A MAZE OF GREED

"Thea, I want to tell you something. I have done something bad... no... worst!" Ruth said as soon as Thea dragged her inside the kitchen.

Mrs Green wanted to join them but Thea told her to get ready for the dinner as everything else was almost done. Agreeing with her daughter Mrs Green went to her bedroom to change into a good dress and do her hair.

She was working relentlessly since the afternoon preparing various dishes for Rees, her soon to be son-in-law. All of those dishes were Rees's favourites. She wanted to do everything in her power to please him because soon her beloved daughter was going to be his life partner.

Her lifetime's treasure was going to be his to protect and cherish.

"What? You too? Ohh no! Uggghhh! I guess my influence is getting on you too. What happened?"

Thea groaned thinking she had already acted stupid to put her soon to be wedding in a critical state that she didn't know if Rees would break it tonight in front of her parents.

And now God knows what bravery Ruth had committed.

Since the morning Ruth was dying to tell everything to Thea and ask for her help. But now when the time to tell the truth came, she stuttered worrying about Thea's reaction.

"I...I..."

"Ruth! Stop wasting time and tell me. You are making me worried here."

Ruth couldn't hide it anymore. She inhaled deeply and said in a single breath. "I insulted Edwin O'Dell in 'the great manor'."

Thea blinked... once, twice but next her eyes widened in shock, popping out of her eye sockets.

"You what?"

"Thea? Is there any problem,dear?" Mr Green called from the living room after hearing his daughter screeched loudly. He was about to run to her when he heard Ruth's voice.

"Shhh... Thea!" Ruth placed her first finger on her lips to shush Thea.

"Nothing, Mr Green. I am here to help her." She tried to sound convincing and after hearing 'okay' from Mr Green she sighed in relief.

Now she couldn't tell anyone that she had insulted the heir of the O'Dell family in his home and in front of others. She didn't even want to imagine people's reactions if they got to know about her stunt.

Who knew that even Mr Green might have thrown her out of his house upon hearing it.

Thea grabbed Ruth's shoulders tightly and shook her, making the poor girl feel dizzy.

"Why would you do that? And why the hell you were in 'the great manor'? We decided to never step a foot in there again!"

Ruth recollected everything that happened since yesterday. Her conversation with Florence, how heartbroken Florence was, Florence's secret affair with Edwin O'Dell, how and why she went to 'the great manor', her upsetting conversation with Rees, how Edwin humiliated Florence and then her big act of bravado by disrespecting Edwin O'Dell.

Ruth told Thea all of it not leaving anything behind.

After a moment of silence from Ruth's side Thea asked, "There is more, isn't it?"

She narrowed her eyes that made Ruth fidget nervously. Thea knew her friend very well. She knew that Ruth avoided eye contact whenever she tried hide anything.

Ruth slowly nodded her head and told Thea about her fight with Florence and every word that the woman said to her after that.

Thea slumped down in a chair, her head held in both her hands.

"Thea, please say something!" Ruth pleaded on the verge of bursting out in tears for the umpteenth time in a single day.

'Is Thea also angry at me for my mistakes?' That thought hovered in Ruth's mind.

Thea shook her head while mumbling, "This is bad... very very bad. No.. no.. no!" She suddenly lifted her head to see Ruth's worried face.

"Why? WHY? One day! I left you alone only for one day and you got yourself into a drama of a lifetime!

I told you that Florence is a bad influence and you should maintain your distance from that selfish woman. But you didn't listen to anything I said. And now see where she has hauled you!"

The guilt that sprouted in Ruth's heart blossomed into a garden of Amaryllis at Thea's outburst. She should have listened to Thea. Her heart only knew how many times she had scolded and blamed herself for getting too close to Florence.

She thought that Florence was different. She only wanted to help the heartbroken woman. But when she saw Florence sacrificing her self esteem and basic human rights, Ruth couldn't take it.

She was ready to defend her. But she had no idea that the same woman would spat venom through her stinging words in such an amount that it would crush her heart into pieces at the mere thought of it.

Yes, she should have heard Thea. But now was not the time to cry over the past. She had to find a way to shied herself from the wrath of the dragon called Edwin O'Dell.

"I am sorry! But what should I do now? I-" Her words remained unsaid because of the knock on the front door.

Suddenly all the anger vapourised in thin air and Thea became aware of the reality. "It must be Rees. Ruth, you were supposed to talk with him on my behalf and instead you fought with him. Now who is going to present my case to him?"

Thea was nervous. Her eyes became foggy and her heart felt like it would stop working at any moment.

Watching her in that miserable state Ruth felt bad for her friend and sighed dejectedly hoping for some miracle.

Mr Green opened the door and with a bright smile and welcomed Rees.

"Good evening, sir!" Thea's heart fluttered at the mere voice of his and she stood up from the chair to peek secretly outside the kitchen.

Ruth followed her and both women watched silently while Rees and Mr Green exchanged pleasantries.

"Good evening, Rees! Please, Come in!"

But to everyone's surprise, another figure followed Rees inside the Green's home. But due to the shadow that fell on the person, the two women could only figure that it was a man, unable to see his face.

"Was Rees's father also invited?" Ruth asked in a whisper.

"No. But if he has brought his father with him then he just be here to cancel the wedding! Ruth, what now?" Thea panicked, her hands shook visibly in tenstion.

Before Ruth said anything they heard. "Who are we having today as a guest with us?" Mr Green enquired while examining the man who was taller than Rees by a couple of inches.

Rees cleared his throat to answer. "I apologise for bringing my friend here unnoticed." There was weird tension in his voice.

"Hello, Mr Green. I am Edwin Berrycloth, Rees's childhood friend. I hope you don't mind my unexpected presence tonight." The man stretched his hands for Mr Green to shake.

At the same time, Mrs Green entered the living room and her husband introduced her to their guest.

Thea and Ruth were relieved that the man was not Rees's father.

"Edwin Berrycloth?" Thea mumbled the name again and again trying to recall if Rees had ever mentioned him to her before.

"Do you know this friend of Rees's?" Ruth asked to which Thea shook her head in no.

"Why his name is Edwin? That name alone gives me chills!" Ruth grumbled thinking about another person that she knew who had the same name.

"No... Mr Berrycloth. We don't mind it at all. You are welcome to our little abode." Mrs Green giggled. By the look on her face, Thea understood that she was smitten by their guest and that picked up her curiosity.

Mr Green directed the two men towards the sitting and that made the two women in the kitchen gasp in utter shock.

Ruth staggered back, unable to tame the surges of fear that rose to great heights and came crashing down on the shore of her heart. Her hazel eyes filled with the dark clouds of panic and she felt like someone had sucked the life out of her.

Thea was also as shocked as Ruth but soon regained her senses and held Ruth by her elbows to support her to stand on her feet.

Before she could call for Ruth, her mother called her. "Thea, darling! Our guests are here. Bring some water for them."

Rees's body tensed considerably listening to Thea's name. Since their fight, he was constantly on the verge. His mind didn't fall at rest for even a second and neither did his heart.

He could listen to her frantically beating heart even though they were in different rooms. That was one of the perks of being a werewolf. But on the other hand, that very thing, his identity, had led him to the point where the love of his life, his mate, had refused to marry him.

A hand subtly came to rest on Rees's knee and he instantly snapped his eyes to look at a smiling face with serious cerulean blue eyes.

~"Calm down, Rees! Your wolf is too tensed. Now you don't want to frighten your future in-laws to death, do you?"~

~"Yes, master!"~