Until December

Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Grace Evans/ John Evans.

Opening the door of the studio I invited Isabella in. She looked a bit hesitant to come in. "What's wrong, Isabella? Come in." I invited her in. She bit her lips and looked down.

"I have never been. . . you know. . . I've never been with a guy alone in his apartment." She said in a hesitant tone and I controlled myself from chuckling.

Cute. . .

"Are you telling me you have never had a boyfriend?" I asked her. She looked down and my eyes widened.

"Hey, I think you have known me enough in the past few days. You can trust me. I will never take advantage of you." I tried to assure her. If only she knew that we share the same gender she would have been so comfortable with me.

Isabella hesitantly nodded and entered the apartment. I made her sit on the couch and went to get a glass of water for her. She gulped the whole glass of water down and wiped her mouth.

"Are you feeling better now?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Calm down Isabella, you're panicking too much. We'll share a conversation of what happened a few hours ago but first I need you to calm down." I told her. Removing the jacket from my body I tossed it on the sofa and sat next to her.

"So, start with the start," I said.

"Tyson. . . he is. . . Tyson is my. . . He's my stepbrother, John!" She said and I was surprised by this information.

"He's your stepbrother?" I asked her.

"Yes, same mother. . . different father." She said and I nodded.

"I don't how am I telling you this easily. . . maybe because you're the first person who stood up for me even though you knew how much power he has as compared to you. You stood up for me without thinking about yourself. I couldn't even thank you properly for this." She said and I passed her smile.

"We're friends and friends stood for each other so it's no biggie and you don't need to thank me, missy."

"No one except the boys knows about this at the school. No one knows that I'm Tyson Matthew's stepsister. Our mother has smoothly covered this news. In front of the world, Diana Armando has only one daughter and that is me." She said and I was stunned listening to her. Things are more serious than I was expecting.

"Why does he hate you? Why does he treat you so badly and why don't you do something about this Isabella? You're as powerful as him." I argued with her.

"Because. . . because I don't know why but I blame myself. I shouldn't because deep down I know that all this is nothing my fault but I let him hurt me so that his aggression gets a little less for my mother." She said and I mentally smacked myself.

"Do you have any idea how stupid you sound? Why do you blame yourself when you have nothing to do with this?" I ask her.

"John, I'm telling you all this because I'm starting to trust you. Please don't break my trust." She said and I held her hands to calm her down.

"You can trust me," I assured her.

"My mother had a fling with Tyson's dad. Things got a little serious and she ended up being pregnant with Tyson. Neither my mother nor Tyson's dad had feelings for one another but they ended up not aborting the baby. The day arrived and Tyson was brought into the world. It was already clear that Tyson's dad and my mother aren't going to have any relation. Tyson's dad wanted an heir and he got one. They shared custody of Tyson for a year. In these few years even though Tyson's father was a high profile man no one got to know who Tyson's mother was.

They shared Tyson's custody until my mother fell in love with my dad. . . she didn't want to abandon Tyson but she also wanted to spend a happy life with the love of her life. She had to choose between her happiness and Tyson. . . and she decided to choose her happiness.

Mister Matthew got to know about this. . . apparently, he had fallen in love with my mother and was planning to propose to her. My mother always believed that Mr Matthew just wanted an heir to continue his legacy and he was only persistent in marrying her because he wanted her to stay with Tyson as a family so that Tyson gets the best future.

She got a bit selfish and told Mr Matthew that she's going to marry my dad, Roman Armando because he's the one she's in love with. She ended up marrying my dad and they're happy together to this day. Her marriage decision was a good decision for her but. . ." Isabella stopped abruptly.

"But?" I asked her.

"But it was not a good decision for the two people she left behind. A few years later after I was born. . . Mr Matthew died. He died because of depression." She said and my brows furrowed.

"How do you know all this?" I asked her.

She looked at me with her teary eyes and sighed. "When Tyson reached his teenage years, he found his father's diary. The diary holds all the history of what has happened. He read it and tracked Diana Armando. That day. . . that day brought chaos in our lives.

Tyson cried a lot. He demanded a lot of answers from my mother. My mother's heart shattered when she saw her young son. The son she could only see from a distance. Tyson blamed my mother and threw his father's diary at my mother's face. He told her that he will die but never accept Diana Armando as her mother.

He said that because of her he lost his mother and his father. That was the first and last time he talked to my mother. My mother has tried to contact him all these years but it was all in vain. Do you want to know what was written in Mr Matthew's diary?" Isabella asked me and I nodded lightly.

"My mother still has that diary till today. One day I sneak into her study and read the contents that were in the diary. Mr Matthew has inscribed all the incidents he spent with my mother. He wrote how a one night stand of his became the love of his life. . . but he was too late or if I tell you his correct words. . . he wrote that he was a coward to not tell Diana about his true feelings. He wrote that he should have told her when he realized his feelings for her. He wanted to stop her marriage with my father but deep down he knew that Diana was already gone from his life.

He wanted to marry her, wanted to give her a good life and a happy life, he wanted her to live with him and their son but he was too late. . . Diana was already gone. He wrote all his regrets in there. If only he tried a little harder to make her fall in love with him. . . Maybe today he would be alive, living a happy life with the love of his life and son. . ." Said Isabella and there was a long silence. I felt Isabella sobbing and I side hugged her to give my condolences.

"My mother's heart shattered as she got to know that Matthew truly loved her. He was late to realize his feelings but he genuinely loved her. Tyson's father never married again, he never let anyone know that he's going through depression and one day this depression killed him.

"Tyson hates me because he thinks that I took his mother. . ." Said Isabella.

"I admit that he has suffered but whatever he is doing to you, it can not be justified. You do not have any fault in this." I told her.

"This secret of ours is only known by limited people. Damon, Caleb and Noah also know about this. . ." She said and I nodded. So, this is why they were giving the sympathetic look. They feel sympathy towards her but they also cannot stand against their dear friend.

"So he bullies you and you let him do it?" I asked her.

"I don't know. . . I can't. . . What can I do John? I feel responsible. This is all too f****d up for me to handle so I let him do whatever he wants to do." She said and looked down.

"Bullshit!" I said and tried to control my anger.

"From today onwards, I'm going to protect you. I won't let him get to you." I told her in a determined time.

"No, you're already in so much trouble because of me, you should leave this school, John. Damon. . . Tyson. . . they are not good people. I don't know what Damon has decided for you. I will talk to him and request him to let you go but he is Damon Jax. . . he doesn't listen to people easily." She said,

"Then I'll make him listen to me. Don't worry. I know what I need to do to save myself. Now, wipe your tears and tell me what you would like to eat." I asked her to lighten up her mood. She wiped her tears with the tissue and looked at me with surprise.

"You know how to cook?" She asked me.

"A bit," I told her and wore my apron. Isabella chuckled.

"You look too skinny without your jacket. I can't believe you were able to hit Tyson aggressively. You don't look that strong." Said Isabella.

"Wow, thank you for the gratitude Isabella," I said with sarcasm lacing in my voice.

Isabella and I spent the afternoon together, talking and eating the food I made. After making her relax I made her go back and assure her that everything is going to be alright and that nothing bad will happen.

I cleaned the place and changed into something comfortable. A lot of thoughts were going on in my head about what happened today and what will happen tomorrow. I was about to go to my room to take some rest after such a long physical and mentally exhausting day when I heard the doorbell ring.

Who could be here at this odd hour?