Two weeks passed by swiftly and Izabelle already moved to a comfortable condo with her daughter and had recently finished the project for her studio. It was a replica of her previous studio. Big and classic and she was sure that soon, she would have a hall of celebrities and children from the elite society coming in. They were already booked but due to her busy schedule this week, she had postponed her work.
Coming out of the new studio, Izabelle entered her car and drove towards little Rosie’s new school. Yep. Little Rosie now attended a new school in the city and she seems to kind of like her new school. She always talked about her new friends and how beautiful they were. She also mentioned that the teachers were nice to her.Her school was just a few miles away from the studio and one of the best in the city. Well, Grandfather Rossador had insisted that his great-granddaughter attend the best school in the city and not any low-grade school. She was a Rossador and must be treated as one.Who was she to say no? She had simply agreed and let Rosie attend the school since she also had an interest in it.Deciding to get Rosie a doll or any gift before she picked her up from school, Izabelle drove into a decent children’s toy shop and parked her car in a decent position before coming down from it and entering into the shop.They were good toys there. Ones that Rosie would love and jump at her for. She wanted to reward her daughter for passing her classwork the previous day and coming home to show her. Surely she deserves a gift each time she did well in school. That would encourage her to do better, right?While growing up, she had also wanted her parents to do things like this for her too. Coming to pick her up from school and giving her gifts each time she did well. Hugging her every morning she wakes up and attends to her every need but they died too soon. Funny how she can’t even figure out their faces anymore. She would have to look at their pictures to get a clearer memory of them.No one ever granted her desires as a kid and there was only the middle-aged driver who comes to pick her up from school every day and at times, Jared who obviously won’t know what she wants or never saw it as necessary. She never got to experience getting picked up from school by her parents like other children at school who would run to their parents at first sight and give them hugs and kisses.She promised to give her daughter all of it that she had missed during childhood. Both the love of a mother and the love of a father. She wasn’t going to miss out on anything or feel inferior to other kids. Never.“This one looks good,” she remarked as she picked up a pretty pink Barbie doll from the shelf. A music doll. She pressed on the tummy of the doll and it started singing. This was the type her cute little daughter likes. Pink, soft, pretty, and a singer doll. She picked another and checked it too. She has to buy more than one doll for Rosie as she was known for spoiling her dolls quicker than expected.Once she lost interest in the doll, she would tear its parts to check what was contained in it and what exactly was the thing singing. Once she satisfies her curiosity by tearing the doll apart, then it’s finished. She would simply throw the poor shattered doll aside and pick a new one. Funny right?Izabelle felt satisfied with the two dolls that she had picked from the shelf and just when she was about to move to the counter to pay for the dolls, her eyes caught sight of something or perhaps someone through the little space in between the shelf. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock.What the hell was he doing here?Her heart raced at the sight of him picking toys on the other side of the space they were in that were meant for boys. In the cart he was carrying were a few toys already and he was adding more and more to it.Who were those toys for and that much? No, whose kids were the toys for? Was he perhaps married? No..no, that can’t be, haha. She has been following some news about him for the past years and never saw any news about him getting married or having kids whatsoever. Who then were the toys for?Might be possible that he has kids unknown to anyone. They might be his secret kids or kids from a few baby mamas or so. That was possible, right? Her hands tightened around the doll at the thought of him having secret children and even buying them gifts. Whereas, her daughter was all alone without a father.Suddenly, she felt him shift and his eyes moved in her direction. She immediately hid behind a shelf with her hands on her chest hoping that he hadn't seen her. Holding the two dolls to her chest, she hastily walked to the counter and paid for the dolls.“Thanks for buying with us ma’am. Please come again.”She nodded before rushing out of the building. She has to get the hell out of here.There was no way on earth that she would want to come across him. Getting away from this place right now would do her much good.Her legs took her to the direction where her car was parked but before she could get there, a red Bentley stopped in front of her causing her to stop and the window slid down.Marcel?The window behind was slowly lowered revealing a strikingly handsome face she hasn’t seen in a while. He pulled his glasses and his eyes met with hers. “Do you want to take a ride?” Marcel raised his eyebrow and looked at her with a cold smile. He was handsome under the afternoon sun and his cold smile carried a hint of cold evil. The smile that always carried away a woman’s heart and pulled the strings. Those smiles that no one could see beneath it. Izabelle held the toy she bought for little Rosie and looked at him as if he were a stranger. Perhaps he was because the Marcel staring at her here was not the Marcel she used to know. He was a stranger to her. Suddenly appearing in front of her. Who knows what he was up to?Little Rosie’s school must have closed by now and she must be waiting for her with her teacher. She doesn’t want to keep her waiting for long. Izabelle only paused for a moment before she left without looking back as if she hadn't seen him or heard him speak and no
In the ambulance was her little daughter lying on a stretcher and the nurses placing oxygen on her to help her breathe. Before the ambulance door closed, she held it and rushed in followed by the teacher. “Rosie? Sie Sie, mummy is here, say something,” her hands moved to Rosie’s shoulder and she shook her as the ambulance started moving. Little Rosie lay on a stretcher without moving or saying a word. Her eyes were closed and her mother’s cries did nothing to help her. Izabelle’s tears flowed and she abruptly turned to the teacher who was sitting together with the nurses at the side. “Ho..how? What happened?” She yelled. “I don't know. S…she was just right beside me one moment and in the next, she was gone. When we f..found her, she was in the garden unconscious and there was smoke there. I don't know how it happened really, I'm sorry.”Izabelle’s tears dropped the more the teacher talked and she slumped on the chair beside the stretcher and covered her face with her palms. Her w
Izabelle’s eyes raised from the doll to the person who just called her. Her eyes were puffy and her sight was almost blurry. She blinked to get a better view of the person, no people that were rushing toward her. Just as she recognized them, she stood up from the bench and waited till they got to her. “Izabelle are you alright? How’s your daughter?” Jared asked as he got to her. His hands were on her shoulder. She was looking so weak like a leaf and he feared that if he let go of her, she was going to fall. “Izabelle, say something.” Beside Jared was his wife Kathie and they both stared at Izabelle in worry. “Rosie...Rosie, she..” Izabelle couldn’t complete her statement because the tears that she had fought so hard to stop started streaming down her cheek again and her dry throat made it hard for her to speak. Her tears streamed as she stared at her brother and pointed at the emergency room. “It’s alright, Rosie. It’s going to be fine, okay? Rosie is going to be fine.”Izabelle s
“Rosie, baby, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Izabelle panicked as she dropped the bowl of pap on the bedside table and used her cloth to clean Rosie’s teary eyes. She feared that Rosie would stress her heart again and something bad might happen. “Baby, please stop crying, hmm? You heard what the doctor said.”She patted her back and cleaned her tears until Rosie calmed down and stopped crying. What was making her cry now? Was it the fact that she was in the hospital for the umpteenth time this year or she just felt emotional? What was making her baby cry again? Why must she have to suffer like this? She was so little but has been to the hospital at least twice to five times every month. Why exactly must it be like this, huh? Rosie has been suffering for long enough. When was her suffering going to end? She rather that she suffer instead of her daughter who spends her days in the hospital instead of having fun and living a free life like other kids. Izabelle’s eyes watered as sh
“Hmm. I think Uncle Nick would also like to see you. You'll get to see and play with him once you get transferred to the city hospital, hmm?” “En.”“Izabelle guess what? I got awesome news,” Ruby announced. “What?”“Your manager gave me a call. He has been trying to reach you since yesterday. He told me you have lots of bookings for the next three days from people who would like to get their photos done by you. They wanted you to do it personally.” “Hope you told him that I won't be able to make it? Little Rosie isn't fine. I'll have to accompany her until she gets better. Tomorrow, she would get transferred to the city hospital.”“Don’t tell me that you're going to kick the offers aside. You're just starting your studio here and it wouldn't be good if you start by disappointing customers. You might just end up losing them.”“It doesn't matter. Rosie’s health comes first. I'll have to accompany her. We can just reschedule everything.”“Eish. But you know this wouldn't be good. Okay
Click! Click!The clicking sound of a camera reverberated in Izabelle’s studio as she directed her client on how to post. She had rushed here early this morning after kissing Rosie goodbye and thanking Ruby for being of help for the past two days that she has been coming here to attend to her clients. The studio was filled with more than fifteen celebrities and people from elite societies waiting for their snaps to be taken in all sorts of manners. “This is so fine. Thank goodness I found you,” the girl whose snap was being taken exclaimed after Izabelle showed her the picture that she had snapped. “Can I take more, please? Double payments.”Isabelle nodded in exhaustion as she stepped backward and helped the girl post before taking a few more pictures. “Oh, my goodness. This is beautiful. Thank you so much. I'm going to tell all my friends about you.” Because of the lady’s excitement, the other girl waiting for their photos to be taken rushed to them to see the picture and they g
Before Selene could lunge at the girl, Izabelle rushed to stand in the middle of them causing Selene’s hand to fall on her and push her so hard that she fell on the floor groaning in pain. Gasps and murmurs filled the huge studio room. “Miss Rossador, are you alright,” the other girl rushed to Selene and helped her up. That was a really strong stray push. “That wasn't intended for you, Miss Rossador. You shouldn't have gotten in the way.”“How rude can you be? You pushed her. You should be apologizing.”“Once again, you are putting your nose where it does not belong. Stay out of my business and we would be fine. I wouldn't want you annoying me to the core now.”“Enough!” Isabelle dropped her camera aside and walked to stand before Selene. “It's either you sit and wait for your turn or you leave. If you create any form of violence again, then I'm going to call the police,” she threatened. Surely, Selene wouldn't want
He stopped rooted on the spot at the voice of the little child. Before he could turn and confirm the voice, he felt tiny hands wrap around his legs and called again. “Handsome Daddy? Did you come to see little Rosie?” He turned to face the little girl and bent to pat her hair as he smiled naturally. How can this little girl lift his angry mood by just calling him that?“How are you, little girl? What are you doing in the hospital?”He carried her to sit on a white round block bench that stood confidently in the middle of the hospital and the middle were pretty flowers. He sat next to her while staring at her cute little face and waiting for his answer. “Rosie came to get treatment,” she stretched her head until it was almost the same height as his ears and whispered. “Don’t tell anyone. I ran away from Aunt Ruby while she was making a call. She wants me to have a nap until mommy returns.”Marcel chuckled at the child’s words. “You shouldn’t have. What if you fell into danger?”“But
~Eight Months And Some Weeks Later~“You know I'm not going to get into that thing, honey,” Marcel complained as he looked at the two of them. The two most important people in his life. Izabelle and Rosie. He was standing in between them and they were peering at him, begging him to do their bidding. Having two women in life is so stressful. He can't wait for the baby in Izabelle’s womb. The family of three was in a park. They came to have fun as it was a holiday and the mother and daughter duo were begging that Marcel get into the roller coaster with Rosie as her mother was heavily pregnant and would not be able to accompany the child up there. But Marcel was still traumatized from his last time getting on a roller coaster and had sworn that there was nothing in this world that would push him to get up there again. “Please, Daddy. Just this one time. I promise it won't be as bad as the last. Don't be afraid. “Who says that I'm scared? I just don't like how it moves so fast. Daddy i
Seeing that his boss’s wife was not fine, he decided to call a doctor for her. “Uncle, are you calling a doctor? Mommy is unwell.”He looked at the sweet little cute girl that he still couldn't believe was his boss’s daughter. Like, how come he has had a daughter all these while and he was only aware of it a year ago? “Yes, cute. Didn't worry, your Mommy is going to be fineThe little girl nodded and ran into the bathroom on the other side of the room. She came back with a bowl of water and a small towel in her hands. Knowing what she wanted to do, he smiled and rubbed her head. She was a smart little child just like her parents. “Mommy, I'm going to dab your face with the towel,” she told her unconscious mother. She had always noticed that whenever she was unwell and her temperature was high, her mother would simply dab her head with a towel and clean her body. This sad the second time that her Mommy was unwell since this year and this was the second time that she would be doing t
Izabelle finally woke up on the third day after she was declared pregnant. The doctors had said that she passed out from the shock and would wake up anytime soon but it wasn't until the third day that she woke up. When Izabelle opened her eyes, everywhere was blurry to her and she tried to look around but it was blurry to her. “Mommy, you're awake.” She heard Rosie’s voice and her tiny footsteps as she ran towards her. She also heard some other footsteps rush to her and when they were finally right beside her, she was able to see them clearly. “Izabelle, you're awake.”“Izabelle.”“Pl…please help me sit up.”Both Ruby and Mrs. Wilson helped her sit up on the bed and she ass finally able to see everywhere clearly. She was in the hospital. What was she doing here and when did she come here? Then all of a sudden, all the memories started flashing into her head. From her grandfather and then to her pregnancy announcement. God. All of this was happening too fast. Right! Her grandfather.
He was now suffering from both the cold from sitting in the rain for a long time and from the fall from when he was trying to pick up his phone. “I got here immediately I heard the news,” Ruby finished. “Where is Jared? He isn’t here?”“He stepped out a bit to make a call to his wife. He was in the office when he heard the news too.”“Goodness. I pray nothing happens to Grandfather. I don’t know what to do if something happens to him.”Ruby held her hands and patted it. She was trying to console her friend and make her feel alright. She just returned from Thailand in the hope of starting a new life and now this? This was depressing. She didn’t even tell Izabelle all that the doctor said. The doctors had said that the old man’s condition was so bad and they weren’t sure that he was going to make it alive and that they just had to pray that he eventually made it out. “Izabelle.”She turned to the side to find out who it was that called her and when she saw that it was Jared, she imm
~Three Weeks Later~“Marcel, what are you doing?”“Just a little okay,” Marcel said as he started kissing her from her neck downward. “We’re up in the air.”“Doesn't matter.” He continued kissing her, not listening to what she had to say. She was only trying to tell him that they were not home to be doing this kind of thing. These few weeks that they made up, he has been all and about her having her from morning to night all in the name of making up for the months that he wasn't here. Now, they were in a private jet traveling back home. Well, a lot has happened since the day his grandmother came to yell at her. After they settled, she had convinced Marcel to work hard to get his company back and he has been working from home since then. Home! Right. He moved in with them. Thinking about that made her smile. They were back to being a happy family and she couldn't ask for more. She just prays that nothing comes in between her happiness this time as she would be very sad if that were
The old woman turned and got face to face with her grandson which she quickly ran and embraced. Marcel got her away from him and rushed to Izabelle who couldn’t bring herself to face him. She turned away from him as he tried to look at her wound. If he shows any utmost care to her right now, she is going to melt and cry in front of everyone and that would be so embarrassing. She doesn’t want anyone to see her as weak or something. “Izabelle, look at me. Are you alright?”“I’m… I’m fine.”“No, you’re not. Grandma just hit you with something hard. I know what’s in that bag. Come, we have to look at your wound. Please look at me.”She couldn’t bear it any longer and let him look at her wound that had swollen a lot giving her a weird face. She felt like yelling right now because her anger was still at its peak and it would remain like this until someone calmed her down. “Calm down, okay. Look at me. Breathe, in and out.” She did as Marcel asked and was finally able to look him in the e
The old woman looked at the place that they were in. It was in front of a store with its goods displayed outside proudly. It was better than the other stores that she had seen while coming here. She stepped into the store and looked around until she heard a loud voice coming towards her. “Welcome. We have all that you wa…… Old Mrs. Wilson?”Izabelle exclaimed in shock as she stared at the woman standing in front of her in her shop. What on earth is this woman doing in her shop and who even informed her that she lives here? Her eyes were so wide in shock that if care was not taken, they might just pop out because like… What are they doing here?“Why are you so shocked seeing me here?” What kind of question is that? Why is she so shocked? Does this old woman really have no idea why she is shocked? It was obvious she never expected her to be in her today. It was more shocking than ever. “Forgive my manners, old Mrs. Wilson. I was just shocked seeing you here.”“I guess so. Well, that'
“I am tired of what your father and grandmother are doing. They both want to kill me in this mansion.”“It's going to be okay, mum. I'll do something about this.”“Please do, son. Please come and make the company stand on its feet again without getting married to anyone. They all think that they are wise enough to use someone to their advantage. I don't like that girl to be your wife anymore. Their true character has been revealed.”“Mum, about that…. I'm putting it on sale. I'm not changing my mind about that.” Mrs. Wilson ran her hair through her jet black hair that was messy from her not taking care of it for days. Her hair and even her head were messy. The marriage that she was in was also messy. Messy things around her. “Why are you doing this, Marcel? You want to put the company on sale? Don't you remember how hard it was for us to build the company to how it is now? We have done a lot for it especially you and all you want to do now that it's at stake is to give it out on sal
“You want us to forgive him already? You’re no longer angry at him?” “It’s not like that. I just feel pity for him after all, Mommy is the one who always says that we should forgive and forget.”Now, even her daughter was asking for her father to be forgiven. What was she going to do about this? She was scared of her heart getting broken again because if anything like what happened months again repeated itself, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to handle it. This drags her back to the question Marcel asked her before he passed out. What if she finds out that she was the one who misunderstood everything that day? What then was she going to do? If that was the case, she was clueless about what to do. If she gets out of the room now, she’s going to call Jared and ask him to get help from people so they can get the CCTV footage of that day. She wanted to see things from the people she trusted, not someone that she no longer trusted. “Mommy?”“Yeah?”“What are you thinking about?