Casse

Ch.07

Karina went back home feeling annoyed. Her face had been frowning ever since. She rarely smiled, but she gave off a cold impression, not a funny one like that. This made Zara curious, because Karina approached her with that kind of look. "Why, Karina? I'm getting tired of seeing you like that." "Damn Christian." This was what made Zara upset. All this time, Karina was asked why, but she had only answered like that three times already. Zara asked what happened, but the answer was still the same: 'Damn Christian.'

"Sooner or later I'll strangle you!" "I'm annoyed with him." "YOU HAVE TO TELL ME! DON'T JUST BE LIKE THAT, I'M REALLY ANNOYED TO YOU!" "Okay, I'll tell you. So, earlier, Christian said I had to be his assistant for a week. If I don't obey him, he will tell everyone that I was the one who pulled him down that night. Super annoying, right?" "Just refuse him." "You know, Christian never messes around with his words." "That's true." "Alright, I’ll go first." "Bye."

Karina walked into her house and saw many cars parked in front. Curious, she immediately ran towards her home. Inside, she saw her father kneeling beside a woman's coffin, someone she seemed to know. Slowly, she walked closer, not wanting to jump to bad conclusions. She knew who it was, but she strongly rejected the thought. The closer she got, the faster her heart raced as she stood in front of the coffin. She was frozen. Her bag fell, and her body went limp. A tear slipped from her eyelid.

"Daddy, w-who is this?" she asked, trembling. She just wanted to believe that the person in front of her wasn't her mother. "Dad, answer me!" Karina shook her father’s body, seeking an answer. "Dad, this isn’t her, right? Answer me. Don’t just stay silent!" "It’s mommy, Karina," her father said. Karina immediately fell upon hearing her father’s answer that it was her mother.

"THIS IS NOT HER! THIS IS NOT MOMMY! MOMMY IS STILL IN THE HOSPITAL! I JUST VISITED HER YESTERDAY!" Karina screamed hysterically, startling everyone around her. "Karina, don’t be like that. Your mom will be sad," Jenna said, trying to calm her down. Her father and stepmother already knew about this, so why didn’t anyone tell her?

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Everyone was silent when Karina asked. "She's my real mother! Why didn’t any of you contact me?!" Karina sobbed uncontrollably. She immediately touched and hugged her mother’s corpse. "Mama, wake up, I’m alone," Karina’s sound of sobbing echoed through the Walters’ residence. The atmosphere was so quiet, with only Karina’s cries heard. The other guests acknowledged her as Irene’s biological child. "Mom, don’t leave me again. I’ve been alone for seven years. Mom, you can’t go. Don’t leave me!"

All the guests present there cried when they saw her hysterically sobbing. That shows how much Karina loved her mother. Eight years ago, Karina once cried because she didn't want her mother to leave for a meeting, and in the end, she went to the meeting room with her mother. "Mom, I've been waiting for you for seven years. Why are you leaving me? Wake up!." Karina was so shocked by the loss of her mother that she couldn’t hold herself from fainting beside her mother’s coffin, which panicked the guests and her family.

Karina was sitting quietly, daydreaming in her dark room. It had been two days since her mother passed away, and she didn’t want to leave her room, not even to see Zara. She hadn’t checked her phone at all during that time. She just sat there, daydreaming and holding a photo of her mother, sometimes crying silently. David, Maria, and Jenna didn’t call her. They understood that Karina still needed to have some time to herself.

Someone knocked on Karina's bedroom door. 'Karina!' No answer. Karina didn’t respond or move from her bed. The knocking on the door outside got louder because there was no reply. 'Karina, open the door, or I’ll break it down!' Karina snapped out of her daydream. But she still didn’t respond.

Without waiting any longer, the door was finally kicked open. The person immediately ran and hugged Karina. He knew that Karina needed someone to comfort her, not to be ignored. "Daddy is sorry, Karina." "It's okay. It's fate." For the first time in two days, Karina spoke, and that was because of a certain Kananda Ann.

"Listen to me," Kananda cupped Karina's cheeks, making her look into his eyes. "It's okay to be sad. But don't torture yourself by not going out or not eating. Mom wouldn't be happy to see you like this. Try to slowly let go of Mom. I know you can. Don't make the people around you sad." Karina immediately hugged Kananda tightly. She felt comfortable around him. Kananda was like a brother to her. As people say, sometimes others make us feel more comfortable than our own family.

"How is she?" Zara asked Kananda, who had just come out of Karina's room. "Karina is resting, she just finished taking her medicine," Kananda replied. Zara breathed a sigh of relief. She had been here since yesterday and Karina didn't want to open the door for her. She wasn't sure what Kananda had done earlier, but she was thankful that Kananda had convinced Karina to eat.

"Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you. You know how her family is—they wouldn’t even bother to persuade her and instead just travel abroad." "Just relax." Kananda was very worried about Karina’s situation. He was concerned when Zara mentioned that Karina had locked herself in her room for two days. He felt guilty because her father couldn’t save Karina’s mother’s life. He felt sad for Karina because, after all, they were connected.

Karina has been pretty calm today. It's been four days since her mother's death, and she no longer locks herself in her room. But she still doesn't want to eat with her family. What kind of family would ignore their grieving child? She thought.

"Karina," Jenna suddenly showed up while she was changing clothes. "Why?" Karina replied indifferently. "You don’t want to eat?" "I’m not hungry." "Stop the drama, okay?" "I’m not doing drama. And I don’t like drama like you! Besides, I’m really just calming myself down." "But that’s not the way. Mommy and daddy are worried about you."

Karina’s hand motion stopped. She then approached Jenna and looked her straight in the eyes. "You don’t understand my feelings, Jenna. You are loved by both of your parents. You don’t understand my position where I was left forever by my mom after she was in a coma for seven years! You don’t understand! And one more thing, tell your parents they wouldn’t just stay calm if they were worried. And they would definitely try to soothe me if they were worried, not the other way around, taking you traveling abroad!"

Jenna fell silent. Karina's words were true and painfully piercing her heart. "Besides, our child is only yours. I'm not considered." "That's not true," Jenna tried to persuade her. "Forget it. I want to go." "Where?" Karina paused for a moment. "To a place where I can get love." Jenna stayed quiet, staring at Karina's back with a look that was hard to understand. "Am I wrong again?"

Karina went to the park after visiting her mother. Nothing special, just saying hello and giving flowers, then taking her leave again. She didn't want to cry in front of her mother. She didn't want her mother to feel sad because of her tears. Actually, it wasn't easy for her to be 'okay,' but she had to try, right? "I miss you, mama," of course. She hadn't seen his mother for seven years, and her mother had actually left her in this cruel world.

"Karina" suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder that startled her. "Christ, gosh!" "You've been daydreaming all this time." "Hm." Silence. Christian wanted to collect the debt from Karina, who was his assistant. However, he realized that Karina was still in mourning.

"What are you doing here?" Karina started the conversation to break the silence. "This is a public place. Anyone can come here." "True." "I actually want to collect on your promise, but your situation?" "Tomorrow I'll come to your apartment." "Are you sure? If it's still not possible, it's okay." "That’s my promise, right? Besides, isn’t a Christian supposed to dislike being contradicted?" "I still have some tolerance." Karina laughed, leaving Christian stunned.

It was the first time he saw Karina laugh like this. All this time, he had only seen the cold and fragile side of her. Rarely did he see her laugh in public like this. "Alright then. Tomorrow, come to my apartment at eight. If you’re late, I’ll punish you." "What?" "I’ll be waiting, dear." "Then just wait." Christian ignored Karina's words and just kept walking without looking back.

~to be continued~