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CHAPTER 11
Kaugnay na kabanata
A vow of hate CHAPTER 12
I broke down in tears when I finally saw my mom again. It had been almost three weeks, and that was by far the longest I had ever gone without seeing her. She was in her own private room; just like Christian said, and she looked a bit better. Sunlight speared through the sterile white blinds , dancing on the floor with specks of dust. Her bald head was covered with a beanie, she had her eyebrows drawn in with a pencil, but her cheeks were fuller, and she wasn’t as pale as the last time I saw her.“How’re you feeling, mom?” I asked, wiping the snot from my nose with a paper towel. “A lot better,” she answered, looking at me worriedly.“You do look good,” I mused, “Christian’s team…they seem to be working harder than your other doctors.” I added in a low voice, more to myself than to her.A faint smile graced my mother’s lips causing the familiar crinkling at the corners of her eyes to appear. I tried not to be sad at the sight of them, it felt good to see her and all the lines and eve
A vow of hate CHAPTER 13
I was hanging out with Sarah and Mia today, and my nerves were at an all time high. I knew I was married to Christian but spending a whole afternoon with his mother and sister without him there seemed like such a big leap. I couldn’t stop worrying about all the possibilities. Like what if I said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing? What if I strayed from whatever perfectly crafted script Christian had already given them? What if they didn’t like me? I wondered if they hated me the way Christian did, and what if this was just one of the many ways he planned to torture me? I spent the drive to the restaurant biting my nails and sighing at interval, and willing the red light to take longer to switch to green, much to the concern of the driver who kept throwing me worried glances from the front mirror. The driver was one more thing I was worried about; what if Sarah and Mia thought I was pretentious? I had insisted I would drive myself or catch a cab but the driver insisted that Christ
A vow of hate CHAPTER 14
“I’m sorry,” Mia apologized as she sniffed again.“It’s okay, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you about it.” I apologized instead. “No, I’m good. It’s fine.” She insisted, “just give me a second.”I nodded sympathetically and waited for her to collect herself, and when she was done, she took a small sip of her pineapple juice and continued. “It took some time for Christian to open up to us, but he eventually did. He said he had fallen in love with her, and that much was obvious to us. He said he was sure she loved him back, she had told him that herself, and he had believed her. He gave her everything, worshipped her even. I’d never heard my brother talk about a woman the way he did about her. I could see the love he felt for whoever this mystery woman was even though he was speaking with so much pain.”“You never met her?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer to that question.Mia shook her head. “We never did. He didn’t think we would accept her, and he might’ve been r
A vow of hate CHAPTER 15
Mark kept driving crazily, ignoring my pleas for him to slow down. We were driving into some shady streets I’d never seen before, and the fear pulsing through me was threatening to break my veins open. I tried to discreetly unlock my phone and dial 911 or something, but I wasn’t discreet enough, because Mark swore under his breath and reached out his hand to the back and snatched my phone before I could even react.“You fucking bitch.” He swore, throwing me a deadly look.“Mark please, we can talk this out. Please slow down, you’re scaring me. Please.” I begged, and as expected, it all fell on deaf ears.“Shut up!” He spat, causing me to shrivel back into my seat.The car came to an abrupt halt in a dirty alley. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest. Mark got out of the car and slammed the door shut, and then he came to my side and opened the door. “Get out,” he ordered.I scrambled out of the car, almost falling flat on my face but Mark grabbed my arm before I could hit the ground
A vow of hate CHAPTER 16
I spent the rest of the ride home silently crying in the back seat. Dennis kept flashing his eyes back to me every other second, till I quietly told him to focus on the road ahead of us. I was visibly shaking by the time we were twenty minutes away from home, and I had to spend the rest of the ride trying to get myself together. I couldn’t let anyone else see me in such a state. I knew Dennis’ resolve was breaking, and I just prayed he wouldn’t cave and say anything to Christian. “Dennis?” I called out to him when we pulled into the winding driveway.He slowly turned to face me. “You’ll keep your promise, won’t you?” I asked, holding on to the tiniest glimmer of hope.He gave me a single nod.“Thank you,” I whispered and got out of the car, and toward the house. I took a deep breath and hoped Christian, Valerie and Tina would all be out of the way so that I could quietly sneak into my room and spend the rest of the night there. But I was never one to be lucky, because the second I op
A vow of hate CHAPTER 17
We were going to a fundraiser tonight.That was all that was written on the small note that I found in my room this morning, and before I could go downstairs to find Christian and ask why he was just telling me about it at the last minute, Tina informed me that he was already gone. I ate breakfast alone with Valerie, silently cursing out Christian in my head. And by the time the afternoon rolled by, a thousand people that I didn’t know were in the house. One group was rolling suitcases in, another was bringing in racks and racks of clothes, and shoes. There was such an insane flurry of activity, and before I could blink, my butt was firmly planted in front of the vanity in my uncomfortably large dressing room. We still had five hours before the fundraiser, and when I made this fact known to the stylists and hairdressers hovering all around me, they graciously let me know that these things usually took that long. And boy, were they right!My hair was washed and blow dried, even though
A vow of hate CHAPTER 18
As we entered the grand ballroom adorned with crystal chandeliers and lavish decorations, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer opulence surrounding me. Even the lighting didn’t seem ordinary, it was brightly lit, but at the same time, dim. I couldn’t figure out how they even made that happen. Conversation floated all around the room just as easily as the waiters did with their trays of expensive looking champagne flutes. Men stood in groups, whispering to each other in hushed tones, each one wearing custom made suits. Women were dressed in the most expensive dresses I had ever seen, and each one had the glistening rocks laying pretty on their necks and fingers. I mentally thanked the stylist for not letting me have my way when I wanted to take off the diamond necklace. I stayed close to Christian, suddenly feeling out of place. I shouldn’t be here, I didn’t belong with all these people. And even though I was wearing a dress that was just as expensive as the others, I wor
A vow of hate CHAPTER 19
It took me about ten minutes to locate the bathroom. Once inside, I turned on the faucet and cupped some of the water and lifted it towards my face, but one look in the mirror reminded me that I had a full face of makeup that I couldn’t destroy if I didn’t want to spend the rest of the night looking like a raccoon. I sighed wearily and stared at my reflection in the mirror. “You’ve got this, Hazel, you’ve got this. Don’t let those rich snobs get to you.”It was easier said than done though. They were quick to evaluate me like a lab rat even though no one said anything to me other than a brief hello. It was amazing to me how many women asked what drink I was having and if my bloated tummy was from the spaghetti or pregnancy. And although I was never one to be self conscious about my appearance, I could feel my skin getting hot under my dress as they were examining me.They don’t matter. I whisper to myself and roll my shoulders back. Then I touch up my lipstick and exit the bathroom.I
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