Loving A STRANGER

Before Khloe could even think of a reply, Aiden hung up the phone on her.

Tears began to stream down her face as she slid down the wall and slumped down on the ground. She began to weep but, after a while, her cries turned into gales of maniacal laughter. Her career was ruined. She"d lost her dream of moving into a wealthy family had imploded overnight. When she"d first plotted to destroy Kylie, the outcome had seemed a.s.sured, but nothing had gone her way…

Alice opened the door to see whether Khloe was in the house or not. When she saw that the house was a mess, she quickly entered and locked the door behind her. She took one look at Khloe and said, "Khloe, what"s wrong with you?"

Alice picked up the blanket, folded it, and put it to the floor beside Khloe. She sat down on the blanket, looked at Khloe, and said, "I came to see you yesterday, but you were not in the house. Where did you go? Tell me what happened!"

 Khloe looked like she was in a trace. After a long while, she looked at Alice and said, "Mom, I am done... I am not even sure if I want to live anymore…"

Seeing how helpless and desperate Khloe seemed, Alice felt both anxious and annoyed. Seeing how volatile Khloe was, though, she didn"t dare to confront her. All that she could do was try to comfort her. "Don"t be afraid," she said. "Tell me what happened."

When it looked like Khloe wasn"t going to open up to her, Alice got up and brought Khloe a gla.s.s of cold water. "Water is the most underrated healing agent on this planet. Have a drink. You can begin talking when you are ready. I will wait."

Khloe thought about it as she drank from the cup her mother had given her. If she decided to talk, she knew that she would have to remove Dora and Ken from the narrative, which would be hard, and she had a lot to lose if Ken discovered that she"d been talking.

When Khloe finally opened up, she said, "I had an appointment with Kylie to negotiate, but someone knocked me out as I arrived in the coffee shop. When I woke up, I was in the back room and Matthew was on top of me, f.u.c.king me…"

Hearing Khloe"s tale, Alice couldn"t help but think that Khloe had left some serious things out of her narrative. She squinted her eyes and said, "I wonder what Matthew was doing in that shop. It doesn"t add up…"

Khloe frowned and said, "I don"t know..."

In order to conceal her guilt, Khloe lowered her head and took another sip of water: "This must be the work of Kylie. She did this to me. She hates me enough to do something like this."

Alice straightened Khloe"s hair, tied it up, and then asked her, "Does Kylie know about this?"

"If she set me up," Khloe replied, "then, of course, she does. If it wasn"t her, it is unlikely that she would know. And there are other suspects. There are enough people who dislike me enough to wish harm upon me."

Khloe brought the night up in her mind. "I had only just woken up," she said, "and I could tell that Mathew was just about to c.u.m. Before he could, though, the door of the private cubicle was kicked open, and Matthew was pulled up by a woman that I didn"t recognize at first.

"The woman called me a s.l.u.t," Khloe continued. "But she gave me clothing to wear, which I appreciated. Once my tears were cleared, though, I recognized who the woman was. It was Aiden"s mother: Taylor Parker!"

When Taylor saw Khloe on the bed like some common wh.o.r.e, she was astonished, and fear set into her heart. If this were to become public knowledge, her family would be ruined.

"What did she say?" Alice wondered.

"She didn"t really say anything at all," Khloe replied. "I think she was in shock, and Matthew showed no signs of embarra.s.sment or shame. He stood up, pulled a few tissues from a box on a table, and began to clean his c.o.c.k, right there in front of us! Once he was done, he got dressed, as if nothing untoward had happened."

Hearing this, Alice began to suspect that there was more going on than Khloe was aware of. She also wondered how many times in her life this scenario had played out. She had never trusted him. There had just been something about his personality that made her nervous.

Alice looked Khloe over carefully and saw many bruises that she hadn"t seen at first, and the pain that Matthew had put Khloe through made her angrier than she"d ever been in her life. With Alice "s eyes on her, Khloe was anxious. Under her gaze, she almost felt like she was being judged.

"Once Matthew was dressed," Khloe continued, "he lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, looked at me, and said, "Get out of here." Not knowing what else today, I did as he"d commanded. With my head bowed, heavy with shame, I walked through the café and out the front door."

Khloe sighed and said, "My career is ruined. Once Kylie hears about this, it will be front-page news."

"What about your father?" Alice wondered. "Can"t he help? There must be something that you can do to stay in the industry and hold your head up."

Khloe frowned and said, "Perhaps I could work in the background, but I will never be the star that I"d hoped to be… And I can"t count on daddy forever. One day he will be gone, and I"ll have to be able to stand on my own two feet. If he were to die now, though, Kylie would get full control of the company, so I wouldn"t even have that to fall back on."

Alice began to cry at the thought of her husband pa.s.sing away. "What should we do?" she cried.

"I am not sure," Khloe said, "but I have an idea suddenly."

Alice followed Khloe into the bathroom and sat with her as she resurrected her appearance. When she was done, she looked at her and smiled. The world was my oyster; she thought to herself. It was stolen from me, though, but I am going to steal it back!

Khloe sent Duncan a text message. It said: "Mother and I are on our way to the hospital. Please meet us there."

Duncan"s answer was prompt: "I am on my way."

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