The CEO's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 18

　　It was past tea time when Evelyn paid the taxi driver and then got out slowly.

　　She’d woken up at lunchtime in Brendan's spare bedroom with a massive headache. She hadn’t meant to sleep over, but after sharing the pizza and the drink while binging on her favourite television shows, she had realised how lonely she was in Roman’s house. She missed just being free and stupid with her friends. In Roman’s house, she always felt like she had to be careful with everything because it was all so expensive.

　　Maybe it was a good thing that Roman had laughed off her declaration of love. She didn’t fit in his world at all.

　　She dug her keys out of her bag as she walked to the door. Her mother would probably be making her dad comfortable in bed so she didn’t want to disturb her to buzz her in.

　　“The prodigal returns. Are we finally worthy of you, Your Highness?”

　　She didn’t have to turn back to know who that was.

　　“Grow up, Tara,” she answered with an eye roll as she finally pushed the door open.

　　Life there hadn’t been easy. She’d had to toughen up quickly as she had learned that most people were assholes and she could only rely on herself and her parents. But it had been home and bonds were created out of need rather than want as most people were in similar situations.

　　Tara had been a good friend while growing up, and she had gotten her into a lot of trouble. When she had finally managed to get into nursing school, Tara had started treating her differently. Tara hated that she had ambition and accused her of thinking she was better than everyone. She had no idea what had made her think this way.

　　She walked down the long hallway. Since her dad’s accident, they had been moved from the middle floor to the ground to allow her dad to be more mobile, and so they could install all the equipment he needed. They all preferred the ground floor anyway because the elevators only worked half the time.

　　When she let herself into her family home, she saw the TV was off and the smell of her mother’s cooking filled the air. She hoped there were leftovers because she was starving. She hadn’t been able to stomach any food when she had woken up at Brendan’s.

　　“Mum?” she called out.

　　Her mother stuck her head out of their bedroom with a big smile on her face. Tessa Bright was still the most beautiful woman she knew, even if her green eyes didn’t sparkle as much as they used to do, and the faint lines on her face showed how hard life had been.

　　“Evie!” her mother said as she rushed forward to pull her into her arms. “I thought you wouldn’t be able to get out of work again.”

　　She held on to her mother and closed her eyes as she let all her tensions melt away. No matter how old she got, her mother’s arms always made everything better.

　　“I’ve managed to get away for a few days,” she said as she pulled back and smiled at her.

　　The pride in her mother’s eyes as she looked at her hurt so much. She told everyone she knew that her only child was in university and about to become a nurse. And she always said that this was worth every sacrifice she had ever made. That was why she would never tell her mother about Roman and how she had dropped out for a year.

　　“Is that Eve?”

　　Her smile grew as she walked into the master bedroom and saw her father freshly showered and in his pyjamas. He was already under the covers and the television was on on the wall, so he could watch his stories. Beside him, his table held his nightly mug of Horlicks and some snacks, while the chest of drawers beside that was full of all his pain management medication.

　　“Hi, Dad,” she smiled as she walked around the bed to his side.

　　She went into his arms and accepted his big kiss.

　　“It’s been too long, baby girl. They’re working you too hard,” her dad said in his booming voice.

　　Archie Bright had always been larger than life. Always cheered her on the loudest. Always believed she could do no wrong. Both her parents were like that and all she’d ever wanted was to make them proud.

　　“We have some leftovers,” her mother said from the doorway. “I’ll go warm up a plate and we can watch TV together.”

　　She let them both fuss over her because she knew they missed doing that when she wasn’t home, but once her mother brought her plate, she set herself on her dad’s comfortable chair and quietened down to eat while they watched their soaps. She watched them from the corner of her eye and realised they both weren’t engrossed in their stories as they usually were. They both looked tired and worried.

　　Her father was a handsome brown-haired man and had always maintained his upper body strength. This time he looked like he had lost some weight and his usually vibrant hair was thinning. How long had it been since she had been home? Guilt ate her up because she had been selfish. If she had visited more often maybe she would have noticed when things started going bad.

　　The moment the first of their shows finished, she put her plate on the side table and pulled her tablet out of her bag before she squeezed herself in the middle of them. This had been her favourite spot growing up. After her dad’s evening routine, she’d always preferred to hang out in here so he wouldn’t feel like he was missing out on anything.

　　She pulled her phone out and opened the link to the pictures she had saved.

　　“I like this one, but I have a few other options,” she told them quietly.

　　“How will you afford that, Eve?” her dad asked.

　　“You know those government schemes with first time buyers,” she said, shrugging the questions off. “There are so many options these days, and if I get it now, my repayments would be less than what we pay here for rent.”

　　Especially considering the size of her deposit. But she didn’t tell them that.

　　“Really?” Tessa asked, swiping across at the pictures.

　　“That’s not too far from here. We’d still be able to see all our friends,” her dad said as he looked, too.

　　She could tell they still weren’t happy about moving, but by the time they’d all had a cup of tea and discussed some logistics, she saw the first real smiles on her parent’s faces. They still had to discuss everything properly but she set a viewing up for the next day.

　　“We’ll discuss this tomorrow. Maybe Mr. Jenkins will let you stay here until we sort that out,” she said as she kissed them both and got off their bed.

　　After she said goodnight, she walked into her childhood bedroom. Her bed was already made as her mother had been expecting her on Sunday, so she just put her bag on the dresser and started getting her toiletries out of her bag.

　　She was just about to head for a shower when her phone beeped. The screen flashed Roman’s name and the usual butterflies settled in her stomach.

　　His message said, ‘Are you free to talk?’ He never contacted her when it wasn’t his day. Ever.

　　Before she had decided to leave him, she would have jumped at the chance to hear his voice. He was probably expecting her to, especially since she had told him how she felt.

　　Though her heart ached, she replied, ‘No,’ and then switched her phone off.