The sunlight reflected into the room, and the peaceful sound of nature echoed through the atmosphere. Carmen smiled as the makeup artist applied a thin primer layer to her moisturized skin. Her eyelashes gently touched each other as an eye primer got added to her eyelids. She could feel the softness of the brush when it touched her face as the lady applied the foundation to brighten her skin tone.
The door opened, and a classic woman stood at the doorway with a bright smile. "Mini, Is the bride ready?" She asked. "No, I am still touching up her makeup," Mini explained as she put some cream concealer on her finger and lightly dabbed her fingertips on areas that looked dark on Carmen's face. Carmen turned to gaze at the woman, her lips curved in a grin. "Mom! What are you doing here? I thought you were out there greeting the guests." "I want to see my daughter transformed into a beautiful bride." Her mother said with a smile. Mini stopped working on Carmen's face a few minutes later after she had layered the color on her lip. "My job here is done. Mrs. Smith, how would you grade my work." She said with a beam on her face as she laid down the lipstick and turned Carmen's chair toward the door. Mrs. Smith's smile broadened, and her eyes sparkled, seeing how elegant her daughter seemed. "Mini, you are amazing. She looks like the most stunning bride I have ever seen, and for that, I give your work an A-plus." Mrs. Smith said. She walked away from the door and approached Carmen. Her hand gracefully touched her daughter's face, and her eyes teared. "My beautiful baby." Mrs. Smith cried. "Mom," Carmen whispers sadly. Her mother's emotional outbursts were negatively affecting her mood. "Mini, can you excuse my daughter and me? I want to assist her in wearing her wedding gown." Mrs. Smith said with a slight smile. "Okay. I am going to leave now." Mini replied and left the room. Carmen knew that there was more to her mother's statement. She looked at Mrs. Smith and saw that her smile had disappeared, leaving only sadness on her face. "Mom, what is this actually about?" Carmen asked with an aching heart. Mrs. Smith pulled a chair in front of her daughter and sat down. Carmen and her mother were now facing each other. "Does Liam love you?" Her mother asked. Carmen laughed at first, but then her smile faded when she noticed that her mother was serious. "Oh, you are serious. Mom, today is my wedding day. I will be his wife in less than an hour, and you choose this moment to ask me such a question?" Carmen said in a shaking tone. "Carmen, I could not ask you this question since I thought you and Liam were just a flame for you and you would get over him soon. Plus, your grandpa seems to like that you were in a relationship." Mrs. Smith said as she held onto her daughter's hands. Carmen slowly pulled her hands from her mother's grip. She was now tearing up and felt thankful to Mini for using waterproof makeup on her face. "Why now? Why are you saying all this to me now?" Carmen cried. The tears were now falling from her eyes uncontrollably. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and sniffed. "I did not want to go against your and your grandfather's wishes. But baby, this is a marriage you guys are talking about now. You and Liam have to live under the same roof and see each other daily, and I want to make sure he loves you. Because I don't feel like he does." Mrs. Smith explained. Her daughter's teary face was aching her heart, but she knew this was the best decision she had made for Carmen. "He loves me. If he did not, then why are we even getting married? Why will his family and his friends be here? Why would anyone want to be in this building?" Carmen screamed. Her heart was racing, and she could not understand what she was feeling, but Carmen could tell it was not joy. "Fine. Please stop crying. It's my fault. I should not have assumed." Mrs. Smith said as she embraced her daughter. Carmen rested her head on her mother's shoulder and wept bitterly. She knew her mother was right. Liam never told her he loved her, not once in their relationship. But she thought it was because he was shy. Now that her mother had brought the subject up, she felt deep in her heart that Mrs. Smith was right. After Carmen had cried out her fear and pain, it took her a few minutes to calm down. From there, her mother helped her wear her gown, and they did not discuss what had happened. There was only silence cycling within the room. Liam was the only one in the groom's dressing room. He had not worn his suit yet. His hair was messy, and his face looked frowned upon. He was on a call, and his expression appeared gloomy. "I don't think I can do this. It's not fair to you and me." He said. "You can't do this to her. We both can't break her heart." The caller replied. "How can't you expect me to marry a woman I don't love? Are my feelings not as important as hers are to you!" Liam lashed back in anger. "That's not true. I love Carmen, and for her, I am willing to sacrifice my love for you." Liam ended the call in rage. He looked into the mirror and hated his reflection. "Why do I have to suffer for you? You denied me the chance to be with the woman I love, and now I will do the same for you. Every single pain I am feeling, you will undergo the same until you divorce me." Liam stated.Please remember to follow me for more of my work, like, share, and leave your honest review. This will significantly help me, the author, get more recognition. Also, if you are curious about the novel, check out Author Rever on all social platforms to discuss it with me. Gems are highly appreciated. Thank you and have a lovely day.
A few minutes later, the hall got crowded with relatives, friends, guests, and the family of the bride and the groom. It took a brief while, but everyone finally got seated in their respective seats and patiently waited for the groom to appear. Five minutes passed in silence, yet the groom did not show up as everyone expected. Then within a split second, the hall got noisy as people started questioning Liam's lateness. "Where is your good-for-nothing son!" Liam's dad screamed at his mother in a fit of rage. But she scowled at him and lashed out, "Why are you shouting at me? So is he, not your son too!" As the noise in the hall increased, the groom's family seats on the front roll became boisterous with questions. Liam's parents were taking all the heat from their relatives, even though they tried to give an excuse for their son to remove the tension from them. Things were getting out of control, and the whispering got more emphatic as people continued mumbling and turning to the
The light in the room flickered, and the air got chilly as the breeze blew the window curtain open. The white bedsheet appeared whiter from the glow of the bulb. Also, the bedroom looked extremely luxurious because of the fancy furniture."I will take the guest room, and you can take this bedroom," Carmen said, wishing desperately that her first night as a married woman wouldn't start with such an intense atmosphere.Then she anxiously stood still, waiting for Liam's reply as the seconds passed.Realizing the room's silence, Carmen could feel her heart pounding, and she grew tense.With every passing second that Liam did not answer, Carmen felt more uncomfortable. Unable to take the quietness any longer, she hugged herself tightly and stared at a well-built man sitting in a chair, gazing at her like some prey he could not wait to devour.The sleeveless nightgown she wore did not make her feel comfy at the very least, and Liam's cold stare only made her feel worse.Feeling the chilly
"Beep!" "Beep!" The clock blew off. After it rang a couple more times, Carmen lazily opened her eyes. Still in a confused state of mind, her hand reached out for the alarm clock. Instead of pressing the off button, she knocked it off the nightstand. "Beep!" "Beep!" "Beep!" The alarm screamed louder as the sound echoed in the room. "I think I broke it," Carmen mumbled beneath her breath as she pushed the comforter off her. Then her toes flickered when they touched the cold tiles and chills ran through her body. Still feeling a bit dizzy, Carmen grabbed the clock from the floor, shut it up, and set it back on the nightstand. In that instant, her sight caught the other side of the bed, and Carmen sighed at the empty sheet and softly muttered, "Good morning, Carm." Then she turned away from her bed and headed into the bathroom. Feeling drained and hollow in her soul, Carmen dragged her feet a
After Liam had left the villa, Carmen pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down.Then she low-spiritedly looked at her Eggo Waffle Sandwich and frowned at it, feeling like Liam refusing her food means that he had rejected her too. With every stare she gave her food, Carmen could feel this piercing ache in her chest. In frustration, she angrily stood up, grabbed the plate, and approached the trash bin. After opening the lid, Carmen couldn't bring herself to toss the Eggo Waffle Sandwich into the bin because in her mind, if she did, then just like you can't eat food from a dumpster, she and Liam's marriage will not have a chance for love. With such a thought on Carmen's mind, she withdrew from the trash bin, headed back to the table, and she set the plate on the dining table. Then she sat down and began to eat the Eggo Waffle Sandwich angrily while sniffing. Two minutes into her breakfast, her phone began to buzz, and she
Feeling indecisive, Carmen stood in front of the mirror, wearing a blue long sleeve dress with its length reaching below her knee. Then she wore her hair down. However, the reflection staring back at her was not what she was going for at that moment. The bite marks on her neck were still showing, and the wound on her fingers remained exposed. In anger, Carmen took off the dress and threw it on the bed, and it landed on top of all the other clothes she had tried on. Then she approached her closet, took out a gray sweater and blue jeans. After Carmen had worn it, she went back to the mirror and stared at her reflection. The sweater's turtleneck and long sleeves concealed the bite marks on her body, and the sleeves were also long enough for her to hide her fingers in. But even though her dress code was perfect, the only thing destroying it was the hot June sun awaiting her outside her house. “Mom is not going to buy this look, but it is the o
With a touch of fear in her eyes, Carmen folded her hands into a tight fist as she saw Liam and his mother approaching their table. Her heart kept skipping every beat as they got close, and she hastily gazed away when his eyes met hers. "I invited Lina over for breakfast, but I did not know she would drag her son along too." Deborah softly said. Not listening to her mother's words, Carmen's mind remained occupied with thoughts about how unloving her husband's gray eyes were when they gazed at her. After Liam and Lina reached Carmen and Deborah, he pulled out a chair for his mother, then waited for her to take her seat before he sat down. "Good morning, mother." Liam addressed Deborah. "A pleasant day to you too," Deborah answered with a bit of hate in her tone. Hearing the harshness in her mother's voice, Carmen stared at Li
The driver felt the fear within Carmen and the hostility from Liam. He looked into the V-mirror and saw how pitifully Carmen had folded herself together. Liam and Carmen did not appear to be the couple he knew in the past. The driver noticed that the brightness in Carmen's smile had got swapped with a frown, and Liam's eyes had lost its kindness.'Boss, why are you treating madam like this? She's sweet and friendly to everyone, so why do you hate her?' He thought.After Liam's question, Carmen dared not look at him. She kept her head down, and her eyes focused on the floor of the car. It was clear to Carmen that her apologies wouldn't get her out of this situation."Are you deaf!" Liam screamed.His voice had harshness and chills within it, and it wasn't long after Carmen heard those words she began tearing up. However, Carmen choked back her cry so she wouldn't annoy him.
Carmen sat on the couch with a frustrated face as she watched the long hand of the clock slowly change its direction. She felt scared and upset that it was now eleven-thirty o'clock and Liam had not arrived home yet.Their brief episode that morning, him accusing her and denying her, weighed heavily on her heart, but her mind remained occupied with worries about why he had not reached home.Carmen stood up from the couch for a minute and paced back and forth for some time as she tried to keep her messed up emotions in check and stopped herself from crying. After walking around the room for a while without hearing a car sound, she sat down on the couch and continued watching the clock.As Carmen sat there for another fifteen minutes without removing her eyes from the wall clock or shifting from her current position, her stomach gurgled from hunger. She pressed both her hands against her abdomen and squeezed it tight to su
To all my readers, I like to inform you all that this will be the end of " He was never mine." I hope that I met your demands and gave you guys the closure you needed from the story. Writing this novel was a lot for me because I had to put myself in various emotional states to capture the character's feelings that I have never experienced before, (It was tough." But I'm glad you guys stuck with this novel because knowing you all were waiting on updates and stuff truly inspired me to keep pushing through and continue writing. I appreciate all my readers for your patience with me, the coins, gems, and reviews. You are all incredible people, and I'm glad I have readers like you. Well, this is goodbye from Author Rever. Stay safe out there and have a good life. P.s. I know it needs a lot of proofreading, and I'm going to get that done, hopefully. Thank you all and Byeee!!!
When Freddie brought the car to a stop, he stared back, saw that Liam was sleeping, and faintly smiled as he thought, 'Sir just arrived in the country from a business trip, and yet he didn't hesitate when Miss Smith asked him to pick up Ethan. He really cares about young sir.'Realizing that the car wasn't moving, Liam raised his eyelids and asked, "We are here?""Yes, sir," Freddie said.Without uttering another word, Liam got down from the car and headed into the school building.When he got to Ethan's class and his teacher saw him, she smiled and said, "Ethan, your father is here."Keeping silent, Ethan walked over to Liam and mumbled, "Hello,"With a smile on his face, Liam sighed and thought, 'I have been in your life for one year now, and you won't call me 'father.' How long will it take to make you open up to me and believe that I'm not going to leave you.'Afterward, he extended his hand to Ethan, and not hesitating, he
The sound of her ringtone caused Carmen to set the pancake box on the kitchen counter. Then she picked up the phone, answered the call, and said, "Hey, mom." "Are you okay?" Mrs. Smith worriedly asked from the other end of the line. Confused by her mother's question, Carmen calmly uttered, "Why wouldn't I be?" "Well, Ummm… We were told that Ali was at the company yesterday?" "Seriously, you guys are still keeping tabs on me!" "No! Of course, not… Well, okay, yes we are. But not in the way that you think. Your dad and I were just checking in with Tracy this morning to find out how your first day went." At that moment, Carmen heard Mr. Smith say, "I told her not to call you!" Giggling faintly, the slight anger she felt slowly faded, and she said, "It's fine. We handle the situation pretty well, I think." "We?" Mrs. Smith asked, sounding curious. "Liam and I." "You guys are a
Keeping his eyes fixed on Carmen and Ethan as they stood by the car door, waiting on him, Liam walked over to them.When he was a step away from them, he stopped. Then Carmen met his eyes and said, "Ethan wanted us to wait out here for you.""Thank you, bud," Liam uttered, looking down at his son.Then he focused his gaze back at Carmen, and her face still bore no expression, making it hard for him to guess what she was thinking or how she felt.A few minutes later, as Freddie drove them out of the parking lot, the car was silent and continued to be even after he got on the main road.That bothered Ethan a lot, and he looked up at Liam on his left for a few seconds, and then looked to his right at Carmen before mumbling "I made a friend at school today.""Really! Bud, that's amazing!" Liam said with a look of pride in his eyes."Yeah, baby. What's your friend's name?" Carmen asked, unable to stop smiling.With an excited
The office was silent as Carmen stared coldly at Ali, wondering what she would say to her.At last, she lowered her brows and said, "We are not that close, so let's save the chit chat, and you can excuse yourself and leave.""Oh come on, Carm. Don't tell me you are still holding onto past grudges." Ali cunningly said, sluggishly relaxing back on the seat.Although Carmen didn't know where the conversation was heading, the last thing she wanted was to continue it.So she looked straight into Ali's eyes and said, "We are not doing this.""Doing what?" Ali asked with an innocent expression."I k
"Ding Dong!"Withdrawing his hand from on the doorbell, Liam waited patiently for a couple of seconds.Then he reached for the bell again, but the door suddenly opened, and Carmen stood in the doorway, staring at him."I hope I'm not too early," Liam mumbled, drawing his hand to his side."No. You are on time." Carmen said as she stepped aside for him to enter.After walking into the hallway, Liam gazed back and asked, "Where's Ethan?""He's having his breakfast," Carmen said, shutting the door.Afterward, she and Liam headed into the dining room together.When they arrived, and Liam sight rested on his son, his face lit up, and he excitedly uttered, "Hey bud. Ready for your first day of school?"Pouting, Ethan looked away from his cereal, stared at Carmen, and mumbled, "Mommy, why can't you be the one to take me to school.""We talked about this, honey. Your dad doesn't have much to do today, so he's
"Mommy," Ethan called out, looking at Carmen before staring down at her vibrating phone.Then he gently shook her arm until she finally raised her lashes and stared at him.Still feeling dizzy, a soft smile crept on her lips as she stared at her son's grey eyes and long lashes."What is it, baby?" Carmen whispered."Your phone is ringing," Ethan mumbled, drawing back on the bed as his mother sat up.It took her a second to fully awake. Then she stared down at her phone, picked it up, and answered the call."Good morning, mother," Carmen said, raffling Ethan's hair as he giggled faintly."I know it's early. But I and your father was discussing, and we thought since you have spent four months on that end, you are ready to take over the SM branch there." Mrs. Smith's voice echoed into her ear.Keeping silent, Carmen rested back on the headboard and thought, 'Four months? It's been that long already?'"What did Carm say?" Sh
For a while, Lina stared at her son, wondering if he was serious or not."I ready don't want to repeat what I said," Liam mumbled, gazing away from her. "You need to leave.""I am your mother," Lina whispered, clutching her fist."Remember the days in the darkroom, when I was screaming to be let out, I needed you to be my mother then or when Anthony and Levi left bruises on my skin and made me bleed, I wanted you to be my mother…""Liam…""There were so many instances that are needed you so desperately to realize that I am your son and put me first! But you didn't!""I'm…""I'm not going to be like you, mother. My child comes first even before the woman that brought me into this world, so you need to leave!"Fighting back tears, Carmen clapped her hand over her trembling lips as she stared at Liam with a touch of sadness in her eyes."I know my wrongs." Lina cried, not knowing what else to say.
Staring coldly at his grandfather, Liam scowled before gazing at his mother and saying, "It was supposed to be just you!""Well, when father found out that I was seeing Ethan, he wanted to meet him too, so he flew over to me for us to come together," Lina said, smiling at her son.However, that didn't change Liam's expression, and his eyes got colder the more he stared at his grandfather."Are you going to let us in?" Anthony asked, scowling at his grandson.The atmosphere was intense, and Carmen felt it as she approached Liam at the door."Mr. Davis?" Carmen mumbled, losing control over her expression for a second and frowning.Then she quickly curved her lips into a smile and calmly called out, "Liam, are you not going to step back?"Taking in a deep breath, Liam continued to give his grandfather an icy stare for a few minutes before allowing himself to step away from the door.Everything in him hated to see Anthony and