Chapter 5 : Cells

From being perfectly over the moon, preparing for her birthday, to receiving the most pitiless birthday gift…Bianca’s body trembled as she sat completely helpless in the cell…She had been there since yesterday.

Cold in silence and alone.

She was still in denial. How could the man who once loved her so deeply suddenly not care whether she lived or suffered? How could he look at her pain and turn away?

She was too weak to even call out to the officer in charge. Too weak to scream that she was innocent. Her throat burned, her body ached, and her heart felt empty.

The cell door creaked open.

A police officer stepped in….“Madam, you’ve been granted bail.”

Her head snapped up as relief flooded her chest. Tears welled in her eyes and she wiped her face with trembling hands. Charles… He had finally come to his senses. He must have realized the truth.

She stood up quickly, ignoring the pain tearing through her body, ready to leave.

“Just one thing,” the officer added calmly. “You need to sign here.”

Bianca frowned…“What is it?” she asked softly.

“It’s part of your bail,” he said, handing her the papers.

She took it only to see it was the divorce papers...The same one Charles had given her.

His signature was already there.

Bianca shook her head vigorously. Over her dead body was she going to sign this after everything… after all the years…impossible. Her fingers loosened, and the papers slipped from her hands, falling to the floor.

A television mounted in the hallway suddenly caught her attention.

Her head lifted when she heard Charles’s voice.

On the screen, Charles stood confidently in a perfect white suit, smiling. The MC beamed at him.

“How does it feel marrying the love of your life today?”

Bianca’s heart shattered.

So it was true. The wedding hadn’t stopped…just like he said. In two days, I’m getting married. You can come if you want.

She watched the man who once moved mountains for her speak proudly about another woman, someone who wasn’t her.

Her heart clenched… broke… and hardened at the same time.

“Hey! Hey!” the officer snapped, finally pulling his eyes away from the TV. “Come sign it. We don’t have all day here.”

He grabbed Bianca’s arm, dragged her to the counter, picked up the divorce papers and slammed them down in front of her.

“Sign.”

Bianca’s hands shook as she picked up the pen.

The same hand that once signed "I do" was now signing away her marriage.

A tear dropped, landing exactly on Charles’s bold signature.

Her vision blurred as she signed, barely finishing her name before the officer snatched the paper.

“I don’t have all day,” he muttered. “Move. Get lost.”

Bianca turned weakly toward the TV one last time.

A perfect family moment flashed across the screen, everyone smiling, happy, as cameras clicked.

Her fingers curled slowly into fists, tightening until they turned white.

Bianca did not even know when she stopped walking.

She found herself standing in the middle of the road, an actual main road with cars rushing past her. Horns blared loudly, angrily and endlessly. She heard none of it. She was buried deep inside her head, lost in everything and nothing all at once.

Someone shouted and someone even cursed at her.

“If you want to die, don’t cause it for somebody else. Bad luck!”

Then came a hard shove.

Her body flew sideways and slammed into the ground. Pain shot through her, sharp and sudden. That was when the noise of her surroundings rushed back in on her…cars screeching, people shouting, voices overlapping and fingers pointing at her...

“Fool!”

“Mad woman!”

“Does she want to die?”

Bianca pushed herself up slowly. Her head spun. She covered her face with both hands, ashamed, shaken, overwhelmed as insults were hurled at her. The car lights flashed harshly over her, blinding her, exposing her, while the voices kept coming.

She didn’t know where she was and didn’t know where to go.

She looked around helplessly.

“Charles,” she whispered, his name breaking in her mouth. “Charles…”

I need to go to the wedding. He needs to see me. He has to cancel it.

He’s all I have.

“Please… Charles,” she said softly.

She flagged down a cab. Her voice trembled when she gave the address, so weak that the driver glanced at her through the mirror. She sank into the seat and stayed silent the whole ride, her fingers clenched tightly, her eyes lifting now and then to the driver, silently urging him to hurry.

The car did not even stop properly before Bianca stepped out.

She didn’t pay and didn’t look back.

The taxi driver shouted after her, his voice sharp with anger, but it faded behind her as if it belonged to another world. Money meant nothing now. Consequences meant nothing.

She had signed the divorce papers, yes but her heart had not accepted it.

Bail did not free her. It only released her body, not the shock that still held her hostage.

He hasn’t seen me yet.

The thought clung to her desperately.

He will stop it when he sees my face. This is a misunderstanding. It has to be.

She must have lied to him.

She rushed forward without thinking, without caring what she was wearing.

She didn’t care if she smelled good or bad.

Her blue dress clung awkwardly to her body, puffed and wrinkled, the fabric torn at one side. The design that once fit perfectly was now ruined, out of shape just like her. Her curls were puffed and messy, makeup smudged, everything about her screaming unprepared and undone.

Still, she ran and had stopped only when she reached the far end of the palace hall.

Guests were already standing…

Then she heard, “And I pronounce you both husband and wife.”

The words landed like a final blow, and her breath caught in her lungs as she stood frozen…The laughter and cheers in the hall crashed into her ears, mocking her, sealing the truth she had tried so hard to deny.... She had witnessed the unthinkable.

The world spun around her, but she forced herself to focus.

Rosina looked stunning.Her flowy white gown fell perfectly around her body which was sparkling under the lights. Her pregnancy was barely noticeable, hidden beneath the expensive fabric and Charles walked beside her, holding her hand in a way he had never held Bianca’s.

Bianca was the first to see them and her presence didn’t matter at all.

There was no hesitation in their steps. They didn’t even pause to acknowledge her. No sign that they had seen her. They walked past her as if she didn’t exist.

Bianca turned slowly.

“Charles,” she called out in a small, broken voice… hoping desperately that he would hear her.

He didn’t turn, he moved farther ahead, speaking to someone, checking something with the camera crew, completely ignoring her existence.

Rosina stopped and turned toward Bianca.

She looked Bianca up and down, then sighed, holding her breath as though Bianca smelled.

“How embarrassing is this, Bianca,” Rosina said quietly, shaking her head. “How can you look this filthy at my wedding?”

Bianca stared at her, stunned by the cruelty.

“Why are you wearing this ragged dress?” Rosina continued. “It looks like something from days ago. Please, let’s leave before the media sees you and starts linking you to me. I don’t want anything ruining my happy day.”

Bianca couldn’t believe it. This was the same friend who had never spoken badly to her, not even once. And now she sounded so cruel. Had it all been a pretence from the start?

“Rosina…” Bianca whispered.

Rosina leaned closer. “Please. Just go. Before the guests come out.”

Bianca didn’t move. She didn’t care about the media or how foolish she looked, she needed answers from them..

Then a loud voice cut through the moment.

“Oh my God, Bianca!”

Rosina’s mother stepped out, her face twisting the moment her eyes landed on Bianca.

“Why are you standing here looking this disgusting at your best friend’s wedding?” she snapped. “Are you trying to bring shame on us?”

Bianca’s heart dropped. She rushed toward her, hoping she would at least understand her pain.

“Mom,” she cried.

But the woman pulled away sharply.

“Don’t call me that,” she said coldly. “I am not your mother.”

She looked Bianca over with open disgust. “Why would you come here like this? Is this how you want people to see our family?”

Tears screamed down Bianca’s face as she tried to remind her that Charles was her husband. That he had been her husband in case they had forgotten…But the woman didn’t seem to give two shits.

“He loves your best friend now. Let them be. You can find someone else,” she said flatly in a careless manner.

The guests were already beginning to step outside, Rosina’s mother glanced around nervously, as she turned sharply to security, whispering something urgent, desperate to have Bianca taken away before the cameras caught too much.

A hand closed around Bianca’s arm, she didn't fight or scream, no one seemed to want her there or even tried to pretend otherwise....She only turned her head one last time, her eyes found Charles with Rosina standing proudly at his side as if she had always belonged there.