The flower field was now the only place Vanessa found solace and peace. She had replaced the bakery shop with the flower field. Tending to the flowers had become her routine and she was fine with it. With the flowers, she neither felt guilt nor anxiety. Peace was what she felt whenever she tended to the flowers.
Sometimes, she compares herself with flowers. She wondered if there were any similarities between her and the flowers, but whenever she thought about it, unlike the flowers, she was alone.
As she tended to the flowers, Chloe and Nicholas joined her, and together they chatted and laughed until they called it a day. Nicholas and Chloe are the closest people she could call friends. While others are just interested in the story behind her ring.
As she busied herself on the field, Vanessa’s phone rang, piercing the air with its shrill tone. This was the new phone she got when she got back from the city, therefore only her family had the number.
Wondering what the caller had to say, she hesitated for a moment before answering, her expression changing from serene to concerned as she listened to Lyla’s urgent voice at the other end.
“Vanessa, you need to get here now. It’s getting out of hand,” Lyla’s words sent a jolt through Vanessa’s body.
“What do you mean?” Vanessa stammered.
“Your mother is in the middle of a quarrel, and it doesn’t look good.” Lyla explained further, urgency laced in her voice.
“My mother?” Vanessa asked as doubt surged through her.
“Yes,” Lyla responded.
“Calm down Lyla. I’m sure Tanisha would help solve it.” Vanessa said, her initial worries subsided.
“Tanisha is with your mother on this and if you don’t come now things might get out of hands.” Lyla said, causing Vanessa’s worries to return.
“Who is my mother against?” Vanessa asked with the hope that the quarrel might not be a big deal.
“Some strangers who came looking for you.” Vanessa’s eyes widened in shock as she heard Lyla.
“strangers? Looking for me?” She asked, trying to confirm if she heard well.
“Hurry up Vanessa. I can’t say much on the phone,” Lyla said before ending the call.
Nicholas and Chloe had stopped tending to the flowers, their gaze remained on Vanessa as she was on the phone. “Is there a problem at the bakery shop?” Nicholas asked Vanessa as soon as she was done on the phone.
“It seems like there’s a problem at the bakery shop. I have to go.” Vanessa said, her eyes locking onto Chloe and Nicholas’ worried faces as she quickly excused herself.
Without another word, she took off. With speed, her feet carried her away from the flower field. Her mind raced as she ran towards the chaos that had erupted in the bakery shop.
Chloe and Nicholas exchanged a concerned glance, their minds racing with thoughts of what could be happening at the shop. Prompted by their concern, they quickly followed after Vanessa.
On her way to the bakery shop, Vanessa seized her race as she saw Tania, who was wandering around, lost. The stranger who Lyla spoke about was Tania, Vanessa said to herself.
Her initial plan was to go to the bakery shop to sort things out, but after seeing Tania, her plan changed instantly. She had a lot of questions to ask Tania, and she was determined to get answers from her.
“Tania,” Vanessa called, causing Tania to jolt at the sound of the familiar voice.
Tania’s plan was to find her way out of town before anyone else recognized her, but it seemed like her plan had failed. She mentally blamed herself for letting Emmy go. She should have begged him then, but she refused. Now she was face to face with Vanessa and there was no escape route.
“Tania, should I ask you why you are here or should I ask you why you were looking for me?” Vanessa said, her tone icy.
Masking her surprised expression with a fake concerned look, Tania ran closer to Vanessa, embracing her tightly, causing Vanessa to stand still in surprise.
Back then, she was naive and ignorant, which made it easy for Tania to manipulate her. But now, she had thought about everything thoroughly, and she had seen Tania’s true intentions. Only if she had believed Darryl then, only if she had listened to Darryl’s explanation, she wouldn’t have left home.
“Vanessa, I’m so happy to see you again.” Tania said, hoping Vanessa wouldn’t see through her lies. Unknowing to her that Vanessa had already seen through her fake love and concern.
“Are you sure about that?” Vanessa derided.
“Why would you ask that? I came all the way here to check up on you. You know, since the misunderstanding with Darryl’s family, we hadn’t seen each other to talk about things. And I was really worried about you.” Tania said, acting worried and concerned.
Vanessa couldn’t help but scoff at Tania’s words and her body language. It was clear that Tania had been acting nice with evil intentions. Why didn’t she notice until now?
“Tania, I want you to be honest with me. That’s the least you could do for me right now. Did you extend friendship to me because you knew about Darryl’s feelings for me?” Vanessa asked, her eyes glued on Tania, glaring at her intensely.
“What do you mean by that?” Tania retorted, acting confused.
“You told me those sob stories about you and your lover, making me believe your lover was evil. Meanwhile, everything was a lie, a scheme to make me hate Darryl. Wasn’t that your plan?” Vanessa said, her tone cold and angered.
“i…. I” Tania stammered, searching for the right words to say.
“No!” Vanessa shouted, causing Tania to keep quiet. “You are a liar and a fraud. You took my kindness for granted, and you humiliated me in front of Darryl’s family. Do you want to know the painful part about that day? That day, I blamed myself for thinking I stole your man. I hated myself because I thought I was the home breaker in your story. Even when Darryl told me the truth about you, I pushed him away and blamed him for everything that had happened to you. I can’t believe I didn’t see through your lies.” Vanessa explained in fury.
“Why are you acting like a saint? I’m not the only villain here, Vanessa. If you hadn’t tried to steal Darryl away from me, I wouldn’t have noticed you.” Tania spat.
“I didn’t steal anyone. If you have a problem, you should discuss it with Darryl. Why take it out on me?” Vanessa cried out in anger.
“You seduced him. Before you came, he had his eyes on only me.” Tania blurted out.
“What did you say?” Vanessa asked, hoping she didn’t hear her clearly.
“You should have stayed in your place. You should have gone back to Emmy. You shouldn’t have been greedy towards Darryl.” Tania spat, distastefully.
Without notice, a palm connected with Tania’s face, causing her to scream in pain.