“Burn those who burned me!” Chapter 116

***Gracie’s POV:***

Over two months have passed since I first moved into House Christiansen’s estate and since Kai has woke up.

Since then, there has been so many things that happened.

Tyler finally told Londyn how he felt over Sunday dinner during the family weekend. I could still remember the look on Aunt Mina’s face as she scolded Parys.

*“So…you mean to tell me even your sister has found someone!! At this rate we’ll be marrying off Brooklyn before you!!”*

*“Ow!! Mom!! Stop hitting me!!”*

We all laughed hysterically as Aunt Mina continued to pop Parys upside his head.

Luckily I was able to introduce him to my best friend Joellie.

That Monday after the family weekend, I called her to update her on everything that transpired following the week I visited my mother’s grave. I can still hear her squealing.

*“WHAT!!!!! Are you joking???? Wait!!! So, you’re telling me…you’re marrying THE Kai Christiansen!!! AND he's recovered from his coma!!!! WHAT!!!!”*

It took me over five minutes to get a word in to catch her up on everything. Afterwards, Marla invited her to the estate.

*“We’d love to have her come visit! Any friend of yours is a friend of ours!”*

I remember her looking at me with those adoring motherly eyes causing my heart to swell.

*“Plus! I’m sure she’s going to want to be in the wedding! We can get her fittings completed while she’s here!.”*

Kayla and Grandmom-Roana beamed as they whipped out the wedding book. Preparations for the wedding began immediately. Kai wanted to get married September 22, a week after the birthday party.

The day she came over, Londyn and Parys had just showed up. Londyn was coming to help with the wedding and Parys came over to help Kai. Because no one accept immediate family knew of his recovery, he had Parys helping with the company to take some of the load off of Cameron. Kai was the President of HC-Tech.

HC-Tech was a global Techware company and a largest bulk of House Christiansen’s income. Everything from military software to computers, phones, tablets, House Christiansen designed the software as well as the electronics.

Theo took over as CEO after his father retired and Kai took over as President. After graduating, Parys began working for the company training to become VP.

The day he met Joellie; we were all looking at wedding videos to get ideas about the setup. Marla had a wedding planner coming the next day, so we decided to look at some videos for inspiration. Joey was gushing over a floral design when Parys walked into the room to give Londyn a booklet.

*“Oh, hey Parys! Let me introduce you to my best friend Joellie!”*

Joey stood up and extended her hand for a shake; a bright smile on her face.

*“Just Joey. Everybody calls me Joey.”*

Parys stared at Joellie for a brief moment before speaking. In his defense, my best friend has a dazzling smile.

*“I-It’s nice to meet me…I mean you! It’s nice to meet you!....I’m…ummm”*

*“Oh, dear lord!!! Just embarrassing me!! Joey….this is my brother Parys. I promise he’s more articulate than this.”*

Kayla and I laughed hysterically, it was so adorable! From that moment on, Parys and Joey were glued at the hip. Mina nearly thanked me a million times for helping her son finally find love. She instanly fell in love with Joey.

*"I'll have none of that Ma'am junk! It's mom from now on!"*

Mina beamed as she hugged Joey.

After the family weekend, Kai told me about the meeting he and the guys had with Zelma. I couldn’t believe it.

I wasn’t sure what stunned me the most, her being a mole for Kai…or the revelation that my mother wanted me dead.

Kai updated me on everything he, Tyler and Cameron learned so far. Apparently there was a man named Benard Thorton that the Rochesters used to handle all of their dirty work….including killing infants.

We weren’t sure why, but somehow I not only survived, but I ended up with my adoptive mother Diana Teagues. I can still remember sitting in shock as tears flooded my cheeks. I wasn’t sure if I was crying because my biological mother wanted me dead, or if I was crying because I knew I had been right about my adoptive mother all this time.

I began to laugh hysterically, not sure which of the emotions were controlling it.

*“I knew it…I knew it!!!”*

Kai sat in silence as I continued to laugh, the tears blurring my vision. He allowed my moment before providing me comfort. I curled into his lap as I continued to cry.

*“It’s okay my love…I’m here…cry as much as you need too.”*

After I finally settled down, Kai told me he had Tyler tracking down this Benard person.

*“I think he’ll be able to answer a lot of questions about what happened that night and why Sharon Rochester went through such great lengths to….”*

*“Kill me…”*

The irony of it all was like rusted blood on my tongue. All those years of her cursing me every time I mentioned my adopted mother. Claiming that I was ungrateful and cruel by bringing up the woman that stole me….turns out she was just upset the job wasn’t finished.

*“After we track him down, we’ll be bringing him here for an interrogation.”*

Kai looked at me with a serious expression, I could tell he’d taken all of this personal.

*“I want to be there…for the interrogation.”*

I needed to hear the truth with my own ears. With slight hesitation, Kai nodded in agreement as he began his pursuit of Benard Thorton.

Over the next several weeks following; I decided to find out as much as I could about my adoptive mother. Having House Christiansen to back me up allowed me a lot of opportunities.

I learned she was actually from a small village of the coast of South Bay. She married a man named Jacob Teagues when they were fresh out of college. Jacob Teagues was a dentist with his own practice in Willington. He was originally from Kingston and moved to South Bay for school. He fell in love with my mother shortly after and decided to stay.

From what I learned, they had a very happy marriage. She became pregnant a few years after. However, during her eighth month, her husband’s father passed causing them to return to Kingston. Unfortunately, shortly after the funeral, her husband was stabbed and died from a robbery gone wrong. He’d went out to pick up some fried pork for my mother. She ended up passing out at the hospital and the fall caused her to lose her baby. The surgery also resulted in her having an emergency hysterectomy.

The nurse I spoke with informed me my mother laid in Memorial for over five weeks due to recovery and depression. Memorial was also the same hospital my biological mother had all of her kids.

The dots were starting to connect. All that was left was to find Benard Thorton. The day Tyler found him, Kai and I were sitting in my bedroom playing a game of checkers. Just as I was about to invade his territory for the king, Kai’s phone began to buzz. Kai put the phone on speaker so that I could hear the conversation as well. Since telling me about Zelma, he kept me involved in everything regarding the Rochesters.

*“Hey Ty, what’s up?”*

Pause.

*“You guys aren’t busy are you?”*

Tyler asked in a mischievous tone causing Kai’s ears to redden.

*“What is it Tyler!”*

*“Relax, relax! I call baring good news….I’ve found Benard Thorton.”*