I wake up at around noon to a knock on my door. I know it's Constance. She's the only one who would check up on me at this time. I roll out of bed with a groan and make my way to the door. I try not to fall as I reach the door. I got up too quickly. I unlock the door. She smiles at me and gestures at the tray she's carrying. It has always astounded me how she manages to keep a smile on her face regardless of the situation. It cheers me up a little. Her happiness has always been contagious. "I brought you some soup and your pain medication. How's that arm?""Sore," I admit. "I'll take care of it while your soup cools a little, and then you can eat it. It'll do you good. I'm glad you managed to sleep for so many hours.""Have you heard any news about her?" I ask. I can't bear to say her name anymore. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. "Unfortunately, no," she answers. "Your father has men looking all over for her, but it isn't easy. She was always smart, and so hiding is no big
Luca I think about calling Laura but decide against it in the last minute. She's probably resting. What she went through wasn't easy, and to make things worse she still ended up being stabbed. I can't get over that. I can't unsee all the blood, and the knife slicing her arm. I was helpless and only stared. I let her sister hurt her. I can't move past this. I don't think I'll forgive myself for not acting quicker. Things with the family are worse than ever. Miguel left; he's disappointed in all of us. I won't say that I don't understand what he's going through. I'd be hurt too if I were in his position. What we did with him was unacceptable and I only wish that we had done things differently. But I can't change the past. I had a meeting in the morning and not having Miguel there took a toll on me. He never contributed much to our discussions, but knowing he was there was a comfort. It was having someone who was blood by my side. Today, I didn't have his support, and I felt his abse
I was incredibly relieved when Luca called me. I was dying to hear his voice and now that we're together, I feel whole again. I was getting tired of staying home where everything reminded me of Mary. I'm surprised by how natural things seem with Luca. Mary tried to ruin this, but she didn't succeed. I don't feel like Luca was to blame for what happened. If anything, Eliza should have known better and I stand on this hill. It isn't because I love him. Anyone would feel this way if they heard his side of the story. He glances at me and puts his hand on my thigh. "You're distracted. Is everything alright at home? Any news on your sister?"I shake my head. "My parents don't want to involve the police so they hired a private investigator to look for her. There's been no sign of her. It's like she vanished into thin air. There's still time, though."He nods. "We might have to do the same with Miguel, but I think that all we have to do is give him time. This isn't a situation with an eas
I close the door behind me with a soft click. I didn't mean to get home this late, but Luca kept distracting me in hopes that I'd accept his offer and spend the night with him. The only reason why I didn't was because I truly hadn't told my parents about it. I don't want them to feel like I'm disrespecting them. Yes, Luca and I are engaged, but I'm still living with them. And while I'm living with them, I owe them an explanation. I have to inform them about my whereabouts, especially during these uncertain times that have everyone worrying. I start to tiptoe toward the stairs, but a light in the living room turns on and I know that I've been caught. I feel like a teenager again, sneaking out to meet with my friends. I don't even have to turn around to know that it's my mother. "I'm sorry," I start to say. "I was with Luca. We lost track of time.""I don't mind that," she says. "You're an adult. You can spend time with whoever you please. I do wish you had told me where you were go
Luca I have a lot of work in the morning, so I get up early even though I slept late. This whole thing with Miguel and Mary feels like the biggest thing—the biggest tragedy—that has ever happened to us. Yet everything feels normal where our day to day lives are concerned. Nothing feels different. Nothing has changed. Dad and I still have work. The family still has dinners to attend. And all the while, I just keep wishing that the world had stopped a little, because maybe if it had I'd be able to breathe and process all of this without having to shove it away in a folder somewhere in the back of my mind. I shower and spend more time in there then I need to. I have always considered myself a strong person. It takes a lot to faze me or disrupt my foundations. I have seen a lot in life and I have survived a lot, too. I went through a lot of bullshit, but most of it changed me for the best and made me who I am. I lived through things that showed me the importance of maintaining my comp
When Brett and Victoria invited me to go to the mall, I didn't say no. I know that my parents and I agreed that I couldn't spend too much time in public places because of Mary, but the mall was different. There were too many people there and even if she followed me, she wouldn't be able to do a thing to me. Besides, I wasn't alone, and I was alert this time. I wouldn't let her lunge at me and slice me open with a knife.I meet them at the entrance. Things feel the same between us even though the last time I saw them was in the clinic. Well, I saw Brett there. Victoria never came inside my room to see me, so the last time I saw her was at the engagement party that went wrong. She seems a little awkward and I’m not sure why. Could it be that she’s embarrassed about not coming in? I understand it. If my best friend had been attacked by her own sister during her engagement party, I wouldn’t know how to handle all that either. Brett did, and he handled it really well, but I won’t criticiz
I look up at Luca when Miguel has disappeared from sight. “She’s dead?”He nods gravely. “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about?”“I found out an hour ago or so,” he says. “She was at the hotel. I didn’t know. None of us did. She called me before she did it and told me that nothing happened that night. She lied about it for over six years. Six whole fucking years, Laura.”I shake my head. “This is awful.”Just when I thought that things couldn’t get worse, this happens. It’s truly tragic. I can’t begin to imagine what he’s feeling right now. Guilty. Angry. Tired. He looks like it. I slide my hand in his and squeeze gently. He squeezes back. This confrontation with Miguel probably drained him even more. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”“No,” I say, rubbing my arm absentmindedly. “He was just a little agitated and I guess that’s what scared me.”He shakes his head. “You don’t know what it’s like for me to see him like this. I grew up with Miguel. He wasn’t like this. The man I saw t
When I told Luca about what Mary had done, he made a drastic decision that I didn't disagree with. We should leave our parents' houses and move in together. It was the most sensible decision we could make considering the circumstances. Why should we keep living with our parents when our lives were in danger? Clearly I wasn't safe where I was even though I thought I was. If Mary broke in to destroy my room, she could have easily done that with me inside. I couldn't fight her if she came with a gun. She could easily shoot me. I don't know why he didn't suggest both of us living at his family house. It was more spacious and had double the security. I think it has something to do with his mother. He mentioned something that got me thinking even though he didn't elaborate. Something about her losing him if she didn't respect his decisions. I didn't ask what it was. In time, he would tell me if he wanted to. Finding an apartment wasn't hard. We had the money; all we needed was to find a
LucaI'm the last to see Laura, mostly because I want us to be alone for a long time. There's a lot I have to say to her, and I suspect that there's a lot she wants to say to me. She recovered well, and the doctors expect that she'll recuperate fairly quickly. She's tough. She broke a few ribs during her fall and fractured her skull, but she'll be just fine. It could have been a lot worse. She could have died. She could have been paralyzed from the neck down. But she survived. When I saw the crime scene, I realized that a miracle must have happened, because there was no way she had made it out alive when Miguel and Mary had over twenty guns in the apartment with them. The bloody scene was also an indication that something terrible had happened. We didn't have the details, but the police connected the dots fairly quickly. Miguel and Mary were lovers. Judging by the evidence they found, he was involved in the shooting. I was disappointed. Beyond that. I had no words for what I felt. I
I crack my eyes open. The light ahead is too bright, so I close my eyes for a while longer before opening them again. My head spins. I'm awake yet tired. My closed eyes make me fall back asleep. When I awake, I'm in the same place, but my mind is so hazy that I'm having a hard time figuring out where I am. I look to my left. My head practically snaps in that direction. There is someone beside me. Someone in white clothes. I look at her face, and her eyes widen a little and she leaves the bedroom. I groan. I wanted to ask her where I was and who she was, but I couldn't open my lips. My tongue is too heavy in my mouth. When she returns, she isn't alone. There's a man in a white coat beside her. He says, "Laura. Laura. Can you hear me?"How does he know my name?I fall asleep to the sound of his voice. I sleep easily. I dream of nothing. I have no concrete thoughts. I wonder where I am and wonder when my head will stop being so fuzzy. When I reopen my eyes, I see something interesting
“Stop!” Mary shouts. We both turn to look at her. She takes a few steps and reaches Miguel’s side. She stretches her arm out. “Give it to me.”“Why?”“I should be the one to do it,” she says. “Just as you’re the one who’s going to kill Luca. That was the plan. That’s what we agreed on.”“We never agreed on anything like that,” he says with a frown. “It was my idea to lure her here and so I have to be the one to do it.”“Miguel,” she says through gritted teeth. “Give me the knife!”I can’t believe they’re fighting over who’s going to kill me. It’s truly unbelievable. I look back and forth between them helplessly. If I stand, he might stab me in the back to stop me from reaching the door and that’ll ruin all of my chances of escaping. I don’t want to die here. I can’t die here. I’m suddenly so desperate to leave here and live. I want to see Luca again. I want to see my father again. Constance. My friends. I can’t die here at the hands of these deranged people. I can’t be another victim
It took everything within me to come here. I park outside the apartment building. I stare at the third floor. The windows are all closed. It's hard to imagine her in there, in my apartment. Polluting my sacred space with her negative energy and bad intentions. I climb out of the car. I don't allow myself to think. She wants this to end, we can end it now. I've hidden behind people for far too long now, and look what has happened. I can't let anyone else die because she's targeting me. That's cruel. I'm just as bad as her if I let such a thing happen. I didn't tell Luca. I didn't tell anyone I was coming here. I'm unarmed. I didn't call for help. There is no plan. There is just me. Me and her. As it's supposed to be. I close the door and take a deep breath before entering the building. The sun is starting to set and the sky looks beautiful; too beautiful for such a thing to be happening. The oranges and the purples are magnificent. I'll never forget the way the sky looked when I con
Yesterday feels like a terrible nightmare. Twenty-four hours has passed since those men stormed into the hotel and shot seven people. Seven people lost their lives, Luca's father and my mother were amongst the dead. I can't believe it. I repeat the facts to myself over and over again and still can't believe that such a tragedy has happened. It can't be possible that my mother is dead. That Luca's father is dead. And all because of some silly revenge that doesn't matter. All because I fell in love with Luca.I'm devastated. I don't think I'll recover from this anytime soon. I'm crippled by pain. And the worst part of all of this is Luca's pain and how raw it is. Marc didn't deserve to die at the hands of those traitorous shooters. I call them traitorous because they were invited to the party under some head of some family I don't even remember. It doesn't matter. What's done is done. We've lost two members of our family. My father is inconsolable. Sarah is inconsolable. Luca is abso
The wedding ceremony was absolutely beautiful. It was only Luca's family, mine, and Brett and Victoria. We didn't need a lot of people there. I've learned during all of this that Luca doesn't necessarily have a lot of friends. He has people he is very well acquainted with, but no close friends. He doesn't let anyone get close enough to him, because there's a side to him that he only shows the people he loves and he needs to keep it protected. It's too tender to be exposed to the world. I consider myself to privileged to be loved by him. He takes care of the people he loves. He knows how to love. I said yes with tears in my eyes. I didn't think I'd cry, but I did. Everything feel so official now. We're finally married. I'm his wife, not his fiancée. It's strange to think that I became his wife without having been his girlfriend first. It's just one of the many thoughts I had when he slipped the wedding band on my finger. We kissed and he held me for the longest time. I was hesitant
Luca Our wedding is tomorrow, and I'm not sure what to feel about that. It’s not that I’ve suddenly become indecisive. I know I want to marry her. I’m sure of my love for her. I’m not happy that we’re marrying this quickly but I also understand why it has to be done. My father was right; anything could happen to me at any point. If that’s the case, Laura is entitled to everything I have. It’s safer this way. But despite this, should we have given it more time? Would it have been best if we waited for things to blow over? That way, we could I have done things more calmly and wouldn’t have to rush like this. I don’t know anymore. I turn to look at Laura. Her back is facing me and she looks like she’s been asleep for some time now. I notice that she doesn’t really sleep at night. She spends a lot of nights awake; like me. So whenever she sleep, I feel easy enough to sleep as well. But tonight is different. I don’t want to sleep. If I do, I’ll wake up and it’ll be tomorrow. The weddi
"How's my favorite preggie doing?" Brett asks as soon as I answer the phone. I can't help but smile as I pop a grape in my mouth. "I don't feel pregnant yet, you know? It's just normal. I won't even lie."He chuckles and says, "You're just a cold-hearted bitch. My mother said that she could feel me from the second she found out that she was pregnant.""You haven't considered the fact that maybe she lied?" Victoria asks. I can tell from the sound of her voice that she's looking for a fight with Brett. "My mother said she didn't feel me either.""Well, that's you," he says with a sigh. "I'm different, then. Maybe those babies are the most magnificent and remarkable ones."I frown. "You're saying my baby won't be remarkable?""How can you say that?""I'm not saying the baby won't be remarkable!" he exclaims. "I'm saying that I was! Jesus! Give it a rest, you two! Stop being so annoying! Just stop!"I giggle and Victoria does the same. She then says, "I can't believe that we didn't get t
When Luca asked me whether I wanted to marry him anytime soon, I said yes. I would have waited longer if it were up to me. I really would have. I had no problem living the way we did. Alone. Free. Not caring about what anyone thinks. Not following traditions too much. It was the liberty I felt when I left my parents' house. But now that I was pregnant, that all changes. My father would want a date. And I'd have to give it to him. So I did. Things were happening quickly again. I was feeling quite overwhelmed with everything. My father was very happy when I told him I was pregnant. He was even happier when I told him I'd marry Luca in two weeks' time. He was strict about that even though he wasn't raised in our world. My mother was ecstatic as well. I never in a million years would have guessed that she would have reacted that way to the news. She even cried as she held me. I didn't know how to react so I simply watched her. The same happened with Constance, although with her my re