SPECIAL CHAPTER 3: TALK LIKE A BOSS

"THANK YOU," CATALINA SAYS to the taxi driver before handing him the payment. She steps out of the taxi and looks around the cemetery that she arrived at, gripping on the bouquet of flowers that was in her hand. She wanted to wear a black dress to at least show some respect for the person she was about to visit, but she decided to wear white instead. At least at this moment, she wanted to look pure.

Catalina starts walking, her steps getting heavier than the previous ones. She wasn't allowed to visit this place so she had to look at the tombstones one by one just to see where the person she was looking for was buried.

She stops for a second and glances at the tombstone that she passed by.

Talia Delton.

To paradise.

Catalina's heart stops beating for a second when she saw the name, and her eyes were already filled with tears before she could even say anything.

"Mother...I finally found you." She says, kneeling down and touching the tombstone with her trembling hand.

"I'm sorry if it took so long." She continues to say as tears start streaming down her cheeks now.

Catalina has not seen their mother for years. The only time she was allowed to see her was if she got the gentleman's punishment. And even when she died, none of the siblings were allowed to visit her here. Catalina couldn't believe they endured such cruelness for such a long time.

She gently places the bouquet on the side and leans her head towards the tombstone, almost like she was embracing it.

"We did it, mother. We finally did it." She says, closing her eyes to feel the wind touch her back as a sign of comfort.

When they were younger, the siblings stayed with their mother at the main house until their training was over. Only then were they allowed to enter the Delton Mansion.

The four of them grew up being told that the Delton Mansion is paradise, and everything they dream of will be fulfilled there. They trained hard, thinking that they have to finish fast so they could finally leave the main house and start living at the mansion.

Tobias was the first to go, next to Chance who left a month after. Catalina soon followed, but Cyrus was forced to stay there for a couple more years to continue with his training.

Catalina was supposed to finish before Chance and Tobias, but she never wanted to leave the main house because that's where their mother was. She'd purposely fail a few tests, and would even be scolded by it. So one time, Talia asked her, "Don't you want to stay with your father at the mansion?"

Catalina immediately shook her head and answered her, "No, I want to be with mother. I don't want you getting lonely."

Talia cried the entire night after hearing such sweets words from her daughter. She never did the punishments on her children, but she was forced to watch it with an expressionless face to let them know that no one pitied them, even their own mother. So if they want to get recognition, they have to fulfill their roles well so they won't get punished. Talia already expected that her children will hate her, so she never expected Catalina to still want to stay by her side like that.

Of course, it was painful for the siblings, but it was also painful for their mother. She wasn't allowed to show that they cared about them, nor was she allowed to embrace them. But even with all that, Catalina loved her, and so did the other siblings including Cyrus. Their love was the only courage she needed to betray her husband.

"You were in so much pain weren't you?" Catalina asks before taking out a handkerchief and wiping her tears away with it.

For a few more minutes, Catalina just sat beside her mother, holding onto her until her knees ached. Without saying anything, she stands from the ground and looks back at the tombstone for one last time.

"I'll visit again soon, and I'll definitely bring the others, okay?" She says, and the wind blows onto her again, as if Talia was actually answering her.

"I promise mother, I will take care of them. I will make sure they have a normal life and have a family of their own who will love them endlessly. No matter how hard life may become, I will definitely stand by their side for as long as I am able to." She declares, and that was a declaration that she will bring to her own grave.

"I will not let others hurt my family again. I swear it." She finishes.

And then she walks away...

Just like the boss that she truly is.