After being accused of killing her father, Catalina Gomez proves her innocence of the crime. She thinks everything will be back to normal. But as soon as she comes out of hell, her world is shattered by her adopted sister and husband’s betrayal. Her life became ‘one against the world’. She lost everything... Everything. Everyone knew her as a murderer. Everyone insulted and pointed fingers at her. Everyone looked at her with disgust. But one man stands behind her and changes everything. Dante Marcellos… when did you become my new husband? Between love and lie… the truth unfolds. Will her heart be prepared for this?
View MoreCATALINA
‘The number you have dialed is out of coverage area. Please try–’ I press the end button and throw my phone on the table with a sigh. Only five minutes are left before midnight, and James, my husband, is still not home. He wasn't answering his phone earlier, and now it seems his phone was turned off. "Is he that busy?" Or... Did he forget it? My heart throbbed as my thumb played with my wedding ring. It was our wedding anniversary, but he didn't greet me. I was disappointed when I woke up this morning without him by my side. Tears welled up in my eyes as I stared down at the three pregnancy kits placed on the table. Yeah, it has two lines… It's positive… I'm pregnant. But I don't know how to tell James. We didn't talk for a week because we had a misunderstanding. My fingers fidgeted as the word ‘mother’ kept rummaging in my head. My mother left me when I was 8, and now... I'm becoming one. Will James be glad about it? He will, right? I will become a good, I mean, great mother, right? I was startled when my phone suddenly rang. I immediately answer it without looking at the screen, thinking it's my husband. “James? When are you coming home–” “Catalina.” My brows were wrinkled by the somber tone of a familiar voice before looking at the screen. It's Mondo, my father's secretary for ten years. I scratched the back of my neck as I sighed in disappointment. “What's up, Uncle Mondo?” I'm not sure why he called me at this hour, though. “Yo-Your father…” He stammered. “He's not here. Can't you reach him?" I annoyingly replied. I am not really in the mood to have a chit-chat with him right now– “He's gone.” “Gone where?” I gaze at the wall clock and only feel sad and frustrated seeing that it's already past twelve– “Catalina…” I paused when he let out a deep and heavy breath, causing me to do the same but with impatience. “Uncle Mondo–” “Your father is dead.” *** The clouds dressed up for the funeral as well, as if they were also grieving the loss of my father. The sky turned black, and rain started showering until it became heavily tiring. I could feel the raindrops hitting his gravestone as if they were hurling massive, sharp boulders at me. I cried a river of tears for days. My heart feels like it's carrying the weight of the entire world. It felt like someone had taken my soul and destroyed it in front of my eyes. I sat here, lost in time, watching the sun drift across the sky as the moon started to rise and everyone else left. I have never felt such sorrow as feeling death. I see his face just as I did before. I hear his voice calling me. I feel his touch in the breeze. I stayed in front of the tombstone of my beloved father for hours. Tears streamed out of my eyes as I pulled my knee against my chest. I feel like I'm all alone now. My mother left me. Dad is no longer on my side. And James…. was ignoring me for days, not even attempting to comfort me. But I understand him since he was busy taking care of the company. Now that Dad's position is vacant. He needs to fill it in for now. I'm not ready to take over the company. I just can't. Not now. Not this time. Uncle Mondo found Dad’s lifeless body in his bedroom. Why? Why did this happen all of a sudden? I didn't see him until his last breath. I didn't visit him while he was still alive. I didn't stay with him during his hard times. The police are still investigating my father's death, and here I am, impatient to know what the hell happened to him. I decided to stay a night in my Dad's home to check on someone because she didn't attend our father's last moments. But before I opened the front door, a familiar car arrived behind me. The man came out from the driver's seat and made my eyes welled up again. It's my husband, worries plastered through his eyes. “Catalina.” “J-James…” My voice trembled as I caressed my stomach. I reached him, but he held my wrists to stop me from getting closer to him. “Where's Fiona?” My confused eyes reach him. Is he not here because he's worried about me? A tear streamed down my cheek as I painfully stared at his eyes. Those concerned gazes were not for me. My fingers clenched as my chest was stabbed with a knife by the fact he was more worried about his best friend, who was my adopted sister… than me, his wife. A loud crash from upstairs disturbed the silence in the whole mansion. James sprinted upstairs without a word, leaving me speechless at his action. What's up with him? Why did he care too much about Fiona? The fact that they have been best friends since college doesn't mean he needs to shove me off and forget that I'm in pain, too. I wiped off the tears on my face and followed him, and I found him comforting the hysterical Fiona on the floor. “DAD! DAD IS GONE, JAMES!” “Calm down…” The way he tenderly embraced her and whispered calming words to her made me feel even more jealous. I hate the scene. It made my heart torn apart. I slowly close the door as I hold my sob until I reach my father's bedroom. I'm also in pain, James. I also lost my father. I'm the biological daughter, so I'm in more deep pain than her. Why only comfort your best friend, James, and not me? I want to scream just like Fiona did. I want to cry my heart out. I want to get James' attention… just like she did. But... I don't need to do those things just to get his attention, right? He loves me, doesn't he? That's what he said and swore before we got married. I wept silently with bitter tears of jealousy, disappointment, and emptiness in my father's room until I fell asleep. *** I woke up when my back was hit by the door. The maid was startled and immediately apologized for accidentally hitting me. I got up and was about to ignore her, but she said the police were downstairs and looking for me. Maybe they have the lead about Dad's death, so I hurriedly ran downstairs and met a few police officers with Fiona and James. However, the glare that James was giving me made me confused all of a sudden. Is he… angry? "Catalina Gomez-Ruiz?" My attention was immediately diverted to a police officer. "Y-Yes?” He suddenly handcuffed my wrists, causing me to freeze. “You're under arrest for murdering Morgan Gomez.” My eyes widened in horror. Wh-What?! Before I could even react, police officers dragged me to the door. I seek help from my husband and sister, but... Seeing him wearing those smirks wrecks my heart.CATALINAAbby and I exchanged glances, nervous about what to say to the kid who might have heard us. He won't tattle it to his mother or father, right? That would be the end of us.“C-Chen. Hi.” I started and smiled widely as I strode to him.He obediently sat on the bed with a faint smile before looking down at his lap. He’s a shy type of guy and I hope he’s also the type of kid who won't accidentally tell his parents about what he has seen or heard around here.I squatted and leveled my face at him. “Why are you here?”He quietly fidgeted with his fingers, avoiding my gaze. Don't tell me he has seen that scene in the living room.“What's wrong?” I softly asked and slowly, his hand reached his stomach. “Are you hungry?” When he slowly nodded, I finally sighed in relief. “Come on, let's have breakfast.”Abby followed us behind as we headed to the dining room. It was already clean. I instructed Abby to tell the servants to prepare the child’s breakfast. Abby knows how to speak Mandari
CATALINA“I'm not going with you.”Dante hastily snatched the phone from me with a frown on his face and fury in his eyes.“Lina, I will take care of this. Just go back home and be safe.” He said with gritted teeth.My pulse pounded with tension as I let out a deep breath and ran my hands through the back of my neck. “I need to figure this out, Dante.”He held my arm tightly, enough to control his anger, not to explode. “I know and I will do it for you–”“I need to figure it out on my own.”“Lina.” He huffed as his jaw clenched. “Can't you understand the danger there?”“I do.”“Then why are you being stubborn?!”With a sigh, I tried to take his hands off my arm. “Dante, stop treating me like a baby who always needs a guardian. Let me stand up on my own.”He scoffed as he let go of me and slammed the car door closed.“Stand up on your own? Then, you would have been dead by now because of those decisions you didn't think through properly.” He's talking about me blocking him earlier.“
CATALINAI can sense his irritation as he lets out a soft chuckle before chugging down a glass of water. With a firm grip around the glass, he placed it back on the table.Catherine continued her food with a mischievous smile. I bet she loves seeing this.“As far as I know, you talked with your first ex-husband.” His eyes locked on mine, filled with jealousy. “Why am I an exception?”I suddenly became uneasy and avoided his gaze. “J-James and I had matters to discuss before. And we don't.”With a big gulp, I finished the whole glass of water.“We do have a matter to discuss, baby.” I coughed at what he said. “The debt of your father. It’s still not paid.”Anxious, I shot him a glare, making sure it reached him. Why does he have to open that topic? It's making me more uncomfortable.“What debt?” Catherine confusedly asked, causing me to frown.“Her father owes me five billion.”“WHAT?!”Startled at her reaction, I assumed she didn't know about it.“You… didn't know?” “Since you're now
CATALINAMy heart pounded with tension as sweat trickled down my spine, nervous at what Dante was thinking for jumping into a fiery pit without giving me a heads-up.“W-What are you–”“What is he doing here, honey?” Mrs. Yu cut my words off.She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She was trying her best to be polite to Mr. Yu, even though she didn't like the person he came here with. Mr. Yu's eyes squinted with a wide smile as he proudly showed us a box of Dalmore scotch whiskey.“He sent me a gift. The 62-year-old Dalmore is limited, so I can't decline it!”My eyes widened as I switched glances to Dante and the $200,000 whiskey. “Sit down for breakfast, Mr. Marcellos.” He offered.“Xie xie ni, Mr. Yu.”They walk past me. Dante even winked at me before taking a seat opposite Mrs. Yu.Mr. Yu seemed delighted as he carefully placed the bottle on the table, staring at it as if it were the most precious thing in the world. How did Dante find that rare one? Even my father was having
CATALINA‘I don't miss you.’ I replied with a smirk.‘Yeah, based on how you kissed me back.’I bit my bottom lip as I remembered what I had done. Of all the things I could have done in that situation, why did I choose to kiss?‘You deceived me! Your window was tinted!!!’‘I didn't say it was not.’This jerk! He knows how to tease and annoy me in the middle of the night.‘Go to sleep and go back to New York.’He came here without any bodyguards, so I don't know if he's safe from the threats around him. But I'm glad he's carrying a gun wherever he goes. A smile crept on my lips as I stared at the screen. He came all the way here just to see me. He's worried and I understand him for worrying like that. Seeing the man slash another man in the basement earlier made me wonder if my choice of coming here was the right thing.Well, there's nothing wrong and right in terms of finding the truth.The phone vibrates after a minute. I thought he fell asleep.‘I love how you always order me arou
CATALINAA little boy fell on the floor, creating a loud thud in the hallway. I immediately carried him and went into my room while covering his mouth. He didn't create a sound and he didn't move, too obedient for a kid like him.Does he know what's happening in this place?I waited for the footsteps behind the door, but they didn't come. I think they didn't hear us.Abby was now awake, her hands were under her pillow, and my eyes widened to see the butt of the gun sticking out.This time, I covered the kid's eyes and gestured to Abby to hide the gun. Well, I know he has seen a lot of guns, but he's still a kid.I put him on the bed, and I was amazed that he remained silent and innocently stared at me. He looks Chinese, and I think he's the son of one of the people here.I squatted on the floor. “Hi.” I smile and he smiles shyly. “Do you speak English?” I asked as I gestured my hand for him to understand what I was saying.He nodded.Oh, what a smart kid.“What's your name?” He pulled
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