Breathe
By, Lizzie
Sometimes things don't always turn out the way you want them to. And sometimes the only thing you can do is hold on tight and just breathe.
"Hello Charlotte."
It was strange how those two little words could completely devastate her life. To tell the truth, it really wasn't fair either. She didn't really lie; her name was, legally, Reese Marshall. She hadn't been Charlotte Reese Roberts for a very long time. The only reason she kept the name Reese was that she was rather attached to it, as it was the one thing she had left of her mother.
Still, she hadn't told the truth either. Well, actually, most of the things she had said had been a lie. Or had a lie in it somewhere. She hadn't lied about Jamie or about loving Sonny and his children. Those were all true. Most of the lies were lies of omission. Like Evan. And her past.
Evan was the most dangerous lie she'd told. Actually, the most dangerous thing she'd ever done was agree to marry him. Nineteen and stupid, she had jumped right in. He'd promised her the one thing she'd dreamed of; unconditional, true love. Unfortunately, his love had a high price to pay. She didn't remember exactly when things began to get bad between them but she remembered exactly when things got dangerous.
She had been so happy when she found out. She always wanted a family. One that was actually about love and not money. But, Evan hadn't wanted a baby and he tried to force her into an abortion. She had said no and for a while things seemed to be going well between them. He had seemed happy about the baby at first. Then he started drinking. One night, when she was about six months pregnant, he came home drunk. And angry. They got into a fight at the top of the stairs and the next thing she knew, she was in the hospital. Her baby girl had died when she fell.
Things didn't get better after that. If anything, they got worse. One day, she got so sick she had to go to the hospital. He had been poisoning her for a while and she hadn't known. But her baby was okay. She had been genuinely shocked but this would be her miracle child. She would not let anyone hurt this baby. Ever. As soon as Evan was in prison, she had her name legally changed and she relocated to a small town in Virginia.
Then Jamie went missing. They found his body a few days later. She hadn't wanted to go on but she had to. In Jamie's memory. So she had joined the FBI to help find missing children. Then she got the file on Sonny Corinthos and she had been so angry with Caroline. Thinking about it now, she didn't even know why. Did she blame Caroline for the accident? For Evan? For the hell her life became when she found out she had no money? She found this more confusing than it was worth at the moment.
Reese wasn't aware of the sobs that wracked her body or the man standing at the doorway. She became aware of him when he wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay." He whispered as he kissed the top of her head.
She doubted it but for the moment she would let Sonny comfort her. The guilt of another lie of omission knotted in her stomach but she would worry about that later. Right now the only thing she could do was hold on tight and just breathe. If she could manage that, she'd be okay. Maybe.