“WHAT did you say?” Marcus asked Maria. It was apparent in his shocked expression that he couldn’t believe what Maria revealed. His grip on Sara’s arm loosened. “What did you say?!”
Sara cried and tried to break free from him, but Marcus held her still. “Mommy, help me!” her daughter pleaded, but Marcus couldn’t let her go. “Mommy, I’m scared…”
Euclid tried to get near her, but Marcus aimed his gun at Sara. “Don’t dare to move a bit.”
Maria begged him to stop. She kneeled on the floor and bowed her head as she wept in tears. “She’s your child…” she said and covered her face with her hands. “She wasn’t Euclid’s daughter… Sara’s yours, Marcus.”
Demi dragged her hair and forced her to look at her. “She’s just fabricating a story! Don’t tell me that you’re believing her, Marcus?”
“It’s the truth…” she insisted and looked up at Marcus. “The day that I asked you to help me get out of the club, I was pregnant then. And, I know that you already noticed it, so I waited for you to ask me if it’s yours. But you didn’t because maybe you thought at that time I slept with different other men…” tears started to fall in her cheeks again. “But, it’s not true… The club owner won’t allow me to sleep with other men that can’t afford my rate.”
Demi pushed her to the floor. “Liar!” she said and kicked her body repeatedly. “She’s fooling us!”
Maria heard Sara and Connor begging for Demi to stop hurting her, but she won’t listen. She hit her endlessly as if she’d done wrong to her. And then, she realized why.
“Stop it!” Euclid shouted and threatened to shoot her. “I won’t hesitate to kill you if you’ll touch her again, Demi White.”
“Tell me that it’s not true, Maria…” Marcus told her in a lower tone. “Tell me that this is not my child!”
“It’s true!” she shouted, then looked at Euclid. The pain that she saw in his face while staring at her is unbearable. “I’m sorry, Euclid…”
“Sara’s not mine…” Euclid whispered. “She’s not my daughter?”
Maria shook her head. “No, Euclid…”
“It’s not true!” Marcus aimed his gun at her, but Connor strangled him and snatched the gun from him before he could pull the trigger. “Fuck!”
The gun threw away from them. Connor shouted at Sara to run away, but Demi was fast. She stood in front of Maria and shot Connor in the shoulder, making him fell limp on the floor. Marcus took the chance and got up to get Sara, but Euclid cornered him.
“No! Connor!” Maria screamed and pushed Demi away from her. “Connor! Don’t die—” She saw her daughter seated in the corner and crying. Maria’s heart broke. “Sara, close your eyes, this is just a dream—” When her eyes caught the gun on Sara’s side, she picked it up quickly and aimed its gunpoint at Demi. “This is all your fault!” she shouted, and pulled the trigger, hitting Demi straight in the chest.
As soon as the woman fell on the floor, she went to her daughter and hugged her tightly. “Mommy’s here, baby…” she whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Don’t cry…”
“Mommy…” Sara murmured, she clutched on her chest tightly. “M-mommy…”
Maria checked on her daughter, and when she saw her having a hard time breathing, panic rise on her chest. “What is it, baby?”
“I-I can’t breathe…” Sara said, catching her breath. “My chest hurts, Mommy—”
“No… No, don’t close your eyes, Sara!” Maria shook her daughter’s shoulders when she fainted. “Sara?! Sara?!” she shouted and looked around. “Help! Please, help my daughter!”
*
“WHERE’s Sara? Is she okay?” Connor asked Maria as soon as he opened his eyes and found himself in a hospital ward.
“She’s okay…” she replied. “The doctor said that her medications helped her heart to surpass the trauma, but it will be fatal for her if she’ll experience it again.” Her voice cracked. “She’s having a rest now. Thank you for saving Sara, Connor...”
“I’m sorry…” Connor caressed Maria’s face. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep my promise to protect you and Sara…”
Maria shook her head. “You did…” she said and cried. “You protected Sara at all cost.” She held his hand on her face. “You even risked your life for her.”
“I love you, Maria…” he murmured. “I love you and Sara…” he smiled. “I want to be his father, to be your husband…” A tear fell from his eye. “I want us to be a family...”
Maria’s tears streamed down her face. “You’re a family to us—”
“But, not in your heart…” he said. “I know that I will never replace him in your heart, Maria… Still, I chose to love you unconditionally.”
Maria lowered her head and cried. “I’m sorry…” she murmured. “I’m sorry, Connor…”
“Shh…” He caressed her hair. “Don’t be sorry for what you truly feel, Maria…”
“I tried to love you…” she said. “But—”
“Heart can’t be taught who to love…” he said and smiled. “Still, hearing from you that you tried is enough for me…”
She looked into her eyes and held his hand. “Thank you for all the things that you did for me and Sara… I wouldn’t survive it all if not because of you, Connor…”
Connor smiled at her. “I love you, Maria…” he said. “When I saw you in the emergency room and asked a nurse about your daughter, that’s when I felt the feeling that I should help you. And, as days went by, that feeling bloomed, and got stronger as I get to know you.”
Maria reached to touch his face. “You are one of the persons who showed me that God cared for me, Connor... Because despite of all the sins that I’ve done, He sent good people like you and Wendy to guide me and helped see the good things in this world full of cruelty.”
***