Ann’s POV
With a tremble shuddering through me, a wave of nausea hits me, pushing me forward as I race out of the building to the open space.
The moment I fall to the ground, I begin to puke so hard that I fear I will puke out my intestines.
“Annette,” Vince hurries over and squats next to me. “Are you okay?”
I continue to puke until my insides are completely empty. Vince rushes back inside, and by the time he returns, I am laughing like a maniac.
“Ann?” He stands over me with a bowl and amazement written over his face. “Are you okay?”
This is the second time he is asking me that. Asking if I am okay when I have just liberated myself from the hooks of my nightmares. When I have just gained my freedom from fear and the trauma, I have been battling for years. When I have just avenged my mother.
Of course, I am fine. In fact, what I feel right now is the pure pleasure spiraling in my stomach, alongside hunger.
He squats down again, sprinkling some water on my face and rubbing it all over again till I am sober.
He drops the bowl, watching me with curiosity.
He must think I am out of my mind. Or I am grieving. Or I am sad.
Why should I?
I have always dreamt of today. Dreamt of the day, I will finish off that monster who killed my mother.
Without a word, I drag Vince in for an embrace.
He made my dreams come true. Perhaps we met for this reason. We met coincidentally and got married accidentally so he could help me make this dream come true.
Without Vince, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome my fears, talk more of eliminating Isaac from the face of the earth.
Perhaps I would still be living with fear, and I would still be grieving my mother, incapable of avenging her.
I’m sure Mother would be smiling from the heavens.
Isaac deserves it. He deserves what he got. He deserves more torture from hell for ruining my life and that of my mother. He deserves even more for making a sweet woman like my mother his slave. For locking her out of the world and keeping her away from her only child.
I let go of Vince and stare down, realizing how my eyes are watering.
That woman didn’t deserve to die in the hands of Isaac. She did a lot to keep her marriage. She let me go and didn’t bother contacting me, and I know she did all that to protect me.
“Ann?”
At the sound of Vince’s voice calling my name, I already know what he will say next.
“Are you okay?”
I lose it as I break down into tears.
My mother. I miss her. I can’t wipe out the smile I saw on her face when she saw me before Isaac shot her. That memory is deeply etched in my heart.
Even if I don’t want to be sad about her death or I assume I am done grieving, I know I can never let go of her. Her memories. Her last moments.
Vincete pulls me into his arms, uncaring about the mess on the ground. He pats my hand down to my back, comforting me without a single word.
This is more comforting than words of assurance. This is more comforting than anything else.
Vicente is a good man.
I have benefited a lot from him. Yet he never asked me for anything.
For a moment, I wonder if I am doing the wrong thing by asking for an annulment.
I like Vicente. Heaven knows that I do, and I am on the verge of spilling that from my overwhelming emotions right now.
I want to pull away, tell him I like him, ask him if he can love me the way I do, and crash my lips on his.
“Boss,” a voice interrupts the moment, making me push down the silly idea of confessing my feelings for him and kissing him.
I pull away, hiding my head down before getting up from the ground.
“Ann, wait,” Vince says, and I halt at a distance.
They speak ina low tone for a while before Vicente walks up to me. He doesn’t say anything. He grabs my hand, and we move back inside.
When we are safely in the bedroom, he stands before me and pats my dirty hair.
I haven’t bathed in two days.
Feeling ashamed of my appearance, I decide to bathe before anything else. But most importantly, I need food. I am famished.
I look up.
“Vince?”
“Uhm?”
“I need to take a bath,” I voice out, and he nods. “And I need some food. I’m starving.”
Without questioning me, he grabs the intercom and speaks in Italian before returning to me. “Let’s get you to the bathroom.”
I raise a brow.
“First, I can go myself and second, I think I need to eat first.”
My stomach growls, and I bite my lower lips in embarrassment. For a moment, I think he will laugh at me but he doesn’t.
Suddenly, a knock comes to the door, and Christiana walks in with a food tray.
Vicente takes it from her, thanks her, and she walks out. He places it on the table beside the bed for me before patting the bed so I can come sit in.
I watch in admiration, realizing how lucky his real wife would be.
When my stomach growls again, I stroll to the bed and sit down. Vicente grabs the spoon and scoops some of the food before urging me to open my mouth.
I want to protest, but I know there is no use in doing that.
The more I want to leave, the more he makes me want to stay back. The more I want to put a stop to my feelings for him, the more I fall head over heels for him.
The more I want to remind him about the annulment, the more I want to denounce that statement and call it a mistake.
I was jealous, but a divorce between us was bound to happen anyway. I saw the hurt flashing across his face when I mentioned it, but I couldn’t continue living this life, relying solely on him and not having a life of my own.
If I want to live this life, I must do that without anyone’s interference. I need to live life because I want to.
If I want to be his queen, I need to do that because I want to be his queen.
And if I want to remain here, I need to know if it will be worth it. And the only thing I need to know is if what he feels for me is love, just like what I feel.
I finish the meal before I know it, and he pours me a drink. Awkwardly, I take the drink myself and gulp it down.
“Tessa?” I suddenly remember I haven’t seen her. The last I saw of her was when we got home together last night, and since I got up, I haven’t seen her. “Is she with Fernando?”
Vicente nods. “I guess so.”
We woke up together. We slept off at almost the same time, too, so I guess he has no idea.
Fernando will take care of her. I will call her later to know if she is okay.
I stand up to go to the bathroom when Vicente’s hand wraps around mine, stopping me.
I glance down.
“Sit down, Ann.”
His face is serious. And I wonder what this is about.
I sit and wait for him to get to it, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he drags a hand through his hair, looking frustrated.
Is this about the annulment? Vicente doesn’t act this way unless this is about me or our marriage.
I am about to ask him what it is when he blurts out. “I killed Carter.”
When the words process, I open my mouth to ask who Carter is when it slowly dawns on me.
Carter Rossi.
My stepbrother.