SARAHMelanie and I drove far from town and I had no idea when we would reach our destination.Finally, after driving for what felt like an eternity, Melanie stopped the car in front of a very old, small house."Where are we?" I asked, feeling a little scared."This is where my grandparents used to live before they died," Melanie explained.Melanie went inside, but I stayed behind, unsure if I should follow her in. "Come on, Sarah," Melanie said, signaling for me to come with her.Reluctantly, I followed Melanie into the house. And oh my goodness, it was a mess! It looked like nobody had set foot in there for ages.Suddenly, a foul stench hit my nose, making me gag. I desperately whipped out my handkerchief and held it tight against my nose to block out the stink.Scanning the walls, I spotted a big, dusty picture of two little girls that looked so much alike. It had to be Melanie and Isabelle."Where's Isabelle?" I asked Melanie, who had just come back from
LEOSarah's phone was off the whole time I was trying to reach her, making me more anxious. I went to the police station to report Sarah missing, but they said they couldn't do anything until 24 hours had passed.As I drove home feeling helpless, my phone started ringing. It was Melanie calling."Leo..Leo..it's me, Melanie," she said, out of breath."I know it's you. Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on," I said, trying to calm her down."I'm at your house right now. Where are you?" she asked."I'm on my way home. Is something wrong?" I asked, starting to feel a strange sense of unease. Then I remembered that she had gone out with my wife. But before I could say anything else, she hung up. I stepped on the gas and raced home.As I parked in front of my house, I saw Melanie's car parked outside, and she came running toward me."What happened, Melanie? Where's my wife? Where is Sarah?" I bombarded her with questions."They took her, Leo! Emma.. Emma took
SARAHEmma ordered her men to quickly pack everything and relocate. She knew that someone might come looking for her because Melanie knew her whereabouts.Suddenly, I was blindfolded and forced into a car. The journey felt never-ending, and I felt trapped inside, struggling to breathe. Unable to control my discomfort, I unexpectedly vomited, splashing one of the guys next to me."What the heck!" he exclaimed, disgusted.I couldn't respond, I was feeling weak and on the verge of throwing up even more.But I couldn't hold it in any longer. With a sudden force, I bent over and expelled a lot of vomit in the car.Furious, the guy I had just vomited on ripped off my blindfold and hit me hard on the head."What's wrong with you?" he demanded, feeling irritated.Emma, who had been driving, pulled over when she saw how much worse my condition was getting."I think she's sick," the guy next to me by my left said, feeling sorry for me."Loosen her hands. We're going to
MELANIE.I'd been dodging Leo and Sarah like a ninja ever since the kidnapping fiasco because the guilt was eating me alive.But damn, my twin sister, Isabelle, was acting like Emma's little puppet, and was driving me insane. Why the hell would she hang around someone like Emma? I tried calling Isabelle, but she blocked my calls like I was some telemarketer.On a lazy Saturday morning, my phone buzzed with Sarah's name flashing on the screen. Panic raced through my veins, leaving me frozen. She called again... and again... and again. I finally caved and answered."Hey, it's Sarah," she said."I'd like you to drop by my house today. I'd like us to talk. "Now, I didn't want to see Sarah's face or step foot in her house for that matter. So, I scrambled to come up with an excuse."Uh... I'm so sorry, but I'm feeling under the weather today. I don't think I can make it," I lied, hoping she'd buy it.She took a moment, then replied, "No worries, Melanie. I'll come ove
LEOSarah was in the midst of a difficult labor. Despite her pain, all I could do was offer her words of encouragement while holding her hand, leaving the doctor and his team to do their job."I'm so tired. I don't think I can do this anymore," Sarah's voice was weak, and tears were already streaming down her face."You're strong, Sarah. You can do this," I tried to encourage her, even though I was scared myself. "She needs to have a C-section. There's a small complication, and if we don't act quickly, the babies might suffocate, and they could end up dying" The doctor explained to me after he had taken me to a corner to let me know of the challenges. Babies? Did I hear that right?I was surprised by the news, but there was no time for questions. I gave them the green light for the operation. This time, I had to wait outside with Melanie.As I stepped out, I found Melanie sitting on the floor with her sister Isabelle. She pointed towards a young boy who had
SARAH After my baby girl was born, everything seemed to magically change. It was like our problems had vanished into thin air. Isabelle, the one who had caused so much trouble, turned herself into the police and told them her side of the story. Surprisingly, she only got a one-year prison sentence as an accomplice. Thank goodness it wasn't too harsh. But then, out of nowhere, Clara stopped showing up to work. She didn't even bother to resign or ask for permission. She simply vanished. I felt the urge to call her several times, but then I remembered that we were on bad terms. My cousin Emma had promised to make my life miserable, but it seemed like she had given up. We almost forgot she existed. The guys who helped her kidnap Raya were already in prison, getting what they deserved. But then, something caught my attention. Leo started coming back home later than usual for more than a week now. And whenever I asked him about it, he always blamed it on bad traffic. One day, I was at
SARAH17 YEARS LATER Carolyn stormed into the house, slamming the door with a bang. She plopped herself onto the sofa and propped her leg up on the center table."What's your problem, Caro? Get your feet off the table now!" I demanded.She rolled her eyes at me and reluctantly took her legs down."What's going on, Caro? And where's your brother?" I asked."I don't know, and I don't care!" She spat.Just then, Jake entered and came over to me, planting a kiss on my cheek."Good afternoon, Mom," he greeted and started to walk away, but I called him back, noticing how strangely calm he seemed. It was unusual for him."Come here, Jake," I said, pulling him back. "I'm fine, mom. Really," he reassured."But I haven't even said anything yet, and you're already responding! What's going on?" He stood before me, rolling up his shirt sleeve to reveal a fresh wound on his hand."Oh my goodness, Jake! Who did this to you?" I asked in shock."Guess what? Big bro got into a
SARAHJake was a quiet boy, rarely speaking and often hard to read. I couldn't help but worry about how he would handle my mother-in-law staying with us for a whole month.I was furious with my husband for not telling me about his mother's plan to visit, let alone her plans to stay for so long. Who knew, she might even decide to stay even longer than that!Now, Grandma was here, along with me and my son Jake. Leo had suggested that I try to get the two of them to bond and become more familiar with each other. But I thought it was a ridiculous idea. Grandma had never shown any interest in connecting with Jake, only with Carolyn. It was painfully obvious that she disliked Jake.I whipped up a batch of tasty fries for Grandma and called on Jake to bring them over. But when he came back, he was fuming and upset. If he were a girl, I bet he would have bawled his eyes out."What's the matter, son?" I asked, holding his face gently.Leo came home hours later, but Jake was still missing. Unab
SARAH“What the hell are you doing?” I blurted out. I had been standing by the door, watching Emily tamper with Leo's drip. It looked suspicious.Emily quivered when she heard my voice. She turned to me with a scowl and snapped, “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m just fixing the drip pipe.”I walked into the ward, crossing my arms. “Since when did you become a doctor or a nurse to know how to handle drips?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.Emily shot me a glare and sat back gently on the chair, her hand resting protectively on her pregnant belly. Caro, who had been right behind me, quickly walked past me over to Emily. She grabbed Emily’s hand and held it tightly.“What are you hiding under your sleeve?” Caro demanded.Emily yanked her hand away and snapped, “I’m not hiding anything! Get out, both of you!”Suddenly, a nurse walked into the ward. “You all need to leave,” she said firmly. “You’re disturbing the patient. He needs to rest.”Emily stood up quickly. “Fine, I’ll leave. I’m t
SARAH I cried as Leo was wheeled away from me, his hand dangling off the stretcher. My hands were still sticky with his blood. "Please," I choked out to the nurse who held me back from following him."Please, I need to be with him."She gave my arm a gentle squeeze. "He's in the best hands, ma'am. We'll do our very best." But her words were drowned out by the roaring in my ears, the fear that clawed at my throat. What if their very best was not enough? The nurse left me then, and I crumpled to the floor, burying my face in my hands. Suddenly, a voice pierced through my despair. "Leo! Where's Leo?"I looked up and saw Emily. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with panic as she ran towards my direction. Her gaze fell on me and then on the bloodstains that marred my clothes. Her hand flew to her mouth to to hold herself from screaming as she stood motionless, staring at me with tears in her eyes. For a moment, I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.But then the memory of her bet
SARAHMy hands trembled as I gripped the steering wheel. The address Emma sent – a jumble of numbers and a street name I'd never heard of – was leading me further and further away from the city. Emma. Just the name sent a shiver down my spine. Not because she was scary, not exactly. But because of what she was capable of. What she threatened to do to Caro if I didn't follow her instructions to the letter. "Come alone, Sarah," her text message had read, the words burning themselves into my memory. "And don't even think about calling the police. You know what's at stake."The memory of Raya's kidnapping, years ago, flashed in my mind. The same feeling of helplessness, the same knot of fear twisting in my gut. But this time, it was my own daughter on the line. My beat-up Honda coughed its way to a stop in front of the address Emma had sent. No doubt about it, this was the place. Except "place" didn't quite cover it. It was more like a fortress. A ten-foot-tall iron gate blocked t
SARAH One morning, as I was getting ready for work, my daughter Caro showed up in her nightie, totally out of the blue. Normally, she'd be getting ready for school at this time. "Mum, I'll be going for a special trip today," Caro announced. "A trip?" I asked, confused. "Yes, it's an excursion for my class. Didn't I tell you about it a few weeks ago? And I'm sure they announced it in school too," Caro explained. Suddenly, it all came back to me. The principal had indeed mentioned something about the final year students going on an excursion. My head was already full with worry. She wouldn't blame for for being forgetful. "Alright, whatever," I managed to say, not bothering to inquire further about the details. I figured it was a school-related activity, so it should be safe enough to let her go. With that thought in mind, I rushed off to school as I was almost running late. I was in the middle of teaching my students when my phone rang, disrupting the class. It was the principal
SARAHI regretted being married to Leo. If only I had gotten along with Julian, my ex-boyfriend, things would have been different. But now, Leo canceled our joint accounts, leaving me and my kids in poverty. To survive, I had to be incredibly careful with money.The next few days were tough. Our son, Jake, came back home but he kept threatening to run away if Leo didn't come back too. No matter how much I pleaded with Jake to give his father more time, he didn't listen. It seemed like my words fell on deaf ears. I had no choice but to visit Leo at his office.I walked into his office nervously, with my heart pounding. I couldn't believe it had come to this. I had to confront him face-to-face and find a way to change his mind.In my best suit, a gift from Leo on my last birthday, I anxiously waited outside his office. Leo had been preoccupied with other people and made me wait. I wondered what to expect - the sympathetic Leo I've always known or a love-sick man? To my surprise, a cold
Jake slammed his hands on the table and glared at everyone. "I've lost my appetite!" he exclaimed, stood up and stormed out. "Me too," Caro added, and followed suit. "Don't worry about the kids, they'll come around," Mother-in-law said, clearly pleased with what Leo had said. My heart was heavy, my mind raced, and my thoughts were chaotic. Was Leo really talking about me? I couldn't even find the words to speak. "Why did you do that?" Lucas, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "What?" Leo pretended not to know. He looked at Emily, who was still standing beside Leo, but she seemed too clueless to understand his stare. "Leave now or you'll hate me forever!" Lucas's voice boomed, and she ran out without hesitation. "Why did you do that? I asked again!" Lucas demanded, now turning to face Leo. "He simply stated the truth," Mother-in-law defended Leo's actions. "What stupid truth?" Lucas yelled. "Even in front of the kids?" Leo walked out on us without saying a si
SARAHHer presence in our home was like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment. I couldn't stand the way she flaunted her body, desperately seeking attention from my husband, Leo. But I wasn't blind to her scheming ways, oh no, I saw right through her little game!On this particular day, Leo came home early, just as I was returning late from visiting a dear friend who had just given birth. And who do I find? None other than Emily, the vixen housekeeper, parading around in skimpy clothing that left nothing to the imagination.Her outfit was daring, to say the least. Her top, barely covering her ample bosom, and her shorts, hugging her curves as if they were painted on. It was clear that she was intentionally putting herself on display for Leo's eyes only.Fury boiled inside of me as I stepped in and saw her. How dare she disrespect me in my own home? I knew exactly what she was trying to do - seduce and steal my husband away from me. Well, she had another thing coming!I f
SARAH Leo was furious after Jake woke up. He had fainted while watering the flowers outside with his aunt Cora. Carolyn called me and informed me that Jake's medication was untouched and still sealed. This meant that he hadn't been taking his medicine."Do you even wish to live? If you truly wanted to survive your condition, you wouldn't have skipped your medication!" Leo shouted at Jake, who sat silently on his grandmother's bed.I enveloped Jake with my hands, as though shielding him from his father's angry outburst."What's the point of me existing, huh?" Jake asked, now looking up at his father."Don't say that, Jake," I whispered to him."I know I'm not your real son. I don't belong here."Leo, who had been yelling all this time, suddenly calmed down, realizing that the boy was revealing his inner truth."Grandma has told me countless times that no matter how hard I try, I'll never truly be accepted into this family."Just then, Lilian who had been out f
SARAHThe house appeared to be engulfed in flames. I couldn't think of anywhere Jake could be at that moment. Adding to the trouble, my mother-in-law seemed unconcerned about finding the boy.Leo grew impatient. It was the first time in years that he had the guts to stand up to his mother and express his disapproval."You're the reason that boy left this house. You've constantly filled his head with foolish and unnecessary lies!" he shouted at his mother."So, you're calling me an idiot?" she asked, pretending to be serious."That's not what I meant! You're twisting my words and I can't stand it when you do that!" he yelled even louder."Dad!" Caro called out, trying to stop her dad from yelling at Grandma."Shut up, Caro! Shut up and stay in your seat!" he snapped at Caro, now facing her directly. She stumbled and fearfully sat back in her chair."All of this is your fault too. You had a loving, caring brother, but you threw it all away because of some stupid