Chapter 14

"Hey, are you okay?"

✩‧₊˚˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ੈ✩‧₊˚˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ੈ✩‧₊˚˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ੈ✩‧₊˚˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

Zayon jumped at the tap that had just been planted on his shoulder. This sweet, warm voice made him feel as if this person really wanted to help. The voice really wanted to know if he was okay. The voice felt so nice and kind, like it would help him anytime he needed it. And Zayon really needed help now. He felt disgusted with himself. He felt like he was the most terrible, rude, and annoying person on Earth. Zayon didn't like himself right now. He wanted to change, and responding to this voice and telling it the truth was the right thing to do in order to change. But it was hard to tell the truth sometimes, especially when the truth is nasty and painful. As we know, Zayon is a very honest person. But he had to lie this time.

"Um, yeah, I'm doing alright." Zayon sniffled and looked at the families leaving the rain. He wiped the tears on his face but they were quickly replaced with new ones. He wiped his tears once more, but 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 were quickly replaced with raindrops.

"Are you sure?"

The person speaking stepped in front of Zayon and Zayon put his head up to see the woman. His eyes could not believe themselves. She was just stunning. She had beautiful fluffy brown hair that went down to her shoulders which Zayon just wanted to run his fingers through. Her eyebrows were just perfect, complementing her perfect eye shape. Her eyelashes were naturally long, thick, and curled which also complemented her eyes. Her eye color was a dark brown, which almost looked black. Her nose looked like it had been manipulated with surgery but still looked decent. Her ulzzang lips were a dark, romantic red and Zayon tried to stop himself from gazing at them. Her pale skin was just like Zayon's - but a few freckles on her cheeks. God, she was gorgeous.

𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥... 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. Zayon thought.

Zayon cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm sure."

The woman wiped some tears of Zayon's face. "Just admit it. You're not okay."

Zayon said nothing. He kept his mouth shut, in fear of accidentally saying something he didn't want to be revealed. What if this lady leaves him because of how badly he's been acting? Everything that's happened to him in the past few days did not need to be known by anyone except the people who it effected.

"Well," Zayon took a deep breath. "you're right. I feel sick of my life."

The woman looked at Zayon sympathetically. "Don't be! Your life can still turn around for the good!"

Zayon scowled. "I don't think you understand." More tears started to stream down his face. The woman saw this and smiled at Zayon, showing him a bit of empathy.

"Well, I was just like you, crying in the rain. Except I was sitting on one of those benches and not the swings." She told Zayon. "And someone came up to me, just like how I came up to you, and they told me that I should do a few changes to my life to make it better."

Zayon looked down at his feet without moving his head down. This lady was starting to annoy him. Even though she was so beautiful, she was starting to heat Zayon up. He was still going to be nice though, just because she was THAT pretty. "Well, I don't know what you went through, but I can assure you that it's nothing worse than mine."

The woman looked surprised at this comment. "Do you want me to tell you?"

Zayon thought for a few seconds then nodded slowly. The lady wiped Zayon's tears once again and cleared her throat so she could talk without cracks in her voice.

⋆⋆⋆WARNING: This lady's story is kind of disturbing, so please go to Chapter 15 if you are sensitive to rape, murder, exploiting, and/or gambling. Thank you so much!⋆⋆⋆

"Well, it all started with me, my father, and my older brother." She started. "My mother left us a few years after I was born, and my half-mother died when my brother was born, so my father never really liked him."

Zayon nodded slowly. He understood the father because if Nya had died when Jayden was born, Zayon probably would've not liked him too much, either. Zayon knew it was wrong, but he didn't like when someone innocent died because of someone else's fault, which is why he absolutely hated murder. Surprising, for someone like Zayon.

"It started by constantly ignoring my brother, not driving him to school, and not caring whenever he needed some care. He was often starved, not showered, and didn't go to school whenever my father took a break from work so that he could 'save money'."

Zayon was absolutely disgusted. He didn't understand this woman's father anymore, because what he did to her poor elder brother was just nauseating. Zayon did sometimes ignore his son, but not showering him and not taking him to school? Just sickening.

"I'm so sorry..." He muttered while the rain splattered on the pavement.

The woman's eyes were starting to look glossy. "Thank you for your sympathy, but this is just the tip of the iceberg."

Zayon wasn't even sure if he wanted to hear the full iceberg.

The woman continued to speak. "But then, my father lost his job and we could barely afford to eat. We were lucky if we had a small sandwich for the day because some nights, we went to sleep hungry." A tear started to fall from her eye, and Zayon felt even more rotten than he did before. He never liked seeing people suffer. Well, on second thought, he never liked seeing people suffer THIS MUCH. Zayon never, ever liked to see people on the streets begging for money so they can buy at least some food to fill their bellies. He always tried to donate to homeless people when he could, so they too one day could be as rich and successful as Zayon. No one really knew that side of him, though. Even some of his closest friends would claim that all Zayon cares about is sex, how long his dick is, and more sex, when it wasn't true. Zayon did care about hungry people because he didn't like to stay hungry even for five minutes. Zayon could never even imagine how tough life was on the streets.

The lady had tears falling from her face; or maybe they were just raindrops, but Zayon didn't care. He felt terrible for this woman and her brother. The woman swallowed her saliva to be more understood when she spoke and continued her story.

"My father wanted to get us more money, so with the little money he had, he went to casinos in hopes that he could win some money, but he lost it all." She narrated. "So we now had absolutely no money. Not one penny. We eventually got evicted and had to live on the streets."

This was the part Zayon was hoping that the lady wouldn't say, because he would never want someone as sweet as her to live a horrible life on the streets. But she said it anyway, because she was telling Zayon the truth, and not just a lie saying that she had a decent childhood.

"My brother was starved many times, and whenever we found something to eat, he never got any of it. I'd say he ate about once every week." She told Zayon with tears in her eyes. "I always shared some of my food with him, but it was never enough for the both of us."

The lady sat on the swing next to Zayon and started to swing slightly. "And then, one of my father's rich friends announced that he was gay." Her hands started to tremble on the metal chain connecting the swing to the bar above. She obviously did not like bringing up her past, but why was she shaking so much when one her father's friends came out of the closet? "And he was a forty year old man... and he said that my brother was exactly his type in men..." The woman's voice started to tremble and shake. "And then..."

Her voice trailed off as more tears fell on her face. She then proceeded to burst in tears. She hid her face in her lap and started crying even more. Zayon quickly came to comfort her. He hugged her and told her that it was okay to cry. She started to cry even more, which made Zayon want to sob himself. But he didn't. He had to stay strong for this woman. He carried her into his lap and sat on the swings. Making sure that the woman wouldn't fall, he started to softly rock the swing back and forth like he was calming down a crying infant. Zayon's eyes were red from crying, but you couldn't really see that because of how dark it was. Even though it was six o'clock PM, the sky looked dark and gloomy, as if it were matching the expression of Zayon and the lady. The rain started to pour even harder, soaking Zayon and this woman completely.

𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬. Zayon thought as he listened to the sorrowful sounds of the woman.

The woman soon stopped crying and looked up at Zayon. "Um, thank you for comforting me."

Zayon looked back down at the woman on his lap and smiled slightly.

"Should I continue with my story?" She asked.

"Only if you allow it, of course." Zayon replied. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to."

The woman nodded. "I guess I'll continue then..." She stated. "Well, um, basically what happened is that..." She paused to think to where she left off. "Oh... Well, my dad basically sold my brother to his rich friend, and he got raped there. My brother was sold for five million dollars, which really helped me and my father financially, but... I just wish we could've got the same amount of money a different way."

Zayon's eyes went big with shock after hearing this. If he ever did this to Jayden, Nya would literally buy an electric chair for Zayon to die in.

"He didn't even give my brother a break. Sometimes he could barely even walk when I visited him. He had a literal schedule and had to abide by it or else he'd get beaten." Some tears started to be shed. "He might've been good for use when he was twelve to sixteen..."

Zayon's eyes widened with shock. Twelve to sixteen? This happened at a really young and scary age! And this poor boy had to deal with it for more than four years? Zayon wanted to burst into tears. Words couldn't even describe how much pain he felt for this lady's brother.

The lady continued. "Um, he might've been good for use when he was twelve to sixteen, but he was getting older, and when my dad's satanic friend decided that he didn't like him anymore... he..."

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?? Zayon wanted to know what happened to this lady's brother so badly, and the suspense was high.

The lady started crying in Zayon's lap. She placed her head on his chest and kept crying. The rain got louder and more heavier, matching the expression of the lady. Zayon's face started to get wet with raindrops and tears. He couldn't imagine living on the streets, but living like this woman's brother? How can humans be so cruel to each other? How can a father be so cruel to his children?

𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥! Zayon had thoughts of anger, sadness, and empathy.

𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥!

𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺.

But Zayon's hopes of the lady's brother having a beautiful family with beautiful kids and a beautiful wife, and smiling everyday and having a good heart and meeting him one day... were about to be crushed.

The woman lifted her head off of Zayon's chest when she stopped sobbing. "Once he didn't like my brother anymore,... he got rid of him."

Zayon's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Did she just say that... Her father's evil friend... Got rid of him...? Zayon couldn't control his emotions. He burst into tears. The lady also burst into tears and they both just started to cry under the crying clouds. Zayon couldn't believe that a human could even think to do this. Wouldn't humans ever think about how the victim's family members were going to react? Don't they ever try to understand that we need to help each other, not bring each other down?

After a few ten minutes, the two stopped weeping and the lady decided to speak again. "Well, once I learned that my brother's dead, I couldn't stop crying. I still can't stop crying. He died at seventeen. He was way too young." She sniffled agonizingly. "And I remember my father's exact words when he realized his only son is gone forever. He was just like, 'Who ever loved him anyways? He was just a waste of time, oxygen, and resources.'" Her hands balled up into fists. "I've hated my father ever since for that. He was really nice to me when I was living with him, but when he said that, I just couldn't stand to be around him and his negative energy any longer. So I had to make the most baffling decision of my life; to stay with my bastard father and live a rich lifestyle, or leave him and his Satanic ways but live on the street. I chose to leave him, so I did. Before I left, I called the police on both him and his friend, and I regret not having the courage to do it earlier." She explained. She sighed as if she needed to take a small break from this dark story. "And they both got arrested. His rich friend has the life sentence and my dad, sixty years."

"Good," Zayon said. "But they both should've got the death penalty."

The woman nodded. "True." She continued telling her story. "Well, I was homeless, jobless, and hungry. I begged on the streets and barely made twenty dollars a day."

Zayon frowned when he heard that. He didn't like hearing hard pasts, but sometimes you just had to.

"Eventually, I decided to walk to Rocky Ridge Park so I could drown myself in the pond they have next to it. I never wanted to commit suicide more in my life. But I accidentally entered the wrong park." She explained. The rain started to cool down a little. "It was this one. It was raining and I sat on that bench right there." The lady pointed to a bench not too far away from them. "And this one kind woman came up to me and asked me if I was okay. And I said I was fine, like you told me earlier. But when she saw my glossy eyes reddened from all my crying, and some tears on my face, she wiped my tears and told me her story, and I told her mine." The lady then sadly smiled at Zayon. "I got help by trusting other people and telling my story, so you should get help as well. My life got so much better after I met her." The skies started to clear and the rain started to stop, as if the clouds were also listening to the story and getting emotional.

Zayon looked down at the woman sitting on his lap and decided that she was right. He had to trust her and say his story.

The woman cleared her throat. "Well, you said your story is worse than mine, so, what is it?"

Zayon darted his eyes across the park. Of course his story wasn't worse than hers. His story was absolutely nothing compared to hers. You got poisoned because of your own foolish actions and now your wife dumped you because of those same foolish actions? And plus, your children hate you, because of your own fault. That story could've been easily avoided. But this woman's story couldn't. She was just forced to live like this, which was horrible. She had told Zayon to speak his truth. To trust her and to say his story. And he thought she was right.

"Oh, um, I'd rather not say my story." Zayon sputtered. "It's just THAT traumatic."

Well, as said earlier, Zayon thought this lady was right. But that didn't mean he was going to do the right thing.

"Okay. You don't have to say anything you don't want to." The lady smiled. "Well, I never told you my name, haha..."

Zayon smiled. "No worries."

"Well, my name's Reika. But you can call me Reiky, if you want."

Zayon picked her first option, Reika. "Your name is Rika?"

"No, 𝘙𝘦𝘪𝘬𝘢."

Zayon nodded his head. "Okay, Reika, my name's Zayon."

"Nice to meet you Zayon!" Reika smiled. She jumped off from Zayon's lap and stretched. Zayon got off from the swing and the two of them walked out of the park.

"Where's your house?" Reika asked.

"Come, we'll walk to it." Zayon answered.

They then proceeded to walk hand-in-hand together on the way to Zayon's fancy mansion. And on the way to trouble.