Seconds *COMPLETED*

Chapter 7

Daniel

More than a month had passed while Tiara had been staying in my house. Late one evening, I returned home wearily and completely drained of energy after work. Isma opened the door with Mila by her side.

"Daddy!" squealed Mila before giving me a welcoming hug as usual.

I smiled before trudging into the house and looking around. Dad, Mom and Tiara were seated in the living room of our house.

Tiara stared straight ahead at nothing in particular since she was blind while Dad and Mom turned to see me as I walked into the living room and said, "Hey."

"Hey, why're you so late, dear?" asked Mom.

"Nothing," I muttered as I shook my head and seated myself on the couch opposite to Tiara. Isma left the living room while Mila ran over to Mom, looking in awe at the fabric Mom was sewing.

I tried to face Tiara but my eyes were fixed on the carpet on the floor. How would I tell her the truth?

"Why, Daniel? Do you have something to tell me?" asked Tiara as she continued staring straight ahead.

I slowly looked up at her stunned. Despite being blind, she had always had the ability to sense my feelings ever since I knew her.

"Tiara, I've searched everywhere for him. I'm sorry but there's only one possibility... Darien is no more. I have asked almost all the people who might know him here in San Diego, and I have gotten just three different responses.

Some people said that they had heard that someone named Darien had died mysteriously two years ago, but they knew nothing more. Some told me that they have never even heard of the name Darien. But the rest of them, including the people in the company Darien worked in, just stared at me as though I were crazy, I don't know why, maybe because they know it's been two years since he died," I explained, "Even the police said that they had received a report about his death almost two years ago.

He had been admitted in a hospital after an accident, but at the hospital, he had been declared dead. I asked the police if they had a photo of the guy who had died in the accident, so I could at least show it to Mila to be sure whether it was Darien or not, but they didn't have any photos of him. So, there's only one possible conclusion, Tiara, your husband, Darien Caruso, is dead."

Without even flinching, Tiara nodded slowly in agreement, before standing up and walking back to her room in silence.

"Daniel, don't you have any feelings of sympathy for her? You're telling her that her husband is dead and you're talking so straightforwardly. Couldn't you at least have been a bit more subtle?" reprimanded Dad.

"The last time I tried to talk to her like that, she didn't even listen to me for a whole minute! She immediately asked, 'he's dead, right?' She's so straightforward, what am I supposed to do? So, I spoke to her straight to the point today, that's all," I justified.

"Daniel, she may be straightforward but it's your responsibility to get the point across to her in a way that hurts the least. Imagine how she would be feeling right now. How could you be so inconsiderate, Daniel?" asked Mom.

I sighed, before standing up and walking towards my room. I stopped in my tracks halfway and closed my eyes, as guilt cropped into my heart. "If there's a reason why I'm still alive, that's because of the tiny probability that Darien's still alive. But if... if he really is dead, the next day I'll be dead," Tiara's voice reverberated in my mind, saying the exact words she had spoken to me when I had first met her. No way! I could never let her do that!