Chapter 113

Chapter 113
“To face the final destiny”

When we arrived, there were smatterings of bystanders on the harbor walk. Dave parked his car near the water's edge in a parking lot. And because it was a full moon, lovers, friends, and families took in the splendor of the bay at night. We didn't even get out of the car.
"What will I do when your boy is in my hands?" Dave asked next to me.
"Get out of here with him and forget about me."
"Please be careful," Dave groaned, "Keep in mind, it's not the end of the world yet, and you know what I mean."
"I understand, but your life would be compromised if you were in the hands of the evil Mea."
"I know, but when you are alive, hope is still around for you to catch," Dave said, as if he would never see me again.
I could feel the tension we were both enduring while waiting for the exact moment I would meet face-to-face with my adversary. There was much speculation about what might happen to me in the hands of Mea and Carlo, my supposed fake husband. The eagerness to save my son was the source of my strength and braveness. I would rather die than see my son suffer.
After a few minutes of staring at the coast, the people who had been strewn across the bay like a swarm of ants in search of food began to thin out until it was nine o'clock at night.
Then I called again, and the same annoying voice answered. Madam Mea appeared restless and upset.
"Where are you!?" she yelled from the other end of the call. Your son was weeping; find him or I'll throw him into the water! "
"I'm here with your son at the bay, Catherine!" "Come get your son."
"Stay where you are while Dave gets my son and I’ll show myself to you."
"No! Show up, and I'll give you your son! "
Dave got out of the car and looked around for Madam Mea.
"All right, I'll be right there," I said as I cut the line and got out of the car to hunt for them. And then I noticed Madam Mea a few meters away, towards the shore.
My heart pumped with excitement and fear.
Dave said excitedly, "I saw them, but I didn't see Carlo."
I mumbled, "I needed to go and get my son." I moved fast, and Dave held me in my hands. That halted me.
"Carlo, please let me go."
"Don't make things a rush. I have to look for Carlo before you approach Madam Mea." He left me and went through the crowd as he said, "Wait for my signal."
For the first time in my life, I felt an unusual fear. And it was because of rescuing my son. I know that in one mistake, she probably hurt my son. I didn't wait for Dave to come back. I made my way to where Madam Mea and my son were standing. And she was right; my son was crying not from the normal crying of a child but from Madam Mea's constant pinching in his ears.
I could feel the heat creeping up from my cheeks to my head. Mea was really rude to my son. When I approached her, I didn't notice she was staring at me. The expression in her eyes told me she had no idea who I was.
"Is that you, Monica Ferris?” Her eyes widened, “Why are you here?"
Her reaction to my quick entrance caught me off guard. I was caught between Catherine and Monica. And I was positive Carlo didn't reveal my name to Mea, but my mouth was fast to give her the truth.
"Yes, I am Monica and Catherine as well," I exclaimed, shocked. I had no idea what was going to happen next. But I don't want to take another chance at having my child. It has to be at that precise moment.
Dave emerged unexpectedly on my right side.
"Good evening, Madam Mea," he said.
When Mea saw Dave, she grimaced. Dave? "Is that you, sir?"
"Yes, and I'm here for a task," Dave remarked as he took Rafael Junior in his arms. "Because this isn't your son, you have no right to trap him in your claws."
"Take him away from here, Dave," I said, as Dave hurriedly vanished with my son.
Mea was taken aback by what we had done and wanted to stop Dave. "Come back to me, Dave."
I blocked her way to run after Dave. "You can't stop him from taking my son."
Mea was appalled and said, "What are you talking about, Monica?"
"I told you, I am Monica and Catherine."
"I don't get you," she yelled.
Carlo suddenly appeared at the side of Madam Mea and held me in my hands, tying them up with a rope.
I didn't make any risky resistance at the bay, even if there were a few pairs of lovers remaining on the shore. Carlo must focus his attention on me and not on retrieving my son from Dave. I spotted Dave’s car moving away from the bay, and it gave me great relief. Now that my son was safe, I could fight the devil squarely. And I am not afraid any more.
Carlo wasn’t talking to me while he was maneuvering me into the car. I moved to his guide, and Mea followed us. As we drove up to the mansion, I figured out that she had not planned to hide my captivity from the servants.
I didn’t ask and talked, while Mea kept an eye on me. I could read the confusion in her eyes. She was bewildered by what I had just revealed to her moments ago. As we drove, my mind was on Dave and my son. I know Rafael Junior was totally safe with him and with my grandfather. And I accepted the fate I was going to endure at the hands of this wicked woman staring at me.
When Carlo pulled over to the side of the garage, and when we came to a halt, the surrounding silence felt strange. Carlo and Mea stepped out of the car at the same time, and Carlo grabbed my shoulder and pushed me to the door, up to the house's interior, to the door next to the kitchen.
The house was completely deserted, with not a single person in sight. It was then that I knew Mea had ordered the help to go in order for me to be taken in freely. Carlo pushed me into an empty room that I had never entered while working for Morrow. The room was dirty and empty, with a table and a chair in the center and a wall-mounted dresser with a mirror.
I had no idea whose room it was, because it was not included in my cleaning session before.
He was still not talking to me, which obviously clearly instructed him. And he didn’t want to confront me about our personal feud either. After tying me to a chair, he stepped outside the room and locked it from the outside.
Carlo's demeanor bothered me. He was behaving as though we had never met before. Carlo was not the Carlo I remembered from a few months ago. He was deep and motionless now, like stagnant water in a swamp, with heaviness beneath the serenity of the top veneer. I could sense his animosity, which he was trying to hide, but I could see it through his eyes since, as the phrase goes, "the eyes are the window to the soul."
I hadn't kept track of how long it had been since the door had been closed. And it was Mea who was the first to appear at the door, scowling. Her irritated expression was frightening. Carlo was following her at her back, solemnly, and he was still avoiding looking at me in the eyes. After shutting the door, he leaned against the wall like a personal guard, waiting for the princess to summon him.
Mea approached with a harsh glare.
"Now tell me the truth, Monica."
"What truth would you like to hear, Madam Mea?"
"The truth about Catherine," she frowned, "I want to know about her from you."
"What would you like to hear about me, Madam Mea?"
She flared up, "Don’t act like you are her, Monica Ferris!" She was angrier than I thought.
"I am not acting, Madam, because I am Catherine, your nave, ignorant servant who allowed you to ruin my life by accepting your offer to be the mother of your heir. And now I am here to claim what is meant to be mine. That's my son and a...
She cut me off by slapping me hard. "You can't take my son away from me forever, bitch!"
"You will never see my son again, Mea."
"I am her mother, and you can’t take that title away from me! And look at yourself in that mirror." She pointed to the dresser mounted on the wall at my side.
"Who is that woman, bitch? Do you think people will accept you as the mother of Rafael Junior with that face?" She laughed.
And I didn’t interrupt her as she mocked me. She was walking back and forth as she made her speech.
Mea cracked a grin and said, "No one will believe you, Monica." She laughed, "All they will know is that you are my husband’s other woman, a woman who destroyed our marriage and must be punished." She hissed, "Yes, you will be punished for coveting my husband!"
“Maybe we did it because we love each other,” I smiled.
She hit me again, and I felt something burst out of my nose, and splatters of blood sprayed on the floor like a dress with spots of blood pattern. My head whirled with anguish, and my neck wrenched to the side a little, and the fact that she blew in my face accelerated the feud between us.
"Your husband's love is mine, forever, Mea!" I screamed at her. Until death do we part? "
"You'll be slaughtered for that love you're talking about! And you'll never see the sun again! My husband died because of you, Monica! "
"Catherine! Call me Catherine, because that's my given name, Mea! Although I was wearing Monica’s face, I am still the biological mother of Rafael Junior.! And you can never change that barren woman!" I made her angry. I want her to blow up her brain in anger.
Mea’s eyes were glaring with so much anger. And then she pulled something from the dresser’s drawer: a knife.
"So, you are going to kill me now, Mea. Well, that's the only thing you can do in order to win against me, right? "You can't think of a single way to be loved by someone you care about, like Rafael."
"Rafael loved me, but he was enticed by your evil power!" she yelled. You will be punished as a result! "
"You are the one who should be punished for killing Annie Morrow!" I screamed at her.
She stared at what I said, "Don't speak her name; she was dead and must remain dead forever."
"Why did you kill her?"
She shouted, "Stop saying her name! She had died! "
"Why did you want her dead? She is Rafael's sister, and why can't you love her as much as you loved Rafael and her mother? "
"Because she was envious of me and wanted me out of their family, which is why she won't accept me as a member of the family. And that is why I...
"That is why you pushed her out of the window." I stated it matter-of-factly.
She glared at me in disbelief.
"Is that why you killed her?" I queried. "You pushed her out of the window because that's what your heart desired, which you engraved on the tree bark and on the wall of your room, the second pink room."
Mea’s eyes reddened in great anger and despair. She moved towards me and thrust the knife into my chest.
My body jerked, and I felt the pointed knife crash into the bone in my chest. And I knew that this time I would surely die.