Obsessed? Yes, that was what I was. I was obsessed, madly in love with a man who never cared an ounce about me.
Should I be happy that the death of Sherry liberated Caleb? If I were to choose between losing Sherry to grant Caleb’s freedom or having both of them subdued in my obsessive claws forever, which would I choose? A tear dropped from my eyes as I stared at the street I drive through every day. A street I don’t think I will ever visit again. “Wait,” I called out to the chauffeur and he decelerated the car, craning his head to glance at me. “Take me to Caleb’s family Villa.” I need to visit his parents. Leaving like that without a word from me will seem disrespectful Though, I never shared a good relationship with his family, especially his mom, they are still people that I cherish and respect. I can’t just walk away like nothing happened. They need to know about the divorce too. I rested my head on the headrest as the chauffeur swerved to the right, heading to the Thompson’s Villa. “Madam, are we going to the cemetery too?” The chauffeur asked as he pulled into the large exquisite garage. “No, not now,” I replied. I tried so hard to compose myself as I stepped out of the car. I took a long sharp breath before ambling into the huge glassy mansion before me. The family was having lunch when I walked in. I noticed the atmosphere change when my presence was revealed. Mrs. Cassandra Thompson, Caleb’s mom, glanced in my direction and the lovely smile splattered across her face seconds ago disappeared. Juliet Thompson, Caleb’s younger sister, scoffed and knowingly threw down the fork in her hand. The only one who smiled at me was James Thompson, Caleb’s father. I ignored their cold reaction and walked towards them, faking a smile. “Good day Father, good day Mother,” I muttered out. My ex-father-in-law nodded, muttering a response. “I don’t see anything good about the afternoon,” My ex-mother-in-law scoffed. “Yes, I agree with you, mom,” I replied. Mrs. Cassandra snapped her head in my direction in shock. For the first time in seven years, I concord with her words. I knew that reaction would occur, I’ve been a bad daughter-in-law, the worst. I am no longer their unwanted daughter-in-law, so, why should I continue to make them feel uncomfortable? “Sherry’s death must still have a terrific effect on you, even though you were the cause of her death,” Juliet sassed. I felt a stab in my chest. Her venomous words struck me like a poisonous arrow, shattering every bit of my heart. I swallowed hard and forced myself to smile at her words. Juliet frowned, placing the cup of coffee on the table. She looked at me in bewilderment and snarled, “What’s funny?” “I and Caleb have decided to move on,” I began to break the news. “Hmmm,” Mrs. Cassandra muttered. Juliet furrowed her brows, unconcerned, and picked up her cup of coffee again. Mr. James stared at me confusedly. “What do you mean?” Juliet asked. “We are getting divorced.” The cup of coffee fell out of Juliet’s hands and shattered, Mrs. Cassandra’s eyes almost popped out of her sockets as she stared at me, jaw dropped. Mr. James didn’t look surprised like his wife and daughter. He only smiled. “How did you take this occurrence?” Mr. James asked. “If Caleb is happy with it then I have no problem. I have signed the papers, call Caleb and tell him that. He is not supposed to remain outside his home any longer.” “Wait… wait… what?” Juliet stammered. “You mean, you finally got back to your senses?” Mrs. Cassandra muttered. “Yes,” I nodded. “I used to be mad that I and Caleb never work out but now I know that sometimes it’s better to let someone go.” A smile slowly formed on my ex-mother-in-law’s face. It broke into a grin and then a wild laughter. “I’m so happy you changed your mind. Congratulations on your divorce!” she yelled, grinning from ear to ear. “You seem to be jinxed, first, you lost your daughter and now you and my brother are divorced. Anyways, it’s good news for us, the best news I have received in a while,” Juliet grinned. James snapped a glare at her and she rolled her eyes, looking away. “Are you happy about this?” Mr. James asked. He didn’t look happy. “Of course she is! She admitted it to her, didn’t she?” Mrs. Cassandra blurted out, glancing at Juliet. Juliet nodded quickly. “I want to say thank you for everything you all have done for me. I know you were never in support of my marriage to Caleb, but you accepted me as a family member. Mom, you will always be the toughest and most beautiful mother-in-law I will ever have.” Mrs. Cassandra was startled by my words. “Juliet, I hope you find a man who will love you forever. I pray you never get into a loveless marriage. Don’t worry, you’re a beautiful, smart girl, you find a perfect match.” Juliet’s jaws dropped and her face paled. “Father, how do I thank you? You’ve been the best father I have ever had, you took me in when no one did. You loved me more than everyone in my life, you were my bedrock, my advisor, you didn’t want a perfect Rosy, you just wanted Rosy Connor. I don’t think I will ever come across someone like you ever again.” Tears dropped from my eyes as I appreciated my ex-father-in-law. I swore earlier that I wouldn’t break down and cry in front of them, but this was different. I wasn’t crying because of the divorce, I was crying because I had lost people who meant the world to me. I have lost Sherry, Caleb, my parents-in-law, and my sister-in-law. I have lost everything. I wouldn’t call Mr. James Thompson my father anymore, and neither would I call Cassandra Thompson my mother anymore. “Come,” he stretched out his hands. I wiped the streaks of tears on my face with the back of my palm and walked towards him. I walked into his arms and let him engulf me in a warm embrace. This might be the last, I had to enjoy while it lasted. We broke the hug and I glanced at Mrs. Cassandra and Juliet, smiling sadly at them. Guilt washed over their face. They found it impossible to look at my face. “I …I will miss you all,” I stammered and spun around, heading towards the door. “Rosy…” I heard Cassandra call, I crooned my head. She shut her eyes and sighed, waving me off with her hands. I nodded and continued my walk. As I reached for the doorknob, the door swung open and I came face to face with Caleb.Caleb looked shocked to find me in his parent’s house. His well-pointed nose flared and his grey eyes darkened as he balled his fist. He must have thought I came to cry about the divorce from his parents. I sighed, and put on my sunglasses. “I have signed the divorce papers, your parents will tell you the rest,” I said. “Huh?” Caleb muttered, his eyes widening in shock. “Goodbye,” I mumbled and walked out of the house. I felt Caleb’s eyes on my back as I disappeared into the garage. The chauffeur opened the car door and I got in, sighing repeatedly. I faced Caleb without fear or intimidation. We are no longer couples, we are exes. Caleb is no longer the boy I fell in love with, he is no longer the guy I shared my first passionate kiss with. Caleb is my ex. “Where do we go?” the chauffeur asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Take me to the cemetery.” He nodded and ignited the car. My eyes lingered on their building as the car rolled away. I remembe
CALEB The music from the speaker drowned my friends’ squabbling. I sighed for the umpteenth, ruffling my hair in confusion. I made her leave, though, I know I made the right decision, I was finally free from her. But, why don’t I feel relaxed and happy? I should be drinking and chatting with my friends, but, here I am, sitting obscurely away from them. “Hey, Caleb, what’s wrong with you?” Kim asked, waving his hands across my face. I sighed and forced myself to draw closer to them. Julius and Casper ended their childish squabble, their eyes bored into me, expecting an answer that I didn’t know how to give. Julius is engaged, though it’s a marriage allegiance between his family and Sophie, but he never seems to have a problem with it, as far as his numerous affairs don’t affect their relationship. Casper is still single, but not searching or ready to settle down. He’s a dangerous flirt. I can’t count how many times I have caught him flirting with Rosy while we w
5 years later ROSY The customized shrill ringtone of my phone blared out, making me snap my eyes open. I groaned, wondering who was distorting my blissful sleep. I propped up on an elbow and scrambled for my phone which repeatedly kept ringing in the drawer. I dug it out of the pile of books filled up in the drawer, and glanced at the screen, half awake. “Evan?” I muttered. A smile crept into my face as the name flashed back and forth on the screen. Taking a deep breath, I accepted the call and placed the phone on my ear, waiting to hear the enchanting voice of my fiancé. “Honey, still sleeping?” his assiduous voice boomed into my ear. “Ugh huh,” I muttered in reply. He chuckled lightly and my cheeks heated up. “I’m thinking of coming over for breakfast, what do you say?” Evan asked. The heat on my face intensified at the mention of ‘breakfast’. I knew what Evan’s breakfast was like, it always comes with a lot of hot make-outs and kissing.
ROSY The receiver dropped from my shaky hands. My heartbeat increased, it felt like my heart would explode from my chest soon. I gasped, staggered back and almost fell to the ground. Evan caught me by my waist and led me to a couch. My body shivered in fright, I felt like I would die the next minute. Even though my father and I never had a daughter-and-father relationship. I still love him so much. Is everything going to be alright? Is my dad safe? Different negative thoughts ran through my head. “I need to head back to Sicily. I can’t spend a minute here any longer.” I sprang up before Evan could try to stop me. In a mad dash, I headed into my room and ran to my wardrobe, dragging out some of the clothes in it. I flung out a suitcase and started piling the clothes into the suitcase. “You should take it easy, don’t rush too much. You might end up hurting yourself,” Evan spoke up behind me. “I’m fine,” I snapped huskily, dumping the last batch of clot
I stood, dazed, as I glared at Karen. “What do you mean? Emma is coming back?” I snapped. “Are you deaf or something?” Karen snapped back, rolling her eyes in disgust. I sighed and slumped into a chair. Why does she have to come back Emma is my younger sister, my stepsister to be precise. Emma is just like her mother, pretentious and vicious. She is the most terrifying being I have ever come across in my entire life. It was never a tag-along for Emma and me, her mom did a fantastic job of poisoning her mind against me. “Soon, Emma will be the chief director of the Connor Foundation and also the CEO of the Connor group of companies.” Karen chuckled, narrowing her eyes at me. A surge of anger washed through me as I glared at her. How dare she wish for that in this delicate situation? Have she no remorse for my dad? A feeling of raw hatred sprang up inside of me. I didn’t care about causing a scene any longer. I felt like ripping off her hair from her scalp. “You’
“Bad news?” Karen fidgeted. My heartbeat accelerated as we anticipated a not-so-positive answer from the doctor. “We tried our possible best to save Mr. Connor…” he trailed, glancing down at his feet. “And…and what?” I stuttered, shoving past Emma. “Ugh huh?” Karen muttered. I could see fear building up in her eyes as she stared at the doctor. Emma didn’t feel moved, she crossed her hands against her chest and turned up her lips in disgust. “Just spill it already and stop wasting our time!” She snapped and regretted it as Karen shot her a glare. “Mr. Connor is dead.” My heart stopped beating, my eyes rolled up and the white smooth walls of the waiting room spun around me. I felt my head grow light and my feet get heavy. I couldn’t stop myself from staggering back. It felt like a force was dragging me farther away from them. “My… my father is dead?” Emma’s stammering filtered into my ear and I tried to shake off the dizziness seeping into my head. “What
The funeral service went smoothly even though they were a lot of hate, malice, and pretense between us, we put up a façade that we were on the same page concerning my father’s death. The real truth is that I was the one who felt shattered and broken by his death, Karen and Emma were the total opposite. When I watched my father being dropped six feet down, it struck me that all my dreams of reconciliation with him had been buried. How tragic can life be? I couldn’t even spend a moment of pure bliss with my dad before his unexpected demise. Same with Sherry, even though we were always happy, that ominous day was different. Sherry never heard me mutter a word of forgiveness till she died, I only heard myself screaming those words of forgiveness when the ashes had settled on the ground, when I never saw a glimpse of that smiling angel again. My dad never forgave me either, or did he? Did he forgive me on his deathbed, in my absence? When he knew he was going to take h
I couldn’t be less grateful as I sat in a corner, watching the guests drift away in little groups. No one bothered to talk to me, they all pretended that I didn’t exist, and those who mistakenly noticed me threw a hateful scowl at me. “Hey, I will see you later. I have to go now,” Veronica whispered beside me. I diverted my attention towards her and nodded sulkily. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay at my place?” She asked for the umpteenth time. I shook my head negatively. Veronica sighed in frustration and stood up. “Alright then, take care and ignore Karen.” “I have always been doing that,” I muttered. Veronica faked a smile and walked out of the building, ignoring the lustful stares she was getting from men. I got up and ascended the stairs without attracting toxic attention towards me. As I closed my bedroom door behind me, I slipped down to the floor and then let the bitter angry tears spill out in great measure. My hands clenched the hem of my