CHAPTER 4

I took a deep sigh of relief when I sighted my house, the flowers planted on both sides of road always brings me a sense of peace each time I observe them. Anytime they come to sight I would unintentionally take a deep breath almost like saying "finally" after a long day.

I was greeted by the butler at the entrance and immediately I got in Maria greeted me with a smile.

" Welcome ma!" she collected my handbag.

" Thank you Maria, how are you doing?" I asked.

" I'm doing great ma, thank you for asking" she replied shyly with a smile.

Maria is a sweet girl that could win award for best blushing if there was such a thing, she smiles and blushes at the littlest things as little as asking her how her day is going.

I paused in the living room, the weight of the day briefly settling over me as my eyes landed on a familiar presence, black and curled up on the sunlit edge of the sofa.

"Maurice," I called softly.

Her ears twitched, but she didn’t budge. Queen of indifference. I crossed the room and crouched beside her. The second I reached out, she rolled away with an exaggerated sigh of feline annoyance and leapt off the couch, tail flicking in protest.

"Hi, girl... Is that how you greet your human after a long, soul-wrenching day?" I teased, watching her land with practiced elegance and strut toward the kitchen like I’d just insulted her pedigree.

Maurice was something else. Sassy, sharp-eyed, and as emotionally unavailable as my ex-husband, but far more loyal. She had the air of a diva and the reflexes of a street brawler, all tucked into a silky black coat and a glare that could silence thunder.

She wasn’t a cuddler. At first. I used to think she hated me. She’d act like I didn’t exist for hours, only to randomly curl up beside me when she thought I wasn’t looking, purring like a broken engine.

But I knew now. That was just her way.

Lia gifted me Maurice exactly one year and two months ago, on a night when the walls felt too close and my breath too short. I remember sitting on the kitchen floor, crying over yet another failed appointment and the echo of Charles slamming the door behind him. I told Lia I didn’t need anything except maybe a new identity. She showed up two hours later with a carrier box and a cat with the most judgmental glare I’d ever seen.

"She’s unbothered," Lia had said. "But she’s yours now. So try not to scare her off with all that sobbing. It's time you get it together girl."

And so began our reluctant love affair.

Cats are strange creatures. They don’t come wagging their tail or throwing themselves into your arms the way dogs do. They make you earn every bit of affection, every purr, every blink of trust. They take space seriously and when they share it with you, it's sacred.

Maurice didn’t fix me. She didn’t curl up in my lap every time I broke. But she was there. In the quiet. In the corners. Watching me grieve without demanding I explain it.

She would perch on the windowsill while I sipped wine and stared at nothing. She’d knock pens off the table when I stayed up writing revenge plans. And every so often, she’d hop onto the bed at 3 a.m. and settle beside me, close enough that I could feel her warmth, but just far enough that I knew she wasn’t offering comfort... she was offering solidarity.

Maurice had seen me unravel and reassemble. She’d watched me go from Bella to Rose and hadn’t flinched once. Somehow, she knew. This woman who moved like a stranger in her own home? That was her human now.

No matter how cold my nights got, Maurice never left. Not when I screamed into pillows. Not when I tore up old photographs. Not when I swore I'd make every man pay.

She wouldn’t meow much, wouldn’t cuddle when I needed it, but she’d always stay. And in a world where staying had turned into a luxury, that counted for something.

"Would you like me to set up a bath for you first or food? " Maria asked after we arrived at my roon.

" Just set up the food, I will take care of the rest." I replied and began undressing. I heard her leave as the door clicks close before I stepped into the shower. The water is warm and refreshing, I could feel my tensed muscles relaxing gradually while my mind wondered back to the past.

It's very funny how we survive the things we thought could kill us if it ever happens to us, I guess one never know their strength or their weakness until they experience some certain situations.

After a year and half I finally met Charles, he was my nightmare and my ruin, I never thought I would be able to do it. I never thought I could face him without crashing out but today I did. I guess I'm finally ready to get out of my shell and take on my mission.

I cleaned the foggy bathroom mirror to reveal my face, Bella blinked back. But her eyes… they belonged to someone else, Rose. If she wasn't born I probably wouldn't have survived and all I could say everytime is that I'm so proud of her most especially for surviving.

That night after my black out I woke up in a hotel room with a man. A middle aged man, he was probably the one that knocked me out.

According to him he was so scared to get me to the hospital for fear of tainting his name especially when I wasn't really injured. I only passed out.

No apologies, he just dangled money like I was for sale. Offered more if I would warm his bed. That moment didn’t just break me, it birthed someone else. Someone colder. Someone dangerous. That’s when Rose clawed her way to the surface. It occurred to me that these creatures are only leeches looking for vulnerable women to devour.

I knocked the man out, transferred all his assets to my account which I emptied the next day and vanished into thin air until now. Until now I hid, built this peace and invested with the money I stole but strangely even with everything I had stolen, the silence roared louder. It wasn’t money I wanted, it was reckoning. I want them to pay.

I came out of the shower dripping wet, dried myself and went straight downstairs to the dinning. The aroma of the soup had me salivating right from the stairs, Maria is indeed an expert in this aspect.

" Hi girl..." LIA mumbled with a mouthful of food.

" Girl when did you come back? I didn't even hear the car." I asked as I grabbed the cutlery ready to devour my food.

" Maybe you were in the shower then. I couldn't even come up to change, I'm so famished. Work was hectic and I used up all my energy so I had to refill. " she narrated chewing in between speeches.

I smiled watching her rush the food, she probably didn't bargain for this but it cannot be helped she is so good at her job that every client can't wait to be touched by her magic fingers.

Lia did my face and I can testify to her efficiency.

After my predicament Lia was my first go to, she was both a sister and a friend and she didn't hesitate to take me in.

" No client is willing to move their schedule, they all want it so badly." she continued lamenting while stuffing herself with food.

" You know you can always close down your clinic and come home to me, I have enough money to take care of you for the rest of your life. " I

" No, thank you. I will pass ma " she said making me burst into laughter. I wonder how she can still love the job that's giving her body pains everyday.

" So, how was your journey? " she asked quietly halfway into the meal.

" It was fine, nothing much for now. I got to see his miserable face. I also saw my crumbling baby, I built that company with my blood and sweat." I replied biting back the emotions threatening to cover my face.

" Bella, you know you can always take your time on these things. You can..." Lia tried to console me, Lia’s hand on my shoulder felt foreign, like an old comfort I had outgrown. I used to melt under that warmth. Now, it only burned.

" It is Rose, not Bella anymore. " I corrected, removed her hand on from my shoulder and left. My appetite was ruined when she called that name.

I was no longer her but Lia won't understand.