1

CATALINA

‘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.