Chapter 3

Sofia 

I was still running without looking back, increasing my speed as if someone was about to take hold of me! 

I appeared on a tar road. The road was so scanty. No taxis could be seen; only well-loaded trucks were seen passing.

On reaching a bus stop, I halted and looked back, and saw a group of people chasing after me!

I could hear the sound of my heartbeat pumping so hard! I can't imagine those groups of people I suspected Miguel and his friends are after me!

“So Linda could do this to me, even carrying a baby for Miguel!” I lamented so bitterly while rolling my eyes left and right, if I could see a taxi coming.

Immediately, without hesitation, I took off. 

My breathing became so intense that I opened my mouth to support my nose.

Suddenly, I saw a taxi coming at high speed, and I felt some sign of relief. I started waving at it when the car finally stopped. Without hesitation, I opened the back door and entered.

When I got home, I was so exhausted and heartbroken. I managed to open the door, 

Went straight to my room and slammed the door behind me angrily!

My heart was so heavy, I sat down on the floor, still in my wedding gown. Like a flash, the memory of how Linda and Miguel were entangling themselves flashed in. My wedding day has become a nightmare!

My heart hammered against my ribs as I was reminiscing about what happened a few hours ago. I couldn't hold my long-accumulated tears anymore!

The words of my late father kept ringing inside of me.

“Go for a man who marries you out of love and affinity, not out of necessity. Some may appear innocent and gentle, but are wrapped with infidelity.”

This word from my dad melted me the most.

I was dying for a man who had already gotten someone pregnant, promised to transfer money to her and rent a two-bedroom flat for her!

“I will never forgive Miguel in my life!” I screamed. Tears are still rolling down my face.

I became so restless, the room was so hot, I turned on the fan and opened the window, my eyes projected through, and I saw Miguel driving in, my face became so pale and infuriated.

“What is he coming to do?” I raged, gnashed my teeth and held my wedding gown from the top and tore it in two equal parts! 

I brought out the ring from my bag and placed it on top of my bed. Went straight to the word rope and picked up one of my casual wears.

Someone knocked on my door, I guess Miguel, but I refused to open or say a word. The knock continued for a while, and I gave it a deaf ear. 

A voice echoed!

“Sofia, please open it's me, Miguel! Please let me in so we can talk. I know you are hurt, please open the door and let's talk!”

“You are evil, Miguel! I don't want to see you move away.. just move away.” I screamed!

Immediately, I carried the wedding gown from the floor, picked up the ring and moved towards the door. I held the knob so tight and swung open the door. Without looking at his face, I threw everything at him and slammed the door.

I was still holding the doorknob tightly and couldn't move an inch. Miguel continued punching the door so hard. He got tired and left. He was so disgusting that I couldn't bear to look at his face.

His face that I love looking at, a face and broad chest that I once cherished like my whole life depended on it.

I lost grip of the knob and fell flat on the floor, hopelessly.

Thousands of thoughts were flooding in, and my life became so miserable. 

“I love Miguel so much, I wish to have him back,” I murmured. 

“What about the baby Linda is carrying for him?” The more I remember that pregnancy, the more infuriated I became. My heart is bleeding!

I stood up immediately from the floor like someone magically infused with energy. I moved straight to the bathroom. After showering, I went to the wardrobe and picked my blue sleeveless shirt that left part of my breast exposed.

Here I found myself in a hotel!

I looked for a noiseless spot and sat. 

The spot was a bit dark, its walls painted in different colors. The top of the roof was designed with different lights. 

“What exactly am I doing here?” I ask myself! “Am I supposed to be here in the first place?”

 A fragile line has been drawn between me and love. I'll never trust any man in my life again, let alone fall in love! 

If I survive this heartbreak, this is the end between me and love. 

I murmured, while I lifted a glass filled with vodka, as soon as the vodka found its way down my throat, my face turned squeezed, like someone who had tested aloe vera juice.

I'm not getting any better! 

 “Am I not deliberately punishing myself with this? What else can I do to lose the memory of this heartbreak?” I asked while gulping more vodka!

My five years with Miguel were just a waste. He never loved me. He should have made this known to me earlier. Not promise to marry me only for him to shatter my heart on all other days but on my wedding day!

“Am I supposed to let it chill?”

Like a flash, the purple gown Linda was wearing on that day of my miserable and unrealistic wedding looked the same as the purple gown we saw displayed on dummies in front of the sky superstore where we bought rings. 

Linda showed admiration for the gown before we entered the shop.

“I suspect Miguel secretly bought it for her.” 

When she requested to drop off, Miguel never altered a word. But he was seen giving her a continuous wave of the hand even when we drove into the distance. “It was all a planned deal.”

I winced and flashed through the vodka in front of me!

How can all these ridiculous memories be erased permanently? I ask, pouring more vodka into my glass.

My head wasn't that strong for this! 

Waiter! I shouted.

Everywhere was becoming so dim.

“Let me pay off my bills and leave.”

 I murmured. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself in public.

I lifted the glass for the last sip, and it slipped out of me and smashed on the floor. I dragged my seat backward and stood up immediately. I staggered randomly, my legs couldn't carry my body, someone held me from behind..