A handsome tanned-skinned man with beautiful sea-green eyes was lying leisurely with his legs crossed and his hands folded behind his head. His eyes were closed although he wasn't asleep. While he was lying down a butler entered his room. The butler trembled in fear with each step he took. Even though the handsome man heard his footsteps he was unbothered. The man knelt on one knee and began talking;
"My lord! An eclipse appeared on Anum Island,"
The man opened his eyes with a smirk and answered;
"Finally! It sure took long enough for it to finally appear." He cackled and left the bed for the bathroom.
"Get my clothes ready I will be visiting the hospital for a meeting shortly." The middle-aged man did as he was instructed and hurriedly left the room.
*** *** ***
It was raining heavily outside and there were no cars on the street except for the traffic lights flickering in the darkness of the night. The Daily Guard Media House was in the middle of the story buildings by the side of the road. The doors of the media house slammed open and a young girl was thrown outside by some macho men and a man dressed properly in a cheap suit;
"Stay out! And don't ever return to this organization again". The girl stood on her knees and begged as tears filled her eyes, begging to gush out. She tried to hold all the pain she felt inside her chest but she couldn't. She sniffled and as she looked at the man, tears she didn't know she was holding spilled over and rolled down her cheeks like a river escaping a dam.
"Mr. Pete, please don't do this to me. I will be better. Give me another chance... one more chance, please. I will be the best journalist you've ever had." Mr. Pete took a long stride to stand only a few steps away from her, then he threw her purse in her face forcefully and angrily. Mahina flinched in pain at the sudden action.
"Miss Mahina nobody will ever want to hire an incompetent worker like you. Take it from me. Give up on trying to succeed as a journalist and take on the job of a waitress that will fit you well... now please leave my premises before you draw unnecessary attention" Mahina gasped, her eyes fell on the flowing water on the ground and she threw her hands in the air before landing them forcefully on the ground. It was still raining heavily and she was completely drenched with water. She cupped her face and thought of how life had treated her unfairly and she asked herself;
"What sin have I committed to deserve this? Mother! Uncle! why did you both abandon me in this cruel world? I can't go on like this, why didn't you just take me, that way we could have been together and happy in a different life." Mahina sniffled as she gathered herself together and stood up. She walked silently in tears down the isolated road with street lights flickering in the dark.
Life was not like this for Mahina in the past. She used to be her mother's treasure and her uncle's princess. It all started in the summer when she was fourteen years old.
FLASHBACK
A mother and daughter were under the big dining table in the mansion at night, having a tea party. They were giggling excitedly. Little Mahina picked up her tea mug and said to her mother;
"Mrs. Reyes do you care for a cup of tea?"
"Oh yes my dear if you don't mind" she smiled at little Mahina's endearing ways.
"So tell me Mrs. Reyes how do you like your cup of tea? Do you want two cubes of sugar or just one?... I know! My mummy doesn't like her tea with sugar so I am sure you also wouldn't care for any." She giggled as she handed a small teacup to her mother.
"I must say It's aromatic and very refreshing, I love it." The mother and daughter's conversation continued until the entrance door of the main house creaked. Little murmurs filled the air. The murmurs were becoming audible with each step the strangers made. Cautiously, Mahina's mother, Mary drew her daughter into her embrace and said to her under her voice;
"Keep quiet sweet pie!" In a low tune, she gestured by putting her finger on her lips. Mahina held her mother tightly with terror written all over her face. Mary's face changed from fear to disgust as she was gradually recognizing the voice of the man speaking.
"Brown!" Came the menacing voice again talking to her husband. She tried to figure out who could be frolicking with her husband in their home but she couldn't recognize the voice. "Who could be flirting with my husband by this time in our matrimonial home?" Mary wondered deep within her.
At first, when she heard her husband's voice she was slightly relieved and she was about to leave from hiding under the table. But when she heard her husband's guilty defensive words she stopped in her tracks:
"Keep quiet! My wife and daughter are sleeping; I don't want to wake them up..." He shushed the woman. Mary suddenly felt the urge to scream to release some of the pain that was building up inside her. But a part of her wanted to listen to what her husband and his mistress were saying. Even though it was tearing her apart, she held everything inside and listened.
"What? Are you being serious now? You are worried about your wife and daughter... What about me? What about our two daughters Ava and Ella? She has only one daughter for you, but I have two and another on the way." At that very moment, Mary felt her walls of defense crashing down. Her chest tightened and her breathing slowed down, she carefully helped her daughter to sit on the floor. She warned her not to leave there, and she got up and left from under the table.
"Reyes, what is going on here? You have other children apart from our daughter?" she looked at him anxiously for his reply. Her eyes were already red and her hands were sweaty from fear and anxiousness. Brown was shocked by his wife's sudden appearance. He wasn't expecting her to be awake and at the reception area. He was confused and didn't know how to react to all the drama happening before him, he tensed up and became emotional.
He knew he had to defend himself by all means. He didn't want to look like the bad guy so he swallowed hard and decided the best means of approach was to tell the truth and own up to his own mistakes;
"Yes! I have two beautiful twins with her, Ava and Emma. What did you expect? That I'd be waiting for you forever to bear me children? We were married for ten years, ten years! We had no children. Our businesses were doing very well. Our empire was becoming well known throughout the nation, and you had no child, not even a single one for me. The news was beginning to spread about me spreading my seeds on an unfertile land. And that my associates will be the ones to end up inheriting my empire because my wife is a desert... I knew I had to do something and that was when I met Karin. The two of you got pregnant at the same time. Just when I was beginning to regret my action thinking I was too hasty...She gave me two healthy children and... you gave me one unhealthy child. It was then that I knew my decision was the best."
Mary bit her lips until it was almost bleeding as a result of the pain she was feeling. All her life, she has loved one man and that was Reyes. She loved him so much to the extent she was willing to do anything for him, even if it would cost her life. At that point, Mary felt so little because of her lack of early fertility, she somehow found herself blaming herself for everything. She was helpless. There was no one around to tell her it would be alright. And there was no way she would allow something like that to affect her sweet little angel. She didn't know what to do. After a while of silence, she said;
"I didn't know you thought of me that way... what about all the promises you made to me? You said you would love me in the rain and the sunshine for eternity. You said we were one body and my pain will be your pain and yours mine. Do you feel it Reyes? Do you feel my pain from your betrayal?"
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