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Chapter 1. The beginning

January 2014

The screaming stopped instantaneously. No one knew what was going on as it was too far to process. One minute he was right in her face stabbing her, the next he was standing up as if nothing had happened.

June 2013. 7 months before.

CHARLOTTE

"Good day, ma'am are you Charlotte, Charlotte Miller?" the postman cheerfully spoke. I replied by saying yes and took my letter. I knew that without my dad I couldn't open the letter, so I eagerly waiting for him to come back from work. The letter was sitting on the coffee table practically begging me to open him but I couldn't. The letter was about my dream school, the university of law one of the top schools in the country. I had applied for this particular school but was tense.

More than a hundred questions were running I'm and out of my mind.

I couldn't open the letter because I had promised my dad to open it with him.

'Click' I could hear the door opening by the keys.

I vigorously ran towards the door and unlocked it as quickly as I could.

"DAD!!!"

Sit down immediately, I have something to tell you.

"hmm what could it be let me guess ... the letter … I know you've been waiting for it darling it will be here soon, I'm sure"

"But dad this time it's finally here."

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner, come here lets open it together."

My dad hugged me and told me that no matter what this letter decided he'd be proud of me.

I impatiently opened the letter tearing every piece of it up. I was too nervous to even look at it,

so I took a deep breath in and unfolded the letter while letting my breath out.

"AHHH!!!! I GOT IN. NO WAY, NO WAY." I kept thinking it was a dream but my happiness finally turned into a reality. All of a sudden, I couldn't help but think of my mother, she would have been so happy that I got into the same school she went to.

I loved my mother extremely. At that moment I could only think about her and her singing to me before I went to bed.

After she died, I couldn't get enough sleep so my dad would always play her song next to me and play with my hair.

"A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also past in the guise of fond memories." My mother always used to say.

My mother always used to tell me that no matter what happens she'll love me and bright my day up even when you're at your worst.

But the thing is .... that the night she died she didn't come to light me up or comfort me, where did she go then, where is she now, where was she all those years when I was growing up without a mother.

Whenever I tried recllaing what happened that night all I could remember that my dad and mother had a fight the night she died; I was upstairs and could only hear yelling.

"Charlotte …... Charlotte"

Silence

"Oh um, yes dad I'm listening to you."

"You were thinking about mother weren't you."

"I can't help it ... how are you ok with this."

"With what?"

"You act like you're ok every day without mother but you aren't.... How ?"

"The reality is that you will grieve forever, so you either be miserable every day or you smile and pretend like it's all ok. Charlotte trust me being happier is better.

LI'm not the type of person to grieve over someone because I know that those we love don't just go away; they walk beside us every day.

So, you tell me what kind of person are you?"

While asking that he got up and went in his room.

What kind of person am I? I questioned myself again and again not noticing myself fall asleep.

(midnight)

DAD

In the garden of memory, in the palace of dreams ... that is where you and I shall meet my lovely wife.

I couldn't live with myself anymore making my daughter think Jolene's (wife) death was an accident. How could I tell her that? How could I lie to her?

"One lie is enough to question all truth"

That's what I taught her and now I am the one telling lies.

6 months before.

CHARLOTTE

The first day of school was in less than a month and I couldn't stop bouncing up and down on my bed. I ran downstairs grabbed my dad's credit card and went to buy as many cloths as possible.

I stood still glaring at the clothes on display as they were too gorgeous that my eyes refused to look somewhere else.

I walked in the store and bought many things, but mostly blazers and jeans.

I was so excited for the university of law that I counted every single day till the final day arrived.

It was JULY 20TH my first day of law school

"Everyone open your book and go to page 98. I hope everyone has read this."

She was looking at a list of names on who to question, I didn't know there was an assignment over the summer, so at that moment I hoped my name would have disappeared from the list.

"Charlotte tell me a summary of what you have read over the summer."

"I didn't know there was an assignment to do over the summer." I mumbled.

"You didn't know or you didn't bother …. There are a lot more students who'd want to take your place next time I ask a question I want you to answer or you can walk straight out that door."

My face turned red with embarrassment.

The class ended quite shortly but my face still stayed red.

I was walking out of the class as I a girl introduced herself to me

" Hi, I'm Paige."

" Hi, I'm Charlotte."

We talked for quite a long time, I looked down to check the time on my watch and drove home.

I reached home and saw my dad sitting in his room chair, he seemed disturbed but I couldn't tell why. I quietly sat down beside him.

" Charlotte, how was my darlings first day at school "

My dad said, acting happy.

I asked him what was going on but he acted like he didn't know anything. All I saw was a letter in his hand but didn't ask him about it. I knew my dad needed some space, so I decided to go out and meet my little sister cat. She went to boarding school and was quite a drama queen.

CHAPTER 2 : jolene

Dad 2007

"Jolene stop what your doing is wrong, at least think about your daughters what I'm I going to tell them, that her mother left them for someone else" I told my wife.

"Oh John tell them anything I couldn't care less about you or your daughters. Let's face it your not happy with me and neither am. It was my mistake for marrying a man like you, good bye."

"It was a mistake you said, but the thing is that, it feels like the mistake was mine for trusting you. Good bye jolene"

I woke with Charlotte and cat in my bed questioning me " where's mum ? "

I hugged and cried as hard as I could while telling her she passed away. After a week had passed I decided to move to a different city so Jolene could never cross paths with us.

2 years later

TV PLAYING : breaking news a women named jolene cris has been found dead in her living room, the culprit is her husband rob cris. The police has updated us and told us that rob was selling drugs and other illegal things which jolene had found out and threatened him to tell the police, rob looked around in his surroundings and hit a lamp on her head.

"I put my hands on her chest and she was still breathing, I couldn't let her tell anyone so I stab her in her head 2 times and 2 times In her chest, my father always said, stab the body and It always heals"

This is rob's confession everyone, the police ..... Tv Turns off .

"Ohhh no jolene …. (sobs)"

I stopped crying as I heard the doorbell ring.

I got a letter handed to me but I was a bit confused with the name on it,

it was to John (me) from jolene?

" to John

I know your surprised to see this letter from me because by the time you get this I'll be dead, but the truth is that the night I left you wasn't by choice. Before I married you my mother to a loan from a guy called Harris cris I don't know why but he was the last option left for her. After we got married I went to my mothers house but rob cris, his son was there with a gun on her head, he told me I had to go with him and marry him or else he would kill you. I refused, so he shot my mother, that was the day I came crying to you and told you she was dead, I'm sorry for not telling you the truth. I then went with them a few months later. I didn't want to tell you any of this because knowing you, you would of wanted to come after me. I had told a friend to send you this letter if anything happened to me.

I love you John with all my heart and Im sorry I know you'll raise Charlotte and

Cat perfectly ❤️

From Jolene "

2013. Present

I knew that hiding the secret of Jolene's death was going to get worse so I decided to finally tell Charlotte the truth.

'Knock knock'

I stammered while saying " Charlotte darling, I have something I need to speak to you about. "

She replied " Yes dad go ahead "

I took the letter out from my back pocket and put it in her hands.

"Before you read this I want you to know that whatever I did was for your sake. The night I told you your mother died I was lying, she had told me she was leaving us all to make a new family with someone else. I begged her to stop but she wouldn't listen. A few years later I was watching the news and found out your mother had died because of the rob cris who was in the mafia. Read this letter. "

She read and read with tears pouring on the letter.

" HOW DARE YOU HIDE THIS LETTER FROM ME! How dare you hide everything from me, why did you, why? I thought we were in everything together, but no you had to hide this from me. "

CHARLOTTE

I left my room and drove off somewhere I could think properly, I felt as if there was a hole in me that could never be fixed.

The beach was a weird place to get my mind off things but it always worked, just at the time I arrived the sun was setting and gave the place a calm feeling.

" Hey your Charlotte right, you go to the university of law."

I looked up and saw a boy with blue eyes and a dreamy face, " yea I'm that Charlotte the one from there yeas university of law." I stared into his eyes just wanting to drown in them.

"So Charlotte are going to join mrs. Rhode for her cases"

"She'd be crazy to choose me, she probably hates me after I didn't read over the summer."

"Oh! she's not that bad. Anyway, Why are you sitting on the beach alone in your bikini."

" let me think, my father betrayed me, my friends can't cheer me up and I don't have a boyfriend."

" let me help you with that ill sit down with you and guarantee to make you laugh and forget about everything."

" Ok come sit. What's is your name Mr. blue eyes? "

" Noah." he smiled

We talked and talked while the sun settled, it felt as if we knew each other for eternity. He made me forget all about my dad.

'Ring, ring' my phone rang. I picked the phone up and surprisingly it was Cat.

" Charlotte come home now, dad had a heart attack."

I dropped the phone on the sand while crying.

"Noah my dad, he, he, he had a heart attack." I sobbed in his arms.

" Wait, you need to go to him, come on I'll drop you."

We were in the car as silence filled the air. I felt horrible, was I the reason he had a heart attack did I cause it.

I thanked Noah and left his car.

NOAH :

She left the car so quick that I couldn't even get her number. She made me feel like I was complete.

I went home and saw my stepmom in the kitchen, she was making her famous spaghetti. Oh how much I hated her spaghetti.

"Did you ask her."

"Yes I did Rhode."

I didn't ask why my stepmother told me to ask Charlotte but I did my care all I knew was that Charlotte was the girl.

CHARLOTTE :

I entered the house. Cat was sitting down and dad was nowhere to be seen.

I asked her where he was but it was like she couldn't hear anything I was saying.