Chapter 3

TWO MONTHS LATER… *JANELLE* Since Danica died, life has been a living hell. I sometimes wondered how mom and I were still living each day. We had literally become shadows of ourselves struggling to process the loss. What I did that night haunted me too much and I decided not to think about it anymore. Because I might truly lose my mind if I think about how I painfully lost my virginity to save my sister and at the end, I couldn’t save her. I thought life has been unfair to me but at this point, I think life just keeps throwing more and more blows at me. Life wasn’t always this hard. Mom, Danica, me and our dad used to live together in Chicago. My mom was from a rich family and when she got married to my dad, love made her sign off her inheritance in his name. When I was little, I thought my father was a good mad. He had loved and taken good care of us but all of a sudden, he changed. He started being abusive towards my mom and one day, when I was eleven, he sent us parking. He left us with nothing, and told us to go far away from him. I later go to know that he remarried and took in his new wife’s daughter as his own. For the longest of time, I tried to understand why he’d do that but at the end, I couldn’t and I hated him for that. Because after he sent us away, our lives were never the same. We struggled to make ends meet. It was tough but we could always get by because we had each other. And now, I’d never been able to give Danica the life I promised her. I was so filled with pain and grief and I didn’t know what to do with myself anymore. *********** Hearing the doorbell ring, I headed for the door thinking it was Esme. She always came by to check in on mom and I. But as I opened the door, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was my father! Without hesitating, I moved to shut the door but he blocked it. “Is this any way to greet your father?” “You’re not welcome here!”I snapped but he was more powerful, he pushed open the door and walked in. “Elle, who’s that?”My mom walked in and froze as she caught sight of him and then she lashed out.”You had the nerves to show up here? You couldn’t even attend your own daughter’s funeral!”My mom yelled. “Can we not talk about the past right now?”My dad, or rather, Gary, because I refuse to see this man as my father anymore let out. “The past?”I asked, incredulously.”I reached out to you for money for her surgery a lot of times but you wouldn’t pick up!” “Because I didn’t have the money! The company’s going through some financial crisis.” “Financial crisis? You’ve been saying that for years! If you had helped sooner, she’d still be alive! You devil!”My mom thundered, grabbing his collars. “Calm down, woman. We need to talk about something important. The O’Connells reached out to me.” “What’s my business with the O’Connells?”My mom snapped. “Have you forgotten that Janelle was betrothed to the eldest son of that family.” I frowned. I was betrothed to someone? My mom slowly let go of Gary. “Is that true, mom?” She stared at me and breathed.”Yeah, your grandfather and his were best friends and business partners. They made the arrangements. There was even a signed contract…” “Good, I’m glad you remember. The O’Connells wants to know when the wedding will be held.” “No. That won’t happen. I only agreed to it back then because no one could say no to my father. But since he isn’t alive anymore, Janelle will not be having an arranged marriage. She’ll only marry whomever she chooses…” “Oh, cut the bullshit! Have you forgotten the penalty for breaking this contract? Right now, I do not have billions of dollars to pay as penalty. Besides, what’s so wrong with she marrying into that family. They’re filthy rich. She’s going to have a good life.” “What right do you have to say that? Get out of my house this instant! You’re not welcome here!”My mom thundered. “I’ll marry him.”I announced. The two of them looked at me, surprised. “I’ll marry him on one condition. My mom and I will return back to Chicago and take back everything that belongs to her.” I had heard about the O’Connells. I had heard about the power and connection they had. I also heard about the eldest son who was the heir to the family’s empire. So I would be marrying someone that powerful? It felt too unreal but I wanted to grab this opportunity. I had suffered too much. I had lost a lot. I refuse to lose anything more. I didn’t care what this makes me but I didn’t want to be trample upon anything. I didn’t want to be placed in a situation where I would be completely hopeless and helpless. I wanted power, I wanted revenge on my father and I wanted to be able to stand strong and never break down again!