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 remember the first day I visited this house. I had come with my parents for a dinner night with the Thompsons. Caleb was just fourteen and I was ten. I had fallen in love with him at first sight, though I only loved him like a brother then. When I turned twelve, my feelings for him bloomed every day. This house became my home. I always looked forward to dining with them. Mrs. Cassandra became a mother to me, she loved me so much that people who didn’t know our family roots thought I was Juliet’s elder sister. Juliet looked up to me as a sister figure. We were always there for each other. They loved me selflessly, but I loved them because I was in love with their son. Perhaps, they discovered my schemes when the wedding came up and hated me passionately. It is not their fault that they hate me, they couldn’t help it. I deserve all the hate and misfortune. I was the hated daughter, the unwanted daughter-in-law, the unloved wife, and the reckless mother. I was Rosy Connor, the thieving witch! The car jerked to a violent stop and my head bounced forward, almost throwing me off my seat. I gasped, snapping out of my reverie. My eyes wandered around the driver’s seat and glared at the driver. “What are you doing?” I snapped, trying to control my heavy breathing. “I’m sorry ma’am, I wanted to hand you a handkerchief,” he said, dangling a white silver-lined handkerchief in his hands. That was when I noticed the ball of tears rolling down my cheeks. My anger and fear vanished. “Thank you,” I muttered, collecting the handkerchief. “Are you okay, ma’am, did something happen?” the chauffeur asked, his eyes rheumy in worry. I shook my head. “Let us go to the cemetery, I need to get home quickly,” my voice cracked as I spoke. He seemed to notice and kept his gaze on me. “It’s about Sherry, it’s nothing much,” I faked a smile. “I’m sorry about her loss,” he said and faced the road, igniting the car again. I sighed and strapped the seatbelt. I closed my eyes, trying hard not to think about my present situation. I felt the car stop moving and opened my eyes. “Have we arrived?” I asked. “Yes ma’am.” I stepped out of the car and breathed in sharply. I walked into the cemetery. As I shuffled towards Sherry’s grave, my vision blurred. I slumped down in front of the grave and read the words engraved on the tombstone. ‘SHERRY THOMPSON 26/4/2016 –7/5/2023 May the flowers that fell too early become a bright star in the sky.’ “My baby,” I mumbled, running my fingers over the words. “I and your dad got a divorce today. He says he doesn’t want me in his life anymore.” “Everyone hates me and blames me for your death. Do you hate me too, Sherry? Will you ever forgive me for letting a beautiful flower fall too early?” tears stung my eyes and poured down my cheeks. “Will you ever forgive me?” I sniffled and cupped my face into my palm. Pain, regret, and sorrow stabbed me multiple times. How long I stayed at Sherry’s graveside, I couldn’t tell. Only the rain that dropped on my face pointed out that I had stayed there for hours. I felt numb, I felt shattered, I felt dead. I read the words scribbled down on the tombstone. I read it over and over again till it became blurry lines. My body shook and my toes and fingers started to freeze. I felt my head swirling around and my eyes dilating. I couldn’t control myself anymore, my body dropped to the ground in paralysis. I tried to scream, my lips only moved but no words came out. My heavy eyelids began to shut against my will. Am I going to die? Will I join Sherry soon? If that happens, then I will be happy. I just want to go with my baby. I heard running footsteps approach me as the rain fell harder, I didn’t move from my position. An umbrella shielded me from the dreadful shower and a strong pair of hands shook me. “Rosy! Rosy!” Who was that? The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place the owner. My eyes snapped open and my blurred vision returned. “Rosy! Open your eyes, Rosy, open your eyes!” “Caleb, is that you? Why are you back?” I muttered, unsure if I was hallucinating. The hands clasped around my shoulder withdrew and silence fell over the place. “Ma’am, it’s me. The chauffeur” heard a calm reply. I was cupped into his arms and he plodded towards the car. He dropped me into the passenger’s seat and got into the car. “I should take you home, ma’am,” he breathed out, sneezing. “No,” I whispered. “Huh?” He mumbled, leaning back to hear me. “Take me to my parent’s house.” “Why?” he shot his head back in confusion. “I am no longer married, I am divorced.” “What? Divorced?” he muttered in shock. “Take me to my dad, that’s why I brought my bags.” He nodded and didn’t ask further questions. Before we got to my parent’s mansion, I was able to regain full consciousness of my environment. He pulled the door open and I staggered out of the car. The chauffeur held me from falling to the ground. I gently pushed him away, assuring him that I was fine. I staggered out of our garage and walked to the front of the house. I knocked timidly on the door, my heart beating loudly. A maid chipped a response from within the house and the double door was unlocked and pulled away. Her face paled when she saw my state. “Miss Rosy, what happened to you, what are you doing here at this time?” she inquired. “Is my dad in?” I asked. She nodded and made way for my entrance. I staggered into the home I had always eluded and wished never to return to. My parents were having dinner when I entered. “Honey, look at this designer bag, I…” Karen, my stepmom trailed and blood drained off from her face as she gapped at me. “Rosy! What are you doing here?” Karen, as she has always told me to call her, sprang up. My dad dropped his phone and glared at me. “Shouldn’t you be at your husband’s place, what are you doing here by this time?” my dad snapped, glaring at my intrusion. I have always been an unwanted member of my family. The chauffeur rolled my suitcases into the living room and they stared at it dumbfounded. “Well, unfortunately, I don’t have a husband anymore,” I muttered. “What… what do you mean?” Karen stammered, her eyes bulging out. “What’s with the suitcases, Rosy?” my dad asked, pointing at the suitcases behind me. I stared at my parents, anger and regret building up in my eyes. I sniffed and glared at them with rheumy and sad eyes. “Mom, Dad. I am back.”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
“Wait… wait… what?” Karen stuttered, her eyeballs bulged out. Emma gasped, swinging her head in my direction, her jaws were dropped in abashment. I stared at them, dazed. I couldn’t understand a single action displayed before me. The only thing on my mind was “Get away from here, Rosy!” What does he mean by me becoming the future heiress of the Connor’s fortune? I don’t even have the right to my dad’s company, talk more of becoming an heiress. Perhaps he was mistaken, I and Emma’s name must have put him in a confused state. “Do you mean Emma?” Karen asked, my eyes caught her shaking fingers and I realized that this wasn’t the joke at all. “He said Rosy,” Mr. Jones replied, narrowing his eyes at Karen. He never liked her right from the day my dad introduced her to him. I can still vividly remember that day because it was my fifth birthday anniversary. “I was just joking, I only said that due to the way you two treated her,” Mr. Hamilton apologized, chuckli