Jude's fierce eyes narrowed as the white in them became red with an effort to keep his anger in check. There was a faint tremor as his jaw clenched tightly. The overall effect of Micah's insults on him shows how much he was barely containing his fury, ready to explode at any moment.Micah's heart was in turmoil of fear, but she was still trying to keep up with her pride. "Tell me the lie in what I said" she urges. "If you ever speak of her like that again…" Jude's tone was cold, controlled in anger, and a hint of danger underneath. "If you say such a thing again…" he repeated, "I will make you pay. You think I don't know that you and your fucker were the ones behind those pictures? You should keep yourself, and words away from me" he speaks slowly and deliberately, enunciating each word carefully.As Micah heard Jude's words, she felt a chill run down her spine. The fury in his voice was unmistakable, and she could feel the tension in the air around them. She wished she dared to deny
"Are you..sure about..this?" Gerold stuttered in disbelief as he stood on his feet. He had caught the flu about a day ago but his health suddenly felt improved at Raina's acceptance to be his contracted wife. Gerold had foreseen her to call a few days ago because of how confident he was about no other easier solution to the crisis on ground. Not like he totally wished for her unhappiness. He had begun to have some silly heartbeats for her, and couldn't wait to make her joyful too. He felt that was the right decision as his nephew, Jude would surely get over the news of their marriage easily, and move on. Throughout the last week, Gerold had almost given up on Raina when she didn't call him. He had made the detailed contract a long time ago when he first wanted to marry her a few months ago and had remade it with the new conditions and terms. He felt dire for being the one behind the rim of her sadness but he was knowledgeable about the hardship she would face regarding her pregnancy
"Uh…uhm.." Raina stutters "It's fine if you don't want to" She inches backward and looks away. "If that is what you want, so it is" Gerold affirmed with a smile.Raina smiled sadly as she recalled when Jude told her to think about the country they would go to for their vacation after his exam. He had told her that he would skip prom and had also out of jealousy asked about who her date was during her prom. Raina only smiled and said she wasn't able to attend as a regular student. She had practiced dancing choreography to entertain the students for money instead. Jude then promised to make his own prom night to be the best night for her. He had said they would send it together but it all seems impossible now. Raina jerked when she felt Gerold stretch his hand across the coffee table in an attempt to tap her. Apparently, within that time she had drowned in a deep trance, he had ordered two cups of Espresso and he was saying something. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?..." Raina trail
Raina's father was speechless as he felt trapped in his daughter's dramatic life. All in one, his greediness for money was first regarded. "You should have married Gerold in the first place, but you never listened. You have a lot of explaining to do," He grumbled and snatched his leg out of Raina's hold. He exhaled heavily and out of frustration, he trudged out of her room. "I might have listened to you if I knew that it was a contract marriage. I might have listened to you if only I knew that it would be this difficult to love someone my heart desires" Raina whispered and wept bitterly.Raina's father watched a delighted Jude from a corner. He shakes his head one more time before sauntering to meet him. Jude looked back and his expression fell in disappointment when he didn't see Raina. "She doesn't want to see you.." her father looked away. "What took you this long to visit her in the first place? Even if she sees you, there is nothing like you guys coming back together from her e
"Your father told me the strangest thing I have ever heard and I do want to believe that it's one of his tricks to make me let you go because what will happen to our vacation? What about me? We made promises, Raina. Promises aren't meant to be broken" he says as she cries bitterly. "Are you manipulated by your father again? What happened? Where did things begin to go wrong? Do you want me to rip my heart out to make you believe that it truly beats for you? Just tell me and I will find a way to fix things up. Please my dearest" he pleaded. He was totally exhausted. He never expected things to turn out this way. He desperately hated himself for not talking to her throughout the last week. "I am getting married…." Raina bit her lips. "You will get over it very soon. I can assure you that if I risk everything to be with you and then you later leave me alone with the thought that I am worthless… I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. Jude…nothing can make me change my mind. I hope you live
~~~~~~FIVE YEARS LATER~~~~~~~"You know Mum, a friend at school told us that he bagged into his mother's room this morning, and his father jumped out of bed just to excessively nag at him. He is the big guy in my class and I was beyond shocked when he came into the classroom weeping" Noah narrates innocently, with his eyes shimmering in concern as he recalls his friend's situation in the morning. He and his twin, Noelle were just back from school and were descending from the staircase on their way to watch cartoons after a cold shower. They just wouldn't quit talking about every single thing that happened in school to their mother who also listened attentively. "Truly, he wasn't supposed to dash into his parent's private room. Something important must be going on in the room for his father to nag at him to the extent of crying" Raina explained trying as much to respond perfectly so that he wouldn't ask more questions as they all settled on the couch. "You won't believe what Noah did
~~~~~~For the past 35 hours, Raina waited patiently while trying not to make her kids suspect her dilemma. She called and messaged both Gerold's phone number and that of Mrs. Alexander, but there was no response. She felt a gut feeling of an upcoming bad occurrence after her daughter ran to her room the night before while sweating profusely and crying about them being tormented by a devilish creature in her dream. Raina had slept in their room and lured them to sleep as Noelle kept murmuring for her not to let them go. Ever since then, she considered her daughter's revelation and the message from Mrs. Alexander as a threat to their life. She realized that she was despised beyond what she had imagined, even though throughout the last few years, she had tried her best to form a bond with them but had given up after Gerold's restriction. Raina sighed in anguish as she thought of escaping again. She doesn't want to be a coward again, or else she would continue to do that for the rest of
"If only you knew the situation of your children, you wouldn't have quivered as if you just saw a ghost," Jude muttered in a distant tone as his eyes emitted pure disgust and contempt. He had declined to meet Raina since the day before when she was still unconscious because he knew he might do more than he was persuaded to. He sauntered to sit on the single couch in the room and observed the way Raina shook at the mention of her kids. He smirked in satisfaction and uninterestedly intertwined his fingers on his crossed legs. "Mrs. Gerold Bellingham," Jude called in a calm voice that held so many weights. "You might not be seeing me for the rest of your interrogation, which means I am the only one capable of saving you and your children in this situation. The whole family thinks I am eager to take revenge on my uncle's wife after she was accused of attempting to murder him," he explained and rubbed his jaw. Raina scoffs and smiles sadly which makes him surprised but he pretends not to