Chapter 001

ROSY

I heard a crash followed by a louder one then a horrific scream.

My eyes snapped open and I shot up my head from the tear-drenched pillow.

“Caleb? Is that you?” I called out, but my voice only came out as a ghostly whisper.

I rubbed my sore throat and cautiously stepped out of the bed that had been my abode for many days.

My eyes caught my daughter’s picture and I sobbed, streaks of tears flowing down from my puffy red eyes.

I had Sherry two years after my marriage with Caleb. We couldn’t have another baby due to my reckless attitude. Sherry was everything to us, she was our happiness, our joy, and the bedrock of our home.

Unlike some kids from wealthy families who turn out to be nasty, Sherry had always been the sweet loving child any parent would wish to have. I and Caleb were the envy of the parents in her middle school.

She wasn’t only kindhearted and lovely, she was also the most intelligent in the entire school, and her grades were the best.

When she came, I and Caleb knew that an angel had been sent down to us from God and we promised to protect her with our lives.

A promise we never kept.

I shut my eyes and snapped my head away from the picture.

This isn’t the time to coil up and cry. It’s high time I accept the reality of Sherry’s death.

“Caleb?” I muttered as I twisted the door open and descended the stairs.

My jaws dropped when I saw the broken vases scattered around the living room.

“Mrs. Joyce? Caleb?” my voice managed to crack out their names. Silence responded to my call.

I waited for a few seconds but it yielded no result, the house was as silent as a graveyard.

“Mrs. Joyce! Caleb!” the tempo of my voice increased as fear gripped my entire body.

Where could they be?

Am I going to lose someone again?

I shook my head vigorously as negative thoughts bounced across my distorted mind.

I wheezed into the kitchen but couldn’t find Mrs. Joyce or Caleb.

The rooms upstairs were empty too.

“Oh God help me. If I lose Caleb I’ll just kill myself,” I muttered, clasping my hands together as I started another round of unending tears.

Should I go outside?

The thought rummaged through my head as I stared at the door.

No, I am not ready to go out and face the world, not now!

As if to assist me in my peril, the large doors burst open and Mrs. Joyce rushed in, breathing heavily.

“Mrs. Joyce?” I muttered.

A greater shock met her when she saw me standing in the middle of the living room.

“Ma’am Rosy, you came down!” she gasped and sprinted to where I stood. “Do you need water or food, will you like to take a shower?”

“I want to see Caleb,” I replied bluntly.

She looked at me, startled, and then she glanced back at the door.

“He… he’s in the garage,” she responded.

I summoned courage and wheezed across the room, stretching out my pale hands to grasp the door handles.

“He’s destroying the cars!”

My hands froze midway, I slowly turned around, my eyes popping out in shock and confusion.

“Why?” I asked in disbelief. Caleb has never been the violent and aggressive type. He has always turned out to be a nice man endowed with a lot of patience.

Caleb hardly destroys a teacup when he’s upset and talks more of a car.

“He’s destroying your cars in the garage. I tried to stop him but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

I gasped and chuckled, shaking my head.

“Caleb can’t do that,” I defended my husband.

The door burst open and a pair of strong hands shoved me roughly to the ground.

My palm brushed the splinters on the floor and gave way to blood-filled holes in my palm.

“Caleb!” I gasped, gripping my bleeding palm.

The hard steely feet shuffling away stopped and Caleb spun around, his bloodshot eyes glaring contemptuously at me.

“Caleb,” I muttered again and staggered up to my feet.

“Is this the way to mourn Sherry?”

He chuckled and burst into an unexpected wild laughter.

“Mourn? Are you done putting your act together?” he replied when his laughter died down.

“What are you talking about? Sherry is my daughter!” I yelled at him.

He frowned deeply and gripped my arm. I winced as his nails dug into my flesh.

“And you killed her!” he blurted out.

Silence fell between us as we stared at each other. He with a hateful glare and me with a solemn gaze.

“Why will you blame me for killing Sherry?” I whispered, sobbing lightly.

“That’s the truth, Rosy, you killed her and you know it. You’re too dumb and irresponsible to be a mother!” He fired.

My sobs broke into loud whimpers.

I sprawled to the floor and shielded my face with my palm.

“ I don’t think I can stand you anymore, you disgust me,” his venom-filled voice broke through my heart, piercing out every single life in me.

“I’m getting a divorce! I can’t stand you anymore. Besides, Sherry is dead and the company has been handed over to me, what’s the use of putting up with a loveless marriage?” he sneered.

I slowly raised my head and stared at him, my vision blurred slowly.

“A divorce? Why do you want to do this to me despite how much I have loved you?” my voice quivered as I asked.

Caleb brushed off my reaction and walked steadily into the master’s bedroom, banging the door heavily behind him.

I and have been childhood friends.

Though, he was four years older than me. I never had an older brother, so, I looked up to Caleb as one.

He has always been there to protect me from bullies and criticism, he has always been the shoulder I always cling to and cry on when I’m faced with rejection.

He was a shield that covered up my scars.

When I turned twelve, I had my first kiss and that was with Caleb.

I remembered standing on my toes and placing a light kiss on his red, full tasty lips. He was taken aback at first, but he leaned in and enclosed our lips, giving me the sweetest, hardest kiss I have ever had. The pain sprawled across his face after the passionate moment proved that he regretted every bit of it.

But how could a twelve-year-old naïve girl figure that out?

All I wanted was more, and he never gave it, he preferred keeping his distance knowing fully well that it was killing me.

I confessed my love severally to him but he only walked away without a word.

‘Little red Rose, you’re too young to talk about love.’ That was his constant reply if he ever replies.

He left for college and I never saw him again until the day he graduated. I knew Caleb was with other girls, girls older and much better than me. It killed me whenever I imagined Caleb bringing home a girl as his girlfriend or worse, fiancée.

I decided to make the biggest mistake of my life, was it a mistake?

I never believed it was a mistake until now, it was the best decision I have ever made.

I persuaded my father to get us married, my dad saw that as a great opportunity to push me out of his life, and he augmented with immediate effect.

Against his wish, we got married. Caleb wasn’t a cold husband. He tried his best to be the best husband, and when Sherry came, he became the best father.

His hard footsteps pulled me out of my reverie.

He got to where I sat and directed a scowl at me.

I tried to touch him, but he slammed his fist on the coffee table. I jumped in fright. The coffee table shook violently beneath his fist.

He glanced at me and pointed at the table.

“I'll return with the divorce papers, get ready to sign them!"