TWO OPTIONS

Rosaline sat on a chair, ready to undertake the lie detector test. Gareth asked a multitude of questions, starting from wanting to know if she knew Jeremy; and she said no. She was asked if she had anything to do with Kiara's exiting the mansion on the Sunday; and she said no. The poor girl was terribly scared, but she did her best to remain calm under the circumstances.

Gareth, who was standing right in front of Rosaline, made it no easy for her, for he growled down at her, scaring the daylights out of the poor soul. When it was all done, Rosaline could not help but sigh heavily, and she rubbed her eyes.

After a long while, Gareth spoke:

"If you lied about anything, now is the time for you to make your corrections," Gareth sneered in her face.

"I…I did not lie, sir Gareth." She stammered.

"Well then, we shall see." Gareth looked up at the ceiling and when the door was opened, he looked in that direction and saw the same man who had been running the test coming back in, with a paper in his hand.

"And?" Gareth asked, impatient to know the result.

"She passed the test, sir Gareth. The girl is telling the truth," he handed over the result slip to Gareth. The cruel man scrutinized the paper, not really understanding the lines drawn all across it, but he trusted the one who had run the test, for he was their usual go to person for all such tests.

"Rosaline; you may go now. I will hear from the lady what shall be done to you. But in the mean time, go back and attend to your duties."

"What…what is going to be done to me? I passed the test and…"

"I said go back to your job, Rosaline! You will be monitored from now on, and you shall not resign from your position for at least half a year from now. You shall not take time off unless it's authorized by me, in person. And should you ever try to run away, trust me, Rosaline, I will find you!"

"Yes sir," she nodded her head and ran out of the room.

***

In her room, Kiara was clutching her son in her hands, pacing up and down, not sure what to do. Was it safe, at that time, to make a call to her mother? She badly needed to talk to her mother, but the last thing she wanted was to get her parents in any sort of trouble.

Where was Jeremy? Had he managed to run away? Did Gareth catch him? What was Gareth going to do to him? All the questions ran in her mind, and she could not come up with any response. That was eating her up. The day had long gone. A maid brought both breakfast and lunch, but she had not touched it at all.

Anxiety was killing her. What on earth was happening; and why where Gareth, Vine and lady Pinkerton all silent? Did they want her to believe that they were all in the dark?

Why had lady Pinkerton not called her downstairs to eat breakfast at the table?

She wanted to scream. She wanted to wail out and let out all the frustration, fear and anxiety.

Her little one was already fast asleep in her arms, so Kiara carefully placed him down, and she turned to the only friend that she had at that time: Kimmy.

Dear Kimmy

I have failed to eat or bath, or do anything today. Fretfulness will surely kill me. What are they planning with me? What do they want from me?

***

In the inner chambers of lady Pinkerton's wing, Kiara sat on a chair, facing the floor. She was wearing a thin nightdress, feeling cold, but she dared not complain. In front of her was lady Pinkerton, who chose not to utter a word, making Kiara unable to know what the old lady was thinking. Next to her stood Vine, whose eyes were blood red, the atmosphere around him tense, and everything in the room gravely uptight.

"I will ask you one more time, Kiara. Do you love this Jeremy boy?" Vine's icy voice rang in the room.

"I…I…"

"Let me repeat myself, and for the very last time. Kiara; you do not stammer when you're talking to me. If you want to try me, then stammer one more time. Believe me, you wont like what I will do to you." Vine spat out.

"I understand," she answered, making sure never to stammer a word.

"Good. Now answer the question."

"I do love him, please forgive me. I am sorry, I now realise my mistake." Her voice was so shaky that even she was terrified to hear it.

Vine walked slowly around the chair, his hands in his pockets. He was dressed in a tan suit, and he looked very smart in it. He went around Kiara's chair three or four times before coming to an abrupt stop behind the young lady. And then he spoke.

"I cannot have you here, Kiara, when you have the guts to sneak out of my mansion to go and see your cheap loser of a boyfriend."

"I am sorry," Kiara whispered.

"Now if I let you stay, I sure will never forget what you did, so I will make sure that your life becomes a living hell." He spoke each word with intensity, making his sentence sink in, for he spoke each word with gravity, pronouncing each syllable with utmost accuracy; leaving no room for anything of what he said to be misunderstood, doubted or taken as a joke.

"Please forgive me," the girl begged.

"If you were not the mother of my son, you would now be in our mansion cell, meeting with the angel of death."

On hearing that, Kiara's entire body tightened up, and she closed her eyes tightly. She dreaded to imagine what was lying ahead for her, and she told herself that no matter what; she was going to be strong. She had to be strong, for that was her only option.

"Now listen, you loose woman. I promised you that I will make sure that everyone involved in this mess will die. But you will not die. One day, when the time is right; I will kill you. Take my word, that I will do. But for now; you have two options. If you choose to continue staying here, then welcome to your hell. If you choose to leave, you go without Vincent."

"Without my son? I can't…"she began to talk.

"Woman, you don't raise your voice when talking to me," Vine snapped.

"I am sorry. I was just saying, please do not separate me with my son," she cried while whispering.

"Listen carefully and understand what I am saying. If you want so badly to be with him, you can stay, but the stay will be full of pain. If you choose to be free, for now, you can go, but you shall not go anywhere with my child." Vine narrowed his eyes and started walking around the room again, and when he chose to finally stop, he stopped right in front of Kiara, looking down upon her, his sight full of disdain.

"Make your choice," he uttered without any kind of emotion whatsoever.

"May I have some time to think this through please? May I…"

"It's either now or never. If you delay any further, I will make the choice for you."

"OK, may I please…"

"Just state what you want!" he sounded very much irritated.

"I am sorry. I wanted to say, is it possible for me to call my mother please. Please, I need her the most now, and…"

"Five…four…make your choice now. Three…two…one…"

"I will stay! I choose to stay! I can't leave my son!" she yelled.

Vine gave a sinister, devilish smile before pulling a chair and placing it in front of Kiara. The chair's back was the one facing Kiara, and Vine straddled the chair, resting his hands on its back. He stared long and hard into Kiara's eyes, and when he finally spoke; he said,

"Welcome to your hell then, my dear Kiara."