CarrieI sprang out of the car when I saw that his grandfather was about to slap him. But the slap never happened, Alessandro stopped it.“How dare you, Alessandro?” His grandfather was not hiding his anger and I tried to guess that he was furious about Alessandro’s interview. The things he said were indeed enough to rouse the anger of the man that’s the real leader of CDP. “What were you thinking?”“I did what you asked me to.” Alessandro did not hide his cockiness. “This is the start of the plan you asked me to execute.”“I did not ask you to go on air! I didn’t ask you to use Layla like that. How could you? She’s your wife-to-be.”“Layla is nobody to me. She’s not my wife-to-be. She is nothing and absolutely nothing to me.”“So, you are choosing to defy my instruction?”“How can I defy something I never acknowledged in the first place? If there’s anyone defying anything, it’s you.”“What?” His grandfather was taken aback. “What bullshit are you spitting?”“You are very aware of the
CarrieI thought it was my imagination, but a few seconds before Layla displayed a sinister expression, there was a sign of incoming tears in her eyes.If she had started crying, I wouldn’t have found it surprising.After all, she is now CDP’s leader to the public and it is only a matter of time before she’s hunted and captured.But that’s none of my business. She deserves that much punishment especially if it is true that she caused the death of someone dear to Alessandro.“Look at this bitch,” Layla spoke the very second I decided that she was not worth engaging in a conversation with. “How cocky can you be to step into this house as if you own it?”I sighed hard to get rid of every and any temptation to scream at the woman. I am pregnant and pregnant women shouldn’t stress.“What do you want from me?” I calmly asked.“Stay away from Alessandro.”One of my brows cocked. “Are you talking about the man who went on a live show and said things that have now trapped you?”“He did it beca
Carrie“What the fuck…?” Eduardo swore.But before he could remove himself from his seat, the door beside me slammed shut. And all I saw was Alessandro’s broad back swinging with swag toward his brother.I noticed that I could not find a reaction to Kante’s words despite how random they were so I hurriedly got down. But I wasn’t sure if it was reasonable to rush after Alessandro, so I halted my steps before they could become hasty and I watched from that distance.“What are you doing?” I heard Alessandro ask once he was able to stop Kante.Kante glared at his brother. And that was all he did. He did not say a word to him. He walked past him and towards me.“Carrie…” Kante called, his voice softened.“What are you doing?” I asked while my forehead wore furrows of concern.“Marry me, Carrie.”“Kante…”The big bouquet in his hand bounced with excitement as the man dropped to his knee and crawled the remaining distance between us.“Please, Carrie. You know we belong together. You know tha
CarrieI would be lying if I said I wasn’t aware of the magnitude of Alessandro’s response. From his earlier altercation with his grandfather, I could tell that something that broke their family happened two years ago.So, when Alessandro’s response settled in my mind, I knew that I had to carefully weigh the way I would react to it. I have to respect the man’s decision to share something that is deep and important with me.“Carrie?” Alessandro’s thick accent pulled me out of my thoughts and caused me to stop glaring at the walkway that led to the entrance of the house. “Let’s head in. You shouldn’t stand outside for too long.”“Okay,” I quietly agreed and let him place his palm against my back.Once we were inside the house which was furnished in a way that exceeded my imagination, we headed for the living room which had simply designed sofas and some minimalist decor filling its space.“Let me help you with that,” Alessandro swiftly broke the silence in our midst and he reached to t
Carrie“Carrie?”“Eduardo,” I acknowledged the man that called me.“How old are you?”“Why do you ask?” I took my eyes off the large party hall which people were walking in and out of with glee that matched the expensiveness of their clothes written all over their faces.“I have always wondered. You look really young.”“How old are you?” I returned his question.“I am thirty. So is Alessandro.”I glanced at the quiet man seated next to me. Then, I replied, “I am twenty-four.”“Wow. Really?” I didn’t understand Eduardo’s excitement, so I faked a smile when my eyes met his image in the centre mirror. “I would have guessed you were older.”“That sounds like an insult.”“It does?” Eduardo sure was being chatty beyond. “I thoug
AlessandroIt was delightful to see how uncoordinated the men became as soon as I dropped my last statement.Well, it’s always fun to watch people who thought they could get away with causing me discomfort whimper in desperation because they finally realise that time will never be on their side.“You have twenty-five seconds left,” Eduardo informed the men who could barely have a meaningful conversation with each other. I guess people will always become useless when cornered in unexpected ways. “Which will it be? Death by explosion or death by intense public humiliation?”One of the men faced us, his feet and hands visibly shaky. “W… We will choose uhm… public humiliation.”“Oops. Wrong answer.”The man quickly dropped to the floor, his hands joined as though practicing his last prayer. “Please… Please, spare us. We are… I am sorry. I should have not allowed them to kill him. I…”“That’s enough,” Eduardo cut the man short, his voice calm yet laced with danger. “How typical of you to t
CarrieMy heart skipped a beat. I failed to feel the throbbing that was earlier embracing it. And all I could do was get deep into staring into Alessandro’s eyes which were looking weirdly different, almost as though he was wearing great softness in them.“Carrie?”“Huh?”“Marry me,” he repeated, this time, he made sure I could feel him holding my waist. It was as if he was using that to urge me to give him a response as quickly as possible. “Don’t say no.”“But-”“What but?Again, his accent made his response sound funny. To me, he said ‘What butt?’ and not…Oh my goodness.Alessandro just asked me to marry him. And… And I am thinking of butts.“Alessandro,” Eduardo’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked over at the man who could not stop panting as he rubbed his sweaty forehead with his blackened hands. “Why are we still here? We-?”Our eyes met and he saw the tears which were probably going to take some seconds to dry off. “Oh,” he said. “Sister, are you alright? You must have b
CarrieTrue to Alessandro’s words, our wedding was slated to be held a week after the proposal. And after many hours of rigorous preparation for what was meant to be a lowkey wedding, the morning of our new start arrived and I woke up feeling extremely nervous.And things got worse when I looked down at the outdoor wedding setup from the window of the small hotel we booked. And it became extremely worse when I took a look around my room and realised that I was alone with my simple wedding gown hanging on a grand rack opposite my bed.I know that I have been alone for a while, but at this moment when I am sitting down on my bed and staring at my gown, it hits me more and more that I am really by myself. I don’t even have anyone to walk me down the aisle.I at least had my Uncle for the first wedding.But then, I can hold a side of my stomach and imagine my baby is walking me down the aisle as I proceed to marry his or her father.I do wonder if my child will be a boy or a girl.“Sister
CarrieAlessandro and I sat in silence for a very long time. We held hands and stared at the sea and the way it displayed its beauty while the wind played with it.Then, after many minutes, I asked, “How have you been?”Alessandro faced me, his gorgeous eyes making my heart skip as though it was the first time meeting him. “Before a few moments ago, I have been shitty. Very shitty.”His response tempted me to imagine how terrible things were for him when my father captured me. But a glimpse of that imagination made my heart ache, so I quickly dumped that idea.“I am sorry, Alessandro.“Why?”“My father caused us so much pain. He uh-” I lowered my head while a faint memory of how I suffered in that dark room seeped into my mind.“Don’t think about it, Carrie.” Alessandro’s soft gaze met mine. “It is too sad.”“It happened, Alessandro. How do I face it if I don’t think about it?”“Carrie.” A crack entered his voice and for some seconds, he bit into his lips. “You were in hell back there
Alessandro“Mr. Valante,” the doctor dragged me out of my deep thoughts.“How is she?” After Carrie asked a question that made my entire soul crash, she lost consciousness and we had to rush her to the hospital.“Thankfully, we were able to stabilise her, but she needs to be watched for some days. While we wait, we’ll run necessary tests and take care of her to the best of our ability.”“Will she be fine?” That was all I wished to know.“Yes. I believe she will overcome this.” The doctor still had questions. “From the chart I got from the patient’s previous hospital, it indicated that she was pregnant.”My throat felt heavier. “She… She lost the baby, didn’t she?”He sighed. Then he nodded. “We will have to test for an overdose. Especially for Diclofenac and Misoprostol. It is possible that they were given to the patient regularly. If that turns out to be true, the culprit will be charged with murder. That’s as far as I know.”“Thank you, doctor. But…” I hesitated to ask my question bu
CarrieWhen my eyes opened again, I felt strange, I felt clean. But that feeling failed to override the disappointment I felt when I realised that I was still alive.Darkness surrounded me as usual and emptiness joined the party.And all I could do was stare at nothing and wait for the worst to happen.Many moments later, the door opened and the light came on.Gary stepped into the room.“You are awake,” he said, his hand carrying a tray of what seemed to be food.I could have scoffed at that sight if I had the strength. At this point, eating is meaningless. I doubt I would be able to swallow anything.“You should eat,” Gary continued. He knelt and dropped the tray on the floor. “It has been days since you had anything. You should at least eat something.”“Gary…” My voice was greatly weak as usual.“Yes, Carrie?” I listened as he dragged himself closer. “What is it? Do you need to go to the bathroom? You don’t have to make a mess here anymore. It is unhealthy.”“I…” I focused on the ce
AlessandroI have lost my mind.I’ll keep losing my mind.I’ll keep letting images of Carrie haunt me in dreams and real life. I’ll continue to be a version of myself I’ll never understand as long as things continue this way.It’s been a month since Carrie’s disappearance and everything has turned upside down. After a long day of locating Carrie to no avail, I resort to a lifestyle that makes me furious with myself.I can’t stop it though. Right now, it’s the only way I know to survive.And that’s why I won’t back away from crushing the head of the man kneeling in front of me with the end of my gun.That’s right. I went back to CDP.I thought it was the only place I could be fairly sane while I searched for Carrie.But what happens now that I’ve lost a great deal of my sanity? I guess I’ll just have to go with the flow of things and see if I’ll lose every other thing in my life.After all, it seems I’m about to lose Carrie.The grip I had on the man’s hair loosened and I staggered bac
( Trigger Warning for chapters ahead: Mild imagery related to miscarriage. Please take note.)CarrieA groan left my lips and I opened my eyes. My sight settled on an unfamiliar ceiling and for many seconds, I blinked furiously while my mind fell into deep confusion.The purely white ceiling also seemed to mess with my mind because I couldn’t bring myself to think about the last thing that happened to me. The more I racked my mind, the more a strange pain wrapped around my head.I also tried to move but nothing happened. I attempted calling for Alessandro, but my lips were unmovable, and my throat felt weird as well.So, all I could do was stare at the ceiling.But, minutes later, I discovered that my hearing sense was working quite fine when a rather manly footstep filled the room. Hearing that made me eager to move, I wished to know who the person was.The person decided to spare me the trouble.“Hello, Carrie.” The voice was familiar. “You are finally awake.” The person moved close
Carrie“What did you just say?” I rushed to the front door, my hands managing to push Alessandro to the side. I could not recognize the tall man I almost jammed chests with. “Who passed away? Which Mr. Edwards?”The man faced Alessandro. And I did the same.“Alessandro. What is he talking about? Who is dead?”Alessandro peeled his eyes off mine. “Calistus, grazie. Let’s talk some other time.”“Alessandro!” I stomped a foot on the ground. “Please…”With a hand, he hugged me from behind and closed the door. “Why are you trying to harm yourself? Relax, Carrie.”“How can I relax?” At this point, my eyes started to well tears because Alessandro’s hesitation was enough to tell that the mentioned Mr. Edwards was indeed my father. “My… My father is dead.”“Carrie…”“Don’t even lie to me. Don’t lie to me.”“Carrie…” He settled me on the nearest couch. Our eyes met and my lips wore an ugly expression while incoming tears bloated my throat.“It’s… It’s my father, isn’t it?” Alessandro sighed and
CarrieThree days later, we left the hotel and headed for our home, the modern bungalow that continues to take my breath each time I set my eyes on it.But as Alessandro drove to our destination, I noticed that he was quiet in a way that told me that he was already swimming in regret. I considered reaching for his hand to assure him that I will always be available for him to talk to, but it would be unwise to become a distraction while he’s driving.So, I adjusted my position and postponed my thoughts.“Carrie?”“Yes, Alessandro? Hmm.” I shook my head as though I just said something forbidden. “That’s wrong. Yes, my husband?”Alessandro could not hold back his loud laughter. It erupted in a way that instantly made my heart fly with joy.“Why is that so good to hear?” he asked.“Because it is the truth.” I brought my left hand to his face. “We are married. I am your wife and I am your husband.”His affection-filled eyes racked my body and I felt my cheeks flush, I almost bit into my li
CarrieAs I walked, a lovely piano sound filled the air and that helped me stay focused on Alessandro only.The man was not exactly smiling, but the gaze he carried held and drew me closer and closer until the distance between us was closed.“Hello, my flower,” he greeted once he took my arm off Eduardo’s.“Hello.” I sounded like a shy bride who was yet to know the ways of a marital bed.“You look absolutely beautiful.”“So do you.”He leaned closer and lowered his voice some more, “Your neck looks sexy.”My hairdo allowed a full exposure of my neck. I am aware that my neck is one of the sexiest features of my body, so I smiled knowingly at his sentence and if it were possible, I wished to have a kiss planted there.“Hmm…” The slightly aged man behind us cleared his throat. “I was informed that this is meant to be a short ceremony, so we will keep it short.” He eyed Alessandro and me till we took a few steps away from each other. “Dearly beloved, we gathered on this fine day to celebr
CarrieTrue to Alessandro’s words, our wedding was slated to be held a week after the proposal. And after many hours of rigorous preparation for what was meant to be a lowkey wedding, the morning of our new start arrived and I woke up feeling extremely nervous.And things got worse when I looked down at the outdoor wedding setup from the window of the small hotel we booked. And it became extremely worse when I took a look around my room and realised that I was alone with my simple wedding gown hanging on a grand rack opposite my bed.I know that I have been alone for a while, but at this moment when I am sitting down on my bed and staring at my gown, it hits me more and more that I am really by myself. I don’t even have anyone to walk me down the aisle.I at least had my Uncle for the first wedding.But then, I can hold a side of my stomach and imagine my baby is walking me down the aisle as I proceed to marry his or her father.I do wonder if my child will be a boy or a girl.“Sister