“Ohh, Izabelle. Your daughter is getting scarier every passing day,” Ruby lamented.
“Only to you,” Izabelle flicked Little Rosie on her forehead causing her to flinch and frown.They laughed.“Sorry Sie Sie, it was a slip of the tongue, hmm? I won’t take your mummy anywhere, okay?”“En.”Ruby swallowed and turned to Izabelle. She felt scared to ask her what she wanted to ask. If she did, the little girl was going to get angry. Ahh, such an obstacle to their friendship. They would always have to get Rosie sleeping if they want to do something or go somewhere. She mustered up her courage and asked.“Where should I take you guys? Would you like to spend some time in my apartment?”“No. You can just drop us at a hotel. I don’t want to bother you. Besides, I know you’re with your parents nowadays.”“It’s fine. I can stay because of you. You’re my bestie after all. I’m not bothered at all.”“It’s okay. We’ll just spend the night at a hotel. You’ve done enough for me already and I’m so grateful.” If she was grateful to anyone in this life, then it was to her friend, Ruby. She was a good friend indeed. They have been friends since their high school days and to say that she was supportive was an understatement.Back then when she got pregnant with Rosie, she had run away from home and had spent some days at Ruby’s before leaving the country. Ruby would come to see her at times during her pregnancy and she was the only one there for her all these years.Even when she wanted to give up on herself, Ruby encouraged her to fight hard for herself and her baby.When Rosie was born, though she wasn’t around, she sent gifts and made video calls. She was a friend. One she would always stay grateful to.“Okay, fine then. If you insist.” They stayed quiet for some minutes before they got to a hotel and Izabelle climbed down with Rosie in her arms.Ruby opened the truck of the car and carried their luggage out before handing them to Izabelle.“Mommy will carry our luggage and I’ll carry my new storybooks,” little Rosie came down from her mother's arm and ran to the other side of the car. She opened the backseat before gathering the books and getting them in her arms. They were heavy but she didn’t care. These were her new treasures for the next few weeks.“Be careful Rosie or they’ll drop.”“Yes, Aunty.”“Thank you, Ruby. We’ll get going now. See you some other time,” Izabelle informed and started walking towards the entrance of the hotel.“Bye. Love you.”“Love you too.”“Bye, Sie Sie.”Rosie’s foot stopped for a while and she turned to look at her aunt who was waving at them.“Aunt Ruby, will you buy me more gifts and goodies when you come to visit us again?”“Of course, I will. I’ll buy lots of goodies even though you already forgave me. Anything for my cute little goddaughter..”“Hmm, better then.” She smiled as she turned her back to her and followed her mother into the hotel. This would be her new way of getting goodies from her aunt. She planned to suck her dry.*****The next day, Izabelle walked out of the bathroom only to see her daughter with a spoon, getting ready to dig into the food a hotel staff brought in a few minutes ago. She rushed to her side and snatched the spoon from her before putting her hand on her waist.“What do you think you’re doing, Rosie?”“Mama, I’m hungry.”“The first thing you do after waking up is to eat? Did you bathe or brush your teeth?”“Can’t I do that after eating? I’m so hungry. I’ll faint in the bathroom,” Rosie cried, batting her eyes at her mother. Izabelle rolled her eyes and walked to the other side of the room before picking a small box up and walking back to Rosie who frowned hard at the sight of the box.If she wasn’t so hungry, she would run away from there because she knew whenever her mother brings this box out, she means business with her.“Mamaaa,” she whined.“That frown or eyes isn’t going to work on me today. I’ll let you eat without bathing or brushing your teeth since you’re so hungry but you’ll have to take your drugs first. I guess you know what this box contains.”Of course, she knows. It contains the things that keep her living. Her heart monitor, medicines, everything a patient needed.“But Mommy, these drugs are so bitter,” she stared at the box in disgust.“They won’t if you take them in one go. You’ll take them in one go and you won’t even feel it,” Izabelle sat close to Rosie on the couch and dropped the box on the floor.“I don’t want to take them.”“Rosie, you have to take them to get better.”Rosie stood up from the couch and walked to the bed to climb and lie on it, covering her face. She wasn’t going to take those drugs anymore.“Why do I always have to take them when other people don't? It’s only me. I have to wear these heart monitors whereas other people don’t need them. I don’t want them anymore. I want to be like every other child.”Izabelle sighed. Whenever Rosie threw tantrums like this, it was always hard to convince her. She had to keep lying to the child day after day and convince her to take the drugs so she could be fine.The last time Rosie refused to take her medications and wear her heart monitor, she had told her she was a superwoman and a warrior, and only after telling her that did she finally agree to take the drugs. What would she use this time? Rosie can’t skip her drugs else it would be fatal.Just then, she heard a knock on their door. She stood up from the couch and walked towards the door to open it. It was a hotel attendant and he handed her an envelope.“This came in for you, ma’am.”Izabelle slowly took the envelope and walked back into the room. Rosie was still sulking. She should check what was in this envelope and go convince her. The envelope was blank without a name and she tore it open, bringing the letter out.The words written on it shocked her to the core.“Wowwww, this place is so pretty, Mommy. Is it a palace? Like the ones in those Disney books? Are there princesses inside?” Little Rosie exclaimed with her mouth wide open as she climbed down the car and stared at the white building in front of her. The building was so huge and beautiful that she resisted the urge to run into it immediately. “It's not a palace, Sie Sie and there are no princesses inside either. It's just a normal family house.” They were standing before a huge mansion with the name ‘Rossaddor’s Residence’ written in gold at the top of the wall. This place was just as she remembered it to be. It was the same after all these years. Nothing has changed. The cold walls, the piercing atmosphere, and the graveyard silence of the mansion. Nothing changed at all. Perhaps the people in it never changed and that was the reason why nothing changed in the Rosaddor’s Mansion. She could still remember her memories here. They used to be fulfilling. Her silent days here until ever
“Rosie Mae Rossasor,” Izabelle muttered. “Rosie Mae Rossador. Good choice of name,” Grandfather Rossador repeated, staring at the little girl beside her mother who was peering at him with her big round eyes wide open. Perhaps she was wondering who he was. “Come, little girl. Come greet your great grandfather,” he gestured with his arms wide open. “Great grandfather,” little Rosie pondered. Her mother had once taught her the meaning of these titles. Izabelle bent to her height and whispered something into her ears causing her eyes to widen. Rosie slowly and hesitantly climbed down the couch and walked to the grandfather’s side. He embraced her before carrying her to sit beside him. “I’m mommy’s grandfather. Mommy used to run around this mansion when she was younger.”“Mommy used to stay here?”The grandfather nodded. “Want me to show you Mommy’s pictures?” At Rosie’s approval, the grandfather clapped his hands and two maids came rushing into the hall at the same time. He ordered
Little Rosie’s eyes raised from her meal to stare at the person who just reprimanded her. She gazed at the person in confusion wondering if she was referring to her. But she was the only kid in the room. Did she perhaps do something wrong?“She’s a little shy, Aunt Danny,” Izabelle said. “Shy or poorly educated? What did I even expect? She's a b*astard child that you got before marriage. Surely she's poorly educated, after all, she grew up to this stage without a father,” Aunt Danny’s words came out extremely harsh but like always, no one challenged her in the dining hall and they all pretended as if they didn't hear that. Izabelle slightly tightened her lips and put her spoon down. There was an unspoken rule in the Rossador family. At dinner, if the grandfather doesn't start eating, then no one could and if he doesn't leave the dining hall, no one could either. But the little girl had started eating before anyone else, causing the family members’ anger to skyrocket. “She’s just a
Two weeks passed by swiftly and Izabelle already moved to a comfortable condo with her daughter and had recently finished the project for her studio. It was a replica of her previous studio. Big and classic and she was sure that soon, she would have a hall of celebrities and children from the elite society coming in. They were already booked but due to her busy schedule this week, she had postponed her work. Coming out of the new studio, Izabelle entered her car and drove towards little Rosie’s new school. Yep. Little Rosie now attended a new school in the city and she seems to kind of like her new school. She always talked about her new friends and how beautiful they were. She also mentioned that the teachers were nice to her. Her school was just a few miles away from the studio and one of the best in the city. Well, Grandfather Rossador had insisted that his great-granddaughter attend the best school in the city and not any low-grade school. She was a Rossador and must be treated
The window behind was slowly lowered revealing a strikingly handsome face she hasn’t seen in a while. He pulled his glasses and his eyes met with hers. “Do you want to take a ride?” Marcel raised his eyebrow and looked at her with a cold smile. He was handsome under the afternoon sun and his cold smile carried a hint of cold evil. The smile that always carried away a woman’s heart and pulled the strings. Those smiles that no one could see beneath it. Izabelle held the toy she bought for little Rosie and looked at him as if he were a stranger. Perhaps he was because the Marcel staring at her here was not the Marcel she used to know. He was a stranger to her. Suddenly appearing in front of her. Who knows what he was up to?Little Rosie’s school must have closed by now and she must be waiting for her with her teacher. She doesn’t want to keep her waiting for long. Izabelle only paused for a moment before she left without looking back as if she hadn't seen him or heard him speak and no
In the ambulance was her little daughter lying on a stretcher and the nurses placing oxygen on her to help her breathe. Before the ambulance door closed, she held it and rushed in followed by the teacher. “Rosie? Sie Sie, mummy is here, say something,” her hands moved to Rosie’s shoulder and she shook her as the ambulance started moving. Little Rosie lay on a stretcher without moving or saying a word. Her eyes were closed and her mother’s cries did nothing to help her. Izabelle’s tears flowed and she abruptly turned to the teacher who was sitting together with the nurses at the side. “Ho..how? What happened?” She yelled. “I don't know. S…she was just right beside me one moment and in the next, she was gone. When we f..found her, she was in the garden unconscious and there was smoke there. I don't know how it happened really, I'm sorry.”Izabelle’s tears dropped the more the teacher talked and she slumped on the chair beside the stretcher and covered her face with her palms. Her w
Izabelle’s eyes raised from the doll to the person who just called her. Her eyes were puffy and her sight was almost blurry. She blinked to get a better view of the person, no people that were rushing toward her. Just as she recognized them, she stood up from the bench and waited till they got to her. “Izabelle are you alright? How’s your daughter?” Jared asked as he got to her. His hands were on her shoulder. She was looking so weak like a leaf and he feared that if he let go of her, she was going to fall. “Izabelle, say something.” Beside Jared was his wife Kathie and they both stared at Izabelle in worry. “Rosie...Rosie, she..” Izabelle couldn’t complete her statement because the tears that she had fought so hard to stop started streaming down her cheek again and her dry throat made it hard for her to speak. Her tears streamed as she stared at her brother and pointed at the emergency room. “It’s alright, Rosie. It’s going to be fine, okay? Rosie is going to be fine.”Izabelle s
“Rosie, baby, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Izabelle panicked as she dropped the bowl of pap on the bedside table and used her cloth to clean Rosie’s teary eyes. She feared that Rosie would stress her heart again and something bad might happen. “Baby, please stop crying, hmm? You heard what the doctor said.”She patted her back and cleaned her tears until Rosie calmed down and stopped crying. What was making her cry now? Was it the fact that she was in the hospital for the umpteenth time this year or she just felt emotional? What was making her baby cry again? Why must she have to suffer like this? She was so little but has been to the hospital at least twice to five times every month. Why exactly must it be like this, huh? Rosie has been suffering for long enough. When was her suffering going to end? She rather that she suffer instead of her daughter who spends her days in the hospital instead of having fun and living a free life like other kids. Izabelle’s eyes watered as sh