The First Retribution

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.  

“I heard you got married” Charles’ voice, which was firm and somehow commanding, pulled me out of my thoughts. He was standing with his arms crossed, his eyes sharp and cold.  

I gazed at him, surprised by what he had said. I was expecting him to at least say something – explain to me why he had jilted me and left his daughter to die. I was expecting him to come up with justifiable excuses as to why he had done what he did or better still, plead for my forgiveness but he never did.  

The look on his face was unapologetic and was in no way close to that of someone who was remorseful. I couldn’t believe he was the man I fell in love with; the one I gave everything up for.  

His betrayal echoed in my mind which threatened tears to roll down my eyes, but I held it back. I restrained myself as I didn’t want to be a weakling anymore.  

Sniffing to fight back my tears, I straightened my shoulders and took a deep breath, determined not to let him see the hurt he’d caused me. My heart felt heavy, but I steeled myself, clinging to the last shred of strength I had left. I wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing how deeply he’d wounded me. 

“Yes, I did. Are you here to congratulate me?” I asked satirically, as I let go of Granny’s hold and dished him a devilish smile. It was evident that he hadn't expected me to respond so confidently, as shock was written on his face, but he quickly overcame the surprise and kept a straight face.  

“Looks like you are brazen now but are you that shameless? It’s barely 48 hours that your daughter died, and you are already throwing yourself at a man? Well, I shouldn’t be surprised. That was the exact way you threw yourself at me, but I am thankful I jilted you” he said spitefully, with disgust evident in his voice.  

Those words of his pierced my heart and my hands began to tremble. I couldn’t believe the man I spent 7 years of my life with would say such a thing to me. The man I gave up my ambition for, just for him to achieve his.  

“I forced myself on him? He is glad he jilted me?” those words of his echoed in my head repeatedly and the tears I had fought so hard to hold back initially, slowly made their way out of my eyelids. I averted my gaze from his and fixed my eyes on the tiles as I cried my heart out.  

Tears clouded my vision, and it seemed as if my world had collapsed. I was still in despair, when a loud thunderous noise interrupted my mourning. The noise made me look up, only to find Charles’ palm on his left cheek. He furrowed his face in annoyance as he held onto the cheek.  

It was Granny! She had slapped Charles. I looked at Granny who was burning with fury in bewilderment. My mouth was wide agape as I was shocked and was finding it difficult to process what had just happened.  

“You definitely grew up without your parents because if not, you wouldn’t talk to a woman like that, talk less of addressing my daughter-in-law in such a manner!!” Granny yelled, as she blew hot.  

“And where are your manners? Were you not taught to show your respect to an elderly person when you see one? Huh?” Granny asked, as she glared at him, before she proceeded to take off her slippers, ready to hit him with it. In the blink of an eye, she threw the slipper at him, but it was too late for Charles to dodge it, as it hit him right in the forehead.  

Carlos, who had been watching as everything unfolded, burst out into laughter, as he watched Charles winced in pain, which drew my attention to him.  

“He doesn’t know who he is dealing with” Charles muttered under his breath, as he continued to watch Charles wallow in pain.  

“Old hag, what the hell is your problem? How dare you slap me? You are going to pay dearly for this!!!” Charles yelled, as he slowly approached Granny where she was standing, with his fist lifted, ready to strike her.  

But before he could attack Granny, Carlos landed a punch on him, which made him fall to the ground. But Carlos didn’t stop at that. He continued to punch Charles as he laid on the floor and when I made an attempt to stop him as Charles had begun to bleed, Granny drew me back, telling me he would stop when he felt like.  

By this time, a crowd of spectators had begun to form. I was becoming scared as Charles looked like he would drop dead anytime soon. I looked at Granny as I fidgeted, but she only smiled back at me and did nothing. Granny’s guards did nothing either and we all continued to watch as Carlos landed punches on Charles. But finally, someone stepped in, saving Charles from dying.  

“Madam Pratt is anything the problem?” a man in exquisite suit, followed by his bodyguards said, as he walked through the spectators. Upon him getting to where we were, he bowed to Granny, after which she motioned for him to lift his head up. Granny motioned for Carlos to let go of Charles and which he did. It was Mr. Clinton, Charles’ father-in-law and the founder of the hospital.  

“I am okay, but this lowlife just got on my nerves” Granny said as she pointed at Charles, who was lying lifeless on the floor. Mr. Clinton gave Charles a disdainful glare, before he proceeded to apologize to Granny.  

“I apologize on behalf of my son-in-law. He doesn’t know who he is dealing with. I am sorry, Ma’am” Mr. Clinton said apologetically, as he bowed his head.  

“He is your son-in-law?” Granny asked, amazed.  

“Yes, Ma’am. He is” Mr. Clinton confirmed.  

“Seems like your daughter has a bad taste in men. Anyways, I am not the one you will apologize to. You must apologize to my daughter-in-law and he too...” Granny said as she pointed to Charles “has to”.  

“Right away, Ma’am” Mr. Clinton said, as he faced me.  

“Miss, I apologize on behalf of my son-in-law. Such wouldn’t happen again” he apologized as he bowed his head. I was amazed!! A man like Mr. Clinton bowing before me? Well, that’s an advantage of getting married to an influential Billionaire.  

“It’s okay” I responded as I forced a smile on my face.  

“Thank you, Miss” he responded before he turned to look at Charles where he was lying and yelled at him “Get your ass up and get over here!!”.  

Charles hurriedly got up amid the pain he was feeling and walked towards me. As soon as he stood in front of me with his broken, bleeding nose, he bowed and apologized to me.  

“It’s fi.......” I said but before I could finish, Carlos interrupted me. He stood beside me and placed his arm on my waist, which made me flinch.  

“That wasn’t part of our agreement” I had thought.  

“That’s not the right way to apologize to my wife. Apologize properly or I will have them force you to do that" Carlos commanded, his voice stern, as he looked in the direction of the guards, who were at alert, waiting for him to dish out orders.

Knowing what he meant and what he was capable of doing, Charles got on his knees and begged for my forgiveness.

"I am sorry for my irrational behavior, Miss. Such wouldn't happen again. I hope I am forgiven?" he had said. I looked at him and somehow felt glad seeing him in such situation.

"This is your first chance to deal with him. Are you sure you are okay with just his apology?" Carlos whispered to me as he gave me a devilish wink. I gazed at Carlos as I didn't understand what he meant at first but when I finally did, I smiled.

I realized that was my chance to pay Charles back for all the hurt and heartbreaks he had caused me. Promising myself to make good use of that chance, I faced Charles and said:

"It's fine. You have been forgiven but I need to do this".

Confused Charles looked at me but before he could say a word, I landed a heavy punch on him, which made blood gush out of his nose the more.

That was satisfying for me but not really as that was just the tip of the iceberg of what I had in store for him.

"I will make you beg for death" I had silently thought, as I looked at him groan in agony on the floor and a smile, curled up my lips.