Ariella was staring at the wall in front of her with an unseeing gaze. She’s been like that since forever. After overhearing Mariam and Kelvin’s argument and also discovering that her mother was dead and gone from this work, Ariana collapsed and when she woke up a day later, she woke up with her memory completely. Arielle did not know if she should be grateful that she got her memory back as she wished or if she should have remained the way she was. Her memory came back with the pain of losing her mother and so many other things she wanted to forget. The few weeks she spent without her memory were happy and blissful. She did not have any worry in the world and accepted things the way they were. Why couldn’t things just remain that way? Why did she have to go off to find Mariam in the kitchen, and why did she have to overhear them and get her memory back? Now, her life was back to its complicated state. She wanted to run away, but how could she run away from herself? How was that
“Fuck!” Mariam cussed loudly causing Ariella to become anxious.“What’s wrong?”“I think you met the worst woman on earth. Amelia Preston is a fucking bitch. I’ve put it at the back of my mind to kill her the next time I see her.”“What? Why? I know she must be somewhat of a bitch when I met her that night, but why would you want to kill her?” Ariella knew that Mariam was dramatic, but Amelia must have done something extreme that would make Mariam talk about killing her the next time they met.“Somewhat of a bitch? She is the devil himself only that she does not have horns!”Now, Ariella really wanted to hear what Amelia must have done for Mariam to be talking about her like this.“I need to sit for this,” Mariam moved to hop on the bed so that she was sitting beside Ariella. Ariella rolled her eyes before she moved to make space for Mariam.“You know,” Mariam started once she was comfortable, “It is funny how you are in the industry, yet you don’t even know about anything that’s goi
“Correct,” Mariam continued after Ariella’s response, “I hate her like there is no tomorrow and there was a time I went looking for her to try to talk to her, but she refused to see me. It was almost like I offended her too. The day I cornered her in a mall, bitch raised her nose in the air and told me she did not care who fell while she was in the process of dragging Emma down. Trust me, when she entered the dressing room, I made sure to lock her inside.”Ariella snickered, “It was okay that she wanted to take Emma down. Emma was not a good person and no one liked her but did she have to drag innocent people down too?”“According to her, it would make everything much more interesting to the audience following the news. We were just collateral damage,”“Well, it is a good thing that you were able to stand back on your feet despite it all. I was so busy with working different jobs together with my little modeling gigs, so I could pay off the loan my father left behind, I was not there
“Found it,” mariam exclaimed when she finally found her phone after emptying her purse. She had a wide smile on her face as she bounded back to Ariella and hopped back onto the bed. “Now, we are going to play detectives,”Ariella chuckled as she moved closer to Mariam who was turning on her data so they could browse the internet.“Where is it, where is it?” Mariam was muttering under her breath. “Found it!”“When was it?” Ariella asked, her eyes brimming with curiosity.“It was exactly two months to the time Hannah sent you to his bed. Thank God,”Ariella could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Two months was enough time for lovers to have a breakup. Even if it was not enough time for Kelvin to fall in love with someone else. The hope that was already surging in Ariella’s heart died down as fast as it came alive.“Two months is enough time for them to break up,”“Yes. Well, I can sense that a but is coming. What’s it?”“But it is not enough time for him to fall in love with me. N
“You know what Mariam, I think I’ll face it. I’m not going to let Hannah have a hold over me forever because if I don’t stop her now, it will be like this forever. I not only owe it to myself to be free but I also owe it to my child. One day, I’ll have to appear with my child and the father outside. My child might need us together so what am I going to do then? Deny my child? My parents never did that to me. If the world is going to drag me, I don’t care. Like you said, one day another explosive news will swallow my own and everyone will forget about it.”To say that Mariam was shocked was an understatement. It was like her ears were playing tricks on her or some alien had taken over Ariella’s mind all of a sudden because where was all of this coming from?Was this not the same Ariella she has been trying to convince for months that she should just live her life the way she wanted because nothing she did would stop the news of her having Kelvin’s baby from getting out?Ariella refused
Mariam scratched the back of her neck with a sheepish expression, “If you ask me, I don’t know. I think Kelvin is the best person to ask any question you have about this hospital. No one would even know that such a thing exists. I was shocked too when I was told about your accident and led down here,”“I just hope to God that this won’t turn out to be like the movies where the male lead is an underground mafia boss but everyone thinks that he is a billionaire,” “Ahhh, about that… I don’t think we should conclude yet. He might really be in the mafia,”“Eh? Why would you say that?”“Except for the fact that he was once Hannah’s boyfriend who she loved showing off to the world and that he got you pregnant, we know nothing about this guy. There is something I also need to tell you,”“What?”Mariam cleared her throat. She looked hesitant.“What is it? You know you can tell me anything, right?” Ariella asked when she saw Mariam’s behavior. Mariam always said things out without filter and w
“What’s it with this underground hospital?” Ariella asked when Kelvin stepped into her hospital room after Mariam received a call and left to do some important at her agency.She might have taken it easily when she did not have her memory and was quick to forget about this place because she was busy trying to digest the fact that the truth she’s known during her one month in the hospital was a lie. She wanted to know about this place now. He might not tell her the whole truth yet or might not even tell her anything, but she won’t stop asking. Kelvin looked surprised, but it wasn’t just because of the question. Ariella has not spoken for days and just when he finds out that Mariam had been able to get through to her, and he was happy that she was back, the first thing she does is to ask of the underground hospital.Yes, Mariam already told him that she was not angry with them for keeping her mother’s death from her, that in fact she said she understood when they did it, when he asked
“Yeah, God knows best,” Kelvin agreed.Ariella adjusted on the bed and patted the empty space beside her, “Sit with me,”Though he was surprised about the invitation, Kelvin did not hesitate, he jumped on the bed and sat close to her. “Now that everything is over, we have a whole lot that we need to talk about.” “What is that?”“You are not going to tell me about this hospital, are you?” “I want to tell you but I can’t,”“You know that I have every right to know considering the fact that I could have been taken to a regular hospital but you chose to bring me here, right?”“I know that you do have every right to know but…”“You did not take me to a regular hospital because you knew that we might be attacked again that night after the one that happened on the highway, am I correct?”Arielle felt Kelvin stiffen beside her. She knew that he was not expecting her to be able to piece everything together. She would never have done that without Mariam’s help. She did not even think much ab
“So how was it?” Mariam's excited voice came from the other end of the phone. “How did the dinner go?”“Uhm, everything went well,” There was a voice in Ariella’s head asking her to tell Mariam everything that happened during the dinner with Kelvin’s family but another voice was asking her to say nothing. Mariam would hate Kelvin and since Marin was someone who hated pretending, Kelvin would begin to suspect that something was wrong. She did not want him to know that she knew everything he was doing. Her first thought in the toilet after Jade spilled everything to her had been to run away but she has neither the energy nor the resources to run off and stay hidden. Kelvin will find her within a day. She could not disappear without telling Mariam too and Mariam will be the first person Kelvin will go to if she goes missing. She won’t be putting her friend in such a position. She will have to think of another plan.After much struggle, she went with the most dominant voice which was th
Ariella has been staring at Kelvin’s card that was lying in the middle of her bed since forever. She was contemplating if she should do what was on her mind or if she should try to find a new hobby so she won’t be bored out of her mind.Being home and alone have made her thoughts run wild. She realized that there was nothing she liked doing in her free time and that was mostly because she’s never had free time since her father died.When her father was alive, she hung out with her friends but the said friends now wanted nothing to do with her, not after they nearly got in trouble a couple of times because of her.She could not really blame them. It was not fun to be chased around by loan sharks because you were friends with a girl whose father could not borrow from the banks so he decided to go to loan sharks instead.Ariella has never liked reading but that was okay, she could start now that she was free. She knew how to draw a little, maybe she could buy a sketchbook and pencil cray
Kelvin shoved his hand inside the breast pocket of his suit and produced a black card which he stretched out to her. “What? What’s that?” Ariana croaked out, staring at the black card that was lying on his palm as if she did not know what it was. “It is my card. You can use it to get anything you want while I’m away,” “I can leave the house?” Arielle asked, still staring at the card. “Why?” Kelvin asked in surprise, “I’ve never stopped you before,” “But…” Yeah, right. He has never stopped her from going out before but she would like to think that he would stop her now after that accident. Was he not supposed to be scared that something bad could happen to both her and the baby? Seems like she was deluding herself when she thought that he cared about the baby. Maybe… no, she was not going to think about anything. “But what?” He asked with raised brows. “Uhn… nothing,” Arielle shook her head. Kelvin stared at her for a few minutes as if hoping she would change her mind and
During the period of her accident, Maria’s younger sister was sick so Kelvin let her leave to take care of her sister. Maria took just a few weeks off but her sister did not recover, Kelvin then asked her to stay with her sister until anytime she recovers. Maria was not back until now.With Mariam who had traveled to another state to walk the runway, Gladys and Kelvin who had gone back to bury themselves in work, Ariella was left to her own devices.Before Kelvin left for work this morning, he went to Ariella’s room in search of her. His lips widened in a smile when he met her still buried under the covers with only her face out but with her eyes wide open.“Not ready to get up yet?” He asked as he dropped on the bed and reached out a hand to push her hair back from her face.Ariella grumbled something unintelligible under her breath as she turned her face into his hand that was now cupping her cheek. Her action made the smile on Kelvin’s face increase.It did not use to be like this
“So how was it?” Mariam's excited voice came from the other end of the phone. “How did the dinner go?”“Uhm, everything went well,” There was a voice in Ariella’s head asking her to tell Mariam everything that happened during the dinner with Kelvin’s family but another voice was asking her to say nothing. Mariam would hate Kelvin and since Marin was someone who hated pretending, Kelvin would begin to suspect that something was wrong. She did not want him to know that she knew everything he was doing. Her first thought in the toilet after Jade spilled everything to her had been to run away but she has neither the energy nor the resources to run off and stay hidden. Kelvin will find her within a day. She could not disappear without telling Mariam too and Mariam will be the first person Kelvin will go to if she goes missing. She won’t be putting her friend in such a position. She will have to think of another plan.After much struggle, she went with the most dominant voice which was th
After Jade said her piece and walked out, Arielle felt so shaky she had to walk back into the toilet and sit on the toilet seat because she felt like if she remained standing for even a second more, she would drop to the floor in a heap.Arielle massaged her forehead with her hand, she could feel an oncoming headache. Who was it that anytime she thought the worse has passed, more will come?When Judy had said she shouldn’t be called if news about her pregnancy got out,Arielle did not take it to heart because she’d already told herself that she was ready for anything and everything that would happen. She was not going to hide anymore because it won’t help her in the long run. She could not live all her life in hiding because of something she never wanted to happen. Hannah was the one who is supposed to go into hiding and not her.Arielle thought that everything was moving well now but Jade telling her all these things made her know that she was living in a fantasy she created with he
After using the toilet which was a little hard for Ariella to find even after the whole directions Gladys gave to her, she sighed in relief and stepped out to wash her hand. She has been holding back her pee since she got here and the whole issue from Judy and Jade just made everything worse.As she was washing her hand, she heard the bathroom door opening and raised her head and stared into the mirror to see who was behind her. She cursed in her head when she saw who was walking inside and she immediately had a flashback of when she was in the bathroom of that hotel abroad and Hannah walked in. She just knew that Jade being here was bad.Ariella looked down and washed her hand properly before reaching out to wipe her hand with toilet paper.“You know, Kelvin would never fall in love with you,” Jade said as she came to stand beside Ariella. “I do not care about how you managed to climb onto his bed and get yourself pregnant but Kelvin will never settle for someone like you when he onc
The way everybody’s character was taking a three sixty degrees turn was giving Ariella a whiplash. First it was Judy who was acting nice then later turning into a vicious snake and now, it was Kelvin who had been acting like he was not there but was now defending her.“I asked you to get out, Jade,” Kelvin said again, his voice was calm but Ariella could hear the underlying anger.“You can’t send her away,” Judy snapped.“Oh yes, I can and I’m asking her to leave now,” Kelvin took his eyes from Judy and placed them on Jade who flinched and ducked her head in fear.She reached out with shaky hands and clutched her mother’s hand, “Mommy,” Judy turned to Alexander, her face red with anger, “Dad, better do something,”“Jade should leave. This meeting was supposed to be for the adults only but I let her stay because I thought she would be reasonable and would comport herself, I thought wrong.” “What is wrong in what she has said? She is just trying to make us know the type of person we
“So how far along are you, Ariella?” Alexander, Kelvin’s grandfather asked once they were all seated and ready to have dinner.“Ehh, six months,” Ariella answered with a small smile on her face.Alexander beamed at her, “That’s wonderful. In a few more months we will be getting a mini version of Kelvin. How I wish that my son, Kelvin’s father, Hunter was here to see his first grandchild but no, someone just had to kill him off at such a young age,”If Ariella noticed the way Gladys and Kelvin stiffened beside her, she said nothing and acted like she did not notice anything.Everything was moving well so far. Kelvin’s family was cool. His two uncles and his auntie were here and they have been nice to her so far. Kelvin’s aunty’s first daughter, Jade was here too but she has not said a word. No matter how her mother poked her to greet Ariella, she stubbornly refused and kept her mouth shut. She kept glaring at Ariella.Alexander showed his excitement about having a great grandchild but