SARAH. Cora turned back and rolled her eyes against Leo. She ignored him and continued speaking with Julian. "How dare you speak to my wife like that!" he shouted. "Sarah is a part of this family, and you will treat her with respect!"Leo's face was red with anger as he glared at his sister, Cora. Cora didn't back down. "I will not respect her," she said coldly. "She's not welcome here, and I will not pretend otherwise." "Sarah is my wife," he said through gritted teeth as he fumed. "I love her, and I will not tolerate your disrespect towards her."Julian, who had been watching the drama, stepped in. "Leo, calm down. This is not worth getting worked up over."But Leo was beyond reasoning."You stay out of this Julian." He snapped. "This is between me and my sister!"Julian held up his hand in surrender, but his expression remained serious. "I'm just trying to keep the peace, Leo" "There has never been peace between both of us, and there never will be!" C
SARAHMy heart ached at the words that protruded from my mother's mouth. She had been scolding and cursing ever since I stepped into the house. I didn't go to see her, I was only there because my Dad sent for me. And thanks to Raya, who agreed to go along with me. "That's enough Leila!" My dad yelled."Let the poor girl breathe… She has gone through a lot."And there I sat, silent all through. Leo had requested that I find out how much it would cost to get back to the hotel from Anthonio. The knock on the door disrupted my mother's nagging as I sighted Anthonio forcing himself through the door. His protruded belly never ceased to amuse Raya as she would always chuckle anytime she saw him."How would you have married a man like Anthonio? I can't even imagine that!" She spat in a whisper.My mother rushed towards Anthonio, trying to help with his briefcase but he refused her help."Don't bother!" He pushed her aside and walked over to one of the sofas, thro
LEOGoing through a hectic day at work, all I wanted was to get home and have a proper sleep. Clara dropped by at the office, still insisting that the child in her womb belonged to me. "What's up, Man?" Julian looked up at me, stretching out his hand for a shake. Without wanting to speak to anybody, I waved at him and headed straight to my room to freshen up.Done with showering, I descended the stairs, wanting to grab something to eat, then I heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone was sniffling.Curious, I stopped and listened more closely. The sniffling was coming from the living room, so I crept over to investigate. As I peered around the corner, I was shocked to see Sarah, sitting on the couch with tears streaming down her face. Standing in front of her was Julian, looking all concerned and speaking in a hushed voice."You don't want to tell me why you're crying?"I quietly backed away, careful not to attract their attention. When I was out of
SARAHThe night was deep and cold. The moon and the stars were just enough to lighten up the earth and I stood by the train station, thinking of where to go, at least to lay my head for the night.I sat on the cold, metal waiting bench, and my hands were shaking from the chill in the air. The wind howled around me, whipping my hair into my face. I managed to pull my phone out of my bag and quickly unlocked it.My thumb hovered over the "call" button, as I thought if I should call the man with the menacing voice or if I should wait to see if he would call me first.Just as my mind raced, the buzzing of my phone brought me back to reality. Looking into the screen, I found an unknown number and I knew it was the guy with the menacing voice. "Your time is running out," he said, his voice low and threatening. "I'm going to waste Raya's life if you don't do what I say. Do you understand?" "I've already left Leo's house. I've ended everything with him. Please, just
LEO"Why did you keep this away from us? Away from me?" I was mad.Julian had called me earlier that night to say that he had found Sarah and that he had taken her to his grandmother's house far away in town."He threatened to kill Raya if I said anything. He warned me against involving the police too. What do you expect?" She said. "But at least, you should have let me.. ""You're the reason I'm in this mess right now " she accused, pointing her finger at me."I'm asked to stay away from you, and that's what I'm trying to do. But you still find a way to pester around me." "I'm pestering you?" I asked. It was too much of a thing to hear."You both should calm down. Let's figure out how to save Raya. Fighting can never solve this problem." Julian said, cutting the both of us short.Sarah's eyes were pale and reddish. I knew she must have cried a lot the previous night. "I don't need any of you around me. Most especially, you Leo. Please, just disappear from my
SARAH."I think Anthonio is telling the truth. We may be fighting the wrong person." Leo said, confusion written all over his face."What if he's pretending?" I asked."Sarah is right. We can't just believe that he is innocent." Julian supported."It could be Clara!" Leo said.Julian and I both turned to him, at the hearing of what he had said. I adjusted myself, to have a proper view of Leo."That's true! She could be the brain behind it." I said, supporting Leo.It dawned on me that Clara was another person who could be held guilty if Anthonio was innocent. It made me go mad."It's Sarah, I'm sure of it." "Let's not conclude yet. Let's investigate this on our own, to be sure." Julian said."For how long are we going to keep investigating? Raya is in danger, she's with an unknown guy and I don't know how long he would let her live. " Leo and Julian promised to save Raya, but it was almost a week and we got nothing positive about it. The strange guy would call
SARAH"I see you've found your way here." The menacing voice spoke. I quickly turned around and found a skinny, tall man. He looked nothing like how he sounded over the phone."What are you doing here?" He asked and began walking in my direction."You asked me to come. I'm here for Raya." The man stopped a few feet away from me and I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned, and my heart dropped. There, being dragged out from the shadows by two hulking men, was Raya. She was blindfolded and gagged, and she looked terrified.I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Raya!" I cried. I took a step forward, but the man moved faster. In a flash, he had a gun in his hand, and it was pointed at Raya. "No!" I cried out, my whole body shaking. "Please, don't hurt her!"I watched as Raya struggled to break free from the men holding her. But they were too strong, and she was no match for them. Suddenly, one of them kicked her in the stomach, and she fell to the groun
SARAHThe ambulance arrived at the hospital, and I followed the hospital attendants as they rushed Raya inside on a stretcher. I could see the urgency in their faces, and my heart sank as they wheeled Raya into the emergency room. The attendants shouted instructions to each other, and the room was filled with the sound of beeping machines and rushing footsteps. I tried to force my way into the operating room but one of the attendants held me out."Just wait outside and let us attend to her. We'll let you know of the outcome!" But I was too stubborn to listen. But then, Leo grabbed me from behind and drew me away from the ward as I struggled to free myself. The tears in my eyes were uncontrollably falling and my heart was heavy.I sat on the waiting bench, my hands soaked with Raya's blood. Negative thoughts began to ring in my head and I tried to fight the thoughts, believing that Raya would be fine.Lilian held my shoulders and spoke comforting words to my ea