Download Stranded PDF

Standing before me was the man of my dreams—no, he’s the man who made all of my dreams into reality. Jenn Rowell’s hazel brown orbs dilated when they dropped on my jade green ones, although they went back to their normal sizes as he recovered from the shock. On his side was a woman, and the towel around her waist barely held on to her chest and armpits. I stood frozen at the scenario in front of me, as if my feet had grown claws and ice on the marble floor.

“J-Jenn,” I uttered the name of my boyfriend in a vulnerable tone, despite the woman’s presence in front of my eyes. “W-What’s the meaning of this?” I hate to admit it, but my voice quivered along with the tears under my eyes’ hidden depths. On prompt, I look up to the ceiling to make my tears go back down before returning my gaze to the two inhumane people.

It has always been like this, and yes, I have stooped so low for my goals and acting career. What can I possibly do? Jenn is a billionaire and was predicted to be the next chairman of the Roswell Group, thus, I have to suck this all up once again to dig some gold on this man. Even if it seemed so pathetic, people sometimes have to run deep in order to float back; proud, high, and wealthy.

People assume that being an actor or actress is a piece of cake and pretty much well-off, without actually knowing to what extent we do to stay untouched in this industry.

As soon as my eyes darted to my boyfriend, who’s currently shirtless, he moved to me near his bedroom door and trapped me in the corner using both of his arms. Jenn’s lips parted, and in his deep monotone voice, he mumbled, “Do you have an issue with what you just witnessed, Matilda?”

“Yes,” I urged to speak and yet, no words have ever escaped my mouth. Instead, a response on the contrary succeeded thereafter. “N-No. I have nothing to say. It’s not a problem... at all.” It sounded out truly pitiful, ear-splitting even. After a few seconds of total silence, Jenn nodded his head before he sauntered back to his bed, to where his new mistress—toy girlfriend—was lying on without any guilt on her expression.

Unbelievable! Despicable humans!

“What are you standing there for? Are you waiting for winter to come or something?” Jenn questioned, and indifference lies within his deep baritone. “Why don’t you take a short walk, Matilda. You looked dazed despite you knowing that this is what I usually do.” However, I didn’t provide an answer to his utterance, even though I’ve actually wished to scream my frustrations in front of him and punch that arrogant face of his. Asshole!

“How far will you go, Matilda?” I mentally asked for myself.

How far will I sink deep just to aim high?

I swallowed the lump of my throat, and with no second thoughts, I turned my back at both of them. My feet ambled from the mansion’s halls to the verandas, but it hasn’t even dwindled the chaos of my thoughts a bit. Thus, I marched to the huge door and approached the gate with giant strides. My step quickened more when the image from earlier came across my mind, and I didn’t mind as to where my feet would even take me.

However, the only thing I’m able to do was overthink everything. I don’t have the courage to go against the Roswell Group’s youngest heir, who’s most likely to take the chairman’s position soon in the near future. Mauro Vann Roswell, the Roswell Group’s current chairman, had two sons, namely Alistair Roswell as eldest; and Jenn Roswell as the youngest. Since the eldest heir seemed to have no interest in taking charge of the family’s business line, rumors said that the youngest will lead instead. A different story also circulated in town, saying that the oldest was perhaps either a leader of some kind of gang or gay, but none were proven.

Besides, I couldn’t judge Alistair because he will be my brother-in-law when the perfect time comes. Even though we’re barely acquaintances, calling him names also means judging myself like what others do.

My thoughts halted when I saw the bridge nearby the far-end road intersection, and on the spur of the moment, I sprinted all the way to the bridge, losing myself and sanity in each step that I took. Until I finally stepped on the bridge’s deck, the brisk wind slapped my face with serenity and calmness, as though it attempted to erase the scene earlier. “Mom!” I shouted to no one in particular but mere air. Not long after, the tears that I've always been resisting since the last minutes have thrived to flow like rivers on my cheeks.

It may sound taboo to the others, but my mother died because of suicide, jumping off the bridge which is similar to where I am at this moment. It left me nothing since I never had seen my father, then the event made me fall to the children's orphanage’s care. None other than the nuns dared to approach me long ago, until I summoned all of my courage to audition in an agency for potential actors and actresses.

“Mother, Jenn has done it again. You can see it from there, right? Well, he cheated on me... again... what should I do? I’m tired of all of this, aside from my career, Mom. It's hopeless,” a growling sob escaped my mouth, but I continued to let out my frustrations since it’s the only thing I could do. “It will cost everything that I have if ever I’ll make a wrong decision,” I added in a whisper-like manner, and my voice then cracked, despite pulling off a firm expression.

Endless cries left me. “I missed you, Mom. I really do. I wished you had taken me with you before.”

Another stream of tears burst out from my eyes as they trickled down, tracing my facial features, from the nose then to the jaw, before the tears lastly kissed the ground. After minutes of stillness, a low baritone reached straight into my ears out of the blue, which then triggered me to steal a quick glimpse of the person from behind.

“Who are you talking to?”

As soon as I saw Alistair’s perplexed guise, the eldest son of the Roswell’s Group, two eyes of mine went back to the ocean’s blue water underneath the bridge. “How did he know that I’m here? Perhaps, did he follow me?” Several queries crossed my thoughts, however, all I’ve done was to wipe off the stain of tears on my face before glancing over to him. On the other hand, Alistair’s confused look altered into a serious one, and after a short while, his chestnut brown eyes with dark gray tints around its edge locked gaze with mine.

“Are you planning to jump off?” he asked me in the darkest tone of which his lips could ever pull.