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CHAPTER 5

After having dinner with her mother and Harvey, Ruby retired early to her room where she resumed with her assignment. Her mother married a man who had three children already; two of them being older than her and the youngest being Harvey.

The oldest was the one who was currently helping in running the company with her stepfather and married. The second child was female and not yet married. It was only the two of them that were staying at home with the parents. At one point she wanted to leave the nest but they wouldn’t allow her.

They said it wasn’t good for the house to remain without any children so she and Harvey became the sacrificial lambs and remained home with the parents.

It felt so good seeing how money can change one person’s life. She could still remember the nights when they had little to eat, her mother would give her all the food some times. It was really tough for them.

When her birth father died and left her mother with so much debt, she thought she will become an orphan seeing how depressed her mother was. Her grandparents and father’s relatives refused to help and it became the burden of her mother. Along the way she met the man she married now and all debts were paid.

She began to see her mother smiling again and that’s all she wanted. She looked at the time and saw that it was already around eleven and her essay was almost done. There was a slight knock on her door and her mother entered.

“I saw the lights they were still on, so I brought you some fruits. Are you almost done?” her mother asked her as she placed the plate on the table.

“I think I will be done in another thirty minutes,” she replied taking a piece of fruit and threw it in her mouth.

“I thought you always did your assignments during weekends. Why are you rushing yourself like this?” her mother asked as she sat on the couch.

“I will tell you something but it’s a secret. Don’t even tell dad or Harvey,” she said looking at her mother.

“Okay, I won’t,” her mother said.

“I will be joining Harvey on his trip. The principal asked me to go and check up on the kids,” she said.

“That’s sudden. Is that why you are rushing to finish your assignments?”

“Yes, I don’t want to do any assignments when I leave and especially when I’m back. So I will do some while I can and finish the rest when I return,” she said.

“I’m proud of you. Just don’t do any mistakes, I wouldn’t want you to fail just because you were rushing to finish.”

“I will not make that mistake. Is Harvey sleeping?”

“Yes, he left a while ago.”

“Okay. I will see you in the morning. I need to finish this quickly so that I can wake up early,” Ruby said giving her mother the cue to leave.

“Do you have enough money for the trip?”

“I think I do. I haven’t bought a lot of things lately. Why do you ask?”

“I think I will deposit some money for you. Use it for yourself and your brother,” her mother said standing up.

She came up to her and kissed her on the forehead.

“Good night mother.”

“Good night Ruby. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Her mother left her bedroom and she continued with her assignment. She finally finished her essay, saved it and switched off her laptop. She went to her en-suite bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. When she returned he was seated there.

“I thought you were sleeping,” she said as she walked up towards him.

“I was but I woke up. You owe me, have you forgotten?”

“How can I ever forget that when you don’t stop with the reminders?” she asked as she joined him on the bed.

“It’s good that you know. I came up with what I want,” he said looking at her.

“And what do you want now?” she asked staring deep into his eyes.

“I will be leaving in two days and I will definitely miss you. So I will sleep with you until I leave,” he said getting into her bed.

Ruby laughed at how silly her brother was at times.

“You will never change. Do you even realize that you are no longer a child?” she asked as she joined him.

“I know but you have yourself to blame,” he said as he pulled her towards him.

It was awkward for other people but not for them. When her mother married his father, he used to have nightmares so she slept with him so that he would sleep at ease.

That became a habit that even when they grew up, they would sometimes just do that. Their parents grew tired of trying to stop them until they just accepted that abnormality.

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