Chapter 12: High Influence
Skylar still didn't understand how he could have faced death so many times. He didn't seem like the type to have had a hard life in anyway. He looked like a corporate Prince, born into affluence and influence, but she was going to believe every word he had to say. She handed him a bottle of water and continued sitting quietly beside him.
Richard took a deep breath, he had so much pain bottled up and reliving the memories of the past brought them all up but he didn't mind. He didn't know if the drinks he had had was making him more vocal but he wanted to share his pain to the first person who had shown the least bit of care and interest since everything happened.
"My mum wanted me to get married to someone of status, in order to expand the family business. She gave me a list of her choices; five girls from five of the prominent families in this city. I didn't want any of them, but I didn't have any say, although, I thought I did," he took a gulp of water to calm himself before he continued. "I refused to court any of them, so she took it upon herself to court a girl on my behalf. One moment I was a single, hardworking and influential person in my family, and the next, I had a girlfriend imposed on me and I was treated like trash. I became insignificant and it made me feel so small."
Skylar could see how uncomfortable he was, so, she ran her hands up and down his back, and he gave her a small smile of thanks.
"You don't have to continue, you know?" Skylar informed him.
"I know, but I want to." Richard sighed as he was determined to get to the end of his story.
He ran his hand through his hair as he continued, "Anita moved into the house and gladly took on the role of my girlfriend. I respected her as well as I could but I never treated her like a girlfriend. She was happy with the arrangement until she began to want more. Conspiring with my mother, they began to put the drugs in my food."
"What? Oh my God! Drugs?" Skylar covered her mouth in shock. She couldn't believe that the elegant woman was able to do something like that. She felt bile rise up in her stomach but she took deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Are you OK, I can stop if you want."
"No, it's OK, I'm fine." Richard looked at her with concern before he continued.
"Well, the drugs were a crude form of aphrodisiac which had certain side effects like memory loss, panic attacks, paranoid delusions, black outs and eventually death. I only escaped the last one by a thread." He resumed staring into space; his features would morph into a frown every now and then. He was like that for a few minutes before he closed his eyes and opened them again. His eyes were glassy with tears threatening to fall at any moment. He took a large gulp of water and resumed his story.
"They were giving me the drugs in large doses so I was mostly out of it. I didn't know where I was or what exactly was happening but I always remembered seeing Anita's face and hearing her distant voice telling me 'it's for the best, don't fight it.' My mother would come check on me and when it seemed like I was becoming lucid, she would force me to eat some food or have a drink of any kind, and I foolishly ate and drank."
"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known the food was drugged," Skylar explained to him.
Richard looked at Skylar and smiled sadly, "Yeah. Well, I was locked in my room till I started getting claustrophobic. I would bang the door and yell for help but all I got was more food. I thought it was the worst feeling until that cursed day; I could feel my heart beating so hard like they wanted to escape my chest. I tried to take in air, but the more I tried, the harder it was. There was a loud ringing in my ear and the world around me was rotating in a fading blur. I wanted to yell, I opened my mouth to, but I don't know if I did; I couldn't hear a thing. I struggled with my senses till everything became quiet and subsequently, went black."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Dee1
Dee1 I feel so bad for Richard. Let me know your thoughts about this chapter in the comments, and vote too.
Love, Daria.
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