FATED BOND

Daisy’s POV

“I disowned James when he married Vera”, my grandmother explained with a teary face when we got to the house.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. First, I was shocked to see Aunt Vanessa in the Philippines of all places. Secondly, she was staying with my grandmother. I still couldn’t believe the woman was the one who gave birth to my father.

When Nina heard that she was my grandmother, she stood up from where she was seated with Ellah in her arms and asked us to follow her. She was looking tired and it was so unlike her to be tired, without doing anything all day, other than getting dressed for dinner.

Nina asked grandmother, Aunt Vanessa and her son who appeared before I could get over the shock that the woman before me was my blood, to get into the car. The driver drove home and I was glad for the type of mind Nina had.

It was a family issue that ought to be discussed in the confines of a home, not in public.

“Why did you?” Aunt Vanessa asked. I could see how furious she looked. My mother must have told her about my grandmother and the fact that they weren’t on good terms. I was tongue-tied and still confused.

‘How did they know each other?’ How come Aunt Vanessa never knew she was her sister’s mother-in-law? What was Aunt Vanessa doing in the Philippines all of a sudden, looking wretched.

She was in the same clothes as my grandmother and I wondered what was going on. I knew Aunt Vanessa’s husband to be a well-to-do man. I never saw him but my mother used to talk about him. Whenever Aunt Vanessa visits, she usually brings me a lot of gifts which she purchased for me and even the ones her husband got for me.

What was happening? I asked inwardly.

“I didn’t want him to marry her. I didn’t like her for him. I thought she was a gold-digger”, she sniffed and cleaned her tears.

“James didn’t listen to me so I tried to devise a way to separate them. I told James I was going to disown him if he marries her but James didn’t care. He went ahead to marry her against my wish. That increased my hatred for her so I disowned James and stopped going to the house.”

“You hated her for nothing”, aunt Vanessa screamed with tears streaming down her eyes. She was down to earth. She was selfless. She made James the man he is today. How could you? She is my sister and I know how good she is”, Aunt Vanessa cried.

Nina tiptoed to her room, to give us privacy. Ellah was already asleep and Nina went to drop her off in my room. She shared the same room with me and I was hoping to do the same thing when we get back to Las Vegas.

“I’m sorry”, she tried to touch my Aunt but she flinched from my grandmother’s touch and moved away.

“You are sorry?” Aunt sneered. “No, you aren’t.”

“I am. I got to know she was a good woman when James brought a lady to me after her death….”

“And you liked the lady instantly, right?”

“No. She was a bad person.”

“Of course you did. That lady killed my sister”, Aunt Vanessa burst into tears. I couldn’t believe my ears at all the revelations. Aunt Susana killed my mother? I knew she was the one they were talking about.

“What?” Grandmother yelled in surprise.

“She killed…..”, she trailed off as I felt the wetness on my face. I was crying without knowing it.

Aunt Susana was indeed a sheep in human’s clothing. It was obvious that she planned dad’s death too, I realized. I shook my head when I noticed none of the women before me knoww about dad’s death. I felt that wasn’t the right time to tell them the bad news.

“Oh Goodness! Vanessa, I’m sorry. I had my reasons too. I never knew she was your sister”, she tried to move close to my aunt.

“What would you have done if you had known? Treat her differently? Accept her wholeheartedly with open arms? Why will you judge her in the first place? Why will you assume she was a gold digger in the first place? Did you do any background check on her?” Aunt Vanessa screamed.

“No, I didn’t but I heard….”

“You heard?” Aunt Vanessa interrupted with a laugh.

“You heard?” She inquired again. “You killed my sister.”

“I’m sorry, Vanessa.” The woman hugged her as she cried. I wiped my own tears, still looking at the two women as they both cried.

“Susana is the reason why I am here”, she muttered and raised her head up to look my grandmother in the face. “She threatened to kill me, so I ran away from America. I left everything I ever owned because of her. I left without telling my husband a thing and here I am, all thanks to James and Susana.”

That explains why I didn’t see Aunt Vanessa in her former house. According to the address I followed, I thought to myself.

“What? Why would she do that?”

“She knows that I know she is the murderer. I know she murdered my sister.”

“Oh Goodness”, grandmother covered her mouth as she sobbed again in regret.

“I was tempted to go back to America, to my husband because I discovered I was pregnant after I ran away from home but I couldn’t. I was scared she would hurt my baby. She seemed to be everywhere and she seemed to know what I was also doing. So I stayed back.”

“Susana is a witch.”

I thought it was the time to ask the numerous questions running through my mind. “How did you know grandmother?” I asked my Aunt.

They both stared at me, as if forgetting I was there with them. “I gave birth to Fred in her place. I couldn’t afford to go to the hospital so she helped me.” Aunt explained.

“I couldn’t even feed the baby after birth so she took us in. She lost her job as a nurse when Fred fell sick one fateful day while I was away in Cebu, looking for a job.”

“I went to your house in Las Vegas, you were nowhere to be found.” I told her.

“Yes. I ran away because I got a life threatening email from Susana. She threatened to kill me.”

“What about your husband?” She shrugged. “I didn’t see him in the house either.”

“I left without telling him anything. I don’t know where he is but I hope he is fine”, she said and we fell silent. “What were you doing at the dinner party? Who is that woman and that little girl? And what are you doing in Las Vegas?”

I sighed. I didn’t even know where to start. I didn’t even know how to break the news of my father’s death to them. I know grandmother would be broken. She was unable to reconcile with her son before his death.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“The baby is mine.” I waited for a reaction. “And I came to Las Vegas because of you, while I was pregnant with Ellah.”

“Oh! So the baby is yours?” Aunt smiled. “She’s pretty.”

“Yeah,” I answered without returning the smile.

“Who is that woman?”

“She’s Nina Gomez.”

Aunt gasped. “Nina Gomez? The writer?” I nodded. “How did you know her?”

“When I didn’t see you in the house, I had nowhere to go. I took a cab intending to go to a hotel. She happened to be in the cab too. We had an accident and I was rushed to the hospital. The driver died at the spot but she was fine. She followed me to the hospital and paid my bills. Then, she offered to take me in when I explained things to her.” I explained while they listened attentively.

“I was at the dinner party because my book just got published with a publishing firm here in the Philippines.”

“You write?” Grandmother asked with a frown.

I nodded and looked at my shaking hands. I couldn’t place the reason why I was scared. But I know I was bothered about announcing dad’s death. I know they wouldn’t let me be until I told them everything.

“That’s good”, she nodded with a proud smile. “But, why did you leave home in the first place?

Does your father know you are here?”

I knew it. I knew it was coming to that. My heartbeat increased and I found myself gripping the sofa I was sitting on, tightly.

My heart was burning and my eyes were brimful with tears. I couldn’t stop myself from letting out the tears. Tears of losing my father led to the twist of my fate. I opened my mouth to say something but the words failed me.

I sobbed. Aunt quickly moved to my side in agitation. Before she could say anything, I forced myself to look her in the eyes and uttered, “Dad is dead”, before bursting into tears.