Let Me Save You Then

SHADOWS OF SECRETS

VERONICA's POV // Past.

Veronica goes to bed with a heavy heart that night. Eyes sore and fluffy, and heart broken by what she just found out. Thoughts wondering why her dad did that. Aren't they enough for him that he has to cheat? That he has to ruin their family and look for another one?

It was already 3 in the morning when her tiredness and exhaustion that night decided to finally put her in a restless sleep. And when she was woken up by a loud knock on her door the following hours, Veronica groaned in annoyance. Burying her head in the pillow, as the sound causing it to throb painfully.

The door then clicked open and she heard footsteps coming towards her bed. She removed the pillow on top of her, but her head remains buried.

Veronica felt her right side of the bed shifted, meaning whoever this person is who entered her room is now seated on that side of her bed. And then a hand found its way on her hair, patting it lightly

When the person spoke, voice soft yet raspy, Veronica's whole body stiffened. Memories from last night came flashing like a thunderbolt, she suddenly felt dizzy and suffocated. Her eyes heating up from the sides, tears unwillingly forming

"Princess, c'mon get up. It's pass 7 already. You've missed breakfast, and we'll gonna be late to church now" Veronica almost snorted, because really? How can he still wants to go to church when he knows that he committed adultery?

Or maybe he wants to go to church because he committed adultery?

As thoughts flooded her mind, Veronica then moves to face her father. Who is now smiling so sweetly at her, eyes crinkling on the sides.

Her father's face pictures nothing but innocence. The way his eyes sparkles with adoration and love for his family.

She looks away because the longer Veronica stares at her father's eyes, the more she knows that there is no guilt lying beneath it. And she hates it. She hates her father for it.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Dear God! What happened with your eyes, darling?" Her father asks, eyes and voice full of concern. Veronica wonders for a moment if it was genuine, though. But she still manages to respond

She cleared her throat before saying,

"'s nothing. I've just stayed up late last night, binge watching films on Netflix. 's all"

"A'right. Come on now, hurry up. Fix yourself. We'll be waiting for you downstairs" And with that, her father bends down and kissed the top of her head before walking to the door and exiting her room

As soon as her dad leaves, Veronica run both of her hands on her hair. Pulling it rough. Brows furrowed, and forehead creased as she stared at the closed door. Her eyes hot as tears starts dripping out, and Veronica thinks she could hear her heart shuttering inside her chest

Veronica closed her eyes, wiped her tears away and took a deep breath before standing and walking to the bathroom to take a cold shower - wanting the heat to vanish and cools her fast beating heart to steady.

As she took a quick shower, she clears her mind and decided to not let her thoughts get the best of her. She still wants answers, yes. But she knew this isn't the best time for it yet. Maybe one day.

When she's done, she grabs her robe and stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes are still fluffy but not as worse as it was earlier, her face pale and her reddish lips unbelievably turned pinkish due to lack of color visible

After checking herself in the mirror, she goes out of the bathroom and strolled directly to her walk-in closet. She picked out a light blue off shoulder dress with laces to tie in the back and paired it with her bohemian crochet sandals. Veronica sprayed a little perfume that her friend Stacy gifted her last week, and put on a little tint on her now pinkish red lips.

She proceeds to blow dry her long curly hair and decides to just put it in a clean bun. After she took a final look of herself in the mirror, she grabs her phone and her Louis Vuitton hand pouch in the bedside table and then stormed out of her room.

When Veronica walks passed the hallway, she risked taking a glance at the now closed door. Thoughts clouding her mind instantly; questions after questions pops up and she wants answers to all of it. She shakes her head and quicken her pace towards the staircase. Her heart is beating rapidly inside her chest, making it hard to breathe properly.

As she nears the living room, Veronica heard some laughter. She poke out her head and her heart clenched at what she saw. Veronica feels her eyes watered at the sight.

Her brother, Ashton, who is three years younger than her, is seated at their father's lap and getting tickled by. Laughing so hard, his face turning red while yelling, "Stop! Stop it, dad!"

Veronica turned to look at her mom who was sitting at the opposite couch, smiling and giggling softly at them while holding out her phone as if filming them. Veronica then turned away to wipe out her tears when her mom notices her

"Louise, baby? Is that you?" her mom called out. Veronica sighed deeply before turning back to the living room, a smile now plastered on her face. But she knows all too well that it's not a real one. Of course, her heart's too heavy for that.

When she entered the room, she was immediately greeted by her mother's warm hug that she returned with immense amount. She closes her eyes while burying her face in her mum's neck, squeezing her tightly.

She heard her mother giggled while caressing her back soothingly

"What's up, baby? Are you alright?" hands still running up and down her back. Veronica inhaled deeply to stop her tears from falling. She pull out from the hug and smiled softly at her mum.

Veronica's heart hurts from the sight of her mother's beautiful smile. She decided right then that she wouldn't let anyone dull nor tear away her mother's smile. Not even her father.

"Vee! Vee! Help me please! Torture! This is tortureee!" Ashton cried as her father continued tickling him. She turned around and stared at them both.

Her father stopped and turned to face her, Ashton found that as a distraction to escape and run towards her. Veronica laughed lowly when he hid behind her. Using her as a shield against their father. She heard her father chuckles so she turned to look at him, finding him looking at them fondly

She decided to wipe away her heavy feeling and the thoughts of her father cheating at them. For the meantime.

When her father opened his arm and motioned them to come. Veronica sighed, pulling Ashton with her to hug their father. She embraced them tightly, eyes shut close, squeezing all three of them as their mom joined in.

"Alright alright. Enough with all this cuddling. Let's all head out to church" Her mum said smiling as they all broke the hug

"Everyone ready?" Her father asked. Ashton answered a yep while Veronica just hummed and walked towards the door

"I call shotgun!" Ashton screamed while running towards the car. They all laughed while they followed Ashton towards the car.

Veronica is seated at the back with her mum, as her dad proceeds in the driver's seat. They have a driver but they're on off duty, including all their maids as it is Sunday. And Sundays are meant for resting and being with your family to bond and catch up

Her father maneuvered the car outside their house and their village, as Ashton put on his phone on the aux cord and played a music. He then started singing together with the song, followed by her dad and mom. Veronica took her moment to just look and stare as her family looked so happy.

Her eyes suddenly falls on her father, and saw him looking at her in the rearview and when he caught her eyes, he winked at her and they smiled at each other. Gone the heavy and negative feeling she had towards her father.

Not long after, they arrived at the church just in time before it starts. Her father then found a spot to park the car, Ashton pulled his phone and they all climbed out.

As they walked towards the church, Veronica took in the scenery. There are stalls of candles, flowers and even candy floss outside the church. There are also people walking and some are hurrying to get to the inside. She smiled as she walked beside a young girl in pink dress, while her mother was holding her

"Hello" Veronica said smiling to the kid with a small wave, which the kid returned smiling widely at her and hid shyly at her mother's leg. Both Veronica and the kid's mum laugh

"What's her name?" Veronica turned to face the lady

"Her name is Braylee" Veronica smiled when she saw Braylee looks up at her

"Hello, Braylee. I am Veronica" Veronica's face lit up when the child said hello

"How old are you, little one?" She asked the kid

"I'm four" Braylee answered, still looking up at her. "You're beautiful" The kid added, which made Veronica froze for a moment as she was caught of guard and then laughed softly

"No, you are" She beamed at her, cheeks turning red. Veronica smiled then held her hand to the young girl, which the kid took excitedly and she jumped up and down making them giggle.

When they arrived inside the church, Veronica lets go of the kid while saying,

"Good bye, little one. It was nice meeting you" Braylee waved her hand at her, while Veronica bid her goodbye to the child's mother and she then followed her family

"Made a little friend, haven't ya?" Veronica nodded. Her mother then added, She's cute while looking at Braylee

"Yeah. Her name's Braylee" her mom nodded

"Let's sit there. Shall we?" Her father then said when they reached the middle part and they all nodded. The church is huge and divided into three rows and they are seated in the middle part of the second row.

As the mass started, Veronica's mind started to wander off. Thoughts brought her back to the photo she saw. She felt her heart clenching with pain again, and Veronica had to inhale and exhaled deeply to steady her heart and her breathing. But it only seemed to be worsen when she heard the priest spoke

"According to Hebrews chapter thirteen, verse four, 'Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.' Which means, people who were already bounded by the words of God and by the sacred marriage, are better off being married and having s****l endeavors with your husband or wife, than not being married and having s****l intercourse with whomever and choose to break their family apart. As stated in the Bible that committing adultery is a sin"

Veronica felt her world shuttered once more. Voices from her surrounding seemed to vanish and all she could her was her heart being broken. Thoughts she's trying so hard to push away, came crashing at once. Reminding her of the pain she's feeling.

She then turned to look at her father absentmindedly, heart pounding loudly inside her chest and tears threatening to slide down her cheeks.

Her father turned to her a minute after, as he seemed to have noticed that she was staring at her. William, her dad, gave her a questioning look. Eyes full of concerned whilst confused while staring at her

"Are you alright, darling? Is something wrong?" He said while squeezing her hand. Voice full of worry.

Veronica stared at him before looking at their hands, she then shook her head then turned to look at her father while while plastering a smile. Veronica seemed to be mastering to show a fake smile, her university course was really becoming handy.

She breathed in before answering a low and muffled, yes. Smile still plastered in her face, though her heart was betraying her and saying otherwise as it still was beating erratically inside her chest, making her head spin a little. She breathe in deeply and sighed before squeezing back her dad's hand while muttering another low, yeah as to calm both her mind and heart and they then faced the altar as the mass continued.

When the mass has come to an end, Veronica and her family all sat up and walked directly outside the church. Seeing Braylee and her mom, she waved her hand at them and smiled when she got one in return

They were walking towards the parking when her father spoke making them stop their track

"Where do you want to go?" they all hummed thoughtfully but it was Ashton who was quick to answer

"Let's go to the mall and watch the cinema? I've heard there's a new Marvel movie that came out" Veronica wanted to just stay and just sleep in her room as she was still a bit tired from not sleeping properly but she didn't protest otherwise and just nodded her head

Their father laughed while shaking his head at the giddiness of her brother

"Alright. Let's go see that movie" They all walked through their parked car and climbed in. Veronica still sat at the back but now joined by Ashton, as her mother sat at the passengers seat

As the car started to move, Ashton laid his head on her shoulder. She put her arm around him and pulled him closer, Veronica then started playing with his hair while Ashton got his phone and played a mobile game

Veronica looked outside the window, taking in the scenery as they drive towards the mall while she continued playing with Ashton's hair

Sundays are the only day that they could catch up with each other as they were all kind of busy all throughput the week and their schedules just don't align. Ashton and her being busy at school, her mother being busy at the hospital and her father going places managing their business.

Luckily that week, her father's meetings where held not outside the town so he's home most of the time. Most of the time

The ride to the mall was rather quick. Her father was now maneuvering the car towards an open space in the malls parking lot. Ashton sat up straight and smiled up at her which she returned as she too, straightened up and fixed herself.

When the car pulled to a stop, she got out first, and was followed by Ashton seconds later. When both her parents climbed out the car, and secured it, they walked towards the mall. Veronica smiled seeing her brother got so excited and giddy

Veronica looked around upon entering the mall, there were quite a lot of people inside. They passed on different shops and stores on the way to the escalator. Veronica hesitated whether to make a quick stop or just proceed when she saw a bookstore

"You want to make a stop, darling?" She heard her mother asked. She turned around to face her ready to respond when she saw Ashton pouting at her direction. Veronica giggles quietly and shakes her head

"My books can wait, but Ashton can't" Veronica responded shaking her head as Ashton grinned at her. Both their parents laugh

When they reached the second floor of the mall, Ashton suddenly runs excitedly towards the cinema mall. Veronica just sighed and shakes her head at his brother's childish attitude while her mother shouted careful but smiled nonetheless as her father laugh and directed them to where Ashton was standing. Grinning widely as he waited in line

"I'll go buy us some snacks" Veronica presented. Her mother nodded while Ashton replied,

"I want some coke, please" She messed up his hair and started to walk towards where the stall is

"Four tickets for the Marvel's, please." Veronica then heard her father spoke as she neared the stall

When she got back, she was carrying three medium size popcorn on one hand and four drinks on the other. It's a little bit tricky but she managed to not get trip nor spill anything. Ashton then helped her carry some as they move in the line

Their father directed them on the middle part once they entered the cinema. And not long after they sat down, the cinema hall turned dark and the screen lit up

Ashton started eating his snacks when the movie started, and Veronica did the same too while focusing on the movie.

During the middle part of the movie, Veronica excused herself to go to the restroom as she felt the need to have a wee

"I'll be back" She muttered before getting up and walking outside the cinema

She strolled past the ticket booth and went directly to the women's restroom.

Veronica went to the last cubicle as it was the only available, after she's done, she went to the sink and washed her hands; dried it off and went outside.

Veronica was about to go back inside the cinema when she heard someone crying. Out of curiosity, she followed the sobbing sound and was greeted by a young girl who was seating on a bench. Hands wiping frantically on her wet face, body hunched as she cried. She hesitated to console her, but decided she should

Veronica sat next to the kid who was still crying, shoulders shaking rapidly to the motion. She cleared her throat before opening her mouth to talk

"Hey there, love. Are you alright?"

The little girl glanced up at her, hands still wiping away her tears yet failing as she was still sobbing, crying. Veronica smiled at her and wiped the kid's tears herself

"Why are you crying, baby? Are you lost?" she asked softly as to not scare the kid

The kid nodded, sniffling as she answered, "I can't find my mommy" hiccups in between words

Veronica hushed her and wiped her tears off her eyes and face again.

"She'll be here soon yeah? I'll help you look for her" the kid glanced back at her, beaming despite tears cascading down her cheeks

And it's then that Veronica thought that the girl is somewhat familiar to her. Like she had seen her somewhere, but not quite sure. She stared at the kid; big blue eyes glistening with tears, thick eyelashes, red lips and a red cheeks from crying.

Veronica suddenly felt warm while looking at her, not certainly knowing why. She kept staring at the kid as an odd familiarity dawned upon her. She was about to open her mouth to tell the kid not to worry, when a woman's voice from not a far echoed, making both Veronica and the kid's head snap at the direction

Without skipping a beat, Veronica instantly stood up but only to froze in place. Heartbeat pounding erratically in her chest, breath caught; She felt her world crushed before her when the woman approached her direction, eyes falling to the person next to her

"Charlotte! Oh my goodness, sweetie you scared me!" she hugged the kid tightly while the child cried mommy and hugging her back

It's like the world wanted to remind Veronica about the thing she wanted to escape so badly about. Like it is telling her that forgetting about it for even a split second is ridiculous, and running away from it will only haunt her down more, that she can't actually find a way to wake up from her nightmare

Standing there, Veronica wanted nothing but to run. To run away from the person next to her, who was still hugging her daughter. To run away from the world.

Tears threatening to roll down her cheeks when finally, the woman glanced her way and smiled at her softly

And that's when a flash of thought came rumbling down at her. That's why the kid feels so familiar to her. Like she had seen her before, or had been acquainted before

Veronica's eyes flickered from the woman, to the kid and back to her mother again. Blinking her tears away, she grimaced. Of course, it made sense now

Of f*****g course. How could I forget her? Veronica thought, hand clenching on her side. How could she forget about her? Huh.

Stood in front of her, smiling while cradling her child who now stopped crying, was no other than the woman Veronica saw in the picture. The woman who wrote that letter she saw the other night. The woman whom his father cheated on, and actually made a family with two children. The woman whom her father kept a secret from her, her brother Ashton and from her mum,,

Amirah. What a small world indeed