Chapter 2

The Carbon Copy

Rowan slipped out of the house through the kitchen exit ignoring the questioning eyes of the maids. As he got to his car, the sound of his phone stopped him and he threw his eyes back as he thought his mother had found him. But there was no one behind him. He snatched out the phone to check who it was. He was surprised at the caller.

"Good morning Mrs. Cherry," he answered with tightened teeth.

"My dear, I am going to pay some respect to Nessa, will you be there?" She asked with her uneven voice.

"Yes, I will."

"Oh, thank goodness! see you then," the woman said before the line went dead.

Rowan hissed and went into his car. He focused on the road, refusing to let his mind linger on Mrs. Cherry, his supposed mother-in-law.

He got to the cemetery and true to her words. She was there too. Rowan wouldn't even have been surprised if she didn't end up coming. They stood there in front of the tomb in silence as Mrs. Cherry brought out a bunch of lilies and placed them neatly against the tombstone.

“Nessa was such a sweet soul, sad that she had to leave this soon,” Mrs. Cherry Vaughn whispered, eyes brimming with tears.

Rowan wanted to mention that Nessa hated lilies but he bit his tongue. Of course, she couldn’t have known. She was never a mother to her. No two other women could be more different. Mrs. Vaughn was a stunning brunette. Her looks had done her more harm than good. She had married her third husband barely a year after her only daughter’s death.

While Rowan was battling with grief, her Mum was on a trip to Paris less than two months after her daughter’s passing. The betrayal stung yet he had to remain the good son-in-law that never complained.

Minutes passed before he could manage to reply to her; “She was...“

He wanted to add that she was more than a sweet soul'. She was a perfect wife and lover. She would have been the perfect mother for Tessa too.

“I should have known her body would fail her, I warned her but she was bent on being a mother too early.”

It took a while before her words registered. It took all his willpower to not tell her that Nessa was ten times more capable of being a mother than she would have dreamt possible. His tongue almost drew blood from biting down a painful remark.

"Do you think Tessa misses her a lot?" Mrs. Cherry choked out.

Rowan threw her a stern look. He had to be certain she was truly crying or just faking it as always. She had never even seen the child since after Vanessa's passing. Yet she dared to ask him that?

How could a mother be this insensitive? Sometimes he wondered if truly Vanessa had been her daughter. How could such a heartless woman give birth to a woman as bright and as kind as Vanessa?

"Poor child, she must be missing her so much," she whispered on her own as she wiped more tears away from her long-lashed eyes.

Rowan folded his hands behind him as he tried to stay strong. If he let his tongue fly, he would say something he would end up regretting.

Mrs. Cherry wiped her face one more time and turned to face Rowan squarely. Her tears were gone as fast as they had come. Another proves that they were never real, to begin with.

"Rowan, you are such a handsome young man," she began. "You should remarry."

He could no longer stand her disrespect for Nessa’s memory.

"I am sorry, but I have to leave now," he stated through clenched teeth.

"Oh, Rowan dear, did I say something wrong?" She asked as her face contorted into a shock.

Rowan sometimes wondered if the woman was truly heartless or brainless. One of the two had to be malfunctioning or missing in her body.

He stormed off without even replying. He couldn't say a prayer to his dear wife with someone like Mrs cherry standing by his side. He would just go wait somewhere until the woman had left and then he would come back. He took a sharp bend to the car park below the cemetery and as he turned, he bumped into a frame.

Damn! He shouldn't have been walking with his head down! He scolded himself as he prepared to meet the angry eyes of who he had hit.

He raised his gaze to a woman. A stunning redhead. Just like his Vanessa...

“Oh my! I’m so sorry I wasn’t looking," the woman said and Rowan found himself unable to speak.

His eyes followed her red hair. The way it dangled on her shoulders straight up to the strands. It wasn't fake or anything. They were real. His eyes lowered and then they rested on the blues of hers. How could this person have the same features as his wife?

He felt a warmth sweep past him as the woman in front of him smiled.

"I am Leticia and I am truly sorry sir," she said stretching her hand towards him.

Rowan looked down at her hand and then followed it up to the point it connected to her body. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. This woman was like a carbon copy of his wife or was he daydreaming? Had his Vanessa returned to him?

"Sir, are you okay?" Leticia asked getting restless. He was acting like he was lost and she was beginning to get worried. Did she hit him too hard? Did he have a mental problem?

She raised her fingers and was about to snap them in front of him when he held her hand.

"Hi," he whispered still holding unto her hand.

Leticia turned a pink shade on her cheeks as she felt a sensation crawl through her body as their hands remained in contact.

"Erm... can you please let me go now?" She muttered.

Rowan immediately dropped her hand like he had been touching fire.