A BITTER TRUTH
1126 Words
Scarlett's thoughts raced as she headed to the sitting room. The maid was so fast in bringing the message—someone was here to visit her. Yet the pressure in her tone felt unsettling to Scarlett.
Her heart remained burdened from her encounter with Edward, the feelings of anger and betrayal still fresh in her chest. What’s next? Is another storm gathering in her life?
Her heels tapped on the shiny marble floor as she entered the living room. A tall man was standing near the window while facing away from her. The sad countenance he had on negates how well and neatly dressed he was and this caught her attention.
The man turned as she stepped into the sitting room, his tone was steady but heavy with determination. “I have come to bring you a message, Mrs Lancaster.”
"A message?" Scarlett's forehead creased. "From who?"
"His father’s doctors," he remarked, his face unyielding. Your father's situation has deteriorated. “They’ve asked for you to come right away.”
The environment around her appeared to come to a standstill. Her father... following so many years of observing his gradual decline, the idea of him being in critical condition struck like a punch to the gut. She struggled to breathe while her mind analyzed the words.
“No,” Scarlett murmured, her voice softly barely heard. “No, this isn’t possible.”
The envoy's expression eased, yet he remained silent. Rather, he offered her a tiny envelope.
She accepted it, with trembling hands, and unfolded it. Inside, a lone sheet of paper validated what the man had just informed her: her father's situation was dire. She didn't have the luxury to waste time.
Scarlett stormed out of the door without saying a word, her heartbeat re-echoed in her ears. The man walked fastly behind her as he quietly opened the door of the parked car and she jumped into the back seat. She was in confusion and the only thing that mattered to her at the moment was reaching her hospitalised father.
The hospital came into view, its harsh, clinical lights blinking as the vehicle decelerated to a halt. Scarlett nearly jumped out as her heart raced fiercely in her chest. The thought of losing her father, the one person who had consistently stood by her, was unbearable. The sad event she witnessed back at home disappeared from her thoughts in a flash.
As she walked through the spotless, shiny corridors, the sounds of her steps resounded on the linoleum ground. She seems to be drawn deeper into a void of terror with each step she takes.
She was escorted to her father's room by the familiar nurses. She paused at the door, preparing herself for what awaits her.
Her father rested in the hospital bed, his once-strong body diminished to a delicate shell. The devices beeped softly, the consistent cadence of the heart monitor saturating the space with a feeling of conclusion. He was alert, yet just hardly. His eyes opened slowly, feeble and searching.
“Dad,” Scarlett murmured, her tone heavy with feeling.
He smiled faintly, extending his hand to take hers. "You arrived," he wheezed, his voice rough. “I was aware you would arrive.”
“I’m here, Dad,” whispered Scarlett, struggling to hold back her tears. “I am present.” She clasped his hand tightly, eager to conceal the anguish in her own heart.
He looked intensely at her for a few minutes, as though he could penetrate her meticulously crafted facade.
"You do not look happy, Scarlett," he spoke softly. "I can see it, it is written all over your face.”
Scarlett's breath caught. How was he supposed to know? How was he able to perceive the flaws in her disguise? She wished for him to remain unaware. She wanted to spare him from worrying about her.
"I'm okay, Dad." Simply concentrate on improving.
However, her father merely shook his head, the smile disappearing. "I've experienced my life, Scarlett." I’ve made my decisions, and now I recognize the results. However, you... "You need not exist in this manner."
Scarlett felt a constriction in her chest. His remarks hit like a blow. However, she had no alternatives. She felt confined, gasping for air in a union that wasn't her own from the start.
“I do not wish this life for you,” he whispered, shutting his eyes.
Tears rose in Scarlett’s eyes, but she held them back. She didn’t want to weep, didn’t want to reveal to him how shattered she was. She was unable to pay for that. Not at this moment.
"I'll be fine, Dad," she murmured, her tone quaking. “You concentrate on improving.” “That’s all that is important.”
Yet, despite uttering the words, she was aware it was untrue. She was not fine. She was far from alright.
Time went by before Scarlett eventually departed from the hospital, her heart laden with concern. She sat at the back seat of the car, looking outside while the city rushed by in a blur. The words of her father echoed in her thoughts, pursuing her.
“I do not wish this life for you”
But what way was there for her to flee? She was confined, restricted by the union her parents had orchestrated for her. There was no escape.
Upon her return home, the house seemed more empty than it ever had. Edward still hadn’t come back, and she couldn’t dispel the thought that the stillness was merely another layer of the suffocating trap she was ensnared in.
She could not continue to live in this way, yet she was unsure about how to escape.
Amidst the stillness of the night, Scarlett was at her desk, her fingers anxiously tapping on the surface. Her thoughts drifted back to Damien. The only man who had ever made her feel truly alive.
Might he be the solution?
She shook her head, attempting to dismiss the idea. Damien belonged to her past. She couldn’t bear to travel that path once more. Not when everything was so delicate.
Yet, while she remained there, the burden of her circumstances bearing heavily on her chest, a single idea ate away at her: What if an escape existed?
With shaking hands, she took her phone and accessed the contacts. Her finger lingered above Damien’s name. Ought she to ring him? Might he assist her in breaking free from this existence?
Just as she was about to decide, the noise of the front door creaking open interrupted her contemplation. Edward was at home.
Scarlett’s heart sank. The man who had always confined her was back, and she realized that everything would change from this point onward.
- Writer
