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The aftermath
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2022-03-20 23:31:40The atmosphere at the house the next morning was a strained one. Carol had to wake up early to pack her stuff, otherwise, she would have just stayed in her room and slept until her family left. As it was, she had to come face to face with them. Belinda averted her gaze and refused to look at Carol or speak to her the whole time, not that Carol wanted to speak to her either. Aunt Alice did her best to pretend that everything was normal and that none of what had happened yesterday happened. It was still a marvel to Carol that someone like her, who was such a tattletale knew about all this and had been able to keep her mouth shut all these years.
As her father had promised, they did leave somewhat early, so all she had to do was bid them a forced goodbye and they were on their way. However, they turned up thirty minutes later saying that they had missed their flight due to traffic on the road and that it would have to be the next day that they would leave. Her father looked apologetRelated chapters
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“Uncle James!” Carol exclaimed, wondering if she was seeing an apparition.“Carol my dear. You looked so shocked, why is that?” Mr. James asked, extending his arms for a brief hug, which Carol quickly gave and then pulled back, still surprised. Fast on the heels of her surprise came dismay. She and Sebastian were supposed to be on this vacation together, playing the perfect couple for Mr. James's benefit, but he was not even here.“Well, I didn’t know that you would be here.”“I know. My wife and I wanted to take you and my boy by surprise. Our wedding anniversary is in a week’s time, and we wanted to celebrate it with you guys. That was why I asked you to pick where we would vacation.” He finished, laughing a little at what he deemed to be his own cleverness.“Oh.” Was all Carol could say.“Anyway, where is my boy and why did he allow you to come down here all by yourself? What you guys told me was that you were both coming down this yesterday. Is there somethi
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“I'm sure that Sebastian is very tired and I know that you love birds would want some time to yourselves. Go on now, you both go and rest. We will just do some of our stuff and then we can meet up later, ok?” Mrs. James said. “Yeah sure. I could do with a good bath and a very long nap. Do you want to come with me or you'll rather stay here?” Sebastian asked Carol, taking her hand when she nodded, indicating that she would rather come with him. They walked in companionable silence to the elevator and took it up to their suite where Carol sat stiffly in an armchair, all the bravado of earlier fleeing from her immediately. Shyness took its place instead, and she was embarrassed that she had kissed Sebastian on an impulse. However, she did not regret it one bit and knew that if the opportunity presented itself again, she would take it in the blink of an eye. “Um, should I run you a bath?” She asked when she could not bear the silence any longer. “If it's no troub
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Charlotte sat in a corner of the restaurant, her gaze firmly fixed on her birth father, who had no idea of the fact that she was staring daggers at him or any idea of who she was for that matter. Just seeing his stupid face brought back all the hurt that she had harbored right from when she was young and brought up the pain that her mother must have felt over the years as acutely as though she was the one who had felt it. The traitorous bastard was there, right there across from her with his stupid wife and adopted son or nephew, anyhow you looked at it and the imbecile’s wife. This was the man who had taken her father away from her and her brother and it was all Charlotte could do not storm across the restaurant and beat his face to a pulp, all their faces in fact. Her so-called father was there with his bitch of a wife, smiling as though he did not have a care in the world and Sebastian and his wife laughed along as though they did not have any problems at all, which she guessed t
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“Whew! That was hectic.” Carol said as she and Sebastian got back to her suite after dinner. “Huh? What was hectic?” “Having to pretend to be in love with you and all that. My cheeks hurt from smiling at you all evening.” Carol said, laughing and causing Sebastian to raise one eyebrow in mock surprise and annoyance. “I’m highly offended. How can you suggest that these appealing features of mine are a chore to smile at?” He quipped, mock frowning at her. Carol burst out laughing at this. She had not known that Sebastian could be a playful person at all. The sound of her laughter sounded so melodious to Sebastian’s ears that he paused to stare at her pretty face until Carol tucked a strand of her luxurious ash blonde hair at the back of her ear nervously, no doubt wondering why he was staring at her.
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Carol watched Sebastian as he got his gear for diving together. He seemed really excited to go on this expedition and she was sure that she was being a spoilsport, but she just could not help herself and she was scared of the ocean. Supposing it was something that she had thought of or considered doing before now, it would have been a different situation.“You seem to like diving a lot.” She commented as he zipped up his bag and moved to another part of the suite to pick something else.“I sure do. I’ve been doing it since I was eleven. Anytime I go on vacation to places like this, I always make sure to take the opportunity to go diving. You can say that I’m a pro at it, but it’s okay if you’re not into it. In my experience, I’ve learned that it is better not to force someone to want to like it, so you can just come and watch, or you can sun on the beach if you want. I just don’t want you to be bored while I’m up and about enjoying myself.”“Awww. That’s so thoughtful and s
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The sun was shining brightly this morning, and Carol was in lively spirits. It was her vow renewal day. She and Sebastian had opted to just renew their vows, and this time, make them with more meaning. Her joy knew no bounds, and her face radiated with it, as Mrs. James noted with pleasure. “You look very happy, my dear.” Mrs. James stated, cradling a three-month-old baby James in her arms, her face taking on the radiant look that many-a-grandmother had when they had the pleasure of holding their grandkids. “I can say the same about you, aunty. You’re really glowing.” Carol complimented in turn, taking care not to ruin the work of the lady who was doing her makeup. “I know, right? Baby James here has brought such sparkle into our lives. I’m more than thankful that I live close to you guys. I will be able to see as much of this handsome little face as I want.” Mrs. James said, looking down at the baby she carried in her arms. He stared back at her and babbled some meaningless baby wo
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“Carol.” It was just one word, but that one word was enough to break the stupor she had been in as soon as she saw him.“Sebastian.” She said in turn, standing up to go bring another chair for him to sit down, but in essence, she was trying to buy herself some time to get her breathing under control. He looked so good and smelled so nice that it was all she could do not to throw herself straight into his arms and breathe in his essence as though her very life depended on it. She saw Sebastian’s eyes widen at the small bump under her loose gown, and her hand went to hold it selfconsciously.“It’s growing.” She told him needlessly and then slammed her mouth shut. She sort of felt nervous being in Sebastian’s presence and wished that she had worn a more flattering dress than the one that she had on now, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Sebastian collected the chair from her and brought it over to place it i
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Sebastian fought the urge to retch as he observed his surroundings and the woman in front of him. If this was where Carol was staying, then he would drag her home with him today, even if he had to drag her kicking and screaming. He would not have her stay with this woman who did not like her and was clearly very irresponsible.“Hello, Belinda. Sorry to disturb you, but we’re looking for Carol. Is she here?” Mrs. James asked.“How the fuck am I supposed to know where she is, huh? Anyway, what is it to you? Is the contract not supposed to be over? Why are you still looking for her?” Belinda asked suspiciously, and he could see that she was also high on drugs.“Well, um, we had a little altercation, and I haven’t seen her since then, so I was wondering if she was here. Do you perchance, have her number? Her dad is also not answering his calls.”“Look, I don’t have any business
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It was raining cats and dogs once again, exactly as it had been raining on that fateful day when Carol had left him till now. Sebastian was sitting in his aunt’s house, sipping a mug of hot coffee and ignoring everything that she was currently saying. He looked like a shadow of himself, which was not a surprise, considering the fact that most times, all he did was drink and have to deal with a nagging Jessica, who was still in his house, even though he had taken her name off the deed to the house. Because of her, he was hardly ever in his house again, but preferred to stay here at his aunt’s for a better part of the time he was not working himself to death … literally. “Are you even listening to anything I’m saying, Sebastian?” Mrs. James asked, shaking him a little to get his attention.“No, aunt. I can’t say that I am. I’m sorry, but I think I zoned out a little there. What were you saying?” He asked finally. Mrs. James shook her head, reminding him of when he was still a recalcitra
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“Wh…what does he mean by this?” Donald asked at last, after scanning the text message. “Your guess is as good as mine,” Carol replied, rubbing at her face, hardly able to believe the level to which Sebastian was willing to stoop to be cruel to her. If he thought that she was going to just lay low, act like a sheep and allow him to ride all over her, then he had another thing coming. She just couldn’t get the image of that text out of her head. Good morning, Donald. How are you doing? So, have you heard from your daughter yet? I just wanted to let you know that she’s with something of mine. Something invaluable. I don’t know if she told you about it or not, but she’s pregnant with my child and according to the contract that she signed, if such a thing were to happen, then I’ll have full custody of the child. Tell her to come out of wherever
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“I don’t think that what you are doing makes any sense at all, Carol,” Donald said worriedly, looking at his daughter, who averted her gaze and tried in vain to stop the tears welling up in her expressive blue eyes.“Why do you say that, dad?” Carol asked him, wiping away her tears.“Well, maybe because you’re pregnant and you choose to slave away at doing a regular job instead of taking proper care of yourself.”“A lot of pregnant women work at regular jobs, dad.”“I know that, but not a lot of them have huge lumps of money lying in their bank accounts untouched while they look malnourished. Why are you punishing yourself this way, my dear? I mean, it’s only been one month since you left Sebastian. In that one month, you’ve become almost as thin as that girl Jessica., whom we do not like at all.”At this, Carol burst out laughing despite herself. Her father was acting like a
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It was with a growing sense of urgency that Sebastian drove away from the hospital, Jessica's insults and curses trailing after him until he could no longer hear them. It was a sad thing indeed that she was now the way she was, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He had offered to help her, but she kept turning down his help at every turn, so there was nothing he could do for her anymore. He could not do the very thing that she wanted, which was to be with her, as he did not love her anymore. He stopped by a flower shop on his way back to the house to get some flowers for Carol, knowing that women loved things like that. Hopefully, she would forgive him, and even if she did not, he would keep trying until she did. He still did not know how she managed to wind up pregnant, if she was taking her pills like she had claimed, but he knew that sometimes, those things were not foolproof, especially if the lady who was taking them fell sick during the period. He remembered that C
