Novels by Cious

SARAH“What the hell are you doing?” I blurted out. I had been standing by the door, watching Emily tamper with Leo's drip. It looked suspicious.Emily quivered when she heard my voice. She turned to me with a scowl and snapped, “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m just fixing the drip pipe.”I walked into the ward, crossing my arms. “Since when did you become a doctor or a nurse to know how to handle drips?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.Emily shot me a glare and sat back gently on the chair, her hand resting protectively on her pregnant belly. Caro, who had been right behind me, quickly walked past me over to Emily. She grabbed Emily’s hand and held it tightly.“What are you hiding under your sleeve?” Caro demanded.Emily yanked her hand away and snapped, “I’m not hiding anything! Get out, both of you!”Suddenly, a nurse walked into the ward. “You all need to leave,” she said firmly. “You’re disturbing the patient. He needs to rest.”Emily stood up quickly. “Fine, I’ll leave. I’m t

SARAH I cried as Leo was wheeled away from me, his hand dangling off the stretcher. My hands were still sticky with his blood. "Please," I choked out to the nurse who held me back from following him."Please, I need to be with him."She gave my arm a gentle squeeze. "He's in the best hands, ma'am. We'll do our very best." But her words were drowned out by the roaring in my ears, the fear that clawed at my throat. What if their very best was not enough? The nurse left me then, and I crumpled to the floor, burying my face in my hands. Suddenly, a voice pierced through my despair. "Leo! Where's Leo?"I looked up and saw Emily. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with panic as she ran towards my direction. Her gaze fell on me and then on the bloodstains that marred my clothes. Her hand flew to her mouth to to hold herself from screaming as she stood motionless, staring at me with tears in her eyes. For a moment, I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.But then the memory of her bet

SARAHMy hands trembled as I gripped the steering wheel. The address Emma sent – a jumble of numbers and a street name I'd never heard of – was leading me further and further away from the city. Emma. Just the name sent a shiver down my spine. Not because she was scary, not exactly. But because of what she was capable of. What she threatened to do to Caro if I didn't follow her instructions to the letter. "Come alone, Sarah," her text message had read, the words burning themselves into my memory. "And don't even think about calling the police. You know what's at stake."The memory of Raya's kidnapping, years ago, flashed in my mind. The same feeling of helplessness, the same knot of fear twisting in my gut. But this time, it was my own daughter on the line. My beat-up Honda coughed its way to a stop in front of the address Emma had sent. No doubt about it, this was the place. Except "place" didn't quite cover it. It was more like a fortress. A ten-foot-tall iron gate blocked t

SARAH One morning, as I was getting ready for work, my daughter Caro showed up in her nightie, totally out of the blue. Normally, she'd be getting ready for school at this time. "Mum, I'll be going for a special trip today," Caro announced. "A trip?" I asked, confused. "Yes, it's an excursion for my class. Didn't I tell you about it a few weeks ago? And I'm sure they announced it in school too," Caro explained. Suddenly, it all came back to me. The principal had indeed mentioned something about the final year students going on an excursion. My head was already full with worry. She wouldn't blame for for being forgetful. "Alright, whatever," I managed to say, not bothering to inquire further about the details. I figured it was a school-related activity, so it should be safe enough to let her go. With that thought in mind, I rushed off to school as I was almost running late. I was in the middle of teaching my students when my phone rang, disrupting the class. It was the principal

SARAHI regretted being married to Leo. If only I had gotten along with Julian, my ex-boyfriend, things would have been different. But now, Leo canceled our joint accounts, leaving me and my kids in poverty. To survive, I had to be incredibly careful with money.The next few days were tough. Our son, Jake, came back home but he kept threatening to run away if Leo didn't come back too. No matter how much I pleaded with Jake to give his father more time, he didn't listen. It seemed like my words fell on deaf ears. I had no choice but to visit Leo at his office.I walked into his office nervously, with my heart pounding. I couldn't believe it had come to this. I had to confront him face-to-face and find a way to change his mind.In my best suit, a gift from Leo on my last birthday, I anxiously waited outside his office. Leo had been preoccupied with other people and made me wait. I wondered what to expect - the sympathetic Leo I've always known or a love-sick man? To my surprise, a cold

Jake slammed his hands on the table and glared at everyone. "I've lost my appetite!" he exclaimed, stood up and stormed out. "Me too," Caro added, and followed suit. "Don't worry about the kids, they'll come around," Mother-in-law said, clearly pleased with what Leo had said. My heart was heavy, my mind raced, and my thoughts were chaotic. Was Leo really talking about me? I couldn't even find the words to speak. "Why did you do that?" Lucas, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "What?" Leo pretended not to know. He looked at Emily, who was still standing beside Leo, but she seemed too clueless to understand his stare. "Leave now or you'll hate me forever!" Lucas's voice boomed, and she ran out without hesitation. "Why did you do that? I asked again!" Lucas demanded, now turning to face Leo. "He simply stated the truth," Mother-in-law defended Leo's actions. "What stupid truth?" Lucas yelled. "Even in front of the kids?" Leo walked out on us without saying a si