Chapter 4

A few minutes later.

Mr. Khan handed over the divorce papers to me and said, “Please sign here.”

I rolled my eyes down and saw the exact place where I was supposed to append my signature. I lessened my grip, and the moment I decided to append my signature, Chris yelled out, “Sophia! Don't sign that paper!”

He rushed over and tossed the papers to the floor. He angrily grabbed Rina by her wrist, forcefully dragging her out through the front door.

Frederick wasn't happy at all, he went after his brother and stopped him. 

“Let her go! Right now!” Frederick defended his mistress.

“Brother! Can you please take a good look at yourself? You're fighting for a woman, who not only destroyed your marriage, but will eventually lead us to doom. Are you crazy? What has come over you?” Chris yelled back at him.

“What has come over me? I fell in love with a wonderful woman. That's what happened, and please, before you anger me the more, why not ask your beautiful sister-in-law, what and why this happened?” He said, sending Chris's eyes over to me.

I couldn't defend myself, and all I could do was to stare helplessly.

Again, Chris held Rina's hand. He attempted to push her out of the mansion when Frederick took his brother by the other hand, slapping him right on his cheek.

Father fumed with anger and went forward, slapping Frederick on his cheek.

“Father, did you just slap me?” Frederick asked. 

“Yes, and I will do it again and again because you have gone mad. What the hell did Rina do to you that got you so blind to not see the handwriting on the wall?” Father complained.

For the first time ever, I saw him angered by his son's behavior. Frederick seemed to not care.

He got defensive and said, “Do you want to know, okay I'll tell you. Rina gave me love; she showered me with true love, that is what she did to me.”

I had no desire to jump into their conversation, but his words pushed me to.

“Oh wow! Rina gave you true love? Then what exactly did I give to you? Fake love? Because we both know how much I sacrificed to make this relationship work. And in return, you, my husband, paid me back with nothing but hurt. Is this fair? Do I deserve to be treated in such a manner?” I stamped my feet to the ground and pointed at his mistress, Rina.

“Please! Don't make me feel sorry for you. Because I know you're only putting up a show. And if you think your sorry story will make me feel bad, then my dear ex-wife, you're highly mistaken.” He said and paused.

“I have made it clear before, and I'm going to make it clear again. I do not care about you, and neither do I give a damn. If your heart is broken into a million pieces, please go over to my brother, and act like the damsel in distress. But please, get the hell out of my life!” He roared back to me. 

Wait, what?

Frederick's words were like a raging fire in my heart. My eyes teared up, but I had to be strong because, in life, shit happens. I vowed to expose Rina and get revenge for the humiliation she caused, and mostly by the man I thought loved me.

“You know what? I have had enough of your tantrums. And to show you how much I am willing to send you straight to hell, I'll walk over there, and sign the papers.”

I strolled and picked up the divorce papers Chris tossed to the floor. 

He once again attempted to stop me, but Father held him back, and they watched me append my signature on the divorce papers.

Mr. Khan left after I signed the papers. I veered and walked back into my bedroom. I vowed that I wouldn’t shed a tear for a piece of shit like Frederick.

“My child, May I come in?” Father asked, standing at the door.

I threw my face into the pillow in utter disbelief of what had just happened, and father walked in thinking I had been crying.

I looked up.

“Oh! Thank God, I thought you'd been crying your eyes out.” He smiled a little.

“Of course not. I’m fine Dad, I’ll be fine.” I smiled back.

That same day, I walked to the dining area and met everyone seated. Chris shot me a warm smile and asked me to sit next to him.

Silence filled the air as we had dinner. Although we didn’t utter a word to each other, our minds did, and we all pretended like everything was fine.

Just then, Father began to shake at the table.

“Are you okay Father?” I reacted first.

“Yes, my child.” He nodded, and cleared his throat.

I finished eating and got up to leave. I had barely taken three steps before I heard someone collapse behind me. I looked back and found Father lying lifeless on the floor, foaming out of his mouth.

We rushed him to the hospital with immediate alacrity and were asked to wait outside. While we were waiting, Frederick fell on the wall and dragged himself down slowly, Chris paced anxiously, and I just stood, numb.

***

An hour passed.

The doctor walked out and immediately caught our attention.

“What's going on doctor?! Is Father going to be okay?” I said as I got up from the bench.

The doctor shook his head and said, “I’m sorry to say this, but based on our medical report, Mr. Ricardo was poisoned.”

We went quiet for a few minutes. How the heck was Father poisoned? Or better still, who poisoned him?

I got the answer to my question when my eyes met with Rina’s. Out of the burning anger I felt within, I attacked her at the hospital.

Both brothers strived to pull us apart, but I was so determined to remove her hair from her head. Luckily, Chris dragged me off on time.

“Sophia, Please calm down!” He held on to me.

Rina placed a hand on her face and felt a scratch. “How dare you?! Are you mad? Look at what you have done to my face.” She pointed at the scratch as she grumbled at the hospital premises.

Frederick yanked her closer and saw the same. He stomped off to get a hold of me when Chris pulled him from behind.

“Brother, I respect you a lot. But if you dare take another step closer to Sophia, I will forget that you're my brother, and I will retaliate in a way you won't ever forget.” He warned.

“Oh really! My younger brother now wants to fight me, how lovely.” Frederick replied to him.

Chris looked back and dragged me with him as he stormed out of the hospital.

“Seat!” He commanded.

He sat me down on a bench outside the hospital and protested, “What the hell is wrong with you Sophia? Why did you attack Rina in such a manner?” 

“You’re asking me? Do you think I’ll sit back and watch Rina kill the man who has given me nothing but love despite his son's infidelity? No! I won't sit back and watch that happen. And I don't care if Rina eats and spits Frederick away, all I care about right now is to protect the ones that I love and love me too.” I said as I angrily kicked a stone on the ground while talking.

“I understand, but this is not the way to go about it." He said.

“What? What do you mean?” I asked.

“What I mean is that we need to come up with a plan to expose Rina for the fraudster she is, and also open Frederick's eyes to see her deceitful ways.” Chris suggested it to me. 

“A good one at that, but how are we going to pull it off?” I replied.

“I have a plan, but first off, we need to gather enough evidence against her.” Chris explained and continued, “Secondly, we have to make sure that under no circumstances, she finds out about this.”

“Lastly, Frederick should be kept in the dark about this. When it is time, the truth of the woman he allegedly loves will be exposed to him. For now, let's go in there and see how Father is doing.” He stretched out his hand to me.

Chris and I spent the whole day at the hospital. He asked me to go back home and get new clothes for Dad, and I heeded. After a long drive, I walked in and saw that the whole mansion was decorated. What was going on?

I slowly proceeded further, and on the way to Father’s bedroom, I bumped into Karis, one of the helpers at home. I asked her why the mansion was decorated, and she said Rina had planned a huge celebration for Frederick's birthday.

She walked away afterwards, still with party decorations.

I frowned at the news as I walked to Father's room. My feet were moving in rapid succession when a hand pulled me backwards. I turned my head and saw the devil herself.

“What is this Rina? Get out of my way please.” I moved her to the side and attempted to leave.

“Hold on Sophia.” She called me back.

“What is it?” I kept a straight face, fiddling to hear her speak.

She pushed herself forward and asked, “Do you see me as a witch? Like do you hate me?”

Rina's question got me thinking, “is this devil finally developing a heart? Or is this only an act?”

I answered, “Rina! I believe you know the answer to your questions, so please don't ask me.”

I turned back to leave, but she held me back, “Hold on! I am trying to have a conversation with you.” She spoke politely.

I returned my eyes to her after shoving her hands away and said, “Did you just say that you want to have a conversation with me? Oh wow, because the moment your presence was felt, everything changed. I lost everything important to me and you think I’ll sit and talk with you?” I rolled my eyes at her.

Rina smiled a little.

“‘Miss I’m so perfect’, ‘I have the perfect family’, I am so sick and tired of listening to you. No day goes by without you talking about how lovely your family is, or was because it is now in the past. Especially Frederick whose name you sing as if he were a demi-god. I am sick of it.” She argued. She gave me a jealous impression.

“Wait, were you jealous of me, or better yet, are you jealous of me? Because your words seem so.” I pulled back. 

Rina raised an eyebrow. 

“You can call it whatever you want, I don't care. But let me tell you something, whatever that's going on, your lovely Father-in-law, Ricardo Rick, is to be blamed.” She walked away, and I watched her leave.

I got curious about her words, “What exactly does she mean by that? And now, only Father can explain the meaning of her words. Does he know something that we don't?”

I drove back to the hospital and dashed into Father's ward. He turned the moment I pushed the door, and I met Chris seated next to him.