And while I stand here in utter silence, Mama Valentino’s voice surges all around me.
“My dear, be careful what you wish for.” The tone of her voice remains calm, but it is not without a sense of warning. “Every wish, every desire, has a consequence. Trust the pa
th that God has put you on. Your life begins once you trust the journey.”
I wished for him, and in some unexplainable way, it happened. It was everything I imagined it would be, and everything I never imagined would break me.
It’s the beginning of a nightmare unfolding.
The consequence of such a careless wish.
I want to take it all back.
Runaway to a life where this pain doesn’t follow me.
Where the consequences don’t torture me with children in the mix.
There is only one place to run to.
And only one person who can break the cursed spell I’m under.
My knuckles are stark white, gripping onto the steering wheel as I weave in and out of traffic like a maniac.
Pumping a million miles per minute, my windpipes crush as my heart runs on adrenalin, desperate to avoid the sea of red lights ahead, which will force me to stop and stay longer in this nightmare.
I hear his voice calling my name, pleading for me to return. Begging me for forgiveness. The sound of his voice no longer feels like home. It’s the shell of a man I once admired, once loved with every fiber in my being. Yet now, it’s the sound of a man who poisoned me. It’s running everywhere in my veins, and there’s no way to stop it.
Pulling my cell out, my hands shake, unable to locate Morgan’s name, which is in my speed dial. Frazzled, I find the name, Scarlett.
“Pick up the phone,” I beg, loudly to myself.
There’s no answer.
Why the hell isn’t she picking up her phone?
The GPS warns me that I need to turn left, only minutes away from my destination. In the space of that time, Noah doesn’t try to reach me. I half-expected him to call me relentlessly, just like Morgan had often told me he’d done.
“You have reached your destination,” the GPS informs me, prompting me to park the car out front.
With the engine switched off, I sit in silence, wiping the warm tears trickling down my already stained cheeks. Quickly, I pull the keys out of the ignition and exit the car, running up the long sandy pathway toward the giant glass house.
Pressing the doorbell, I wait with bated breath as Valentino answers the door in his luxurious pajamas.
“Morgan, what are you doing here so late?” He peers behind me, grabbing my hand and rushing me in before closing the door behind him.
“I need to see Mama.”
“Mama?” His expression piques with curiosity. “Mama is praying. Nobody interrupts Mama when she’s praying.”
“Valentino, please,” I beg, searching around the room.
“She’ll be done soon. Why don’t you sit, and I’ll pour you some wine?”
“No,” I growl, desperate to end this nightmare now.
I search the area again in panic, calling “Mama” out loud, which echoes around the large house. My shoes slide against the porcelain tiles, running from room to room with an out-of-breath Valentino frantically trying to keep up while calling my name.
She’s nowhere on the bottom level, so I race upstairs, looking from left to right. My instincts tell me she’s at the end of the long hallway toward the right.