Charlene Maximus POV. It was a Saturday morning, and Dominic had already gotten out of bed. I groaned and turned around; we didn't dispute or remain silent the entire time. He shifted to his usual mood again, as if he was bipolar. I hoped that, at the very least, he'd be home and we could talk, but ever since I was sick, I hadn't seen my phone in a long time. "I should look for it today," I remarked quietly as I stood up and stretched. I sniffed and smelled myself, and my eyes widened when I realized I hadn't taken my bath yet. I went straight to the bathroom and took a bath. As the water cascaded down my body, I thought about my schedule for the rest of the day, and apart from the search for my phone, I had nothing planned for today except a short walk and a chat with Miss. Donna. I took a long shower, cleaned and washed every part of myself, and once I was done, I chose a yellow floral free gown that I would wear today; it was a wrap gown. It was my favorite, and because I'd

Charlene POV Monday morning. I wasn't as happy or bubbly as I usually would be. I had to escort Zenobia to her rehearsal practice with Alexa. I tried to look appropriate and approachable; I didn't want to embarrass myself or have Zenobia insult me over my appearance. The car trip was quiet; she had her head on her phone and texted. I tried to hold conversations with her to hide my nervousness, but I was ignored. I itched my palms and kept my smile up. I paid attention to Zenobia, but she caught me. "hey," I muttered. "Be a guardian, and don't do more than that; you better not ruin this. Dad might have made you believe you are my mother, but you aren't!" She said it out of anger and turned away. I blinked hard and faced the road. I knew that she was never going to accept me. Her hatred was unexplainable, and I couldn't figure out why, no matter how hard I tried. We arrived at the dance studio, and we stepped out of the car; Zenobia wore a huge smile, which reminded me of the earl

Dominic POV "That will be all, Teresa," I said to my assistant as I received the file from her hand. She nodded in response and turned to leave, but she stopped at the entrance and removed the strands of her blonde hair as she faced me.I raised my head from the file in my hand and gave her a questioning look. "Is there something that I should know?"Teresa nodded in response. "I received your call a few minutes ago when the meeting was about to start. It is from your daughter, who wants to speak to you, but since we were in a meeting, I told her to call back. ‘’At the mention of my daughter, I heaved a deep sigh. I wondered what her complaint was about this time. She often called me while I was working in the office; it was about Charlene and how she wanted her gone. "You may leave Teresa, and thank you for telling me," I told my assistant, and she slightly bowed before leaving my office. I picked up my phone from the table and scrolled through it. I wasn’t surprised that I had a

Charlene POVThe flashing headlight, the screams, and the crashing all came to me at once. I struggled to keep my breath as I saw myself inside a room. It was a white room, and two other people were in the room, but they each had their backs turned to me. I couldn’t see their faces, but one of them was a woman with long, dark hair holding a child’s hand. The other child was a boy with blonde hair who seemed to be around the age of three."Who are you?" I tried to move closer to them, but I couldn’t. I stretched my hand towards them, hoping that they could hear me and turn, but nothing happened as neither of them turned to face me."You killed us," the woman’s voice said first. It was so loud that I had to cover my ears. "It was all because of you!" Her voice resounded in my ears as she continuously repeated her words. "You killed us, and it is all your fault!""Who are you?" I asked again, and this time they turned to face me but had no face. "What is happening?" I let out a scream.

Charlene POV It's been four days since I got discharged from the hospital, and Zenobia and I have always been together. She helped Miss Donna and her family in the hospital, and it had been an excellent time for all of us as we bonded. Because of the promise I made to her at the hospital, Zenobia canceled her dance class that week, and we both planned on how to build the studio for her dance lessons with me. The old car garage was the perfect spot for us, and we spent a day clearing it and setting it up. Dominic was unaware of our plans, as he had been working hard lately, and I hadn't had the chance to speak to him about it as he was already out of the house when I woke up. "What the hell are you doing?" Zenobia laughed as I walked towards her with the paintbrush in my hand. She had requested that we paint the dancing room blue, and even though it was quite a complex request, I had to do it to make sure she was happy. My arm was still healing, but I could move it even though it w