SHAWNA I wouldn't even say I've lost hope in getting out of here, but it looks like I'm not getting out of here normally anymore. I've moved from just being in here to serving a term with prisoners. I now serve punishment with people who have gone through courts and are only serving their term. Since I was a child up until now, I never thought a life like this existed. It's so rougher than I even imagined. Waking up every morning before sunrise and then going back to sleep late at night with body pains because of working all night. I woke up this morning to cold liquid dumped on me, I had just slept one hour ago only to be woken up now. I opened my eyes to see an officer with a bucket in his hand, he just dumped it on me. “Wake up, criminal." He sneered. My whole body ached a lot, my head was banging so hard due to stress and lack of sleep. And to top it all, those scars are getting much worse, I've not even gotten any one of them treated. He dumped the remaining of the water o
EUGENEWaking up was euphoric, I felt the happiness in me before I woke up at all. Last night was just too blissful, it feels like a dream come through for me.With my closed eyes, I stretched out my hand and tried to feel his body but my hand met with the cold bed. My eyes flew open, did he leave already?I looked around the room to see him dressing up, he was almost done.“Are you leaving already? It's still so early." I yawned, my hand covering my mouth as I sat up on the bed.“You promised to let Shawna go after this, let's go there already.” He buttoned up his shirt and turned to me.Anger thrummed through me as he mentioned her name, it just served as a reminder that the only reason he's doing it is because of Shawna and not just willingly.Can't she just die already? Argh! I just want to squeeze the life out of her, watch life leave her body so she can just leave this earth and stop disturbing me.“Do we have to go now? Let's just do some more things before we leave.” I tried t
SHAWNAI woke up with my head banging, I had to shut my eyes countless times. I just didn't want to open my eyes yet because I'm so sure the pain would be doubled if I did.But the annoying beeping sound beside me wouldn't let me rest, it was getting into my ears and added to my frustrations.I just had to open my eyes, I knew I was in a hospital even before I did so. Everything that happened before my eyes fluttered close appeared in my head.My entire body ached a lot, my body was practically screaming at me even though I hadn't moved at all. I mumbled out a few cuss words for the people who made me this way.“Shawna, you're awake!" My mom's voice met my ears. If it's not that she's the one, I'd have chastised her for shouting that way because the noise traveled straight to my eardrum.But I can understand her enthusiasm, I've been away from them for a while now and I passed out hours ago. Even I would be worried.She came to hug me on the bed, heaving a sigh of relief. I heard her
DAMIENI wanted to turn around and leave the room, but I decided to give her a piece of my mind too. I stopped in the middle of the room, turning around again.“Just so you know, you're the one who's ruining your life by claiming to be someone you're not. It's destroying you.” I spat.She didn't get to reply to me before the door to her room was pushed open and Liam stepped in. He almost pushed me out of the way as he ran over to her.“Shawna, thank God you're fine. I'm so happy you're back to normal." He said as he sat beside her on the bed.The anger on her face that she wanted to use to reply to me before got wiped off when she saw him, it was almost like I was no longer there.“I'm fine, how are you too?" She asked him back as he checked her over.I could no longer take it and just had to storm out of the room. That emotion that only comes whenever I see her with him resurfaces. I don't want to admit that it's jealousy because it's not.On getting into my car, my anger skyrocketed
SHAWNA“Are you sure you're fine? Do you want anything? Anything at all." Liam bombarded me with questions, he said this immediately Damien walked out.“I'm good, the hospital is providing more than enough for me already, you don't have to worry too much about me," I told him.“How are you though? How have you been?" I asked him, I had laid down back on the bed in a more relaxed posture now.“I've been fine, I was so happy when your mother informed me that you've been released. You have no idea how happy I am. So, who helped you out? Did you agree to do what Eugene said you should do?" He asked me.“Damien did, he was saying something like I have no idea what he has done to get me out but he wouldn't say what he did, so I don't know what he did," I mumbled.“Only God knows the requirement Eugene gave him to get you out of there, that lady is the devil incarnate herself," Liam said with a hint of hatred in his voice.“I’ve been thinking about that too. But we kind of fought before he l
EUGENE Shawna laughed mockingly at me. I had to step back a bit with my hands around my waist and my face pulled in a frown. “What's funny?" I asked her. “You, you're so funny to think that I'll do that, you should have forgotten about it by now, I'm not giving up shit for you,” she emphasized each word she said, showing how much she meant it. “Nothing will make me lose my heritage, especially not for someone like you." She spat. “It's either you're stupid or you don't understand what's at stake here, do you want to die?!" I yelled angrily at her. Her face deepened a bit with how I yelled, it must be the headache she's suffering from the body weakness and injuries. “Like I said, nothing will make me give up my heritage." The look of defiance on her face and the one in her voice made me more mad than ever. I ground my teeth together in anger then stormed out of the room. I hated that she's refused to listen to me even after I've shown her a demonstration of what I'm capa
LIAM Amid Eugene and Shawna's bickering, Damien and I walked out of the room. He looks so troubled, more troubled than I was. I willingly walked out of the room with him, sensing that he had something important to tell me. “Let's just stop here." He said when we got outside under a shade on the hospital's premises. I stopped walking while he stood before me. I saw someone in the far distance and hurriedly excused myself from Damien, I ran over and exchanged pleasantries. It's one of my business partners, he came here for a checkup. When I got back, Damien already changed his position and he now has his hands in his pockets. “Sorry, I had to do that. What were we saying?" I asked him. “What do you think we can do about Shawna? What are your suggestions?” He asked me, really shocking me. He sounds so concerned as if he wants to get her out of that mess already. "I honestly don't know, but I think Eugene is behind this. She is always against Shawna and it won't come as a shock to
SHAWNAAnger and humiliation thrummed through me at that question I was asked. All eyes were on me as everyone anticipated my answer.I felt an unexplainable urge to just take off that stupid smile on the reporter’s face. She had a kind of smug look on her, but no one saw her, they were all looking at me.Just as I opened my mouth to give her a piece of my mind which of course would be me snapping at her, the doors opened and Eugene walked in.“Hi, everyone. I hope I'm not late." She successfully diverted the attention from me to herself. Cameras were turned to her and she had a kind of bright smile on her face.“So, what were you all saying?” She sat on one of the chairs at the front. The reporter who just asked me that sick question looked through the leaflet with her before responding to Eugene.“We were just asking Miss Shawna here a few questions. We wanted to know why she's coming out to apologize now,” She said.The microphone with me has even been taken away, it's now with Eug
PHOEBEI walked through the front door, trying to act normal. But I couldn’t hide the smile tugging at my lips, or the way my body felt light, like I was floating. I hadn’t felt this… happy in a long time.Billy and Jasper were on the couch playing video games, but the second they saw me, they both paused the game and turned their heads slowly.“Well, well, well,” Billy said, grinning. “Look who’s glowing.”Jasper leaned forward and squinted at me. “You’re smiling way too much for someone who just got back from grocery shopping.”I rolled my eyes. “Mind your business.”Billy stood and crossed his arms like he was interrogating me. “We didn’t mind our business. That’s exactly why you’re blushing like that.”“I’m not blushing,” I said quickly, covering my cheeks even though I totally was. I could feel the heat rising, and that only made it worse.Jasper laughed and nudged Billy. “You totally are. And we know why.”I narrowed my eyes at both of them. “What are you two talking about?”Bil
RAMONI stared at the screen for a long time after the call ended. Phoebe’s dad? Golf? What was that even about? The man barely looked at me when I was dating his daughter. Why now?I paced the room, trying to make sense of it. Was it a trap? A test? Did he know something?I grabbed my phone, heart thumping. My fingers hovered over Phoebe’s contact."Don’t do it," I whispered to myself. "She doesn’t want to talk to you."Still, my thumb hit the call button.It rang.And rang.I was about to hang up when her voice came through, sharp and cold.“What do you want, Ramon?”I hesitated. “I…I know you don’t want to hear from me, and I get that. I just... I thought you should know something.”“What?”“Your dad. He called me. He invited me to golf with him tomorrow evening.”There was silence on the other end.“You’re kidding,” she said finally.“I’m not. I don’t even know what to make of it.”“That’s... weird,” she admitted. “But you should go.”I blinked. “Really?”“Yes. He’s not the type t
RAMONHis face was tight with anger, every muscle in his jaw flexing like he was holding himself back from exploding.“You’ve disappointed me, Ramon,” he said, voice cold and sharp. “You’ve truly disappointed me.”I stayed silent, standing stiff, hands clenched at my sides.He shook his head slowly, eyes filled with disgust. “I should’ve known. I should’ve known you weren’t ready for this. That you weren’t cut out for anything that required real strength or discipline.”I swallowed hard but didn’t speak. I knew better. I’d learned over the years that interrupting him when he got like this only made it worse.“You’re not worthy,” he spat. “I never should’ve put my trust in you. You were supposed to finish this. You were supposed to be the one who handled it all without catching feelings like a weak little boy.”He stepped closer, jabbing a finger in my chest. “But no. You let a girl unravel everything. One spoiled, privileged girl and suddenly your loyalty goes out the window? Are you
RAMONI leaned against the wall, arms still crossed as I watched Billy and Jasper circle my living room like they were on some episode of a home makeover show gone wrong. Their snide comments still echoed in my ears, but what hurt more wasn’t the jokes, it was the reason they were here. Phoebe.I exhaled slowly and finally said, “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”Billy paused, turning back to face me. “Yeah? Could’ve fooled us.”Jasper added, “She cried, man. You know how hard it is to make Phoebe cry? That girl could watch a sad movie and still hold it together.”“I didn’t try to hurt her,” I said, louder this time. My chest tightened. “Things got messed up. I made mistakes, yeah. But I never meant for it to end like this.”Billy folded his arms. “So, what? It just happened? You just ‘accidentally’ broke her heart?”Before I could even defend myself, that familiar, smug voice chimed in from behind me.“Alright, that’s enough.”I flinched.My uncle stepped forward, arms folded across his ch
RAMONI slammed the door behind me and let out a heavy sigh. The silence in the house was louder than ever. My shoes echoed on the floor as I walked into the living room. Everything felt tight in my chest. My throat burned, and I kept replaying her face in my mind…Phoebe was hurt, angry, her eyes watery like she was holding everything back.“Idiot,” I muttered to myself. “You really messed that one up.”I pulled off my jacket and tossed it on the couch. “You told her to walk away. Like some fool. Like she meant nothing.”I paced the room, dragging both hands down my face. “She told you to leave and you actually listened? What the hell, man? Who does that? Who actually walks out on someone they…” I stopped short, heart pounding. “Someone they…”I didn’t finish the sentence. Couldn’t. Saying it out loud would make everything worse. Realer.I clenched my fists, frustrated. “You just hurt the only woman who gave a damn about you. Congratulations.”Then, out of nowhere, I heard a creak beh
PHOEBEThe shoe flew faster than I expected. I was aiming for Billy, but the timing was just bad, really bad. The door opened right as I let go, and instead of hitting one of my annoying brothers, it smacked right into my assistant’s face.“Oh my God!” I gasped, rushing toward her. “Maya! I didn’t…I wasn’t…oh my God, I’m so sorry!”She just stood there, frozen, one hand on her cheek, eyes wide like she was still trying to figure out what just happened. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.“That… really hurt,” she finally said, her voice small.“I know, I know,” I said quickly, flustered. “I’m such a mess right now. I swear I didn’t mean to hit you. It was meant for that idiot over there!” I pointed at Billy, who had now crouched behind the chair like he was in the middle of a war zone.“I was just walking in,” Maya muttered, still stunned. “I didn’t even say anything yet…”“I know!” I said again, practically tripping over my words. “And now your cheek is red, and I’m the
PHOEBEI couldn’t believe it. I actually couldn’t believe it.One second he was standing there in my office, all quiet and acting like everything was done and final, and the next, he was gone. Just like that. Gone.I stood in the middle of the room, staring at the spot where Ramon had stood minutes ago, and my chest felt like it was being crushed.And then the anger came.I grabbed the pen holder from my desk and hurled it across the room. Pens scattered everywhere. I didn’t care.He was supposed to fight for me.I picked up a stack of files and flung them on the floor. Papers floated in the air like leaves. Still didn’t care.“He was supposed to fight,” I mumbled under my breath, kicking the side of my chair.Then I reached for the mug he got me last week, the stupid one that said ‘Don’t Talk to Me Until I’ve Had Coffee’ and smashed it against the wall. The crash made me feel slightly better. Only slightly.The door creaked open.“Phoebe?” Billy’s voice.“No,” I said quickly, not tur
RAMONI stood in front of her, feeling like I’d stepped into a storm I wasn’t ready for.Phoebe looked at me with her arms crossed, her eyes sharp and guarded. Not like before. Not soft. Not kind. Just cold.“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her voice was sharp. Distant.I swallowed hard. “I came to pick up my things.”Her face changed for a second. Hurt, I think. But she blinked it away. “So you’re really leaving then?”I shifted on my feet. “Phoebe… you asked me to leave. I’m just respecting that.”She scoffed and looked away, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So that’s it? You’re just walking away like a coward?”My chest tightened. “It’s not like that.”She turned back to me fast. “Then what is it like, Ramon? Huh? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you just gave up on me.”I took a step forward. “I didn’t give up.”“Then what are you doing?” she snapped. “I was angry. I was hurt. But I still expected you to… I don’t know, fight a li
RAMONI didn’t even wait to greet anyone on my way out of the office. I couldn’t. If I stayed another second, I’d probably break down right in front of everyone. And I couldn’t let them see that, not them, not Phoebe. Especially not Phoebe.When I got home, I slammed the door shut behind me, the sound echoing through the space like a warning. I didn’t even bother turning on the lights. I didn’t need them. My body was already moving, fueled by everything I’d been trying to hold in all day. I stormed straight to the back room, where my punching dummy stood in the corner like it had been waiting for me.My fists were already clenched so tightly that my knuckles ached. My jaw was locked, teeth grinding. Every part of me was buzzing with frustration, sadness, and guilt, all mixing in this burning storm I couldn’t shake off. It was like a pressure cooker inside my chest, and if I didn’t let it out, I was going to explode.I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to feel. I just wanted to hit.