Embers of Retribution

Carla’s POV

I watched as her body was being laid to rest. The thought of my darling baby being alone in that shallow grave made me cry the more. Everybody who had come to show their condolences left including the priest but I stayed back at the graveyard as I couldn’t bear to leave her all alone. Amelia volunteered to stay with me till I was ready to leave but I told her I wanted to be alone with Mia which made her leave.

As I sat by her graveyard all alone, I remembered my aunt’s words. The hurtful words she had said to a mother who had just lost her child.

“Stop crying and get your ass up. See what happened as God’s blessing to help you make a better choice in life. Since what was tying you down to him is dead, then I would advise you to find a better man to marry than a pauper like him. No wonder he left you since you have nothing to offer him. Be like you sister, Catherine, who makes good choices. Look at the man she will be getting married to tomorrow. Follow her footsteps and learn from her. You have been a bad luck to those around you since your childhood, I hope you can rewrite history and make something meaningful out of your life” she had said to me, before leaving the burial site.

Although what she said hurt, I felt it was the truth. I felt I really had bad luck, because if not, I wouldn’t have lost all the people I loved to the cold hands of death. I sat still on the floor beside her grave crying, when I heard footsteps behind me. I wondered who that could be and as I turned around, my eyes met with those of the the individuals I least expected to show up. It was Catherine, my step-sister and her friend, Ivory.

Seeing them, I got up from the floor and faced them with hatred in my heart.

“What are you both doing here? Who told you you could show your faces here?” I yelled, as I clenched my fists.

“Darling sis, why are you so agitated? We are only here to offer you our condolences. I lost my niece, so it’s my duty to bid her farewell. And as for her” she said, pointing at Ivory,

“She is here to bid her step-daughter farewell. At least, Mia was her husband’s daughter before she died” Catherine, my sister, whom I gave everything up for said, as she smiled. I couldn’t believe she would choose a stranger over me.

“Cat, what did I do to deserve this from you? Why are you doing this to me? Don’t you see I am hurting? How can you be friends with someone who snatched my fiancee away from me? We are siblings, we should support each other. You should support me the way I did back then!!!” I said, as tears rolled down my eyes and despair washed over me.

“Support you?” she said as she smirked.

“Why should I? Do you have anything to offer? You should be thankful she took Charles away from you because if she hadn’t, someone else would have. No man would want to be with a wretched being like you forever. At least, you know he is in safe hands. So, you should be thankful towards her” she further said as she rolled her eyes.

“What?” I asked speechless, not knowing what to say.

“I should be thankful to a woman who ruined my perfect family? If she hadn’t come between I and Charles, Mia wouldn’t have died and she is telling me to be thankful to someone like her?” I had silently thought, looking blankly at Catherine, wondering how someone could have suddenly changed. That wasn’t the Catherine I knew. The old Catherine was nice and compassionate but I didn’t know where the new her came from. I was amid my thoughts when a voice broke through it.

“Yes, you should be thankful to me. I have done a lot of things for you and the one I think you should be more grateful for is the one I did of recent, which is taking your daughter out of the way. She was such an headache for me. Charles couldn’t focus on us because of her. I thought the only thing to make him be with us permanently was to take her out of the way, and which I did. But you know I didn’t do it for my sake alone, I put you into consideration too. Now that she is gone and Charles has left you, it will be easier for you to find another man. And it’s not easy to be a single mum, so consider yourself lucky that I did you a favor” Ivory, my worst nightmare said, with a devilish smile on her face as she locked her gaze with mine.

I was speechless and my eyes widened in shock. Took her out of the way? What does she mean my that? I was told a car hit Mia at the school entrance and the driver had already been arrested, so what is she talking about?

“What are you talking about?” I asked, as I forcefully swallowed my saliva down my throat. My eyes blinked repeatedly, trying to wave off the thought I had off my head.

“It can’t be what I am thinking, right? She couldn’t have done that, could she?” I queried myself internally, as I held tightly onto the elm of my dress, trying to suppress my fear and anger.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about. I know you have a thought in you head right now, which you do not want to believe but it is just as you had thought” she responded as she smiled.

“What?” I asked, my mouth wide agape.

“You are wondering how that’s possible right? Well, I worked hand in hand with your mother-in-law” she said but paused and clicked her fingers as if she had remembered something.

“Sorry, my mother-in-law I mean” she said giggling, as if making mockery of me.

“I told her to leave Mia all alone outside the school gate that day she went to pick her, on the pretense that she forgot her handbag, which she had intentionally left behind inside her classroom. It was at that moment the driver had the opportunity to hit your little Mia. I paid the driver to do so and so you know, your darling Charles, is aware of this” she said, as she burst out into laughter, which echo filled the graveyard. Catherine also joined in the laughter, as if they both were enjoying how traumatized I was.

I couldn’t withstand it. The betrayal, the hurt, the pain, the mockery - I just couldn’t and so, I collapsed onto the floor as I wept.

“How could Charles have done that to his daughter? How could he? And mother? She told me she had to pick up her handbag which she had forgotten, which was why she had to leave Mia all alone. How could she had done that to her granddaughter? To my poor Mia? No wonder she didn’t show up at her burial” I thought as I sat on the floor and the tears kept on coming uncontrollably.

The two friends looked at me and they both laughed but I didn’t have the strength to fight back as I was still mourning my dear baby, who had died in pain. I remembered how she struggled to keep being alive until her last breathe and the thought of that, pulled me into the shallow of grief, sorrow and despair the more.

“I hope you wouldn’t come after Charles anymore. Take this and make something out of your life” Ivory said, as she threw a bundle of money at me and looked at me disgustingly.

“Tomorrow is my wedding. I know you wouldn’t be able to come but I think I should still invite you to fulfill all righteousness. I hope we never cross paths again. Goodbye, stepsister” Catherine said, as she threw her wedding invitation card at me. I watched as the duo walked away, leaving me to hollow in pain.

I continued to cry and not long afterwards, I heard footsteps approaching me. At first, I had thought it was them who had come back but when the figure got to where I was seated, I realized it was a man who was standing in front of me. Looking up to see who it was, I was shocked to see him standing right in front of me. Before I could talk, the words he had said brought about another wave of shock within me.

“Be my bride” he had said, his face devoid of any emotion. His look was fierce and determined, which showed that he meant what he had requested.

20 HOURS LATER.

I was standing in the big wedding hall, admiring the beautiful decoration and the gigantic wedding cake. People of great reputation graced the event and I knew for sure that Catherine was one lucky lady to have made her way into the Williams family. She was getting married to the heir of one of the richest families in the city.

Although she treated me like trash, I still felt the need to come to her wedding as she was my sister. It was less than 24 hours that I buried my daughter and I still hadn’t gotten over the shock of the cause of her death but for Catherine, I was ready to do anything.

The entrance of the Bride and the Groom was announced and the door opened to reveal them as they both walked in gently into the hall. Catherine’s wedding gown was screaming beauty and the suit her soon-to-be husband put on, showed how wealthy his family was. Catherine complimented her wedding dress with a veil which seemed opaque as nobody was able to see her face.

The couple stood in front of the priest and they exchanged the rings and their wedding vows in front of everyone. The priest pronounced them as husband and wife after which he instructed the groom to kiss the bride. At that moment, I got carried away as my mind went back to Charles and I had wished it was the two of us standing there at that moment.

Just as the groom was about to lift the bride’s veil to kiss her, the entrance door flung open, only to reveal Catherine rushing into the hall in her wedding dress. She was wedding the same dress as that of the lady who was standing in front of Carlos. Confusion washed over everyone. If Catherine is the one who had just entered, then who is the one standing in front of Carlos, Catherine’s supposed fiance?

Gossip began to fly as confusion washed over everyone except for two individuals in the hall, who knew exactly what was going on. Catherine rushed to where Carlos and the unknown lady, whose face was still covered were standing.

“Carlos, what is going on here? Who is she? Why is she standing here? What am I even saying? You wouldn’t even have known I wasn’t the one” she said as confusion etched on her face and she turned to face the unknown lady.

“Who the hell are you? Why are you standing in my place? What the hell are you doing here?” Catherine yelled angrily. Before she could say another word, Carlos’ aunt Stephanie, had joined them on the aisle, also asking the lady who she was and trying to calm Catherine down.

“Me? Who I am? I am someone you know” the lady boldly said and in a swift, she removed the veil from her face.

Catherine’s jaws dropped upon seeing who was standing before her. Guess who it was? It was ME. I was the bride who had taken over Catherine’s place.

“Hi, Cat. Won’t you wish your sister a happy married life?” I said as I smiled at her. Catherine couldn’t believe what was going on, as she staggered.

“Hello, Aunt Stephanie. It’s nice meeting you. I am Carla and I am happy to join your family. I hope we have a lovely relationship together. You also need to know that I am the kind that give back the type of energy I get. I hope you understand?” I said as I smiled sheepishly at her, which made her jaw dropped.

I knew the decision I took would come with great consequences, but I was ready for it all. I was ready to unleash the demon in me and treat people the way they deserve.

“It’s time to kiss your bride, isn't it?” I said as I pulled Carlos closer to me and placed my lips on that of his, kissing him passionately and ignoring the murmurs that had filled the room. The real show is about to begin!!!