Love is the Sunshine novel Chapter 54

"If Miss Carla hadn't entered the room and given you a piece of her mind, for sure, you would've walked right into their trap and done something you'd surely regret against your will," Rainer carefully said as if he had been threading a needle.

As he was listening, Terence furrowed his brows a little. 'So, that's why, ' Terence pondered to himself, coming to the sudden realization that it was his fault. He already thought something was up immediately after having a drink. If Carla had not come in and later thrown cold water over his pitiful heart, the intense desire and temptation that got stirred up inside of him wouldn't have gone away so easily.

"Um... Mr. Terence. I'm guessing you might've felt an urge to do some things after having that drink. I actually asked the woman called Viola. She told me that she spiked your drink and put three times the regular dose. Are you sure you're really alright?"

Nathan kept on asking because he just couldn't calm himself down, quite unsure if Terence was feeling as well as claimed to be. For a man his age, when the drug finally took effect, an intake three times of the normal dose would completely ignite his passion, making him do whatever it was they were plotting for him to do. However, Nathan was a bit doubtful since Terence wasn't really acting out of the ordinary, looking just as normal as he always would be. 'How could he possibly hold all of this in?' Nathan wondered.

"I'm doing just fine." Terence reassured him, suppressing his raspy voice. Of course, he certainly felt something stirring up within him. But if it wasn't for Carla barging in, he couldn't have been able to manage to subdue his carnal desires on his own.

"Mr. Terence, since Miss Carla is still here, you could probably..." Nathan was so afraid that Terence's body wouldn't be able to bear it anymore after holding it in for so long.

"Shut up!"

Terence, not wanting to let Nathan finish saying what he was about to suggest, strode straight out of the room and extremely furious of Nathan for even thinking of him doing that to Carla.

For Nathan, never in his life had he ever spouted anything unnecessary to Terence. If he didn't find Terence's condition so alarming, there was no way he would've said something so insensitive no matter what.

Soon after Terence had left the room, he immediately called the family doctor up and asked him to give him a shot of Tranquilizer so he could fully restrain his burning lust. And then finally, his urges had started to subside.

After a brief moment, he instantly collapsed against the cushions and couldn't help but recall how distant Carla made him feel. The scene kept on playing on his mind. The way she had acted so indifferently toward him had shattered his heart into pieces, piercing right through his bones. He knew that even if the intake had been ten times the normal dosage instead of just three, his urges could have just as easily died down right after having that conversation.

It hurt so much seeing the woman he cared most deeply about choose to leave his side and pour ice over his burning passion without thinking twice. There was nothing else that mattered to him anymore, not even taking back control over that drugged body of his.

The next day.

It was the last day of Carla and Sean's summer vacation stay at the JA City. She had planned to head home, but not before they could go visit the most popular landscape in JA City—the JA Temple. 'There were indeed breathtaking sceneries around the city, ' she thought to herself. After all of their sightseeing was done, she wanted to take Sean to the railway station and return to the BH City immediately. And, in fact, she had actually already booked the ticket in advance online the night before.

Terence couldn't show up that day. However, he had asked Rainer to accompany them and escort them along the way, just in case they would be needing anything. In the end, he just couldn't bring himself to show his face in front of Carla.

As their day had already been planned ahead of time, Carla politely refused Rainer's offer to, at the very least, drive them to the airport. Rainer didn't try to insist as he understood it would be best for Carla to do these things on her own. Going their separate ways, soon enough, Carla and Sean finally reached the railway station and got on the train as soon as they arrived.

The minute that the train began moving away from the city, everything that had happened seemed to have gone back to the starting point.

She left, barely able to think about all of the things that had transpired. For her, the past few days had truly been so magical, as if it literally came out of a fairytale tailored just for her. However, she had to wake up sooner or later from this pleasant yet tempting dream and accept that her fantasy had ultimately come to an end.

Although fully aware that this trip had been the most wonderful thing that happened in her recent memory, Carla also knew she had to carry on with her own life, her same old typical daily life.

Just like Cinderella, the moment the clock struck 12 at midnight, her beautiful carriage, the shiny glass slipper, and the magnificent dress she was wearing all returned to its original state. The most beautiful princess reverted back to being that poor pitiful girl, while her prince charming remained in his grand castle.

They said time flied when you were having fun, but this summer simply went by without incident.

"Sean? Stop searching around. I washed your backpack last night and hanged it on the balcony to let it dry!"

Carla shouted at Sean inside the kitchen while he was looking so frantic trying to find his backpack.

"Ah! There we have it! I've been looking for this all morning!" Sean quickly sprinted toward the balcony, taking his backpack from the hanger. Then, he ran into his room and stuffed all the textbooks inside his bag.

"Oh, Sis! Please don't forget there's a parents' meeting at school this afternoon! I have to go now. I'm going to be late! Bye!"

Sean rushed toward the gate and put on his shoes in a hurry. "The parents' meeting! Don't forget!" he shouted again and then shut the door quickly.

Carla cleaned up the kitchen, putting everything in order. Finally, she could relax even if just for a second. After taking off her apron, she sat down on the sofa and then noticed her laptop on the table. She thought about how Terence had fixed it for her, so she had it powered on, with plans to go jobhunting online.

Ever since they got back to BH City, she had quit the delivery job at the fast food restaurant because Sean would be home all summer and she had to be there to look after him. She managed her expectations for the job because she was simply looking for one that would just be somewhere close to where they lived and free from going on business trips often.

Most of those considerations were because of Sean. He was still just ten years old, so she couldn't just leave him at the daycare. One more major reason for that was because of her parents. Even though they had passed away, she knew they wouldn't have liked it much if Sean was sent to the daycare or boarding school. They would've been worried sick and accused Carla of being an irresponsible older sister.

She knew quite well that she could probably earn a bit more if she just stayed working for Karen. Nevertheless, she had to earnestly plan for her own future. It was a decent job, and there was nothing wrong with it. But that Pizza delivery stint wouldn't be able to give her that much of a chance to go further in life.

Carla spent the whole morning fixing her resume and sending some out to companies that she had shown a bit of interest in. When she looked up and took a glance at the clock hanging on the wall to check what time it was, she realized she had to hurry up and get changed because she shouldn't be late for the parents' meeting for Sean.

Although the parents' meeting was actually held biannually, Sean just loved it so much whenever his sister was in his classroom. Being the breadwinner for their family of two, it wasn't easy for Carla as the eldest daughter to sustain a living after losing their parents. Thus, she always got applauded a lot by the other parents. It made him feel extremely proud of her, and at the same time, it also made her proud in a way.

Upon arriving at the school, Carla found out that the teacher had arranged an event for students to showcase their talents or the things they had learned. A bunch of them were singing, dancing, while some had also prepared presentations. Their teacher made sure that every student got their own opportunity to walk up to the stage, shine bright, and display their talents and skills.

Sitting amongst the parents in the crowd, Carla was as anxious as the others to see her little Sean's show. 'What could he have possibly prepared?' Carla curled her lips up into a smile, not being able to to contain her excitement. After all, Sean didn't mention anything about this to her, so she was a little surprised as well.

However, when it was finally Sean's turn to get on the stage, he looked outright nervous. He couldn't bring himself to walk up to the stage.

His face suddenly went pale and his legs were noticeably shivering. But after a brief moment, he somewhat managed to pull himself together, coughing to clear his throat. 'Here it goes. Come on, Sean! I know you can do it!' Carla tried cheering Sean up by wearing a huge smile from ear to ear.

The moment of truth had come. Sean was going to do a presentation, and it was entitled, "My Favorite Person."

Little Sean cleared his throat again for one last time and began introducing his presentation.

"My favorite person is a man called Terence An. He treated as if I were his own brother. But someday, he is actually going to be my brother-in-law.

From the bottom of my heart, I honestly think he is a man that had been made to perfection. He patiently taught me how to play basketball well and tutored me with my homework. During his spare time, he also gladly played games with me even though I was much younger than him. I really think that he is the coolest guy in the world! This summer, my sister had actually brought me to the city he lived in—JA City. He took me along to a lot of places, including the beach, some fancy restaurants, and most importantly, he let me stay in his huge villa by the sea! The house is extremely beautiful and the beds are so big and comfortable..."

Just as Sean was presenting, the people in the crowd watching him began laughing. They were all laughing at him.

Most of the people present were aware of Sean's living condition. They knew his parents had passed away when he was still so little and his sister had been the only one taking care of him ever since. They didn't believe a single word from his presentation. They brushed it off as the musings of a little child.

"Hey, Sean, does this Terence An you've been telling us about belong to the most famous family—the Ans—in JA City?" Some parents at that school also came from wealthy families as well; thus, when they heard the last name, they instantly associated him with the famous Ans in JA City. However, their voice contained sarcasm and Sean was yet too young to understand all of that.

Sean paused for a second, answering in earnest, "Yeah! How did you know? Could it be you've also met him before? Terence is the third child in his family. They even called him the young master! I know he will marry my sister one day. And he is not only my future brother-in-law, but he is also the person I aspire to be, and he's my real hero!"

"Haha, haha..."

"Jeremy, were you listening? Did you hear what he just said? He said Mr. Terence An is going to be his brother-in-law. This joke could possibly be the best that I have ever heard. Haha, I can laugh all day about this!" the crowd began spouting out nasty comments toward little Sean.

"Sean! If what you've said was true, why don't you ask this 'brother-in-law' of yours to come for the parents' meeting? Also, if he really was who you described him to be, how come he didn't notice your beaten-down sneakers that are almost falling apart?"

Some people just continued asking their mean questions, trying to embarrass him even further. They were all doubtful of his story and were merely having the time of their lives making a mockery of this poor little boy. After hearing all of the things they had to say, Sean looked down and stared at his old sneakers. The color had all but faded, and the lines had begun to come out. His nose suddenly stung and he raised his head, staring right at Carla... Helplessly.

At this moment, the teacher finally jumped in to assist him and tried to control the crowd. She said to the children and the parents, "Alright, alright! Let's stop laughing and giving rude remarks. He simply has a dream and a goal, and there is nothing wrong with that. Please stop laughing at him."

Knowing that the teacher didn't really believe him just like the audience present, Sean bit his lips hard and nearly cried, "But this is not a dream. Believe me! Terence is real, and the past summer I spent with him is real!"

It was clear as day that Sean had been terribly affected by all of those hurtful remarks. However, Carla still opted not to stand up for him and try to explain everything to the crowd, knowing full well there was no way they would believe her either. Their mean attitude had also reminded Carla that past was past. It was nothing but a beautiful dream. Though she was desperately holding the urge to save her little brother from this grief, she knew it was the best way to help him forget about Terence.

Sean didn't utter a single word till the end of the parents' meeting, feeling so horrible.

Carla called out his name, and then they silently walked to the bus stop together.

After they got on the bus, Sean mumbled to Carla all of a sudden, "Carla, you know that I was telling the truth in my presentation, right? Terence even gave me his bracelet as a gift. Why didn't you say anything to them?"

Sean gently rubbed the pure black bracelet on his tiny wrist that had been given to him by Terence as a gift.

Carla was taken aback by Sean's reaction, not knowing how to break it to him that Terence came from an entirely different world beyond their reach and that he was now gone from their world for good. Keeping those thoughts to herself, she tried to put on a smile for Sean and responded, "Hey, don't let them get to you. It's not unusual for them to think you were only making things up.

Compared to any other normal person, Terence is a very outstanding guy, like the brightest star in the sky. He's in a place where no one can touch him. That's why the teacher and your audiences didn't believe you."

Sean nodded along to her words, listening carefully and acting as if he understood it. Soon, the cloud on his face was swept away and a smile was put in its place. His eyes started shining brightly again and he confidently said to Carla, "I get it now. But Carla, one day in the future, I will let everybody know that I wasn't lying!"

Carla paused. However, she just couldn't bear to tell him the harsh truth.

She let out a cough as a faint smile faded away just as quickly as it had appeared, telling little Sean, "Maybe."

Not long after that, they arrived at the bus stop near their neighborhood.

Carla and Sean got off the bus. As they were walking toward their building, several fire trucks quickly drove past them to the direction of their neighborhood.

"Oh, my God! Whose house is on fire?!"

"Yeah, what happened?!"

"I heard that it was only a few blocks away. An apartment is on fire. I wonder if there's anyone home. God bless them."

As they were walking past a group of bystanders, Carla overheard their conversation and her heart started racing. Her head started to spin, and without a word, she grasped Sean's hand and ran toward the direction of their apartment. As she was running, she prayed over and over and over again, hoping nothing was happening to their place, and it would be the same as it was when they left it.

"Carla! Thank god you're not home! Oh my god, I was worried that you and Sean might've still been at home!"

Jena was standing outside of the building. As she heard the fire alarm ring crazy several minutes ago, the occupants in the same building flooded down the stairs. And when she turned around and saw Carla running toward the building, she couldn't wait to yell at them, feeling relieved that they were safe and sound.

As Carla was just about to give Jena a response, she noticed that the dense smoke was actually swirling and billowing from their window. The director was busy sending firemen up on the scaling ladder and shooting the water gun into their balcony.

A surge of blood rushed into Carla's head and she couldn't help but burst into tears. Sean had also just realized that the fire was actually emanating from their apartment. As he had never seen such an unsettling scene before in his life, he began sobbing as well.

"Carla! What is happening up there?! I can't understand! Why is our apartment up in flames?!"

Fear and despair filled his meager young heart and he couldn't stop the tears from falling. "No!! No!! All my books and my bed are still in there! No! And the drone Terence gave me was still in there! Carla! Please ask the fire to stop! Carla! I'm begging you!"

Sean went fully hysterical, going out of control, prancing back and forth out of anger, helplessly screaming and shouting. Carla bit her lower lips a bit too hard that blood started to show at the corner of her mouth, as she watched everything fall to pieces and burn to ashes.