Arranged marriage: Skeletons(sequel)

Chapter 9

"It was a sunny day. If you remember correctly, you went out to see your friends. A bunch of kids from the neighborhood. We were supposed to have lunch together as a family before your father left for his usual business trips.

His name was Miles. Gosh I still remember how he looked like," Murrieta spoke dreamily as her eyes drifted up to the dull ceiling. That's when Riley knew exactly what she was talking about. The man who died. The man her father killed. The reason why her mother was stolen from her by the cold walls of this jail, for so many years.

"Short dirty blonde hair. Sea green eyes. A sense of humour for hours. He had just transferred to my workplace for reasons none of us knew. But he was so nonchalant and carefree. It didn't take long for him and I, along with a lot of our other colleagues, to become friends. Everything was fine, his work was commendable and everyone at work liked him.

The problem started about two weeks after he came. He started showing interest in me. At first, he was sweet with his gestures of courtship. Buying me roses. Noticing the most silly things about me. He used to tell me that I have beautiful smile," she let's out a small sigh and smiles, looking at her daughter.

"He could sweep any woman off off of her feet with his sweet words. Any woman, but not me. That's where the problem was," she continued, her expression changing into a darker one as she seemed to be taken back to same incident she was narrating. "For some weird reason, he seemed to be attracted to me. Of course I told him that I am married, but that didn't seem to bother him. As time went by, he got a bit aggressive with his displays of affection. He would grab my wrists whenever I told him that I didn't wish to talk to him. Sometimes I'd see his car following mine whenever I left work. I tried to talk to him about how scary his actions were. I even went as far as threatening to get a restraining order against him, and for a short while he seemed to back off.

I thought that he'd leave me alone after the talk we had, but clearly, I was wrong. He continued to follow me without my knowledge. Your father had suggested that I call the police on him but I didn't think he was that much of a threat.

On the day of the accident, he barged into our home, demanding to see me. Your father here tried to get him to leave in a calm manner, but he simply got angry. It's like he turned into this crazy possessive person and it frightened me. He had a gun with him. One that he used to threaten me into leaving with him. I tried to talk to him, see if I could reason with him you know? But it didn't work. Your father, being more of a physical guy, managed to get close enough to him to grab the gun. But Miles was also strong. They wrestled for the gun while I panicked, and then, that's when the gun went off, killing Miles. It was my fault. I brought him into our live," Mariposa said, but Riley was quick to cut her.

"It wasn't your fault," she said stubbornly, her eyes darkened. Her heart was beating too fast and the air felt too heavy on her lungs, her eyes glassed by salty liquids.

"Nor is it your father's fault," Mariposa added gently as she reached out one of her hands to hold Riley's hands, while the other stayed glued to Peterson's hands. Her eyes were soft and her voice was gentle, but her eyes were now slightly blurred by tears. Peterson kept his head down as he felt his own tears push at the lids of his black eyes.

"I couldn't let him take the fall for an incident that I could've stopped, if only I had listened to him and reported the man. Baby, your father had a very bad upbringing. His father used to beat him and his mother. He didn't know how a soft and peaceful life was like until he met me. Then you were born, and I could see it in his eyes that he loved you more than life itself. I couldn't deny him the chance of raising you," she tried to explain, but Riley roughly pulled back her hands, the anger usually bubbling inside her chest now swimming up her throat.