FABIANOHe had to do this.Even though a part of him begged him not to do.Nothing good came from being related to him.He knew that.He had known since he was a child.“Your mother loves you.” He whispered as if it as a secret meant to be for them and them only, “You kept her alive. You kept her going. She fought for you. I am indebted to you. Forever. She loves you. So much. You were her hope.”He felt weird, his throat was closing. There was a lump, size of a melon, forming in his throat.“I hope, one day you’ll forgive me for taking your mother away from you. You’ll hate me, curse me and I’ll deserve each of that.” He paused, clearing his throat to get rid of the lump that had formed in his throat, “I hope you get the childhood I never knew about. I hope you get the love I never received.”He wanted her to get a beautiful childhood.A phase of life that was full of innocence and laughs.He never had that.He didn’t know what childhood was.No one ever took him to the park. No one
FABIANOWARNING: MENTIONS OF TORTURE AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.“She tried to kill herself.”There was a moment of silence after his reply.“What did you do to her?” Nono’s voice was a mixture of anger and pity.Everything a gentlemen wouldn’t do to her, he held back the words.“I wanted to kill the baby.” He admitted, caressing her pale, sunken cheek.She had been unconscious for more than a week. When she had fainted, he had immediately called for a team of doctors.For the first time, he had done something she had asked him for.He had the doctors cut the baby out of her by surgery.“Why would you do that?”“The baby was a girl.” He huffed out a chuckle, his insides twisting at the words he had uttered.“So what?” Her voice was enraged, “Do girls not have the right to live?”He shook his head, “You know what happens to the girls in our world, don’t you Nono?”He looked at her for the first time after entering the room. He watched the emotions filling his Nono’s eyes at the mention.
ARIAA week later:When I woke up this morning, my stomach was swollen no more.The swell was gone.All that was left was a flat stomach and another scar I could add to my collection.I was happy for a moment.I thought that Fabiano must have shown me some mercy. I thought that his doctor would’ve cut the baby out of me.I thought I was going to see my daughter.I was a foolish girl holding onto something that didn’t really exist.Hours went by, I sat on my bed, waiting for someone to appear through the door with my daughter wrapped in a pink blanket.No one came.In the afternoon, Lina came with my lunch.She didn’t once look at me.I asked her where my daughter was.She remained quiet as she poured me soup.I asked again. And again.She told me that her Big Master was coming to see me.I didn’t ask her about Fabiano. I wanted my daughter.She told me that if I ate first, I could get out of this room.I ate.My daughter wasn’t in my room. So, it was correct of me to think that she wa
ARIA“Where’s my daughter?” I fixed my gaze at Lina.She knew the answer to my question but she kept her back to me.My fingers shook. Panic and hysteria flared inside me making me shudder.“My daughter.” I barked, trying not to wince at the pain that uncurled in my abdomen.“Where is my daughter?” My voice was full of raw fear.She turned and moved towards the door, trying to run from me.A woman searching for her heart and flesh.It took everything in me to ignore the pain as I hurried off the bed and towards her. She was so close to escaping when I grabbed her by her arm and whirled her around.Eyes shining with tears and pity, she took one look at my panicked self before she looked down at the floor.“I—”“WHERE IS SHE?” I shouted; spittle flew from my mouth as I dug my nails into her flesh.She flinched, eyes wide as she opened her mouth.“WHERE?” I screamed in her face, “WHERE?”“Dead.” She blurted out before she paled like she had seen a ghost, “I…I am sorry.”She shoved at me,
FABIANOThe past,One week ago;“I don’t want her to suffer a fate like Mara’s.” He whispered, staring down at the little being.He had brought her Nono to the room where Venus was.“How do you know she will?”He shook his head, his chest tightening as the broken fragments of past appeared before him;“Mara suffered because of me.” He said, not daring to look back at the old woman, “They knew I didn’t care about my father. Or the woman who gave birth to me. They knew you two were the only ones who mattered to me.”He inhaled sharply,“They took Mara because I was her friend.” His face twisted in harsh lines, “What do you think they’ll do to Venus once they get to know that it is my blood that runs through her veins?”He received no answer.He knew he was right.He also knew Aria wouldn’t understand him.“They won’t see an innocent girl. They will see a pawn. A puppet.” He hissed out, “They’ll ruin her.”“What do you have in your mind, Fabiano?”He ignored the question and told her eve
ARIAFour months later;“Close your eyes.”I did as he asked me to do.“Imagine her.”I tried to. I exhaled deeply, ignoring the tightening sensation spreading inside me.“Your skin.” He whispered beside me, his warm breath falling on me, his warmth seeping into me at the point where our legs were touching.I imagined it.I created an image behind me eyes, in the darkness.“Your golden hair.” His voice was going far away as I swam deep and deep into my imaginations.“My grey eyes.”Grey eyes like Fabiano’s. Not my blue eyes. I swallowed the ball of emotions forming in my throat.Did she have big eyes? Or were they small like I imagined them to be?“Big, sparkling eyes.” He continued, “Eyes that want me to become a good man.”Tears burned behind my closed lids. I bit down on my lip because I knew it was going to tremble.“Chubby, pink cheeks.”It was a beautiful picture.The picture I created in my mind.My girl.My daughter.This was my fate.I was a woman who had to imagine her daugh
ARIA “Why can’t you stop crying?” I don’t want to. The tears just don’t stop. “Why are you like this?” Because I am falling apart. “Why are you so weak?” Because I was once strong. “Who are you?” Her chapped lips stretched, she winced at the sharp pain. Blood seeped through the once soft flesh, coloring the pale lips crimson. Her lips parted ever so slowly, a small breath escaped them. She looked so weak. So torn apart. She looked like she was dying. She looked like she was suffering from some lethal disease that was sucking the life out of her. She was once beautiful with sparkling eyes, glowing skin, hair so glossy that it was envy of every other woman, curves so alluring that they attracted every eye, men or women. Now, it looked like someone was replaced her. Like someone had stolen that woman and threw a poor, cheap copy of her in her place. Skin so pale that her blood vessels were visible through it, hair a tangled mess, haunted blue orbs that were surrounded my
ARIA The sound of muffled grunts and whimpers forced me out of my sleep. I lifted myself on my elbows as I rubbed my eyes, my heat beat escalating as the pitiful whimpers filled the room. Swallowing, I looked over my shoulder and my lips parted in surprise. Fabiano was sleeping beside me. He still was but now, he was writhing in the sheets, his face twisted in pain. Pitiful sounds escaped his parted lips—grunts, groans and whimpers. I licked my dry lips, wetting them as I contemplated what to do. He seemed to be having a nightmare. I knew it. I knew the sounds he was making. I used to make them too when I was a teenager. I used to wake up my parents with my screams. I would wake up, with them hovering over me, horrified and sickly pale. They told me that I screamed in my sleep. I didn’t believe them first because I didn’t remember screaming but they were right. Fabiano groaned beside me, his body jerking but he didn’t wake up. “No.” He grunted in his sleep, his features tigh