CARMENI took slow steps towards Jasper’s mother, a faint smile on my face as I bent in front of her and placed my hands on hers.“Can you see me?” I questioned, but her eyes were no longer focused on me as they had been when I was standing a few feet away. They were focused on the spot where I was standing earlier.“I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, I’m sure you already know who I am by now. I’m Carmen, your daughter-in-law. I don’t really know what Jasper’s like – we didn’t exactly fall in love the way people normally do,” I laughed.I looked around, not sure why I was about to say what I wanted to say next.“If you can hear me, respond by squeezing my hands if you can,” I whispered.It wasn’t fair to suspect that she was pretending to be disabled, but it could be if she had something to be afraid of or someone to spy on. Frank, perhaps.I waited in silence, my eyes filled with expectation and curiosity as I waited for her to squeeze my hand
CARMENI placed the glass of water on the bedside table as I raised my brows at him.“You didn’t tell me your mom lives here,” I told him, a little upset that he made me wait until now to tell me that there was a chance that his mother had heard us have sex.“She’s not here right now,” he told me with a soft smile on his face. “I just wanted to tell you before she would return. She’ll be spending a day or two at my dad’s place, but this is where she prefers to stay. When I’m out, I’m sure she will make good company when you both get used to each other.”I nodded at him, wondering what it would be like with her at home and nobody else. She couldn’t speak, so it would just be me talking to myself.That night, I slept in Jasper’s arms, blocking every thought of Dave that tried to seep into my mind.The next morning, I found Jasper getting ready for work as soon as I woke up
CARMENI had watched Terri put Jasper’s mom to bed and tuck her in. Now, she was sitting in front of me, in her wheelchair and staring at me.“What…” I hurried towards her and pushed the chair into my bedroom. “How did you get out of bed? How did you make it out here? Is Terri back?”As I asked the last question, I opened the door and scanned the hallway to see if Terri was standing there and waiting for me to find out about her little prank, but there was nobody there.I closed the door and turned around, heading back to the woman who was still staring at me.“You wanted to tell me something?” I asked, bending to meet her eyes.I took her hands and squeezed, urging her to squeeze back and show me any sign that she was still there and she knew what she was doing, but she only kept her mouth open, taking in short breaths as if trying hard to propel words from her mouth but couldn’t muster enough strength.Finally, she settled for mouthing the words instead of trying to say them, and I
CARMENFor the rest of the day, Terri and I barely spoke to each other. She had walked away from the kitchen after her warning, and the next time I saw her was when she went back into the kitchen to get water for Mariah.Jasper arrived later that evening, finding me in the bedroom.“You look gloomy. Are you okay?” he questioned with his brows raised and a smirk on his face.“I’m fine,” I told him, standing up and walking towards him to bury myself in his hug. I took deep breaths as I felt his heart beating against my chest. I didn’t know what to believe or think of him, but I knew that it would be bad to act suspiciously just one day after I started living with him.“We’ll have to go see the family tomorrow night. We’re having a family dinner. They say it’s one more get-together now that we’re married.”My heart was deflated at the thought of seeing the family one more time, especially if Dave was going to be there. If he addressed the letter, I didn’t know how to tell him that it had
CARMENI turned my phone face down against the table as I glanced at Jasper. He seemed to have noticed that I was out of it, and he wrapped an arm around me.“Is something wrong?” he inquired.“No.” I shook my head. “I’m just a little hungry. Let’s eat.”He nodded in approval, taking his hand off my shoulder and digging into his food as everyone around the table continued their small talks with each other, unaware of the panic brewing in my head.I figured that nobody at the table had sent that text, because they were all too busy and nobody was with their phones.“So, Carmen,” Nova started, smiling at me as if she had something to say that she knew I would not like. “How’s marriage treating you? You’re happy, right?”“Yes. It’s been great, thanks for asking,” I answered, my lips spread in a thin smile.“That’s great,” Kate chipped in. “Have you two talked about your honeymoon yet? Dave and I were thinking that we could have a double honeymoon if you two haven’t decided yet. We’ll lea
CARMEN“What do you want to do with it?” I frowned at Jasper in suspicion as he stretched his hand forward for me to hand him my phone.“Let me see it, Carmen. You need to block the number,” he said, alarm written all over his face as he started to heave.“You know something, and you’re hiding it from me,” I noted, but he reached for my purse.“What are you doing?!” I snapped, dragging the purse back and holding it to my chest. “Why are you acting this way? Who’s Emily? Are you hiding something—”“How did she get your number? That woman is crazy, Carmen. You need to block her number immediately,” he told me, his eyes wild. There was a high chance that he would keep insisting if I didn’t assure him that I would block the number.But it was a man who had called me.“Not until you tell me who she is,” I said, standing my ground.“Emily is someone I used to date,” he finally admitted. “She was obsessed with taking control of my life, and I only realized it when it was too late. I had to g
CARMEN“Let me have it, Carmen,” Jasper ordered me, outstretching his hand for me to place my phone on his palm. At that point, I knew that there was no lying to get out of it; he had heard me talking to Emily.“You don’t understand, Jasper. I just…” I pulled the phone away from my ear, hanging up and placing the phone behind my back to avert his attention from it, but that only triggered him even more.“Let me have the phone, Carmen!” he demanded even louder this time, stepping forward as if ready to take the phone away from me in an instant if I didn’t do it.“I wanted to be sure,” I said as I gave in and fixed the phone in his hand.“You wanted to be sure about something that I had already told you?” He narrowed his eyes at me as he asked. “You do know that trust is a key factor in marriage, right? If you don’t trust me, how are things going to work between us? How are we ever going to get past the circumstances surrounding our marriage?”I wanted to know that I could trust him, an
CARMENDave and I pulled away from each other in panic as we looked at the person who had walked in and caught us in the act – Nova.“Oh, my God,” she said again, her voice airy as she stepped back and looked at us in disbelief. “I knew it! I had my suspicions, but my sister kept shutting me out and claiming that she trusted you! How could you do this…”“Nova, this doesn’t have to get out of hand like this,” Dave told her, getting off the bed and putting on his clothes. I did the same, keeping my eye on her and hoping that she would not run out of there to announce it to everyone she saw on the way.“What does that even mean? Do you expect me to keep quiet about this?” Her eyes met with mine, and they blazed with rage. “She still believes you’re a good friend of hers, Carmen! How could you do this? He’s your stepbrother, for Christ’s sake!”“I’m sorry,” was the only thing I could mutter, pitiful and filled with nothing but shame.“Just wait until everybody finds out. How are you going