Love is the Sunshine novel Chapter 55

Carla's eyes had reddened out of emotional pain. She couldn't help her tears from rolling down her cheeks like an endless brook of sadness. She desperately yelled deep inside her mind, 'Why! This is our only home. Why would you do this to us!' Sean was still crying out loud by her side. However, nothing could be done. Slowly, she wiped her tears away and raised her head, staring at the thick black smoke coming out from the balcony while grinding her teeth in fury.

It took the firefighters several hours until the fire was put out.

After a duration that seemed like a year, Sean was exhausted. Carla remained in her position and she was still sobbing in unbearable pain. She couldn't think of any reason why their home would be set on fire by anyone.

She thought over and over again. Every time before she left home, she would always check on the gas and turn off the electricity because Sean was always home alone. She had to make sure that her brother was safe when he was alone by himself.

But, how did all this happen?

When she went out this afternoon, she remembered that she had done her routine check on the gas and electricity. 'What caused the fire?' she wondered.

After a while, people standing in front of the building had returned to their home as their spontaneous curiosity began to fade. Carla forced herself went upstairs with Sean. As soon as they arrived in front of their door, Carla stopped. Everything in there had been burned to ashes except for the silver frame of the sofa and the TV. It was a terrible scene in every aspect.

She had repeatedly told herself to face it with bravery on her way up; however, the debris of what was once their beloved home had cast a spell on her. She couldn't budge an inch.

Sean had stopped crying before they came up to the building. Maybe his tears had ran out. After seeing their sweet home burned out to ruins, he couldn't help but burst into tears again. He sniffled as he asked his sister, "Carla...Oh no... Oh no... Carla, where will we go..."

It was perhaps too much for a ten-year-old kid to witness his home crumble into nothing. He ran into Carla's arms and cried intensely, forcing himself to forget the ruined place he once called "home".

"Dear Sean, listen. It doesn't matter as long as we are fine. Wherever we are, that's where our home will be." She managed to wipe away his tears and put her hands on his cheeks, as she whispered, "Sean, remember how I always complained about our tiny home? I always wanted to buy a bigger place. Don't you always want a study room? When I have enough money, I will buy one of those houses with a big study room so you can put all your books in there. I promise you!"

Carla struggled to not give away her fears to Sean and locked her teary eyes with Sean's. She knew that Sean was everything she had right now as she patted on his shoulder gently, trying to encourage her little brother and ease his tension.

"Mm, but Carla... this is our home. I like it here than anywhere else..." Sean mewled. New teardrops began to appear from his reddened eyes.

Carla gently wiped his tears again and sighed. She told Sean, "Hey, what goes around comes back around. I don't want to leave here too. But we don't have a choice, do we? Sean, let's be brave. There will always be a place for us. There always will be.

Stay here. I will check around to see if anything is intact. Would you wait for me here?" Sean looked up to Carla and nodded with tears flowing down his little face. Carla stroke his head gently and walked inside their apartment.

Carla looked around at the gate. She was hoping to find something that was left unburned but she failed. Everything was burned down and not a single piece of the apartment was fit for use.

For Carla, the fire was one of the most startling incident in her life. Her entire home had crumbled into dust in a matter of seconds.

It was a heart wrenching moment for her to watch her room and her belongings burnt.

She calculated the entire loss in her head and reckoned that it would take an exorbitant amount of money to recover her apartment. Also, in order to fix the interior and to refurnish the place, it would require even more amount.

Carla knew her financial situation. She wouldn't have enough money for the redecoration and refurnishing. Life really hadn't been easy on her lately.

At this very moment, she regretted returning the ownership of the business shops. If it wasn't for her pride, they should have collected enough rent to rebuild their home soon enough.

She also questioned her choice and wondered that if she should have agreed to be Terence's girlfriend and did what he had asked, at least she would have someone to count on at this moment. Even if Terence eventually realized that she wasn't the one, she could have at least got some compensation from their relationship. Such thoughts flooded her head, which made her gasp for breath. 'Maybe if I had swallowed my pride, Sean would not have been crying for a home right now...' Tears started rolling down her cheeks again but all she could do was to stand there. She at least had to pretend be to strong at this moment for Sean's sake.

'If I hadn't been too stubborn and selfish, the shops would have been enough to earn me the required money to afford another place like this.' She hated herself for only considering herself instead of putting Sean on top of everything.

The endless pursuit of thoughts in her head ended up regretting every decisions she has made in her life and she began weeping like a little child.

She couldn't control her heart anymore. She asked God over and over again why would such a thing happened to her but she didn't seem to get a reply.

This moment, she was at her most fragile state, ever.

When the sun turned orange-red, preparing to set for the day, she stopped weeping and began to find a place for Sean. It was past his bedtime. Since the fire came unexpectedly, Carla didn't have enough time to rent another apartment. Therefore, she decided to stay in a hotel and think about the housing afterwards.

When they found somewhere suitable at a reasonable price, she would take Sean there and designate it as her temporary "home".

Luckily, she brought her purse earlier so that all her cards and ID were alongside her at her disposal.

Though she didn't have much money left on her account, it was enough to pay for their stay in a hotel.

Meanwhile, in a villa at the JA City, with an incredible view of the beach, "Mr. Terence." Rainer walked into the study room and called the young man.

"Yes?"

Terence didn't raise his head as he responded. He was sitting on the couch with his eyes fixed on a French grammar book.

"Um Mr. Terence, our informant at the BH City has reported that Miss Carla's place caught a fire around three o'clock this afternoon. But Miss Carla is fine. She was out for her brother's parents' meeting at school so that she and her brother avoided being hurt, fortunately. The cause of the fire has not yet been identified."