Chapter 11

CASEY couldn’t still believe what Thelma told her about Amara’ treatments towards them. What kind of person is she to treat people as low as the animals? It isn’t even right to disrespect animals. She caught her head. Why on earth did the heavens put her in this evil woman’s life?

She stood and looked at herself in the mirror. The swelling in her face has subsided, and so the stitches. Yesterday the doctor came to remove the stitches on the side of her face. He also gave her some medications that could lessen the swelling so that she may attend some small gatherings or take a walk outside without having to put a shawl on her face.

“But this is not me...” Casey murmured in front of the mirror. “I’m looking to the face of the woman that hurt the feelings of many people.” She touched her face and sighed. “I’m also a bitch when it comes to news writing, but I never treated any human being like a dog or even called them insulting names. Especially if they’re good to me.”

Casey decided to walk outside again. She went to the cabinet and chose an attire appropriate for strolling out, but she couldn’t find anything. All the clothes hanging in the closet were fabulous and skimpy. If she wears any of this outside, it will look as if she’s offering herself to anyone.

“My gosh,” Casey muttered while looking at a thin dress disgustingly. “Is it inspired by an X-ray machine?”

After almost one hour of looking for decent clothes to wear, Casey finally found a white off-shoulders sundress that falls just on top of her knee. It seems a little sexy but still innocent. It’s a good thing that she and Amara have the exact sizes in everything. Well, that’s why they mistook her as her. But why they thought that the woman sitting beside the kid was Amara?

“Alexander is aware that Amara is having an affair with their workers here,” she said in a knotted forehead. “And, where’s Amara body? Am I reported missing?”

She blew her breath. She needed to breathe some fresh air. And since she’s in Ilocos Sur—the province known for its historical places and fine wines made by sugarcane—it would be suitable for a recovering patient like her to explore its relaxing places.

Casey was just about to walk down the stairs when she sensed that somebody is watching her. When she turned her side, she saw an elegant woman sauntering towards her with breaking her stare.

“So you’re awake?” The woman’s crisp voice brought unexplainable chills to her skin. “My son said that you have temporary amnesia?”

She’s Alexander’s mom? She studied the woman’s face, looking for some resemblance from him. “Ah, yes...”

“I don’t believe you, Amara,” she said blatantly. “I know it’s just part of your plans, isn’t it?”

Casey’s brows slightly furrowed with she said. Plan? What is she talking about?

The woman knotted her forehead as she studied her expression. “You really have amnesia?”

“I’m in the process of remembering everything, Madam,” Casey replied in a stern voice. She has to act like Amara, and based on the stories that she heard, Amara is whore, but she won’t do the nasty things that she did. “I’m also hoping if you could fill me in with some of the memories.”

The woman looked straight in her eyes. “You’ll remember it soon,” she said in an arched brow. “But you have to be quick, Amara,” she said and stepped closer to give her a peck in the cheek. “The time is running.”

As soon as the woman walked away from Casey, she went back to Amara room and tried to open the locked drawer. She has a strong feeling that everything that she needs to know about Amara is here. But how will she open it?

She looked inside the cabinet, drawers, under the bed, and even on the pots of indoor plants, but she can’t find the key. “Where the fuck is that key?” She looked around the house, and her eyes stopped on the vast wall photo hanged on top of her bed. “It’s not framed. It was just pinned on the wall,” she said as she walked towards the bed. “They looked sweet and in love in this shot,” she muttered and looked closely on its edge.

Casey wanted to laugh at herself. She knew that a key won’t fit behind it, but here she is, trying to look for a portal that could bring her back to her old life as Casey. She climbed on the bed and ran her hands across the top edges of the photo. She stopped when she felt a small bump in the middle. With a knotted forehead, Casey pulled the edge and peeked inside. She almost gasped upon seeing a memory card sticking on the photo paper.

“Very clever bitch...” she said with a shake of her head. It’s a 128 gigabytes micro SD card. “Now, where will I insert this thing? I don’t have a phone,” she asked herself frustratingly. “My husband is a rich man, but he can’t buy me a new phone.”

“Is that what bothers you?”

Startled, Casey dropped the micro SD card. The tiny device slipped behind the headboard. “My gosh!” she blurted out while turning to face him. “You startled me!” she caught her chest. “How long have you been there?”

“I just came in.” Alexander arched an eyebrow. “Why are you standing on your bed?”

Casey thought of an excuse. “Ah, I was just looking at this picture...” she said and pointed at the photo on the wall. “When was this taken? We looked in love with this shot.”

The man’s expression darkened. “I am...” he replied without a second. “But I doubt it with you. After that pictorial, you started to avoid me.”

Casey’s chest tightened again. Every time Alexander showed her his emotion, her heart wrenched for him. “I-I’m sorry...”

“You do?” Alexander smirked. “You’re sorry now because you can’t remember anything, even your own identity. But I’m sure that as soon as you get well, you’ll start on your bad ways again, Amara.”

“I won’t...” Casey countered and climbed down the bed. “I don’t want to remember it all...” She felt a lump in her throat. “I don’t want to be the Amara that all of you hated. I want to be a different person now.”

Tears fell on Casey’s face, and it’s genuine. Everything that she said came from her heart. She wanted them to think that Amara has changed so that the persons that the woman has hurt felt safe with her, especially her child. The little angel, Billie. She was so sweet. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like this by her mom.

“I want to be a good mother to Billie...” she said, crying her heart out. “I don’t want to come back to the monster woman that I was.” She met Alexander’s dark gaze at her. “But how will I do that if you wouldn’t give me a chance?”

“Chance? You’re asking for another chance from me?” Alexander smirked. “I’ve given you a hundred chances—”

“But that was before, Alexander!” she protested. “That was before the accident... before Billie and I got almost killed by the explosion.”

When the man just looked at her, Casey walked towards him. She stopped just a few inches away from him. She has to gain Alexander’s trust. He’s the only person that she needs to move freely inside the house.

“Alexander...” She looked up at him. “I want to be a good wife to you. Please, give me a chance...” She wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed her body to him. “Please...?”

What happened next was not in Casey’s plan. Alexander grabbed her waist and kissed her lips. But it’s not the kind of kiss that she expected, because the man is giving her a painful, punishing kiss.

***