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.