"I'm no longer playing! You keep winning!" I said out of frustration, dropping the game pad I was holding on the bed.

I was sitting on the bed, in between Peter's spread legs as we both played Mortal Kombat game on his TV. He had defeated me five good times after I had bragged that I was going to beat him flawlessly. Technically, I really wasn't good at handling the game pad, let alone playing the game so it was best I gave up trying to defeat Peter, who apparently was a pro in the game, instead of deceiving myself.

"I've been playing this game since I was in my mother's womb, so you really didn't expect me to lose to you, did you?" Peter asked. Since I had my back resting against his chest, I could feel the vibration of the bass in his chest voice.

I nudged him and said, "Haha! In your dead mind! Anyways, speaking of your mother, where's she?"

Peter wrapped his arm around my waist and rested his jaw on my left shoulder. "She's not around, obviously." He said and I noticed the bitter tone of his voice.

"Okay?" I stressed in askance and furrowed my brows. "What about your dad? You've never talked about him to me before."

"That's because there's nothing about him that is worth telling you."

I adjusted in such a way that I was sitting sideways Peter. His arms were still around me.

"I don't know if it's just me, but you don't sound cheerful talking about your parents."

"Why would I be cheerful talking about two people that don't care about their son's happiness. My mum claims to love me, but I know all she really cares about is her job and how she can move ahead of her colleagues in rank. For my dad, don't even get me started with him." Peter said resentfully.

I studied his face for a moment and for the first time, all I could see was a forlorn boy who was filled with resentment towards his parents.

"Are you the only child?" I asked.

"Well that's the worst part of it all. Yes I'm the only child. I'm the only one that stays in this big house with no sibling to talk to. You can imagine how lonely that is for me."

I felt so sad hearing all these coming from Peter and even more than that, I couldn't have felt more disappointed in myself for not having being able to tell sooner that Peter was going through depressing moments.

"Hmm, I understand how lonely that must be for you. Your parents are rarely at home?" I asked.

Peter let go of me and fell on his back on the bed with his arms spread apart. "Talking about them just makes me feel sleepy." He drawled.

I cocked one of my brows at him. Intermittently, my eyes travelled down to his lower body. The sweatpants he was putting on showed off the shape of the budge between his legs. What am I doing? I immediately took off my eyes from his down side and smacked his thighs.

"Get up and answer my question joor!"

He groaned as he got up. "Yes they are rarely at home, especially my dad. My mum comes back from work late at night and leaves for work very early in the morning. I only get to see her when I decide to stay up at night or on weekends when she doesn't go to work. For my dad, he comes back to this house only at the end of the month. He had been doing that since I was eight years old. Before then, he usually comes back from work everyday but ever since he and my mum got into a fight, things suddenly changed. He barely came home. When I asked my mum why, she told me it was because of his job description. I suspected she was just making up excuses for him, but then I was still young so I couldn't question her further." Peter took a breath before he continued.

"Not until recently when I was home alone that uh... a woman came over to the house and told me that she was my dad's wife. Boy, to say I was shocked would be an understatement. No you reason am. All these while, I was lied to by my mum that my dad's job description didn't permit him to come back home often, not knowing my dad was actually building a home some place else Daniella. I was shattered, believe me."

"I was particularly mad at my mum for hiding such thing from me. But do you know up until now, I haven't even told her that I know about the truth already? I'm just playing along with their lies and deceit. It hurts me even more that even despite how mature I've become, my mum still doesn't deem it necessary to tell me the truth. If there's any reason why I've been rebellious towards her, it's because of that and until she tells me the truth, I would continue to rebel against her."

That said, the room became silent and when I realized Peter was done talking, I spoke up.

"I completely understand all that you're going through. But I wanna ask, does the issue you're facing at home have anything to do with you being a bully then?"

"Not really. I was actually bullied when I was little because I looked like an half-caste."

"What's an half-caste?" I scrunched my face as I asked.

"An half-caste is one whose parents are from different races. Like if my dad is Nigeria and my mum is English, that makes me half-caste. I don't know if you get?" Peter narrowed his as eyes he asked.

"I do. But why did people think of you as half-caste?"

"I was very light skinned when I was little and you know I have a coloured eyes?"

"Oh I get it now." I said, after which I started laughing. The sound of my laughter rose with pitch.

"Uh, what's so funny?" Peter asked, raising one of his brows.

I had no valid reason for laughing. I guess I just found the whole half-caste thing funny. I tried to mellow my laughter. "N-nothing."

Peter tickled my waist in a rather punishing way. "So you're laughing at me?"

I giggled. "No, no, I'm sorry."

"Well the taunts got too much and I had no one to protect me, so I just had to stand up for myself and I made sure to beat anyone who dared to bully me. That way, I kinda resulted into bullying myself. I've been a bad child, I know. But ever since you came into my life, I've kinda changed."

"Aww, I'm glad to hear that."

"That's by the way. So now you see why I sound so unhappy talking about both of my parents. My dad's simply a stranger to me and my mum... a disgusting liar!"

"Peter! Don't say such things about the ones that gave birth to you!" I reprimanded him.

"It would have been better if they aborted me, instead of bringing me to this world and then neglecting me." Peter said bitterly and I noticed his face was already turning pink.

"Don't say that. You should be lucky they didn't abort you, cause if they did, you wouldn't have met such a beautiful girl like me." I said in an attempt to make Peter smile and I succeeded.

Peter chuckled for a few seconds, after which his face morphed into a serious look. "But really sometimes, I wish I was born into another family." He ran his hand over his face. I watched him closely and I noticed he was trying so hard not to cry. I felt so hurt seeing him that broken.

I ran my hand over his head soothingly. "I understand, but you should be thankful that at least you have people you can call parents. Talk about me that wasn't even opportune to see the ones that gave birth to me." That said, my spirit went dim and I was twice as sad as I initially was.

The thought of not knowing my parents shrouded my heart with sadness and it made me feel like crying, but I fought the urge to. I mean, I was trying to be Peter's strength here, so me crying wouldn't help matters in anyway. If anything, it would only make Peter even more sad.

"Really, how does it feel?" Peter asked.

I scrunched my brows in puzzlement. "How does what feel?" I asked.

"How does it feel not to know your parents?"

"It feels worse than whatever you're experiencing. Believe me, I actually wish they were the ones alive and I was the one dead because to survive without them hasn't been easy at all. I can't even say I miss them, 'cause I really don't know them. I've only seen their pictures."

"Sorry about that. But tell you what, that's the same way it is for me too. I have parents, but it doesn't seem as though I do. They're never around."

"I'm sure your mum goes to work everyday because she has your best interest at heart. She wants the best for you."

"What if I told you all I want from her is her love and attention. I don't need her to work because of me. My dad sends me money, so I can survive."

"Oh now I see where all the pocket money comes from."

"That's not the point Daniella. The thing is, I'm tired of both of them sending money to my account and then telling me they love me and how they want the best for me. Love's an action word. It doesn't end at them just telling me they love me, they should rather proof to me how much they do." Peter said and I must say, this was the first time I was seeing him this sober.

"That's true though." I managed to say.

"You know what, let's end this conversation here. Do you want something to eat?" Peter offered.

"No no, I'm fine."

"Or you're forming." He teased.

"No, for real, I'm not hungry."

"Okay let's go out on a walk." He suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea."

Hand-in-hand, we both took a stroll around Peter's estate. The houses in the estate were nothing short of beautiful. Peter and I talked about a lot of things that were less serious and more lighter. We talked about ourselves mainly. Our likes and dislikes, things we loved to do, places we would love to visit, funny tales about our childhood memories, to mention a few. Peter dominated more to the conversation and he really made me laugh many times. Needless to say, he was fun to be with.

"Aw, so we've finally gotten to my house. I'm missing you already. Be sure to come online today o." I said when we got to the front of my house gate.

"I would." Peter said.

I hugged him and gave him a quick peck on his right cheek.

"What about here?" He touched his pouted lips with one of his index finger.

I giggled sheepishly. "Go home joor! Yeye boy!"

As I turned to walk into the house, Peter grabbed my hands and I spun around to look at him.

He looked at me with an adorable smile on his face.

"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?" I tucked my front plait behind my ear.

"Have I ever told you that you're beautiful?"

His words melted my heart. I let out a faint chuckle, not knowing what to say.

"I'm going to be missing your beautiful face." He added.

"Okay uh, what's that word again? Cheese..." I cocked my head, rubbing my chin thoughtfully.

"Do you mean cheesy?"

"Yeah, cheesy! You're so cheesy." I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face.

"Yeah I wouldn't deny that. But I'm only cheesy for you anyway." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Aw! Anyways, you have to be going now Peter before my aunt and her daughters get back from their outing."

"Okay, one last hug." Peter said, spreading his arms.

I rolled my eyes and gave him a quick hug. After which, I hurried into the gate.

When I got to the door entrance, I was surprised to see that the door was opened ajar. I had locked it before leaving the house. This could only mean two things—either a burglar had broken into the house or aunt Caro and her daughters had returned from their outing. The thought of that made my heart pound so hard in my chest.

I committed my life with the blood of Jesus as I tentatively walked into the house.

As soon as I got to the living room, my heart skipped a beat seeing aunt Caro sitting on one of the sofas, with a cane in her hand. I just really dreaded the sight of cane.

"Where are you coming from?" She asked lividly.

"Em..." I thought quickly for an excuse to give it to her. "I went to my friend's house to return her math's note." That was all I could come up with.

"And how long have you been out?"

I had to be careful with my answers so I wouldn't give myself away. "Not been too long." I replied evasively.

"Around what time?" Aunt Caro queried further. This time, it looked like she was trying to get if I was lying.

"I didn't check the time before leaving the house." I said truthfully.

Aunt Caro narrowed her eyes and sneered at me. "So you've started living this house for a guy's house, ba?"

"No ma, I didn't go to any guy's house?" I said quickly and shook my head.

"Shut up!" She shouted, hurling one of the scatter cushion in my direction but it flew past me. "Such a crummy liar!"

"Ma, I'm not lying. I went to—"

Aunt Caro cut me off abruptly. "Shut up before you get me angrier than I am already! Why is your life full of lies, eh? Why!" She barked. "Who's Peter?"

My heart skipped several beats as she mentioned Peter's name. Just then, I saw a figure on the staircase from the corner of my eyes. I whipped my head in that direction and saw Amanda and Annabelle peeping. It was apparent that both of them had told aunt Caro about Peter and me.

"So now you've suddenly turned dumb, right?" Aunt Caro snapped. "You no longer have mouth to lie."

I was at a loss for words. I didn't know if I should tell her the truth or simply just keep quiet. Maybe the latter was just better.

"Your silence means Annabelle and Amanda are right. You have a boyfriend." Aunt Caro said after seconds of silence. "I brought you to Lagos for you to get a sound education and instead of you to focus on your studies, you're busy moving around with a boy. A BOY DANIELLA!"

"Ma, Peter's just a friend." I mumbled nervously.

"You're still lying." Aunt Caro got up from her seat immediately and made her way towards me. I retreated out of fear of what she might do to me.

Aunt Caro stopped and held one arm in akimbo. "If you move an inch from that spot, I'd double the strokes. So if you know what's good for you, just stand right there and don't stress me!" She thundered.

Tears started to stream down my eyes. I was scared to bit. "Aunty please!" I whimpered.

"Ta! Meche onu!" Aunt Caro shouted. "Who's your aunty? Better don't beg me. Just kneel down there."

"Please—"

"I said shut up and kneel down there!" She cut me off.

I went on my knees slowly and as she made her way towards me like an angry lion, I struggled to get up but unfortunately, I floundered and fell.

Aunt Caro loomed over me and started to whip me mercilessly with her cane. It got to a point she tossed her cane one side and began to use her hands to hit me, pull my ears and pinch me. I pleaded with her to forgive me, but all my pleas fell on deaf ears.

Annabelle and Amanda came down from the staircase where they were peeping and I thought they were going to plead on my behalf but, to my dismay, they sniggered and encouraged their mum to beat me even more.

I cried and wailed but aunt Caro showed no mercy.

____________________________________________

Happy New Year lexy_readers! Boy, what a year! Indeed, you guys have been so supportive of this project. Even when I wanted to give up on it, your kind and heartwarming reviews motivated me to continue and I owe you guys a huge debt of gratitude for that. To be honest, I had so many reasons to be depressed last year but the massive support and love I got from you guys on wattpad lightened up my spirit and never failed to put a smile on my face. Because of you guys, I have a strong conviction that I'm doing something right on wattpad. Ah! Seriously you guys are famz! From the heart of my heart, I thank you all. I love you guys so so much.

Quick reminder: Don't forget to include building a solid relationship with God as part of your year's resolution. It's very important. And if you don't know Christ at all, I beseech you to accept Him into your life today. Trust me, if you do, this year would be amazing for you. God bless you all.

All shades of my heart for you guys❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤