I was delirious! At first, a part of me was anxious, I kept glancing at the side mirror to check if anyone was following us. Luckily, my phone was off since this morning, but there was no doubt I would find a million missed calls and messages from my mother, and undoubtedly, Gift. I was trying so hard not to think about everything, but I couldn't help it because I knew by now, I was talk of the town. My mother probably wished the ground could swallow her. And my dad. Oh, gosh! I wonder what he was going to tell everyone, especially my mother! After all, he was supposed to drive me to the church and walk me down the aisle. "Oh, God!" I fanned myself. You'd swear the car windows were not open, it felt like I was literally making my way through the pits of hell. "What's wrong?" Esra threw me a quick glance before returning her gaze to the open road ahead. We were nearing her house, and that made me even more restless. I never thoug

Well, turns out it would take more than a little disgusting vomit to get Silas to change his mind. I couldn't believe that this was the same guy who treated me like I was just a gum under his boot a while ago. He cleaned up my mess, ran me a bath, and then made me lunch. Thankfully, I didn't get sick and I was finally able to sleep through the afternoon. It wasn't until I heard Esra's car that I realised I had overslept. I kicked the sheets off my body and scrambled out of bed, and then I slipped into my push-ins and ran out of the room. I just down the stairs in time for the front door to open. "Esra, I'm so sorry!" Her brows drew together as she approached me with worry written all over her face. "Yvonne, what's wro..." She held my hand, her eyes shifting to the kitchen. "WOW!" She gasped, dropping my hand like a hot potato. My guilt was giving me heartburn, it was completely unfair for her to return from work and still have to cook. "

A question that swirled in my head after Silas' confession was what exactly it meant to be a mate. The moment I connected the word to all the paranormal romance I read, it made me feel dizzy. There is this popular opinion that I always regarded as peer pressure doing the talking in order to convince people that we all need to go in the same direction, because that's how things are meant to be. Which was absurd if you ask me. I mean, who in the world made it a rule that we are not meant to be alone in this life? It was just putting people under pressure to do things that will deem them a part of society. And that's exactly what I stood by for a long time, until I was told that I had to marry the pastor's son. But that did not deter my opinion until I met Silas, and everything about him made sense, it felt right; spending the night with him felt like it was meant to be, and it made me want to unlearn all the principles I locked myself into apart from the

'They grow up so fast.' That was amongst some of the things I hated hearing, especially when it came from that supposedly distant family relative or friend who hasn't seen you in years, or the actual family member and friend. As if children were not supposed to grow. I personally believe it was just a ruse to get the parents to disclose every single progress the child has made, and they could if they were proud of you. But I didn't want to imagine what it was like if the opposite was true, like in my case. A true disappointment to my mother. I often wondered what she told people about me, she probably painted herself as a saint while I was deemed the outward daughter. She had completely written me off, and she hung up on me and blocked my number the moment she heard my voice when I tried calling her. She shattered me for the last time, honestly. I was reeling in the aftermath of having a mother like her. It make me often doubt myself, I

I was woken from a beautiful dream by someone calling my name. I pried my eyes open and struggled to keep them open for a full minute before I rolled out of bed, my feet tangled up in the blankie. I'd decided to take a nap sometime after working on the painting for a few hours. It sucked not having a phone because I couldn't check the time or set an alarm. Tossing the blanket aside, I staggered to the bathroom and washed my face, scowling at the paint stains on my dress. I needed to get an apron as soon as possible. "YVONNE!" Esra's urgent voice had me hurrying out of my room. "Esra?" I called as I neared the stairs. Esra stood at the bottom of the stairs and held out her phone. "There's a call for you?" "Who?" I mouthed as I took the phone from her. "It's Cas. I'll just finish setting the table and then I'll join you for dinner after showering. I hope you don't mind?" She said, looking uncomfortable. "But you can go ahead and eat if you are too hungry." I gave her an awkward