"I can no longer continue with this facade. This charade of a marriage must end today. I want a divorce, Tracy." Charles Parker, her husband announced as he stopped her along the hallway. "My father threatened my claim to the Parker Enterprises as the true heir if I didn't get married to you. He would have disowned me and left me with nothing had I not given in to his wish. He broke my soul when he did that. I mean how cruel and heartless could he be? And yet, knowing I did not love you, and to add salt to injury, you foolishly agreed to get married to me. But I can't do this anymore. I want out." He mumbled as Tracy fiddled with her hair and kept a glance at the portrait of the two of them on their wedding day on the wall behind Charles.Her mouth parted open trying to make sense of what had just happened while she kept her glance at the photo on the wall. "I - I - I" Charles cut in before she could say a word. "I - I - nothing. This nonsense must end and it must end today. And lo
Foolishly? Perhaps that was the doing of love. Because when you grew up idolizing the concept of love and marriage, you would foolishly jump into one, especially when you are drawn to the man. Heartless, what made her so? Was it an abomination for a lady to fight for love? A nobody? At least her late father was a decent school teacher who commanded some respect. So that she believed was unfounded. But she understood that emotions could sometimes carry people away and lead them to say things they never intended. Hidden motive? That was laughable. What motive could a man she considered her guardian possibly have? He must have done that out of love and pure kindness. Or because he felt his son was a perfect match for Tracy.Tracy and Charles had played the pretense game in the early days of their marriage. In the first six months of their union, the whole of Purple City knew of their marriage. They set the standard for marriages and epitomized true love and happiness.Tracy felt lik
"This is not the time to call the family doctor. Call 911!" Mr Edward Parker instructed Jean as his hands kept shaking, but she was reluctant. Mrs Briggs called 911 and while they waited for the arrival of the ambulance, she turned to Jean and gave her a piece of her mind."I don't know what Tracy did to you to warrant this level of hatred. You could hate her for whatever reason, but know that there are limits. This is a matter of life and death. The lady is on the verge of losing her life and you don't think that should be a reason to rethink whatever fuels your hatred for her?" She queried and looked on to see if the ambulance was in sight. The sirens could be heard wailing in the distance."What is going on here?" Asked June, elder sister to Jean. She looked at Mrs Briggs and her father. Their mouths stretched, exposing their teeth. At this point her heart started to beat faster and she screamed "What is going on here?" Before she could get an answer the sirens wailed through th
A dark hollowing had formed under her eyes. Tracy had barely shut her eyes and it was already half past five in the morning. Scenes from her previous day's encounter with Charles would not stop flashing in her eyes. Everything had happened so fast and now she was left in a state of wonder. "When did Charles sign the divorce papers?" She thought. His busy schedule would not permit him to commit to so many sheets of paper at a sitting. Then it dawned on her that Charles had planned his move a long time ago. She got out of her bed and kept staring at how empty it was. Her wish was for her husband to share her bed with her. But Charles never beckoned to any of that. He would rather sleep in the guest room.For a second she forgot herself and lifted a vase next to her bed with her wounded right hand. Immediately she felt pain and dropped the vase. Her wound had not healed completely. Blood stained the bandage wrapped around her right hand.The sound of the shattering vase invited Mrs Br
The morning sun had shone its brightness heralding the dawn of a new day. The birds chirped in unison across the sky earmarking the goodness of the day.Broad smiles elevated the looks on the faces of people walking the streets of Purple City. A sign that it was a good day. But inside the Parker house, the story was different. The day was far from good. The past few days have been filled with pain and disappointment. And Tracy’s exit from the Parker house made Mr Parker worried. A lady he considered his daughter had left his house even before he could talk her out of her decision. Everything had happened so fast that he wondered why Tracy left without first consulting him. But his son Charles was to be blamed gravely for the turn of events.He stood in the living room looking at his son. The kind of look that registered anger, disappointment and betrayal.His son had not only betrayed his trust but also set their family up for public ridicule.“Oh. Charles! You disappoint me.” Mr Pa
The day could not have been any worse. And nature seemed to agree with the turn of events. The sun had dimmed and the morning felt like night time. The birds were lost in sight and it looked like there would be rainfall.But that was just the clouds sending a message. This same outlook had formed years ago when Tracy was admitted to the hospital. She had fallen into a pool. But for the timely rescue of Charles, she would have drowned to death. And while on admission at the hospital, the clouds formed and what felt like an earth tremor shook the hospital building."Fifty million dollars, fifty million dollars," said Tracy repeatedly while unconscious. Her eyes were closed and she kept turning in the hospital bed. Louisa had called 911 when she did not respond earlier. She stood behind a glass window as she watched her friend struggle on the hospital bed. Louisa ran her hand through her hair and consistently asked the doctor whether her friend would be okay. She was asked to c
Charles drove aimlessly across the city for three hours. He was pondering over his actions for the past few days. And the words of his friends kept ringing in his head. "I dare say that you are to be blamed for everything that happened, Charles. And I'm not saying this to make you feel bad, but to let you see how unwise you have been." He recalled Albert's words."Albert does have a point, Charles. You caused all this. Don't take our words out of context. But Tracy has been an epitome of wife material." Chris' words also echoed.For a second, he thought his friends had a point. He had been foolish and threw an asset out the window. It was midday and Charles was still haunted by his friend's words. The words of his father and Mrs Briggs equally took over a part of his brain.It was as though pandemonium had broken out in his brain. He may be tough and stubborn, but the damage his actions have caused had him in a tight corner and now he wanted to escape from everything.But having no
Charles’ left leg was swollen due to the bite. The excruciating pain made him bite the pillow on his bed when the doctor attended to him. Initially, the doctor had wanted to administer anaesthetics to kill the pain, but he opposed it. Thus, the doctor warned that he could not scream since that could increase the stress levels of other patients. Hours passed and he was feeling much better. And that got him thinking he was fit to walk again. But before he could put his right foot ahead of the left, he was down on the floor.“Charles!” Fiona screamed. She had been sitting in the visitor's area for hours. And so when the doctor announced that she could see him, she wasted no time in going to his ward. “What were you trying to do?” she asked while helping him get back onto his bed. “You are not fit just yet,” she added. And finally helped him to lie back on his bed.Charles gazed at her for a moment and forgot about his pain. But when his father walked in, his senses were realigned and
Three years after their marriage, Tracy got pregnant with her second child and everyone was happy for them.She was also back on TV and won several awards for her show and her TV station.Her uncle Uriel and Mrs Briggs hit it off and were together as lovers. The two found comfort in each other's company and lived in Tracy's house since Tracy moved in with her husband.Tracy took charge of the Parker enterprise and the company made a comeback and took the number one spot on the market yet again.She made sure to maintain Rupert and Stacy after she heard of their wonderful input in the past.Tracy made Jason her chauffeur and gave him one of the bedrooms in her father's house since most of the rooms were empty.Jason was made head over David, Matilda, Theophilus and the other aides who still worked at the Parker house.June and Jean lived in harmony with the aides.The two were now working at the Parker company together with their sister after Tracy thought it was pointless for them t
Two weeks passed and Tracy was a little sober due to the information she got from her lawyer.Her lawyer had advised that she get Mr Parker arrested first, before arraigning him for court and eventually getting him behind bars.Tracy had received assurance from her lawyer that the evidence was enough to win the court case and punish Mr Parker.On a sunny day when the sun was making some people wear extra layers of sunscreen just to prevent the rays of the sun from having direct contact with their skin, Tracy didn't seem to care much.She only had a cap on and in her company were two police officers, Jason and Uriel.Mr Edward Parker was seated on the couch, while Jean sat in another filing her nails."Tracy, what a pleasant surprise," Eddy said the moment he saw Tracy who entered with a laptop in her left armpit and a photo portrait in her right hand."I wish, what brought me here is as pleasant as you claim my visit," Tracy said."Tracy, language," Uriel said. "What uncle? Let me spe
"June, is everything okay? For the past two days you have been indoors without saying a word to anyone," Jean said immediately as she entered her sister's room.June sat in one corner of her bedroom, her hair was begging for the feel of a comb. As tears rolled down her soft cheeks."June, will you say something already? Your silence is killing me," Jean said. But her sister would still not utter a word."Anyway, I went to visit Mother yesterday and she asked to see you," she informed her sister.Jean realized her sister would not say anything but cry. So she left her side.Three minutes later, Jean entered with her Dad and said, "Father, June has been like this for hours. She won't say anything to me,"Eddy moved towards June and just as he was about to grab her shoulder, she said, "Don't you dare touch me,""June! What has come over you? Why do you talk to your father like that?" She queried her sister.Eddy's eyes were wide open as waves of shock went down his body. If anyone woul
"Good day, Tracy," the lawyer greeted and entered Tracy's house. She walked her in and offered her a seat. Tracy dashed off to the kitchen to get some drinks for her lawyer when she heard the doorbell ring. "Don't worry, I got it," Uriel said and walked to the door to check who had knocked."Who is it?" Tracy asked at the top of her voice while she was in the kitchen.But there was no response from her uncle.Tracy walked back into the living room with a Tray supporting an apple juice and a glass.Slowly, she lowered the drink onto the coffee table next to the lawyer while she kept her eyes on the guest who had been walked in by her uncle."Careful with that," Uriel said when he realized his niece almost dropped the Tray on the floor."Right," she responded and shifted her attention to the drink for a second and then back to the guest."It's you! Where have you been and how did you know where I live?" Tracy queried.The guest was none other than Jason."I'm so sorry Lawyer," Tracy a
"Tracy, what's going on?" June called me saying something that I could not quite understand. "What's the matter?" Louisa asked."Cyril tells me you have not been to the office in days now. Is everything okay?" She asked.Tracy stood on the edge of the couch, with her legs on the seat on the chair as she watched Louisa talk."Tracy, won't you say anything?" She asked after her friend refused to say a word, ""Uncle, you are here. Good day sir," Louisa greeted the second she saw Uriel."Good day, my daughter. How have you been and most importantly, how's your baby girl doing?" He asked."I'm doing well uncle and Tracy is also doing quite well. I would have brought her here but Mrs Briggs advised she's too young to be taken out," she responded."That's fine. I'm sure eventually we would get to see her," he added."Uncle," she called the attention of Uriel. "Yes, my child," he responded swiftly."Why is Tracy like this? Why won't she say anything to me?" She asked.Tracy's phone lying on
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tracy asked June immediately as she walked in."Errm, what's that supposed to mean? What's going on?" She asked."What is that supposed to mean? This is my house and I don't want you here. So just get out," Tracy screamed. The noise from the living room drew Uriel's attention and he rushed down to the hall."What's going on here?" He asked. "Oh, uncle, you are here," June said."I just got here and Tracy would not let me even sit. She just asked me to leave without provocation," June explained.Uriel got the drift and understood why his niece was asking June to leave. He walked to Tracy and held her by the shoulder and said, "Child, you don't need to vent your anger on her. She has done nothing wrong,""I just don't care uncle," Tracy said and removed her uncle's hand from her shoulder."I don't want her here and that is final," she added and turned away.While she looked away, the doorbell rang and it was Henry."Good day uncle," he greeted. "Goo
"You mean Jason has been sending you anonymous letters? Why didn't you say anything to me?" Uriel asked Tracy."Well, I didn't know who he was until you just disclosed his name. And I didn't think anything serious of the letters till he made some revelations to me," Tracy said.Uriel, who was seated on a chair, got up and walked slowly towards Tracy and asked, "What revelations?" Tracy, feeling broken and hurt, paused for a second to allow the tears to roll down her face."My child, you have barely said anything. Why are you crying? What did Jason say to you?" He asked."Come on darling. I'm your uncle, you can talk to me," he insisted after his niece went mute suddenly."Tracy, would you talk to me? What is the problem?" He asked again after noticing the sobbing of Tracy had intensified.He reached for a tissue on the center table and slowly he started to wipe her tears."Jason told me some things that are still shaking my world," she finally broke her silence hesitantly."He did? W
"Father, it's been days since our mother was taken away and you've not made any effort to go and see her," Jean said immediately as she walked in on her father in the living room."I thought you loved her? So what changed so suddenly that you seem not to care about her again?" She asked.Eddy got up from his chair, looked at the face of his daughter and then paced up and down without saying a word."Father, I thought you were going to say something?" She asked again."And what is there to say? I'd be lying to myself if I told you that I'm even thinking straight," Eddy responded swiftly."First, my sister does the unthinkable and now she is behind bars. Then my wife. Not forgetting the mess at the Parker company as we speak, and you dare ask about your mother?" He asked"Where do I even start from? I've lost everything," he said as water formed in his eyes."You can start anywhere, father. Make some calls, and talk to some of your influential people. I don't know but just do something.
A week passed.Tracy paced up and down the living room.Her nanny had gone to be with Louisa while June was with her family.Brooks was all alone contemplating whether or not to go and meet the anonymous fellow who had been sending her letters.The previous night, Tracy received yet another letter from this unknown person instructing her to meet up in a secluded environment."Why would this person want to meet me in the woods? As if his identity was not mysterious enough, this fellow wants me to meet up in the forest. Why the forest of all places?" She said out loud since she was the only person at home."What if the person is evil? Or has some devilish motive? Why on earth should a meet-up in the woods be appropriate and not anywhere open here in the city?" Tracy struggled with mind-boggling questions as she kept moving up and down the room."But what If the person is real and has genuine intentions? I guess my mind is playing tricks on me," she said."Well, I can never be too care