23 Caroline's Misfortune

~ Infinity Jade Tower~

Grace and Thelma arrived in the Jade Tower. Catherine ushered them into the master bedroom.

"You want to talk alone, girls? You want me to leave?" Grace asked she offered to leave the room because the mother and daughter might need privacy to talk about family matters.

"No, you can stay Grace, you can listen if you want," Catherine said.

"Okay, I will just play with the cute babies there...in their crib," Grace said.

Catherine cleared the lump in her truth and held her mother's hands tightly, what she's about to reveal to her mother might harmful to her health and emotionally and mentally damaging. "Mother, I want to tell you something about Caroline," she said.

Thelma doesn't like the seriousness on her daughter's face, she was feeling apprehensive. "What? What happened to your sister—? You told me that your sister accompanied your mother-in-law in vacationing in Thailand, am I right?" worry appeared on her eyes.

"Yes Mother, but something happened to Caroline while she was still here and I'm still in captivity. I have mentioned to you about John's ex-girlfriend named Dahlia...who was murdered a long time ago, right?"

Thelma nodded her head. "Yes, I remembered her."

"The person who murdered Dahlia is John's half brother, Joseph."

Thelma's eyes widened in shock. "Oh My God!"

"Caroline and Joseph met here, then one day Caroline disappeared and three days later Joseph confessed that he kidnaped Caroline, then he committed suicide by killing himself with his gun, he sexually assaulted Caroline during captivity," Catherine explained, she can still feel the bitter taste of that word on her mouth after knowing what happened to her sister.

She was observing the reaction of her mother worried that it might create a severe impact on her health.

Thelma choked back the lump in her throat, fresh tears emerged in her eyes then she started sobbing real hard. "That bastard, evil person!"

Catherine rubbed her mother's back trying to console her. "Joseph is already in heaven, Mother, he paid his crimes with his own life."

"Then what happened to Caroline? Why she didn't tell me anything before she went to Thailand? I thought she was working fine here as baby Jame's nanny?" Thelma asked, confused.

"Caroline lacks the courage to tell you everything she was afraid that you might get ill. Let me continue...Caroline got pregnant with Joseph's baby, John's family offered a huge sum of money a total of ten million pesos for her to carry on with the pregnancy, she was given the choice to give up the baby after giving birth or keep the baby and take care of it. Then Caroline also demanded a brand new house and lot, then a brand new car and one hundred thousand pesos monthly living allowance for her and the baby. My husband's family agreed to all her demands since it's their relative who committed the crime and they want to save the baby."

Thelma was now crying harder than ever. Catherine continues rubbing her mother's back.

Grace went out of the room to get a glass of water, she returned to the bedroom and placed the water in Catherine's hand.

Catherine made her mother drunk the glass of water.

Thelma was trying to stifle her sobs. "I am bothered by what happened to your sister. You and Caroline suffered bad things in John and Joseph's hands, what kind of curse is this Catherine? Meeting John and his brother is a stroke of bad luck for you and Caroline," Thelma said gritting her teeth in anger.

Catherine sighed. "Mother, John is different from his brother. John and I have endured so many difficulties in our relationship, but thankfully we were able to survive and finally got married and now have two children of our own. I have to admit that the beginning of our relationship is not good not even proper based on society's standard, but John proved to me over and over again that he loves me so much and that is all that really matters to me, Mother."

"But Joseph is a different case..." Thelma said.

"I agree, but we can no longer hate the person that is already dead," Catherine said, she omitted the truth about her sister trying to seduce John and Joseph trying to kill Caroline. She thought that it will be too much information overload on her mother's heart, it might cause a sudden heart attack.

Thelma wiped the tears from her eyes. "I dunno Catherine, I had a hard time accepting what happened to your sister..." she had a hard time coming to terms about the painful truth that what happened to Catherine also happened to her other daughter, the cycle repeated itself.

"Caroline will come back to the country to attend my church wedding, during that time she already gives birth to her baby. The church wedding will take place two months from now. Mother, you will be able to see your third grandchildren!" Catherine said.

"I'm still not okay with everything, Catherine!" Thelma cried again.

Catherine breathed deeply feeling unsettled inside but she already recovered from what happened to her sister. "Mother, we have to move on. The person who hurt Caroline is already dead, he was already punished by God. My sister already moved on and willing to take care of her baby, if my sister is determined to move on with her life and not be burdened by what had happened to her, then we should also do the same, this way Caroline can easily forget her painful past because of our support," she sighed. Convincing her mother to let go of Caroline's misfortune is not an easy matter.

"I will try to move on, daughter, but I can't do it right now. It takes time for a mother to fully come to terms that her daughter suffered horribly in the hands of that despicable brother of your husband!"

Catherine sighed.

"How about you? Are you happy with your husband? Did he treat you right?" Thelma asked.

Catherine looked at her mother in the eyes. "I swear to God I'm very happy and satisfied with my husband and my married life, Mother. Can't you see the happiness in my eyes?"

Thelma knew deep inside that Catherine is very much happy with John and the living proof is their two children and the sparkle in her daughter's eyes. They had such a lovely family. "I'm happy that you are enjoying your married life, Catherine, I just hope that Caroline will also get married one day to a good husband, that's all I ever wanted for the two of you. To have a successful family life with a responsible and loving husband is every mother's ultimate wish for their daughters..."

"Don't worry, Mother. I'm sure Caroline will find her soulmate one day. Let's just continue praying for her," she said.

***