Chapter 5 Constant meetings in the garden

12 YEARS BEFORE

"No, no!!! He can't just leave me like this! What?!, Dead!!, That's not true!", Paula said, her face bare of any makeup, snot dripping from her nose with tear stricken cheeks.

It all seemed like a movie until she got to the hospital with her twelve year old daughter, Trisha. Because of the gravity of such news, she had thrown the first thing she had seen on.

The magnitude of such event couldn't be kept a secret for a long time as news channels, blogs, tabloids and every other media soon published news with the headline;

FAMOUS NEUROSURGEON INVOLVED IN A GHASTLY CAR ACCIDENT.

Paula's car wasn't parked properly before she and Trisha alighted the car. Trisha paused for one second wondering how paparazzi and media personnels could swamp the hospital in such a short time.

She ran inside, alongside her mother to see such a horrific scene through the glass panel. She had seen her father in a video call three hours before, happily pushing his glasses properly on his nose, too excited to see his family.

They hadn't seen each other for two long weeks, as he was out of the country to treat a patient in another hospital.

They would have never expected that he would die on the road.

She suddenly started hearing a loud ringing voice in her head, and all Trisha could hear and see from her blurry senses was her mother's screams as she had lost regard for her status.

"No, no, it can't be!", Paula said as the doctor broke the horrific news to her. "Come on!!", She suddenly saw her mother dragging her into the operation room.

"They're lying to us, let's go wake your father. He said he was coming home to us. Your father isn't a liar. I didnt marry a liar!!", Paula said, in no attempt to clean her tear stricken face.

"Mrs Callister, I'm really sorry for your loss, but he's really dead!!", The doctor said in an attempt to get her out of the operation room.

It all seemed too surreal that day. As realization finally dawned on her that she had lost her father.

It was Dave, a close friend of her father's who took her and her mother home, providing love, care and support in the trying times.

Her mother learned to love him, and so they got married after some years. Paula thought it was good for them to open up her heart again, however, Dave didn't feel the same.

Unfortunately for Trisha and her mother, they had completely no idea that it was all a ploy to take everything away from them.

Being someone that coveted Mr Callister's riches, Dave had to use sly methods to engage himself in their family, planning to strike them at the back when they least expect.

His daughter Adriana was in on the malicious plan simply because she hated Trisha.

THE PRESENT

Adriana walked towards the silhouette in the garden, careful not to alert the residents of the house as she stepped on the grass.

"Stupid grass!!", She cursed as she heard the twig snap.

Finally approaching their meeting place, Dave stepped out to see his daughter. "Tell Collin to commence with the next phase, I have successfully procured everything!", Dave said, leaving immediately, as he wanted no one to know about their constant meetings in the garden.