NICKLAUS THE MASTER
Chapter 36
Written by: Racheal Dennis
Authoress’ pov ?
Claudia sits next to Mrs Statham at the backseat, her arms folded across her chest as she sulks.
Mrs Statham notices her pulling a long face but ignores her and pretends like she’s not seeing her.
She reaches for her phone and entered her photo storage, she opens Nicklaus and Anastasia’s picture which she had saved yesterday.
With a smile on her face, she stares at the picture.
“Aunt, I thought we went there to tell that Anna girl off? Why did we leave instead?”
“Klaus told me he loves her!” She replies Claudia, not taking her eyes off the picture.
“He loves her?!”
“Hmm!” Mrs Statham hums.
“But… that is not true! What about Nina? Klaus can’t love anyone if she’s not Nina..we should remind Klaus about Nina…”
Mrs Statham drops her phone on her lap and give Claudia a stern look.
“Since Klaus loves Anastasia, there’s nothing we can do about it!”
“But….”
“I’m not gonna be the kind of mother that ruins her son’s happiness for her own selfish gain…yes, I like you and I want you for Nicklaus..but since he’s found someone he loves, I’ll let heaven take its course!”
Claudia frowns.
“Aunt….”
Just then, the car jerks forward and stops, Mrs Statham look outside the window and turns back to Claudia.
“You’re home, do send my greetings to your mother!”
Claudia stares at her a few minutes before opening the door and step out.
“Drive!” Mrs Statham tells her driver.
“Yes, ma’am!”
The driver starts the car and drives off, Claudia watches the car until it’s out of sight.
An elder woman rushes over to her, she look so much like Claudia but an older version.
“Claudia, you’re back?” She asked in a soft voice.
“Get lost!” Claudia growls at her before storming angrily into the house.
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Anastasia’s pov ?
It’s been almost an hour now, we’re still waiting… impatiently waiting..,for doctor Hemsworth to come from the ICU… we’re waiting for him to come out with good news.
Matilda and Marcus left to get aunt and I something to eat, since we haven’t eaten this morning.
Klaus is standing next to me, doing nothing, just standing there and watching me… I kinda feel safe and strong with him beside me.
Few minutes later, the doors open and doctor Hemsworth came out.. aunt and I get up and rush to him.
He removes his nose mask and smiles at us, but we didn’t return his smile.. we’re too worried for that.
“Doctor, how’s Denzel? What happened to him? Why did he suddenly passed out again?” Aunt asked series of questions.
I rub her back in a comforting manner, helping her calm down.
“Ms Bell, your nephew is fine, he just had too much candies”
Doctor Hemsworth paused and frown.
“I told you to be careful with him recently, he shouldn’t take too much sugar until his operation is done.. why did you let him?”
Aunt shake her head, trying to blink away the tears brimming in her eyes.
“I don’t let him eat candies, he must have sneak away to have them” she explained.
Doctor Hemsworth sighs deeply.
“So… doctor, how is my brother doing now?” I asked.
“He’s out of danger, he’ll be sent back to his ward soon.. listen, guys, that boy’s gonna have his operation tomorrow.. please watch him closely, Denzel is smart and kinda stubborn as I have noticed… ”
We nod in support of that statement, Denzel can be difficult and hard to control sometimes.
“… don’t let him out of your sight today, not even when he wants to use the bathroom.. he’ll be craving for sweets now.. don’t let him have any… ”
He cuts himself off and smile.
“.. spending time with Denzel has made me fall in love with him, I love him and treat him like my own son… I don’t want anything to go wrong during his operation, please!”
Aunt and I nod.
“Thank you, doc!” We both greet him.
“Hmm, I should go back to my office.. excuse!” He said and walks off.
A few minutes after he left, three nurses pushes Denzel out in a stretcher.
We follow them back to Denzel’s ward, they lay him on his bed before leaving.
Aunt and I rushed to his side, aunt holds his right hand in hers while I hold his left hand in mine.
“Denzel?” Aunt called in a whisper.
Denzel opens his eyes, he looks at aunt and smile at her. He gently snatches his hands away from ours and wipes off aunt’s tears.
“Aunt, don’t cry” he whispers.
Aunt laugh amidst tears, she shakes her head.
“You scared us, Denzel” she said.
“I won’t do it again, I’m sorry aunt!” He apologised.
His head turns to me, he smiles.
“Anna, you got married!”
“Huh?”
Did he hit his head before passing out?
Because last time I checked, I’m very much single.. in fact, my heart was broken this morning.
“I saw you in my dream, you and him…”
He points at someone behind me, I know he’s pointing at Klaus.
“… You got married to him!” He whispers.
“Denzel, it seems like, you hit your head before passing out!”
Aunt laughs at my comment, Denzel simply stares at me.. feeling confused. I ruffle his hair.
“I’m happy you’re safe!” I told him, he nods before turning to aunt.
“Water!” He tells her.
Aunt nods and gets, she head out with a small thermo to get some water.
My stomach growls loudly and I wince, I rub it.
I’m damn hungry, but neither Marcus nor Matilda is back with any food.. I wonder if they couldn’t find any food to buy.
Klaus clears his throat behind me.
“Er… bae, here…”
He stretches an apple towards me, but I didn’t accept it..he comes in front of me, he sits on a couch.
“I.. I know this is not the right time or place to say this.. but I’m sorry if I hurt you, I’m truly sorry!”
I ignored him, I reach in my pocket for my phone to call Matilda.. then I remembered that my phone slipped off my hand earlier.
I groan mentally, I’m gonna die of hunger before they get back.
“Nina, I….”
I glare at him.
“Can you stop saying that name in front of me? It’s hurting my ears!”
I’m tired of hearing that name, Nina this… Nina that… I’m sick and tired of it.
“I don’t care who Nina is or what she was to you, just don’t say her name everytime you see me!”
He stares at me with his mouth slightly open, he close his eyes briefly and takes a deep breath.
“Fine! I’ll tell you the truth!”
“Don’t, it’ll just cause arguments between us which, as you can see, it’s not good for Denzel”
I see Denzel’s attention is back to me, he’s looking between Klaus and I.
“Please leave!” I told him.
“You’re Nina!” He said.
I don’t know if I’m imagining this right now, but this words keeps repeating in my ears.
“You’re the Nina I always speak of! You’re the Nina that I love! You’re the Nina that’s engaged to me since we were children! You’re Nina, my childhood sweetheart!” He rushed out.
I tensed, I’m Nina?! Does this mean Matilda’s Information is correct?!
No! That’s not true, if it was true why didn’t aunt tell me about it?
“You’re never a replacement, you’re Nina!” He said again.
“Liar! You’re just saying that to make me come back and continue being your fake girlfriend!”
How can I be Nina?!
“I’m not just saying it, you’re really my Nina!”
I stare in his eyes and search for any trace of lie in it, but found none.. is he saying the truth?
“Anna, Nicklaus is right, you’re Nina!” I hear aunt say.
She’s standing by the door, holding the thermo in her hand.
“Aunt…” I turned towards her.
She walks inside, pours some water in a glass and hands it to Denzel.. then she turns back to us.
“Aunt, what do you mean?” I asked her.
Aunt smiles.
“I guess we shouldn’t hide it from you any longer… You’re Nina, and you’re already engaged to Nicklaus since you were little!”
I turn to Klaus, he’s already staring at me, so I quickly turn back to aunt.
“But.. how come I don’t remember him? Is it because of that accident I had?”
Aunt nods.
“Yes! And Denzel’s parents are not yours…. ”
“What?!” I exclaimed.
Now this is something I’m not gonna accept! How can Denzel and I have different parents?
I remember my parents clearly.. I mean I spent everyday of my life with them.. until they died in that car explosion!
“We can’t talk about this in front of Denzel.. let’s go out!” Aunt said.
She got up and head out, I simply sit down, not able to get up and stare at Denzel. We look so much alike.. how can we not be real siblings?
“Anastasia, let’s go!” Klaus said.
He pulls me up when he notice I’m not ready to get up, he leads me out.. after walking a few steps.. we saw aunt sitting on a bench, in a corner.
I sit next to aunt, while Klaus sits next to me.
“Aunt, what do you mean by saying Denzel’s parents are not mine?” I asked.
She reaches for my hands on my lap and holds them.
“Denzel’s dad is your uncle, your real parents were killed in their home!”
“My real parents were killed?” She nods. “I’m confused, aunt, can you make it clear?”
Sighs and begins.
“I don’t blame you if you can’t remember, after all you were just 8 when it happened… two days after your engagement with Nicklaus… your home was attacked and your parents were assassinated!”
I frown, my biological parents were killed in their own home?
My eyes searches hers as she said these words, all I could see in her eyes is honesty.
I turned to Klaus too, he seems to be listening to aunt’s story…which means it’s true!
“Why were they killed? And who killed them? Where’s the murderer now? Have they been sentence?” I asked.
Aunt shakes her head sadly, she sucks in a deep breath.
“We don’t know who killed them or why they were killed.. your mother was smart enough to hide you, hence you are saved!”
I frown, I don’t know why but I feel a great anger surge through me.
“Then how did I lost my memories? How did I end up staying with my par….”
I cut myself off, sigh.
“… Denzel’s parents, how did I end up spending almost all my life with them?” I asked.
Aunt stayed silent for a moment, she shuts her eyes as if she’s having pains.
“I don’t know what happened exactly, but you went over to Statham’s residence to inform them about what’s happening in your home… ”
I can imagine my eight years old self, running as fast as my feet could carry me.
“… we don’t really know what happened, but when rescue came.. they found you laying unconsciously next to Nicklaus’s father’s dead body… ”
Oh my God! Please, it shouldn’t be that a small child like me killed him.
I turn to Klaus, he simply smiles at me and reaches out to wipe my cheeks… I didn’t even realize I’m crying!
“… we took you to the hospital after that, the doctor said you will suffer from a long time amnesia.. he said maybe your fall was very hard.. we don’t know what happened, you only know!” She concludes.
“But sadly I don’t remember!” I added.
She nods, Klaus wraps his arm around my shoulder, rubbing my shoulder in a comforting manner.
“When you woke up, you couldn’t remember anything.. not even your name, and Denzel’s father look so much like your father.. so you thought he was your father… ”
Hmm…
“… we wanted to correct you that he’s not your father, we wanted to tell you the truth then that your father is dead but the doctor advise against.. he said we shouldn’t try to force you to remember or you might lose your sanity…he said we should wait until you can remember naturally!”
I can’t believe I went through all these bad days.
“So… Nicklaus is telling you the truth, your real name is Nina Maya Lopez!” Aunt said.
I turn to Klaus and he nods at me…so I’m really the Nina he’s being talking!
I’m the woman he love! He love me even though we’ve been apart for so many years!
And above all, I have been feeling jealous of myself all along!
“Anna!” Aunt calls me, she gets up and smiles. “I’ll leave you two alone to make up, you know, Denzel can’t be left unsupervised before the operation!”
I frown.. she’s leaving me alone with Klaus?! What am I gonna say to him?!
“Who knows if he’s busy eating candies now… bye-bye!” She said and runs off.
I can feel Klaus’ eyes on me right now, I did a sharp intake of breath…I have overrated again.. getting angry and jealous over nothing.
“Anastasia, this is the second time you’ve come to conclusion without waiting for my explanation!” He said.
Uh-oh! This is gonna be so awkward!
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Authoress’ pov ?
“Will you quite following me as if you’re my pet cat?!” Matilda barks at Marcus.
Marcus has been following her around since she left to buy some food for Ms Bell and Anastasia.
“I don’t mind being your cat… Meow!” Marcus said and winks at her.
She throws him a very harsh glare in return, but Marcus didn’t mind her glare at all.. he simply smiles sheepishly at her.
“What’s your problem?! What do you want from me?”
“Nothing, I just want us to talk!” He replies.
“Talk about what?” She asked, even though she knows what he meant.
“About us”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Mr Aurelius!” She said coldly.
“There’s a lot to talk about, we are both adults… What happened between us is normal”
Her cheeks starts heating up when she thinks about what Marcus is talking about.. she quickly uses her hair as a cover.
“I told you, let’s forget about what happened”
“You can forget about it, but I can’t.. ”
Matilda frowns, but she didn’t say anything.
“… listen, you’ve occupied my mind since you left. You’re all I have been thinking about, I can’t get you off my mind…. ”
“Wait.. what are you doing?” Matilda cuts him off.
“I’m confessing my love to you!”
She releases a laugh and shakes her head.
“That’s funny!”
Marcus frowns, wondering what’s funny about what he just said.
“You think I’m a call girl? Confessing love to me along the streets?”
“But… ”
She shuts him off with a glare, she stops walking and Marcus almost bump into her.. since he was too focus staring at her bum.
“I know the perfect way for you to make a confession!” She said.
“Really?!”
“Hmm” she hums and smirks.
“Tell me, anything you want, I’ll do it!”
Matilda nods, her smirk growing wider and wider… she opens her hand in front of Marcus.
“Give me your credit card!” She said.
Without thinking, Marcus quickly reach for his wallet, he opens it and takes out his credit card.. then hands it to Matilda.
“Your password?” She asked.
“212354!”
“212354?” She repeats.
Marcus nods with a smile, then he suddenly realizes something.. when he sees Matilda flaunting his card in front of his eyes… and his smile falters.
“W-what.. w-what do you want my credit card for?” He asked in a stutter.
Matilda stares at the credit card in her hand.
“To claim your registration fee!” She smiles and increases her walking pace.
“Registration fee?!”
“Yeah, you must register before making your love confession to me!”
Marcus frowns.
“But I haven’t heard of guys registering before making love confessions”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything… You’ve heard it now!” Matilda said.
The way she’s saying it makes her look and sound like snow white’s wicked step mother.
“But….”
“Shhh, boy!” She shushes him. “Let’s hit the mall”
She lets out a loud, wicked laugh and runs off, Marcus also runs after her screaming in his head.
*Please don’t wreck my account, I’m not a rich dude! I only have $2000 in there!*
“Come on, slow punk!”
Matilda calls out to him, when she notices she’s a very good meters away from him.
“Wait… let’s go get Nicky’s credit card instead!” Marcus yells.
“No! We must use yours!” Matilda yells back.
“No, please! I’m a broke ni.gga!”
“Oh, I love broke ni.ggas!”
Marcus groans and increase his pace to catch up with her.
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Anastasia’s pov ?
“Klaus, I’m sorry, I.. I..”
“What are you sorry about, Nina?” He asked.
Nina! I’m not used to that name yet.. I looked down at my fingers as I play with them.
I haven’t been able to look at him since I found out I’m Nina, I’m so ashamed of myself right now.
I can’t believe I was getting jealous of me.. it sound ridiculous!
“Nina, raise your head and look at me!” He said.
Slowly, I raised my head, oddly enough, he’s smiling at me…I know he must be feeling good about me making a fool of myself!
“What are you sorry about?” He asked again.
“I.. I should have listened to you earlier, I should have let you explain things.. I’m sorry, I’m really sorry… ”
“I’m not mad at you!” He cuts me off.
My mouth hangs open at his words.
“You’re not mad at me?” I asked and he shakes his head. “Why?”
“I understand your anger, we are in a relationship and I keep on talking about another woman.. though it’s still you but you didn’t know that.. so your anger is justified…. ”
He understands me? I thought Klaus was an unreasonable person.
“… I wouldn’t like it if you are talking about another man in front of me… I should have respect our relationship and explain things to you clearly”
I smiled, I didn’t know he’s this understanding.
“Er.. since you know I’m Nina, why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why did you suggest we have a fake relationship?”
“Aunt Bell didn’t want me to tell you at first, that was the only way I could keep you by my side!”
Really? I narrowed my eyes as a question strikes me.
“Does that mean you know I’m Nina before helping me with Denzel’s medical bills?”
I wonder if he would have let Denzel die if I wasn’t Nina!
“No, I didn’t know then.. I only found out after I made up my mind to pay the bills”
I nod.
“Besides, if I remember correctly, you still have one unfulfilled condition!”
“Huh? Is there still need for conditions?”
“Yes!” He answered firmly.
I groan and my shoulders slumps down… He stares at me for a few minutes, making me furrow my brows.
“Move in with me!” He said in an authoritative tone.
“Move in with you?!”
“Yes, that’s the third condition!”
A smile tugs the corner of my lips, I have been secretly longing to live with him under one roof.
“Am I moving in with you as your fake girlfriend?”
He takes my hands in his and flicks my head.
“You’ve never being my fake girlfriend, in my heart you’re my fiancee, the woman I love.. you’ve always been my woman.. my one and only!”
My stomach turn as those butterflies starts dancing at his words.. I feel myself blushing.
“So.. you are moving in with me today!”
“Today? Why not tomorrow?”
“No! Tomorrow is too far!” He said with a scowl.
“Oh!”
He pushes my hair back.
“I can’t let my fiancee live in a shabby apartment now, right?”
I rolled my eyes, rich people and their ego! I don’t see anything wrong with our apartment.. it’s very…. I don’t know how to describe it.
“But please, next time, always wait for my explanation.. don’t just run off like that, ok?”
I nod and smile, he stares at me in the eyeballs, I don’t know what he’s looking for.
“I love you, Anastasia, it’s only you and will always be only you.. I love you!”
“I.. I.. I…”
Why can’t I just say it already? I love him, why can’t I say the word?
“You what?”
I closed my eyes and inhale deeply.
“I love you, Nickla….”
He cuts me off by crashing his lips on mine, I was kinda shocked so my eyes snaps open.
But we were interrupted as we hear aunt clearing her throat.
I open my eyes as my teeth bites Nicklaus’s lower lip, he winces quietly.. I quickly jump off his lap.
“A-aunt!” I stutter.
Klaus also gets up and adjust his shirt, aunt look between us while we try our best to avoid her eyes.
What an awkward moment!
“I see you’ve made up!” She said.
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