didn’t even believe in me earlier. If I hadn’t taken the risk to mortgage the house and raised enough money, I wouldn’t–"

"Wait a minute," Yohan stopped him, "did you just say you mortgaged the house?"

"Yeah, I took a loan on the house to raise the money for the investment. I told you I had to get the money somehow, and now look at the results"

Yohan wasn’t the only one shocked by this news,

"Honey, how would you do something like that without even telling me first?" Vivian said angrily.

The small lanky man shrugged off her complains, "You shouldn’t worry about all that, the investment is doing so well,"

"How can I not worry when you just told me you used our family home as collateral?"

"Mom leave him alone, he’s just trying to do what’s best for the family," Cassie defended him.

The conversation soon erupted into a screaming match. Only Yohan remained quiet, which was ironic because only him truly knew the gravity of the situation.

’Something like this didn’t happen before... is this all my fault?’

’Did my choices and my interference lead my uncle to make such a stupid decision?’

Despair began to set in as he realized, his coming back to the past was about to be the reason they lost the house.