“Ah, I see you’re not the angel that I thought you were. What are you doing with that thing?” Charlotte asks me, shaking her head slightly, as though in sore disappointment. The smile is still on her face, but it doesn’t reach her eyes, and it gives her beautiful but hardened face a creepy look.“I … I wasn’t going to use it.” I defend myself feebly. Earlier, I had been too tense and focused on getting the knife that I wasn’t too aware of my surroundings. Now, though, I can see my mistake. There’s this huge painting that is in a reflective glass case and is resting on the floor against the wall opposite us, and in it, I can see my reflection and that of Charlotte. Apparently, she had been watching my every move in the glass of the painting.“No? So what were you going to do with it? Peel a potato and cook it to make me feel at home?”“Look, you’re wielding a gun at me. Naturally, I got scared a little that you were going to use it on me. A knife is no match for a gun, though.”“Yeah,
CHARLES It’s almost one in the morning, but instead of being in bed, I’m driving aimlessly around the mostly deserted streets, with only the occasional vehicle or two driving past once in a while. The thought of sleeping in the hospital for another night when I have the most comfortable bed in the world does not appeal to me in the least bit. I’m of a mind to simply take my things, get another place, and leave her all alone in the house, but it’s my house, which I happen to like very much, and no blackmailer is going to run me out of there. No way in hell am I letting that happen. Finally, I’m spent and no longer angry, so I make the decision to head back home. Samantha must be asleep by now anyway. The last thing I want is to be drawn into another altercation with her. I begin to drive home, thinking of the blissful moment when I’ll be able to collapse on my bed and sleep fitfully. The closer I get to my house though, the more an uneasy feeling starts to grow inside me. It is a fe
JESSICA The singing and chirping of the birds on the exotic trees in Mrs. James’s garden wake me up before I’m ready to get up from bed, but I don’t mind. I’ve overslept anyway. It is past nine in the morning, and I went to bed around nine-thirty the previous night, so that means that I’ve slept for almost twelve hours straight, something that I hardly do. Staying here with Mrs. James is good for my health and pregnancy. I take a quick shower and head downstairs because I can faintly hear the familiar voices of Sebastian and his wife, Carol, coming from downstairs. They hardly ever come here, not to talk of coming here so early, so I wonder what the problem is. By the time I get downstairs, I don’t need anyone to tell me that something horrible has happened. It is obvious from the dejected and horrified looks on the faces of everyone in the living room that everything is far from fine. Sebastian is there, as is Carol, Mrs. James, Carol’s father, and about five men I don’t know, alo
CHARLESIt feels like I’m in a particularly terrifying dream from which there will be no waking up. Sebastian has hired a lawyer for me, but I’ve been going through the whole process in a numb, barely-there way, hardly able to believe that this is happening to me. I’ve been denied bail and kept in jail far longer than I would have liked, but I’m not worried about that. I’m confident that very soon, the police will find out from their investigations that I’m innocent. What I’m more worried about is what Jessica must be thinking of me and my cursed family. That’s probably a weird thing to be worried about considering the circumstances and considering the fact that I don’t know yet if Charlotte’s plan was to destroy my life by framing me for this murder. If that is the case, then she would no doubt have taken precautions to frame me so tightly that there would be no exonerating me from Samantha’s murder, which I didn’t commit.So what if Jessica decides that she wants our child to be a
JESSICAIt started as mild pains late one evening while I was relaxing in the garden with one of the guards trailing me about. The fact that they follow me literally everywhere is getting on my nerves, but there is nothing that I can do about it because obviously, it is for my own good. Besides, I have my baby to think about now too, apart from myself.I glare in irritation at one of the guards, a huge, menacing-looking, and beefy guy with tattoos all over his body. It’s obvious that he sees me glaring at him, but of course, he doesn’t give a flying fuck, not that I can blame him. The man is merely doing his job, after all.“You shouldn’t be so harsh on him. He’s here for your good.” Carol’s soft voice comes from nowhere, and I whirl around to see her standing at the entrance to the garden and smiling at me.“Jeez! How did you move so quietly? You scared the shit out of me.”“Yeah, we’re all jumpy this time around. Do they also have to follow you everywhere? I mean, it’s silly for fou
JESSICAIt started as mild pains late one evening while I was relaxing in the garden with one of the guards trailing me about. The fact that they follow me literally everywhere is getting on my nerves, but there is nothing that I can do about it because obviously, it is for my own good. Besides, I have my baby to think about now too, apart from myself.I glare in irritation at one of the guards, a huge, menacing-looking, and beefy guy with tattoos all over his body. It’s obvious that he sees me glaring at him, but of course, he doesn’t give a flying fuck, not that I can blame him. The man is merely doing his job, after all.“You shouldn’t be so harsh on him. He’s here for your good.” Carol’s soft voice comes from nowhere, and I whirl around to see her standing at the entrance to the garden and smiling at me.“Jeez! How did you move so quietly? You scared the shit out of me.”“Yeah, we’re all jumpy this time around. Do they also have to follow you everywhere? I mean, it’s silly for fou
CHARLESAfter what feels like ages, the police are done with their investigations, and I’m free to go. Apparently, the forensics results are back, and some drops of blood that are found at the scene show that I’m innocent. Thoroughly relieved, I finish up with the paperwork and gratefully follow a waiting Sebastian to his car so we can head to the hotel in which he’s staying.I can’t go home yet, because my house is still cordoned off by the police, and as a matter of fact, I’m not sure I want to continue living in the same house in which a heavily pregnant Samantha was brutally murdered, at least, not yet.I’m not surprised when hordes of paparazzi appear out of nowhere and begin to chase after us, but to my greatest surprise, Sebastian proves to be a badass driver. He weaves in and out of traffic, and in and out of different streets, losing the paparazzi in no time.“Wow! Where’d you learn to drive like that?” I ask him, thoroughly impressed.“When you’re used to paparazzi chasing a
She is so incredibly small and fragile … oh so fragile, in my large hands. She fusses a little as I carry her, but then she settles, makes some cooing sounds, and goes back to sleep almost immediately, causing my heart to melt like butter on a hot pan.“Hi there. I’m your daddy.” I whisper in the gentlest and softest of voices, hardly able to believe that this perfect creation is a part of me.“Awwww! You guys look so cute together.” Jessica says, beaming proudly at us, every inch a proud mother. It is then I realize that everyone else has left the room and we’re alone with our child.I head over to sit beside her on the bed with the baby and we both just spend some time staring at our daughter.“Just look at us. I remember back then on the island when we were talking about how we never wanted kids and all that. Now, I wouldn’t give her up for the whole world.”“I know, right? She’s one of the best things to ever happen to me.”“Oh, yeah? And what’s the other best thing?” I ask her, b