The Darkest Secret

The ribbon-cutting ceremony ended immediately.

Our friends didn't go home right away because Travis wanted to go to our mansion.

They are referring to David and I's new home.

David objected because he didn't want others to know where our mansion was, but I told him it was fine and that it wasn't a big deal for me.

But no matter how hard I tried to convince him, David still didn't agree because he said he was still not much of a trustee to our friends. Anyway, he has a point because we just only see each other again.

So we decided to just hang out at David's old house.

Fred is our driver and the vehicle we use today is a coaster bus that David still owns.

"Aunt, can I just call you, Mima?" I turned to Callie when she touched me, although David who was next to me and peeking out the window also turned to her.

David took her hand and brought it to him and he carried Callie.

"Why do you want to call Auntie Abi, mima?" David asked her, she used her sweetest voice again so that maybe Callie wouldn't be afraid of her.

"I want her to be my mom too, my mom will get jealous if I call auntie Abi a ‘mom’ too, that’s why I just made up a unique name and for me, mima is a mom," Callie said and this is what made me smile. She’s so adorable.

I grabbed her little hands, "sure, baby. You can call me mima, whenever you want." I said to her and I kissed her forehead.

David did the same to Callie and hugged her tightly.

"Don't you want me to be your dad too?" David asked her while Callie was still leaning on his chest and looking out the window.

It's just the depth of what I'm thinking every time I sit by the window. As a result, I chose to sit in the aisle.

"Is it okay with you? Even though you're always fighting with Daddy?" David and I both laughed at what Callie said.

I leaned on David's shoulder as he hugged Callie tightly again, "we're not fighting, we're just playing." He lied because he can't tell Callie about our real situation.

It's also better because I don't want the child to become involved in the problem that the four of us are dealing with. It's easy to talk to Callie because she's listening.

"I'm gonna call you, dida," Callie said happily to David, and she even kissed him on the cheek.

"You know what, mima, my mom and my dad are always fighting like a child," Callie said directly.

I was saddened by what she said; I didn't think they were still like that until now.

"What do you do every time they fight?" I asked, not sure why, but I just want to know if she sees or hears their fights, which I don't want because it will cause Callie trauma, especially when she's young.

"I just go to my room, but sometimes I hear them saying your name."

In my peripheral vision, I noticed David looking at me but I did not look back at him.

"I-If they fight again, just call us, okay?" I said to her and caressed her shoulder. She just answered me with a simple nod.

I leaned back on David's shoulder and even hugged his arm.

~

I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep on our trip.

When I woke up, my eyes saw that the coaster bus had stopped in front of David's old house.

I rolled my eyes and noticed that there was no one left, even Callie, who had been in David's arms, was also gone.

"Finally, you're awake!" David said to me, I slept for a long time.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"They were already inside, since they knew and memorized that house of mine. So I let them go inside first." David has a point because they really know every corner of David's house, we used to be friends, and if Jacob and I weren't at home, we would be at David's back then.

Those old good days, I miss that bonding but I prefer the person I'm with now.

"Are you okay, hon? Do you still want to sleep?" I'm still drowsy, but it'd be fine if I woke up because it would be embarrassing for them if I could just sleep.

"No, I'm okay, hon," I said to him and I stood up to stretch.

When we got off the coaster bus a strong gust of wind greeted us.

I looked to the side where the wind was coming from, and that's when I noticed Jacob's house, which I had visited in the past by accident.

It seems like I need to tell the truth to David because I have no one else to trust but him.

He noticed my silence.

"Hon, what are you thinking?" He asked me.

"Nothing. Let's go?" I said I don’t think this is the right time to tell it.

He didn't ask any more questions, he took my hand and we entered his mansion.

When David and I first came here I was not comfortable but now I can say that I feel new and I can stay without thinking too much in this mansion.

Except I'd like to speak with David about Jacob's house nearby.

It appears to be very wrong because I'm still keeping a secret from David, despite the fact that he has already proven that he is the only one I should truly trust.

And once Jacob and I's marriage was finalized, David and I needed to be more honest with each other.

After all, as I said, he is the only one I can trust.

Mom and dad didn't come with us here anymore but they told me that they hoped David and I would visit them. But I'm not ready to go home, because of my dreams.

I don't want to be sad just for today and I don't want to remember all that happened in my dreams, I want to have fun today.

When David and I entered his mansion, they all applauded, and I was surprised.

David and I looked at each other and shrugged at the same time.

"Both of you took so long inside the coaster bus! What did you do? David's mansion is huge, but you still thought of hanging out there," Chad teased.

I notice Grace just sitting quietly on one side while drinking… vodka? I guess because there’s a bottle of vodka beside her.

I wanted to approach her but later on, I also didn't know what to say to her.

I'll be honest: I seem to want to talk to Catherine more than Grace.

I'm not mad at her anymore, but it seems awkward when we talk.

I'll admit that it's also difficult to trust now, especially since I've previously tested Grace's loyalty.

I also noticed Jacob, who was staring at me quietly.

He motioned to me, but I didn't understand, so I turned to look at David, who was chatting with Chad and Travis.

When I returned my gaze to Jacob, he was still motioning to me and pointing outside.

So I approached David, I even stand a little bit on tiptoe just to whisper to him, "hon, Jacob wants to talk to me."

When I told him that, he immediately looked around for Jacob, but he saw Jacob leave David's mansion.

"I'll just give you 10 minutes to talk, when it's over 10 minutes I'll pick you up!" He told me.

I went out of the mansion, my eyes searching for Jacob but I only found him next to the swimming pool.

When he noticed my presence he motioned for me to come closer.

He was holding a wine glass in one hand and his other hand was in the pocket of his slacks pants.

"Why?" I asked immediately.

"Do you remember the house I built because of my lost memories that came back?" He asked me, he was stunned by the water in the swimming pool, but he did not look at me.

Jacob smells like vodka but I can tell he's still sane.

"Yes I remember, why?" I asked him with a frown.

He drank some vodka before he turned to me, "I find it strange because my memory is not yet complete.I don't know if I missed out on any memories because I'm wondering, of the many houses you mentioned to me before, I don't remember that you said you wanted to build a house, near David's mansion. How come it's close to David? I didn't think of that before because all I had on my mind then was how to get you." His forehead is furrowed now.

I also thought about it but I remembered what he said to me before, "Didn't you tell me you want to watch David?"

"I said that because I don't have much memory and I can only focus on what is happening based on the people I meet. But I remember I had a paper that I read 3 days after I left the hospital. The address is there. I compared your handwritten to the handwritten on the paper with the same resemblance to your signature." He said and he looked at me like there’s really something to focus about.

I was nervous about what he said, how come my signature is the same and there is a resemblance to my letter? After all, I didn't even know he had an accident!

How did that happen?!

He drank vodka again and turned to me, "I know you didn't write that, but I had no idea before so I believed that was you and that's where I followed your plans in our baby's room that came back to my memory."

"What do you want to say?" I asked him.

"That there are one or two or maybe three people behind it. I don't know but because David doesn't know anything about it because you remember the day you disappeared? He immediately looked for you there."

"It's impossible that you're saying-"

"It's not impossible, if you think about there are so many houses here, why is he going there right away." He said and he didn't let me finish speaking.

I was about to answer when I saw David approaching us.

"Hon, let's go?" David told me.

I turned to Jacob who was also looking at me seriously, I accepted David's offer to return to his mansion.

"What did he tell you?" David immediately asked me.

"We will talk about something important later, hon. And I want you to tell me the truth." I know him, when he’s lying or being honest with me. We have been together for a long time, I also feel for a long time that he is really telling me the truth. Because I have doubted him many times but he always proves that I don't have to doubt him.

"Of course, whatever it is. As long as I know I will tell you the truth."

When we got back inside they were having fun, Catherine seemed very drunk because she had taken off her heels while Callie was asleep on the other sofa not far from our place.

I noticed Grace looking at David and me so I didn't hesitate to talk to her.

When she noticed me approaching, she sat up properly, "h-hi?" I stammered to her.

"Hi, how are you? I'm sorry because I'm ashamed of you, I'm not that comfortable either because I know I'm very guilty of you." She told me directly.

I sat down next to her and held her hand, "you don't have to be ashamed of me, in all that happened I will never forget the days you helped me get out of Jacob's house."

"Y-You need to k-know something." She stuttered and told me, I felt nervous because she suddenly turned pale.

"What's that?" I asked her and I tried to correct my words because I didn't want to speak out I was afraid of what I might find out.

"Oh, nothing." She said and she took her wine glass and she drank it.

She looks drunk too.

David approached where I was.

"Hon, maybe you're tired and sleepy. Are we going home?" David asked me.

But there was a part of me that didn't want to go home to our mansion as if I needed to know something so we continued our plan to stay here tonight.

"Can we sleep here?" I asked.

He sat down next to me and hugged me, "if that's what my love wants, then it’s really okay." David whispered to me, and I smiled at what he said.

"Get a fucking room, guys!" Grace said annoyed and even threw a pillow at us.

David and I laughed at what she did.

We turned to Jacob who had just re-entered the living room.

When he saw Catherine dancing because of drunkenness he pulled her to sit down.

He dragged Catherine violently, tsk! He still doesn’t changed.

"What!" Catherine shouted at Jacob.

"You’re drunk! Aren't you ashamed?! You are the only one who’s drunk here!" Jacob shouted back at her.

"Wow! You seem to care about me?! As far as I remember you don't care about me!" Catherine replied.

With the loudness of Catherine's voice, Chad and Travis stopped laughing as they talked.

We were all staring at the two of them.

"Yes, Jacob? When did you ever care about Cath?" Chad asked.

Jacob looked at me first with a frown, "we're with our daughter, Callie should not see her like this." Jacob explained.

Why does he even have to look at me? What do I have to do?

"You shut up!" Catherine shouted at him and Catherine slapped Jacob hard on the cheek.

Travis and Chad began to tease Jacob, "oh, dud! Catherine treats you like that! You are underdog now, Jacob Fuentes!” Chad teases Jacob.

Grace stood up and approached Catherine, Catherine would have slapped Jacob again but Grace stopped her.

"David? Where is your guest room?" Grace asked David, I looked at David.

David stood up and pointed to the room just opposite the grand staircase of his mansion.

"Abi, how’s David?" Chad asked me.

I noticed Jacob looking at us and Travis looking at me as if they were waiting for my answer.

"He’s okay, I’m so grateful to have David by my side," I said bluntly.

Which is true, I'm so thankful I have David.

"Really? Didn't David give you a headache?" Chad asked as if he still didn't believe what I said.

"What do you mean by a headache?" I asked in astonishment.

"Headache like, a lot of women like, make you jealous, and hurt?" Travis asked.

When he said that, I immediately looked at Jacob who was also looking at me.

"U-Uhm, a lot of women who likes him, yeah. But other than that, I haven't experienced anything like what you said with David." I said and I gave them my sweet smile.

When David returned to the living room, he approached me immediately.

"Hon, let's go we need to rest," David said, we said goodbye to the three of them because it looks like they will finish drinking later.

When we passed Callie lying on the sofa I kissed her on the cheek before we went up to David's room.

When we were ready we went to bed.

"Hon, I want to talk about something," I said to him.

He put his arm around me and leaned my head on his chest.