Sarah and Nicolas, the soon-to-wed couple bring Samara across the border, hidden in their vehicle as she’s wrongfully accused of carrying illegal drugs. At the border, they pretend to be married, although they aren’t, and Sarah is arrested for carrying an ornamental gold pagoda in her handbag. She’s bailed out the following day, and a court case is filed. She wonders why Nicolas and Samara don’t turn up to inquire after her, and learns later that they’re in a secret affair, and they’ve betrayed her. She attends the court case alone, pays a fine and faces a suspended sentence of six months imprisonment. The following week, she flies to a city far away, finds employment there and settles down. She follows a university course to become a teacher. She coincidentally meets a young man (Sherman) and falls in love with him. He suggests Sarah be his niece’s home-visiting tutor, and introduces her to his family. She gets negative vibes from his sister, Kumberlin, whose husband has faced a tragic death in the past caused by a sudden heart failure after learning that his wife has deceived him. The relationship continues between Sarah and Sherman. She moves in with him. Sarah is conceived, and on the same day she finds it out, she gets to know some corrupt doings of Sherman’s brother, Jerad. She lies low about what she experiences with regard to Jerad. Her visits to the library in the convent become more regular, where she falls into a close association with Sister Priscilla. Sarah and Sherman get married, and on the same day, Sarah gets to know that the lawyer who represents her at her arrest is a friend of Kumberlin. Kumberlin learns from her friend about Sarah’s arrest in the past and makes it a weapon against her. In an antique shop, Sarah coincidentally comes across the ornamental gold pagoda confiscated at the border. She visits the antique shop regularly, and Sherman is suspicious of her.
Episode 15
Sarah stood up briskly, dazed and weak. She looked into Sherman’s eyes, having her mind mingle in the past - precisely how solvent he had been of the maze. Now she was trapped in another maze - a real maze, and she had to find her way out. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she was going to do it!
“A paternity test?”, she whispered, “a paternity test?”, she said much louder, “a paternity test?”
Helpless, Sarah screamed in heartfelt grief, “get out of here! Leave me alone!”
Sherman stood stiff, fixed to one place. Sarah took her nightgown and exited the room to meet Kumberlin face-to-face, standing outside the door.
“He’s wanting a paternity test”, she muttered under her breath as she went past Kumberlin. Sherman came out right after.
“A paternity test? Why?”, Kumberlin asked, and Sarah stopped.
“I’ve seen her with a man in an antique shop very often. She keeps visiting him, spends a long time there”, Sherman said.
Sarah listened to him, lost for words.
“Oh, that could be. If you want to do a paternity test, you can definitely go ahead with it. But now you have to accept that you’re the father of her child anyway, whatever the test results are.”
Kumberlin had her mind over the frustration of losing her husband untimely, because of her own deception. Now, Sarah was her ideal prey. Sarah was simply going to be victimized by her bitterness. She sounded as if she was very kind, an angel who was ready to help Sarah and her baby! Well, she had just encouraged Sherman to accept fatherhood! Sarah was thunderstruck. She felt as if all her strength was sucked by the ground, but she was stiff. She had to find her way out of the maze now, and she was firm.
“When can I have the payment for tuition for the last six months? I never received it”, she said.
Kumberlin burst into laughter.
“What fees? You need to pay me for letting you conduct a tuition class in my house! Besides, you have lived here under our roof without even paying a rent! And you haven’t been a saint. There are grounds for his suspicion. And go ahead and do the paternity test if you want to - Sherman!”, she concluded, turning to Sherman, who stood there like a tame animal, docile and manipulable.
Sarah looked at Kumberlin. It was helplessness, nothing but helplessness, everywhere and all around. In a world of deception, she was loner. She spent the night in the same room that she used to sleep in when she first moved in. It was a sleepless night, and the next day dawned to everything beyond belief. Sarah hardly knew that a wonderful get-together had happened and she had been half asleep in her room. Sherman had opened his email account and passed it to Kumberlin, to write to Sarah following her sadistic dreams.
The next morning, the house was more than silent. Sherman wasn’t home, but surely some others were. Sarah quickly got ready, and headed to her only consolation - Sister Priscilla. The nun visited the library by noon, so Sarah had ample time till then. She sat in front of a computer like she used to, and opened her email to receive the trauma of her life. There was no email in the inbox, but the spam folder had one, and she hit it. It opened. She read the email from Sherman, or perhaps the email read her.
The Biggest Deception - Sarah (Ms Disgrace)
My next letter will be from my lawyer. I will tell the police what you told me, what you did to cheat the immigration. All these people, including the police don’t know your capabilities and corruption. Just like it shocked me, it will shock these people to know how you married me when you’re already married to someone else. Remember the day you were arrested at the border, how you made a scene and tried to fool all the experienced officers? Veronica Williams if a respectable lawyer. She never wanted to get involved in your case. She represents innocent people, not con women like you.
But she was forced to do it. Stand in front of the mirror and see if you can see yourself, truthfully! The biggest fake in the world trapped in a woman’s body! I’ll see that I take my child, and not you. I have no plan to live with you. You’ll ruin the baby’s future, too. You’re a hooker. You’ll even sell your child if you want to achieve your needs. Scumbag! I am going to give all your true information to the government; I will take legal action against you.
You, sleepy, bogus woman! Silly idiot! I will take care of my child’s expenses, not yours. You committed fraud long before I met you. Remember, because of that, you had to hide your true self from the authorities. I had to sacrifice a lot because of you. Shame on you! You were asking for tuition fees! You even lived here in our house without paying a rent. Don’t pester me by asking for money! Then what about the rent you should be paying my sister for living here? You’re a dangerous woman.
Manipulator! I don’t want to live with you any-more. I need to change this lifestyle. Life has been hell with you. I had to hide a lot of things from my family because of you. You dragged me down many times. You are my only obstacle.
I will take the baby away from you. You’re a mentally imbalanced woman. I don’t want my child to suffer from your mental instabilities. You’re insane. Don’t think I’ll let you take the baby. I’ll get my baby for myself legally. If we have to, let’s settle it in court.
Sheman
Sarah couldn’t believe her eyes. Was she really reading it? She began to palpitate in horror. By the style of the language, she knew that the writer of the email was none other than Kumberlin. The two brothers, Sidney and Jerad were on a mission of finding out more details about Sarah’s marriage that she was believed to have been in.
They made sure that they didn’t leave any loophole in their search. While doing more fraud to banks and other financial institutions, Jerad carried on his investigation on Sarah’s bigamy; he was a master in it. Sidney saw to it that he visited the church and prayed to his lord before any exploration was done to drag her down and destroy her. All such research on Sarah had already begun when she was reading the email in the library. Grasping every word, trembling in terror, Sarah hurried outside, and sat on the bench under the same Sycamore tree.
Sister Priscilla spotted her, and sat next to her. She noticed the fear in her eyes, and she held her hands. Sarah divulged all the incidents, starting from the evening that passed, up until the email she received. The nun sighed. It looked as if she had been expecting everything as they were. Somehow, she succeeded in planting some strength in Sarah before she left.
She knew that Sarah hadn’t eaten anything for the day. She took her to the kitchen of the convent, and made sure that she had food. Sarah didn’t merely eat, she consumed food. She returned home. Standing in front of the gate, she opened her bag to take the key out, and realised she didn’t have it. Well, it had been taken away from her! She wasn’t family now anyway! She rang the bell, and the gate was opened. She had to ring the doorbell now, as she didn’t have a key. It was horrible! And Kumberlin opened the door.
“Please get it now! A woman like you won’t fear coming home late. But we’re not here to open doors for you when you return after all your fraudulent dealings.”
Sarah went into her room, dead to what she heard. She had some of her belongings in her room to survive. Immediately after, Sherman entered her room, and almost threw a paper on her face. He left, and Sarah began to read the paper.
Divorce Agreement
Sherman Tilford and Sarah Tilford hereby fairly and accurately disclose to each other all financial matters listed below. Sarah has used Sherman’s premises to conduct tuition classes. She has to make a rental payment for the time period she used it.
Sarah has to bear the cost of any damages that happened to the house during her stay.
Sarah has to contribute 50% to all of Sherman’s bank loans.
Sarah was married before. I found that out even after she conceived with the baby, she told me she was married earlier. I know she married me without taking a divorce from that marriage. She can be charged for bigamy.She’s a dangerous woman. Because of her adulteries, affairs with other men, I have doubts about fatherhood…
Sarah couldn’t read anymore. She felt as if the whole world was moving around her. She felt her heart pounding fast, and her pulse had just begun to flutter. She was just going to be knocked down by dread, but she made herself to the bed.
To be continued next week (the final episode)
Copyright - Santhoshya Jayamali Seneviratne