His Beautiful Addiction

Tiana helped Nicklaus blow dry his hair; once in a while she would peek at his reflection in the vanity mirror as though contemplating something, after some time she finally spoke;

''Hubby, my ring is so pretty. ''

Nicklaus raised his eyes to look at her in the mirror, his brows squinted a little; ''is it? ''

She nodded with a sweet smile; ''I want to get you something like it, where did you get it? ''

She asked, her lips smiling brightly;

Nicklaus stared at her reflection on the mirror and a smile stretched his lips, he knew she was suspecting something, maybe someone had recognized the ring at work; he thought but he did not give in;

''It's a common ring, you can find it at any shop; '' Nicklaus replied casually;

Tiana stared at his reflection for a while and without a warning, she pulled at his hair playfully;

''You don't know how to lie, dear husband. This ring cost over ten million dollars! Why would you spend so much for a mere ring!''

She scolded him, a fistful of his hair still in her hands;

Nicklaus chuckled, holding the hand on his hair and bringing her to sit on his lap;

He pinched her cheeks and she glared at him; it was clear that he wasn't seeing she was mad at him for being so extravagant.

''Beautiful, if I don't spoil you, why do I have money? ''

Tiana glared at him; ''buying a ten million dollar ring is not worth it, it's…. ''

''shh… '' he stopped her, his hand covering her lips; ''you're worth every single dime and more, beautiful. I've not started yet and you're complaining already'' he chuckled, rubbing her red cheeks, ''beautiful, you're my wife now okay, and I have to spoil my wife the way I want. ''

He leaned and kissed her pouted lips and Tiana couldn't help but kiss him back, his kiss, no matter when it happens, was irresistible.

Tiana knew nothing she said would change his mind about spoiling her, and she couldn't blame him though, he had always been this rich and spending wasn't new to him, but it was different for her because she was from a poor background, she couldn't automatically adjust, it would take time.

Suddenly Nicklaus's phone rang on the bed, interrupting their make out session; Nicklaus groaned as she stood up to get the phone, internally cussing the person who interrupted them.

''Oh, it's grandma. ''

Tiana said when she saw the caller id; Nicklaus walked to her and took the phone from her hand;

''Hello, grandma… ''

Nicklaus's calm expression darkened after a few seconds, Tiana's brows creased worriedly as she watched him gulp;

''I'm coming right now. '' Nicklaus said with a husky voice, and he ended the call.

''Is anything wrong? '' Tiana asked, his expression looked like he had seen a ghost and it made her really worried;

Nicklaus's eyes clouded, and he bit his lower lip, lifting his gaze to look at the woman in front of him, he struggled to speak;

''Grandpa… grandpa is dead. ''

Tiana felt her whole world stop;

''what… what did you say? '' she asked, she could hear her heart banging against her ears and the ground underneath her twirl;

She didn't want to believe it, but the man in front of her, whose expression was looking downcast, told her that what she just heard was true;

''Oh god… '' Her hands flew over her mouth and she turned away from Nicklaus to stable herself, her eyes clouding with tears;

Grandpa was dead…

The words resounded in her ears over and over again, and Tiana couldn't help the pain that stabbed at her chest;

Although grandpa had separated them and causing her pain unimaginable, the last thing she wanted was for him to die;

He was very kind and loving, and even though he didn't want her to be with his grandson, she knew he had done it because he felt it was for the best;

Why would he die suddenly? Why?

Tiana asked herself a thousand questions, all without an answer.

Tears dropped from her eyes without control, and she fought hard to stop them, she had a very fragile heart, but she knew she needed to be strong to console him.

Taking in a deep breath, she turned to Nicklaus and hugged him tightly; her hands patting his back;

''It's going to be okay, it's going to be fine. '' she spoke tenderly, trying her best not to cry.

Nicklaus hugged her back, burying his head in her neck, and shutting his thoughts from the world.

He remembered grandpa's last words when he saw him a few days ago;

'son, don't die…' if he had known it was his last words then maybe he would have stayed back and had a drink or two with him. If he knew those were going to be his last words, then maybe he would have visited more often, if he knew those were his last words, then maybe he would have told him how much he loved him.

Nicklaus felt his heart shatter,

Grandpa was the strongest force he had against his enemies, now he was gone, what would become of him?

''It's fine okay, we'll get through this. '' Tiana rubbed on his back, comforting him the best way she could. At that moment, with him in her arms, she didn't know why she felt that this was the beginning of their war.

…

The car was eerily silent as they drove to the ancient home that night; the streets were bustling with people, but the serenity in the car felt like it was only them in the world.

Nicklaus's eyes stared at the road and Tiana knew he was in deep thoughts; she knew this was not the right time to speak so she did not say a word. After sometime, he took her hand in his and squeezed it a little;

She looked at him; his eyes were still on the road but she could see the little comfort holding her hand gave; gently, she squeezed his hand comfortingly and caressed it with her other hand as though telling him it would be fine.

The mansion was cold and quiet as midwinter; if not for the lights in the house, she would have thought it was a deserted mansion.

Tiana held Nicklaus's hand as they walked into the house. She didn't forget to take out her ring in the car before coming in,

When the front door pushed open, the occupants in the living room turned to the door;

Tiana gulped when she saw the full house, it seemed they were the last to arrive, no… Douglas was not yet here; she thought as they walked to grandma, who was sitting with Elizabeth and Michelle.

Nicklaus's expression was dark, but it was clear that he was sad, he was just used to hiding his feelings. Letting go of Tiana, he leaned down and hugged grandma; she held him close, bursting into tears;

''He wasn't sick, he just died, he just left me. '' Grandma wept on Nicklaus, her eyes already stung from crying too much;

''It's going to be fine; he's gone to a better place. '' Nicklaus let go of her and held her hand;

''Auntie, take her in, let her get some rest.'' he spoke, and Elizabeth nodded, taking Grandma, who was still crying to her personal room, different from the one she shared with grandpa. Although he said that, he knew rest was impossible, but sitting down here was going to make her cry the more.

Nicklaus turned to look at the other people in the room but did not see Douglas but just at that moment, Douglas stepped in, and their eyes locked together.

Douglas held his gaze for a moment before shifting it from him casually; Michelle walked to him and gave him a brief hug; they talked for a moment before Douglas walked towards Grandma's room.

''Come, let's go up; '' He said to Tiana and took her up to their room; he waited till she changed and snuggled in bed with her for a while, when he felt she was asleep, he stood up and left.

''How did he die? '' Nicklaus asked Elizabeth as they sat outside in the cold night.

She sighed; ''He wasn't sick, he just died like that, father was a strong man, he wouldn't want to leave us that way and without saying goodbye. '' Elizabeth mourned, using her hankie to wipe her eyes;

Nicklaus was quiet for a moment, his mind in deep thoughts;

''Are we going to run an autopsy, to know the cause of death? ''

Elizabeth grew silent, from Nicklaus's tone, it seemed as though he did not believe he had died naturally;

''Um, I don't know, mother didn't talk about that, I don't know if she'll want that. ''

Nicklaus grew silent, not saying a word; his brows creased as though in deep thought;

''What has Douglas said about it? ''

''Oh, Douglas went with the ambulance to the hospital where he was confirmed dead. ''

Nicklaus felt a pit form in his stomach; ''and he didn't say anything about an autopsy? ''

''No, no-one has mentioned it, but we'll suggest it tomorrow. '' Elizabeth said, patting his arm; she knew there was strife between him and Douglas but she didn't want any trouble now, not when her father just died.

Nicklaus smiled; ''Okay, go in and have some rest okay?'' He hugged her briefly and she nodded;

''Yeah I will. '' Elizabeth watched him walk into the house and she sighed; although she had a feeling that someone had tried to kill their father, she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want think that someone in her family would be heartless enough to kill their father . 

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