Chapter 48 Why the warning?
I can't get the image of that woman out of my head, or her chilling words.
If someone had to warn me about any of the Cargills, they would've warned me about Miguel, wouldn't they? He was allegedly a player in high school, and he always looked so intense. I don't think I've ever seen him laugh until that day at my aunt and uncle's house.
Apart from sending me texts, Ben still hasn't called me by the end of the week, stating he's working on a very high-profile case and that he will see me over the weekend.
I can't shake the feeling brewing in my stomach, so I get a bunch of expensive flowers and drive over to my parents' house.
"Look what the cat dragged in!" Dad engulfs me in his arms when I walk inside their penthouse where I spent my entire life before moving out.
Even though I love being by myself, it's extremely comforting being able to come home.
"Hi Daddy." I kiss him on the cheek. "Where's Mom?"
"Are you in the dog box?" He eyes the flowers I'm holding. "What did you do?"
My father doesn't know about my little tantrum, and I'm grateful Mom didn't tell anyone aside from my aunt.
"I refused to wear a dress she sent me." I wink at him. "How's work going?"
"It's great. Do you know that guy Raul? He was in the same high school as you?" I follow him to the kitchen, my interest spiked at the mention of Raul's name. "I signed him, he said you guys were at the same rehab centre."
"Yes." And I thought he was Black. "So you signed an injured guy? Isn't that a risk?"
Dad shrugs. "The guy is one of the best, he just needs the right team."
Jazz music is playing in the kitchen while my mother is humming to it, stirring something in a pot.
"Am I in time for dinner?"
She whips around with her wooden spoon wielding it like it's a weapon.
"Baby girl!" She runs to me with open arms and I almost cry.
That's the thing with my mother, she never stays mad at the people she loves.
I hand her the flowers before she embraces me in a bear hug. "I'm so sorry about the other day, Mommy."
"Oh, you didn't do anything wrong. I just wished you would talk to me." She kisses my cheek. "Dinner is almost ready."
"Thanks, I quickly want to get something from my bedroom."
I leave the two of them because my father is already going in to smooch her as always. Maybe that's why I built this fairytale in my head about Ben and me, because my parents have always been so in love and not scared to show it in front of me. I thought that could be Ben and me.
My bedroom is the exact same way I left it. I think she's still hoping I would move back some day.
I go to my bookcase and retrieve one of the reasons I came here. It's the yearbook when I was in my freshman year, and I quickly page through to where the senior year starts.
A pang goes through me when I spot Miguel's picture. God, he's always been so handsome, and so damn serious, as if he's hiding secrets that he never wants to tell.
Miguel Cargill. Captain of the Varsity Swimming team and straight A student. Most likely to attend Yale and become an attorney like his father who is an alumni.
I remember how Ben always said Miguel blindsided his father when he joined the Navy instead of going to an Ivy League university.
Why did he do that when in the end he studied law anyway?
I feel like there's so many layers to Miguel that I don't know. Why the fuck did he pursue me the way that he did? Was it to have something against Ben? They've always had this rivalry I never understood. I don't have any siblings of myself, but I saw how the triplets were with each other, and even with me. We always just wanted the best for one another.
Miguel wasn't the reason I wanted to look into the yearbook.
Katherine was.
I find her under the M surnames. Katherine McDowell. Cheerleader, and has plans to study at NYU to become an expert in marketing.
I fully recognise her now. And she really was beautiful in that All-American way with shiny blonde hair and blue eyes. She doesn't look like the same girl in the picture when she approached me.
What happened to her that she looks the way she does now?
The thing with the school I was in, is that it's mad expensive, so you either came from a very affluent family, or you received a scholarship like I know Raul did who is from the Bronx.
So I Google her name.
She indeed went to NYU and graduated, then she got a job at one of the top marketing agencies in the country. She wasn't a scholarship student either, but she does come from old money like the Cargills.
There's no other news about her, but I know for a fact that affluent families hide scandals to protect their name. That also explains the expensive clothes she was wearing. She's clearly rich.
But what the hell happened to her that she looks so ill?
And why did she warn me against Ben?