Zenobia POV I entered the dining hall, where her father was already seated. The aroma of fresh food wafted through the air and made my stomach rumble with hunger. I sat across from her father, then began eating, discussing various topics as they went.The first thing that I could think of as I sat at the table was Charlene. We left the hospital after hearing that she would be fine, but I wanted to ensure. "So, how is Charlene doing?" I asked, my fork twirling around a piece of pasta.My father sighed. "She's stable for now. The doctors say it's too early to tell if she'll recover fullyI nodded, her expression solemn. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean for this to happen," I apologized to him, dropping the fork in my hand. "I should have waited for her and....." "I know you didn't, honey," my father said, placing a finger of comfort on my shoulder. "it was an accident, and I believed that everything that happened was for a reason. " I took a deep breath and picked up my fork again. Wh
Charlene POVThe flashing headlight, the screams, and the crashing all came to me at once. I struggled to keep my breath as I saw myself inside a room. It was a white room, and two other people were in the room, but they each had their backs turned to me. I couldn’t see their faces, but one of them was a woman with long, dark hair holding a child’s hand. The other child was a boy with blonde hair who seemed to be around the age of three."Who are you?" I tried to move closer to them, but I couldn’t. I stretched my hand towards them, hoping that they could hear me and turn, but nothing happened as neither of them turned to face me."You killed us," the woman’s voice said first. It was so loud that I had to cover my ears. "It was all because of you!" Her voice resounded in my ears as she continuously repeated her words. "You killed us, and it is all your fault!""Who are you?" I asked again, and this time they turned to face me but had no face. "What is happening?" I let out a scream.
Dominic POVWhen I reached the hospital, I headed toward the ward where Charlene was admitted. Zenobia had gotten there earlier before me as she was eager to meet Charlene. When I reached the entrance of the ward, I waited for a moment at the door of the room. I could hear them laughing, making me wonder how they had bonded over a short moment.From what I know, Zenobia and Charlene didn’t click, and they were not always on good terms. ‘’what is happening?’’ I thought, and just then, my phone rang in my pocket. I wondered who was calling me when I had canceled all the schedules before heading to the hospital. I picked up the call regardless since it was an unknown number, and I knew who the number belonged to.It was Mr paul, the personal investigator I hired. ‘’hello, mr paul,’’ I greeted him.‘’sir,’’ he cleared his throat as he paused momentarily. I anticipated what he had to say and paced along the hospital hallways. After a moment of short silence, he finally spoke up. ‘’I found
Charlene POV It's been four days since I got discharged from the hospital, and Zenobia and I have always been together. She helped Miss Donna and her family in the hospital, and it had been an excellent time for all of us as we bonded. Because of the promise I made to her at the hospital, Zenobia canceled her dance class that week, and we both planned on how to build the studio for her dance lessons with me. The old car garage was the perfect spot for us, and we spent a day clearing it and setting it up. Dominic was unaware of our plans, as he had been working hard lately, and I hadn't had the chance to speak to him about it as he was already out of the house when I woke up. "What the hell are you doing?" Zenobia laughed as I walked towards her with the paintbrush in my hand. She had requested that we paint the dancing room blue, and even though it was quite a complex request, I had to do it to make sure she was happy. My arm was still healing, but I could move it even though it w
Dominic POV I was in my office when my secretary called to tell me that Alexa had called. When I answered the phone, I received the most shocking news of my life. Zenobia never showed up at the dance studio, according to what I was told. I was perplexed and attempted to contact Charlene to find out why they were not attending the dance studio. Charlene refused to pick up my phone, and when I tried calling my daughter, I received the same response because she refused to pick up my calls. I couldn't figure out what was going on with her at the time, but I knew they had to be together because they were ignoring my calls. "Teresa," I called out. "I would like you to cancel all of my appointments today because I have something I need to deal with," I explained. "But you have an afternoon meeting with the investors, and they are already on their way to the hotel," she reminded me. I rubbed my brow, remembering why the investors were coming to see my company, but I needed to know what wa
Charlene POVI was still shaken up from what had happened in the garage earlier. I couldn't believe that I would be the reason why Dominic and Zenobia wouldn’t talk to one another any longer. When it was time for dinner, Zenobia didn't come down to eat. I could understand her reasons for not coming down, but I couldn’t figure out why she had decided not to eat. I wished I could get them to sit together again to talk like a normal family.I fidgeted in my seat, my fork hovering over my plate. Despite the mouthwatering aroma wafting from the food, I couldn't bring myself to bite. Not with Dominic shooting daggers at me from across the table. I wished he could speak up and speak his mind rather than stare at me as if I had done something terrible.I tried not to let it bother me. I knew I was in the wrong for keeping the secrets about the garage from him, but his cold silence was almost suffocating. I glance at him from under my lashes, taking in the clench of his fist and the way his fi
Dominic POV As I finished telling Alexa about my daughter's decision to withdraw from dance school, my phone rang. My mother's name flashed on my screen, and I answered it immediately. I knew that Alexa had reported to her immediately since they both worked in the same place together. "Hello, Mom," I said, trying to sound cordial. "Good afternoon, Dominic," my mother replied a hint of disapproval in her tone. "Why have you changed your mind about Zenobia's dance lessons?" she asked. ‘’I thought that Alexa would be the best coach for the international competition, and since Zenobia wanted her, she might as well learn from her. Why did you change your mind about it so fast?’’ more questions were thrown at me, and I heaved a sigh before answering them. "Mom, Zenobia is not comfortable in Alexa’s dance school, and she told me she wanted a change of coach. She's starting to like Charlene, and Charlene might be the one to train her for the competition." My mother didn’t say a word un
Charlene POV "If you let me down on this deal, I can assure you that you will be sorry for everything," Those were Dominic's words to me as we drove to the small town for the dance festival. Since they were on break, Zenobia offered to be a part of the festival, and Dominic had no choice but to accept her request. I couldn't believe I'd agreed to be the orphanage dance coach. I hadn't danced in a long time, but something about the kids' enthusiasm had convinced me to take on the challenge, and thanks to Zenobia for putting her faith in me. Dominic was beginning to see me in a new light. Dominic and I traveled to the small town where the orphanages were located, along with Zenobia. I couldn't help but notice Dominic's gaze on mine every few seconds as we drove. "What?" I inquired, looking over at him. I was perplexed why he kept staring at me as if he wanted to say something. "Nothing," he said quickly, his gaze returning to the road. But I could feel his gaze burning into my sk
Charlene POV The Party, 08:30 pm I stepped out of the black limousine, Guards flanking me on both sides. I wore a red glittering dress that hugged my curves, and my hair was styled in loose waves that cascaded down my back. I looked around, scanning the area for any signs that the plan had begun. The night air was cool and crisp, and the sounds of the city echoed around me. I could hear the honking of car horns, the murmur of people's conversations, and the distant sound of music coming from a nearby nightclub. It was the perfect cover for what we were about to do. Tonight is the day we would attack and take back everything that was taken from us and then it will belong to us. There was no time to waste and so, I walked towards the entrance handing the invitation card that was given to me. It was the one Maria had given to me to use since I was going to perform as a ballet dancer. ‘Welcome,’’ The bouncer bowed his head as he collected the invitation card. I had come under the dis
Charlene POVI watched as Maria heaved a deep sigh when I stopped the car in front of the orphanage home. ‘’Are you sure that you don’t want her to know that you are alive?’’ I asked before we both stepped out of the car.Maria nodded in response. ‘’what use would it be if she learns that I am alive only to know that I will die again?’’ she asked me and place the clown Mask on her face. ‘’it’s been five years Charlene and now, she has you to rely on so I wouldn’t want to add to the problem so I have to let her go. ‘’I didn’t say anything else and gave out of the car holding a bag of goodies we had brought in for the children. ‘’Everything will be fine,’’ I assured as we headed into the building. When we got in, almost all of the children were seated in the hall while waiting for us.‘’Miss Charlene!’’ The miss who was in charge of the children greeted us as we stood in front of the children.‘’hello Miss Christina,’’ I bowed my head as I greeted her. ‘’it is so lovely to see you,’’ s
Charlene POV Two days left, I sat beside Dominic and across from Edward while Maria was seated opposite Dominic. I could feel the tension in the room as they both stared intently at each other. I cleared my throat to gain their attention as to the reason why we all had gathered there. ‘’Listen up,’’I mutt ered and nudged Dominic on the shoulder. Dominic faced me with a questioning look and heaved a deep sigh as he lowered his head. ‘’fine,’’ he muttered under his breath. I was glad that he acknowledged me and also that he got to accept my request. While I had tried to convince him for two days about What Maria had told me, he had ignored me for a few hours while refusing to let Maria join us but after calling Edward and Informing him, he was able to help out and with his help, I got to set an appointment and we all gathered at our home in Dominic’s office. ‘’Your sources are right about the party and I also love your plan,’’ Maria spoke up after Edward told her about their plan. ‘
Charlene POV I groaned and forced myself out of bed, feeling exhausted and nauseous. I stumbled into the bathroom, where I brushed my teeth and splashed cold water on my face. As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over me. I knew that today was going to be another tough day. I rinsed my mouth again for the umpteenth time that morning after throwing up. My baby wouldn’t let me rest and I wondered if he was reacting to the fact that I ate something bad or maybe because I was avoiding Dominic. According to what I heard from doctors, babies tend to understand how their mothers are feeling and they react due to what their mothers are facing. ‘’my baby,’’ I muttered as I rubbed my stomach. ‘’Can you understand the pain that I am going through at the moment?’’I asked my baby and even though I didn’t get a response, I knew that my baby understand how I felt. After I walked back into my room, I got a message from an unknown number. When I
Dominic POVI placed my hand on my table as I stared into Edwards's eyes. I had told him everything about Maria but he had not given any response to me yet. After informing him about Maria, I set up a meeting in my office to speak to him about what I thought about, and when she got there, we both sat down and stared at each other.‘’Are you going to keep staring at me?’’I asked him when it looked like he would not say anything. ‘’I heaved a deep sigh and rolled my eyes when he didn’t stop staring at me; instead, he was looking around. ‘’Edward!’’ I shouted his name. ‘’what Is happening?’’‘’why are we in your office instead of your home?’’ he asked and I wondered why he couldn’t see that I wanted alone with him.‘’Ever since Maria came to my house, Charlene had been avoiding me and she wouldn’t even talk to me. The only thing she ever said to me was that everything was fine but aside from that, she wouldn’t even say anything else.’’Edward tapped his hands on the table and heaved a de
Maria POV My heart was pounding as I stumbled backward, my hand flying up to my cheek where the man in the black mask had just slapped me. I heard a scream and realized it was my own. I looked up to see the man advancing on me."You bitch," he snarled, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me close. I could smell his foul breath, feel the roughness of his grip. ‘’you were given a job and that is getting rid of the pest around him but you failed.’’ Caroline stood up and walked towards me. She raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. ‘’you were given a job to do but yet, you failed because you couldn’t deliver well!’’ she yelled at me and pushed me backward. "You attacked my son instead of going after Charlene," she hissed, her hand tightening into a fist. ‘’I saved your pathetic life years ago because I believed that you would be useful to me but it seemed that you are nothing but a piss of shit!’’ I tried to explain that I didn't mean to hurt him, but the words caught in
Dominic POVI never imagined that she would come to find me. After finding out that she was alive, I even hid it from Charlene because I didn’t want her to worry but Maria found her way into my home expecting that I would run into her arms. I dragged her out of the house when she was starting to get on my nerves by acting as if anyone wanted her back. I took her to Charlene’s studio and we both stand there staring at each other without talking for a few minutes.I folded my arms while waiting for her to say something, and explain her reasons for returning back but instead, she looked around the room chuckling as she pointed to the mirror and the couches that were in the room. ‘’I never thought that you would marry the woman that was responsible for my death,’’ she told me and scoffed. ‘’here you are acting as if everything is alright when I died and I lost my child Alexander.She was right about that because I never thought about him. I had believed that since Maria was alive, he woul
Charlene POVI burst into laughter as Dominic woke up and rubbed my stomach. ''hello baby!'' he said. It was morning and I didn’t get much sleep the previous night because Dominic and I had a round of sex that I couldn’t even count. It was an amazing night with him and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. ‘’Dominic!’’ I screamed out his name as he grabbed my hands and pinned them above my head then he kissed me on my lips.‘’I want to be with you today with no worries and I…..’’ he stopped suddenly when we heard a knock on the door. ‘’who is there!’’ he shouted at whosoever was at the door. My thoughts were that the person who was at the door would be none other than Miss Donna. She was the only one with us in the house.‘’Mr. Maximus, you have a visitor!’’ she announced.A visitor? I exchanged looks with Dominic because the last time that I checked, we were not expecting Edward until evening and Dominic was working from home so I couldn’t figure out who was at the door.‘’Do you know w
Charlene POVI wiped my lips clean as I threw up again. One of the reasons why I had walked out on Dominic and Edward was because I felt nauseous and also dizzy. I had been having been facing insomnia lately and could barely sleep but I couldn’t tell Dominic because we were all faced with a lot of problems I would have loved to tell him but at the same time, I hated the fact that he was trying to remove me from joining them.I washed my mouth and stared at myself in the mirror. My reflection was not what I expected from someone that had been finding it hard to sleep. I had expected that bags would be under my eyes but instead, my face was glowing. I placed my hand on my stomach and heaved a deep sigh. ‘’my baby,’’ I closed my eyes. ‘’I am going to protect you, Zenobia, and also Stella. The three of us are going to live forever until the end,’’ I chuckled as I whispered to my child even though I knew that he couldn’t hear what I had said. I was glad that I got to speak to my child.‘’c