Chapter 4

"I don't care what mom says! We deserve to know about dad, he could still be alive! Don't you think he misses us?"

"But she probably has a good reason for keeping us away from him, maybe he's a bad person?"

"It still doesn't matter, we deserve to know. Andreius is right. We have 4o find him some way."

I could hear them from the other side of the door, it was 6am in the morning and they were never up this early. I was and their discussion pierced my heart.

I never wanted them to be away from Rohan but if I didn't leave, they wouldn't even have been born. I do admit I overreacted last evening but what could I have done? I'm only doing my best.

I moved away from the door, it was not proper to eavesdrop, I dragged my feet to the kitchen, I was soulless, just like the day Rohan rejected me and told me to terminate my pregnancy. Everything was blank, nothing had color anymore.

Dawn greeted us and now the sun was shining brightly, the boys were already dressed for school and I had served them breakfast. The energy of last night returned and they were not speaking. I didn't say anything either, I ate breakfast until our doorbell rang.

Markus was about to get it but a hand movement stopped him and I went to open the door. My eyes dulled when I saw it was my landlord.

"Good morning Mr Noore. I—"

"The rent is overdue Valerie, this was not what we agreed when you begged me to stay here." He folded his hands after handing me the new bill. My lips twitched at the figures.

"I will balance up, I promise, just give me a bit more time." I begged him and he gruffed, his eyes lingering on me for a while.

"Only a few more days, or you'll have to find somewhere else to live."

That was the end of our conversation and that was the beginning of another problem added to my problem basket. The basket was overflowing.

"Is there a problem mom?" Andreius had finally spoken today and my eyes were teary, I looked at him with so much love.

"No love, no problem at all." I managed a big smile, "let's get going or we will be late for school." I hurried them out of the house and I knew it was going to be a good day.

I was determined to make it up to them for last night.

I was on my best behavior at work, I made sure no customer complained even though they were wrong at times. I was hoping to get off early then do a late shift to cover up and make some extra money.

"Hello, what can I help you with?" I decided to attend to a customer and realized she was the one that poured water on me yesterday. She gave me a hard look and placed her order.

"Don't mess it up this time." She turned away from me and I rushed to get it.

"Look at you, you seem very happy today, did the boss give you a raise?" A coworker snickered at me after passing a lewd joke but I ignored her. She was the mean brat no one liked but followed anyway.

I grabbed the order after putting it together and headed to my hot tempered customer. She was impressed.

"I hope you enjoy your meal." I bowed respectfully and she passed me a $50 tip, I didn't believe it and then she chased me away. Today was officially the best day.

I noticed that time had far gone and soon the boys would close. I had to talk to my boss about pushing shifts.

My boss agreed and by noon, I was out of the restaurant. I ran to my boy's school, and I was the happiest I'd been in a while.

'Just get rid of it.'

I began to slow down when I heard Rohan's voice but I shook it out of my head and continued to the school, faster than before. I made it before the bell rang for closing and waited for them to come out.

Andreius was the first to spot me and ran like a cheetah chasing a prey, "mom!" He jumped on me and blessed me with kisses and his brothers followed suit. I was so happy to have them, I wouldn't trade them for anything.

"You came to pick us!" Markus kissed my hand and I rubbed his head.

"We are going out." We were, I was taking them out for ice cream, if my boys were happy, so was I. Our day out was exciting and also refreshing and soon the bad energy was gone with the wind.

I dropped them at home and told them to behave, preheated dinner and told them I would be back late. They promised to behave and I ran to my late shift. I worked for hours to make sure I raked up the extra money and it was going to be like that for a few days.

I had to balance the rent as soon as possible.

But work was tiring and it was time to go home. It was very late and the streets were lit and still bustling. The boys should be asleep by now and I wanted to stay in their room tonight.

I reached my door and when it swung open, the whole house was utterly destroyed. My bag fell from my hand in surprise as I covered my mouth, letting out a gasp.

"Dun, Mark, Andre?!!!" I called for my boys and ran inside, it looked like a struggle. There were marks running across almost every surface, they looked like claws, "boys! Stop playing pranks!" I prayed it was a prank.

I rushed to their room but the door was locked. I banged on it before I eventually broke it, calling out to my sons. The door finally opened and the room was a mess, the window left open.

"Andreius! Duncan! Markus!!" Tears had streamed down my face as the cold wind kissed my feet. I noticed I stepped on something cold and when I looked down, I almost fainted.

It was blood.