Carla’s POV. The moment we stepped out of the hall, he abruptly let go of my hand. I was neither surprised nor hurt as all we did in there was just an act. We both entered the car and after giving the driver the directive on where to go, we zoomed off.“Drive us to the hospital. We need to pay granny a visit” he had instructed as he rested his back on the seat and put on his seatbelt. Throughout the journey to the hospital, no one spoke and the silence in the car felt heavy. The silence made me feel uncomfortable. So, I took a quick glance at Carlos, hoping to start a conversation with him but he was too engrossed in his thoughts to notice me, as he was staring outside the window, his face, a vast array of emotions. The glance, which was meant to be quick, lasted for quite a while as I took my time to observe his countenance and mood. Although he had successfully gotten his revenge on Catherine, he still looked sad. Anguish and hurt were written all over his face. As I looked
Carla’s POV It was him. Those eyes of his, which used to draw me in and make me drunk in love, had become what I hated to see. I glared disdainfully at him as he approached me. The anger I felt just from seeing his face made me explode. I wanted to punch him, to release all my anger on him, to tear him apart. The thought of Mia’s death only agitated me the more, and I clenched my fists in frustration. I was so consumed by rage that I had forgotten Granny was holding my hand—and that I was squeezing hers so hard that it hurt her. I only realized it when she placed her other hand on mine and gently caressed it, as if she felt my pain and was trying to relieve me of it. I looked at Granny, and she smiled at me before murmuring, 'You will be fine'. I stared blankly at her as I was surprised. It was barely an hour that we met, and she had made me feel at home. Her compassion towards me reminded me of my mum – the woman I had lost to the cold hands of death, when I was at a tender age
After Mr. Clinton had apologized over and over again, he saw us off to the parking lot. He didn’t leave the parking lot until he saw our car zoomed off. Throughout our ride home, nobody said a word. Silence filled the car. I was seated at the back with Granny beside me, while Carlos sat at the front seat with the driver.I knew Granny had a lot of questions on her mind to ask Carlos and I but surprisingly, she pretended as if nothing had happened some minutes earlier and was on her phone all through our ride home. Same as Carlos. Realizing that I was the only being who was not occupied, I brought out my phone from my bag only to see several missed calls and text messages from my best friend, Amelia.“What the heck? I heard you got married to your sister’s fiancée. That can’t be true, right? Get in touch with me as soon as possible”, these were some of her messages.I knew exactly why she had called. She must have heard the news. I didn’t inform her of my arranged marriage with Carlos
Carla’s POV. I was expecting to see only Granny and Carlos seated at the dining table, but I was shocked to see those whom Carlos had warned me to beware of, seated with them. Aunt Stephanie, Aurora (her daughter” and Uncle Chris (her husband), were seated on the dining, digging into their food. “What the hell is going on here? What are they doing here?” I silently thought in agony, as I stood at the entrance of the dining room, with my hand on my forehead. Carlos had told me a lot about the trio and I wasn’t mentally and emotionally okay at that moment, to deal with their dragging, because I knew they were going to. With the way I had thrown shade at Aunt Stephanie at the wedding hall earlier, I knew she would definitely come for me, not only her, but also her grown up daughter and her husband, as Carlos had told me they were birds of the same feather. While amid my thoughts, Granny, who had caught a glimpse of me, called out to me and requested I joined them. “Carla darling,
Carla’s POV. As a child, I only knew my mother as my only family. It was not until I was 12 years of age, I got to know I had an aunt. My mother never spoke about my father and although she tried her best to never make me feel his absence, I still did whenever I saw my friends with their fathers. I tried several times to make her tell me about him, but she always waved off the topic, pretending as if I never mentioned it. But there came a day, the day I couldn’t take it anymore. The day I also made up my mind to never ask about him again. That day, I had gotten into a fight with a classmate of mine, who shamed me for not having a father and called me a bastard. I was so pained and hurt that as soon as I got home that day, I stormed into my mother’s room angrily. “Darling, you are back already. How was school today?” she said as soon as she saw me, with a smile curled up on her lips. Normally, I would have rushed to her and squeezed my tiny self into her arms but that day, I s
“Mom” I called as silence filled the room, with my eyes fixed on my mum, whose gaze was avoiding mine. I slowly walked up to her and when I eventually closed the gap between us, I held her arms and made her face me. “What did you just say? Abandoned us?” I queried, searching her eyes for answers but I didn’t find any. Instead, I found fear and reluctance. She hastily averted my gaze and began to look everywhere except my face, as if she was trying to run away from the hidden truth.I already had an hint as to what was going on but I didn’t want to believe it. “Abandoned us? The man I have been longing to meet wouldn’t have abandoned us, would he?” I had thought, as I continued observing my mum’s body movements and the fear of my thought being true, gripped me. “Mum, talk to me!!” I screamed, losing my patience, which made her flinch. I tightened my grip around her arms, with me shaking her, as if trying to get her attention to give me the answers I wanted. “I …… I “ mum stutter
Carla's POVWe were seated in the living room that day, having a family time when her phone rang. It was a call from her office, specifically from her secretary.She excused herself and proceeded to pick the call, in which I, Dad and Catherine continued with our chattering, leaving her to attend to the caller. We were still amid our discussion about the success of the Fashion Show which mum had held the day before, only to be interrupted by her loud scream."What?" she had yelled, her face turned pale, and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as if she was trying to process whatsoever news her secretary had passed across."Darling, is anything the problem?" Dad asked, hurrying to where she stood, still on the call with her secretary. Catherine and I looked at each other, with confusion written on our faces, wondering what was going on."I will be on my way to the office now. Prepare an urgent meeting and call the Legal Team in" Mum instructed Iris, her secretary, as she hung up on her."
Omniscient POV.That morning, their parents were supposed to meet with an investor who had given positive feedback. After having breakfast as a family, the two sisters were dropped off at school by their parents. The siblings wished their parents best of luck with their meeting.Before zooming off and bidding them goodbye, their parents promised them to be back home early and celebrate with them if the meeting with the investor was a success."We will see you at home. We promise to come back early" their Mum had said as she beamed with joy. Right in front of them, their parents' car zoomed off, but what they didn't know was that the next time they would see their parents, they wouldn't be alive.The siblings entered their school premises and resumed to their various classes. Few hours into their school activities, something happened.‘Have you seen the news?" Amelia asked eagerly."What news?" Beatrice asked, confused." I just saw the news that Carla’s parents got involved in a car ac
Carla’s POV “I am sorry, but we lost them” the doctor announced, each word dragged as he let out a heavy breath. “Lost them? What does that mean?” I thought, staring at the doctor blankly. “What do you mean by lost them? They just had stomachache and bleeding noses. So, how could they have died from that?” Carlos’ trembling, yet loud voice asked. He was anxious but tried his best to be as calm as he could be. “Those signs they showed before giving up, could be likened to food poison, but we can’t be certain until we conduct an autopsy on them. I am sorry for your loss, Mr. Carlos” the doctor sympathized, before excusing himself. I couldn’t talk .... couldn’t move. I just stood still, giving my brain enough time to process what was going on. “Died? How could they be dead? People that I was with at the dining table a few minutes ago. He must not know what he is talking about” I mulled over, scoffing before bursting out into laughter. I was in denial – vehemently believing tha
Carla’s POV I was staring at her lifeless body, which was laid on a stretcher, in the holding room. I had run to the hospital thinking the Detective was wrong – thinking he had mistaken someone else for Amelia. “Amelia can’t be dead. She isn’t the one” I had assured myself as I drove to the hospital, being optimistic. But seeing her lying there, cold and motionless, I knew I had hit rock bottom. There was no way for me to deny reality anymore. The heavy weight of the truth and reality made me shiver under the hot weather. My legs trembled and I saw myself collapsing onto the floor, tears slowly rolling out of my clouded eyes. When I realized my only confidant was gone, the fear of being alone gripped me. “She was the only one who stood by me – the one who reassured me that everything would be okay. She fought for me when I couldn’t stand up for myself. Then, why wasn’t I there when she needed me the most? I haven’t even reciprocated half of the love she showed me. So, how co
Carla’s POV. I stared blankly at the soul, which was lying on the bed before me, feeling tired of everything. I wondered what I had done to deserve that kind of life – the life where I will be happy now and the next minute, my happiness will turn into sadness. I was tired – frustrated by everything. I wanted to run away, to yell at Catherine to stop throwing tantrums but I couldn’t bring myself to abandon her. I remembered how I had driven crazily to the hospital after receiving that call. “She slit her wrist as soon as she woke, obviously with the intention of killing herself. For now, I will advise we all keep our eyes on her. She shouldn’t be left alone at any point in time” the doctor’s words rang in my head. That was the time she needed me the most, and I was ready to stick to her side no matter what. Amelia and I stayed with her all through the night, watching over her and waiting for her to wake up. Eventually, she did. “Catherine, are you okay?” I anxiously asked
Carla’s POV “Why did you do that? I thought we both agreed on sticking to the plan. Why did you have to tell her the bitter truth?” I asked Carlos, who was seated beside me on the bench, which was outside Carla’s ward. I was furious about what he did and was ready to lash out at him. At the same time, I feared what Catherine would do after finding out the truth. “Firstly, I never agreed with you on deceiving her and secondly, how do you expect me to hurt you again when I had done that before?” he replied, his dazzling eyes piercing into mine. “I know you are hurting, and you are just pretending to be okay. I have hurt you because of that woman before and you want me to do that again?” he asked, pointing in the direction of Catherine’s room. His pitch was somehow high, as if he was angry with me due to my decision but he was trying not to make it noticeable. “Babe, I know you are worried about her, but I can assure you that she will be fine. You don’t have to keep sacrifi
Carla’s POV “What do you mean, her? Have you been cheating on me with her even before my accident? Have you?!!!” Catherine yelled in frustration; her voice laced with accusation. By that time, I had already turned around to face them. “Cheat on you?” Carlos scoffed, releasing her hands as he stood abruptly. “I never cheated on you—but you did. Do you even know what you did to her? To your own sister?” Carlos’ voice was filled with anger, the forced smile he had worn earlier vanishing in an instant. I knew exactly where Carlos was headed—he was about to expose everything. But the truth could break Catherine. It could make her hate herself, or worse, drive her to harm herself. “Carlos, don’t,” I warned, stepping closer to him. “I shouldn’t? Why do we have to keep lying to her? Let’s tell her the truth so everyone can finally be at ease. She needs to stop making these ridiculous demands! I am fucking tired of this pretense. Her touch alone disgusts me.” Carlos’ voice dripped with
Carla’s POV I was too shocked to realize that everyone else in the room was staring at me. The sound of my phone falling had diverted their attention to me.“Marry her? Where is that coming from? Why would she ask for that the moment she woke up?” I wondered, struggling to steady my breathing. My gaze met Carlos’, his eyes silently pleading for rescue. He looked cornered, unsure of how to respond to Catherine’s request. “Either he accepts, and we become co-wives, or he refuses, and she does the unthinkable,” I thought, torn between the two choices. Silence consumed the room, as if the world had come to a halt for a few seconds. “Carlos, why aren’t you responding? Don’t you want to marry me? Is it because I am crippled?” Catherine’s heavy-hearted voice interrupted the silence, making the room lively once again. Her eyes were laced with tears, as she heartbrokenly stared at Carlos. “No, my love. That’s .... not it. It’s just that .........” Carlos’ shaky voice said stammering, un
Carla’s POV Just as she was about stabbing herself, Carlos walked in, saving the day. The moment Catherine saw him, the knife slipped from her grasp, clattering loudly against the cold tiles. She was so overjoyed by Carlos’ presence that she couldn’t wait for him to move close to her. She tried getting up from the bed to throw herself in Carlos’ arms, momentarily forgetting about the condition of her legs. She fell onto the ground, yelling in pain. As Aunt Stephanie, Aurora and I moved towards her to help her up, Carlos just stood frozen on the point, confusion hitched on his face. We helped Catherine up onto the bed, while she continued to whine in pain. Catherine’s gaze travelled to Charles, who didn’t move an inch. “See, he didn’t even try to help me up. He doesn’t love me again!!” Catherine lamented, as she sobbed the more. “Just let me die!!! Leave me to die” she yelled, trying to hurt herself but Aunt Stephanie and Aurora pinned her hands to the bed, preventing her f
Carla’s POV Weakened by the news, I dragged my feeble legs out of the doctor’s office to Catherine’s ward. I couldn’t bring myself to enter her ward as I feared breaking down in front of her. I sat on the chair placed opposite her ward; my face buried in my palms as I thought about how worsened everything was getting. I was still trying to cope with the fact that she won’t be able to walk again and now this? “She still doesn’t know that she can’t walk again. How will she react if she does? Will she receive the news well?” I thought, worried about Catherine’s reaction to the news. The other time when she had gone for the test, she was moved from the bed onto the wheelchair by the Nurses. She had thought that was because she was sick, not knowing it was because she couldn’t use her legs anymore. I thought of hiding the fact away from her but when I realized she would eventually get to know, I decided to tell her myself. The question that now lingered in my mind was: “How will
Carla’s POVI did an all night shift at the hospital and Aunt Stephanie was supposed to take over from me as early as 8 am the following morning but due to an unexpected incident that happened, she couldn’t make it to the hospital on time.I had planned to leave the hospital early and head home to freshen up and take a nap before going to pick Amelia up at the airport but all that did not go as planned due to Aunt Stephanie’s lateness.After handing over to Aunt Stephanie, I drove straight away to the airport as it was almost close to Amelia’s arrival time. I had to sacrifice my sleep so I wouldn’t keep Amelia waiting.Halfway to my destination, I received a call from Aunt Stephanie - a call that disrupted my plan and at the same time, filled my heart with joy.“Carla, where are you? Hope you haven’t driven too far away from the hospital?” she asked upon me picking the call. Her voice was filled with excitement, which made me wonder what was going on.“Not really. Is anything the prob