Oliver got into the car and drove off without looking back at Nina or Jesse. All the way home, he thought back to the many times after his divorce, when he confided in Cecil or when she comforted him and assured him he would be okay because he was stronger than Imela’s betrayal. The many times she sat there and played the sweet, innocent girl role when, in fact, she was a snake. He took a snake to bed and had been sleeping on the same bed with her for many years. He almost married her!
Fuck!
They said the truth hurt, but they didn’t say how much.
He was mad, and the rage blacked out his vision a few times. Luckily, he didn’t hit anyone. He also didn’t get pulled over, which was good because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop the car in the state he was in–not until he got home.
He arrived home and went inside, not bothering to shut the car door. He came for Cecil, and luckily, she was home. Her stupid music played in the background, and this time, she played the classics.
He heard everything Seth confessed to him, but he wanted to hear it from Cecil’s lips. He wanted to watch her admit the truth to him–admit that she had lied about everything and played him for a fool.
He pushed open the bedroom door, and he found her seated in bed.
She saw him and sprang to her feet, marching towards him, but he didn’t move. “Where have you been all these days when I needed you?”
He couldn’t believe who stood before him, so he ignored her question and asked calmly, “Is it true?”
Her brow narrowed slightly, taken back by his calmness. “Is what true?”
“Is everything that Seth told me true?” he rephrased the question.
She understood what his question meant; it showed on her face. “You’re asking me if everything your crazy junkie of a brother told you is true.” She tried to spin it.
“Do not play with me,” he warned, and underneath his calmness was a boiling rage. “Is. It. True?”
She inhaled, “I do not owe you any answer.” She replied and tried walking away, but he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.
“Answer me, god damnit!” he hissed out in frustration.
“You’re hurting me, Oliver.” She growled at him, her eyes furious.
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He sighed heavily and released her wrist, only to grab her by the neck the next wond and daher ano the wall. “You will answer me when I ask a question. Do you understand may he roared at her. Do you fucking understand me?!”
The bold look she had worn earlier disappeared, and a weak, desperate one appeared when he tightened his grip.
She nodded. “Yes,” she whimpered pathetically.
“Is it true?”
Her lips trembled. “Yes,” she replied, her eyes glassy as breathing became more difficult. She tried to pry his hand, but he didn’t let go, and her struggles were futile.
He let go of his grip and stepped away from her. She collapsed on the floor and took a sharp breath, and her hand ran up to her throat to massage away the pain he had inflicted. It was nothing compared to what she had done to him.
“Get up!” he snapped at her. “Get up and look at me.”
She obeyed and dragged herself up. “I am sorry.”
He bore her no affection whatsoever, but what she did still hurt. “She was your friend; how could you do that?” Seth might have introduced her to his plan, but she took it and ran with it.
She took a step forward, having little pity for her trembling legs. “I love you. I loved you first, but you never saw me, not until I did what I did. I took my chances because it was the only thing I had.”
“You do not lie to the one you love; you do not fool the one you love. I was broken when I found Ela with Seth, and you watched me go through those painful stages, and you knew the truth. You knew she was faithful and didn’t betray me, and you said nothing. I lost my one good thing because of your lies and schemes. You consoled me when, all the while, you put me in that misery.” His teeth gritted, and he stormed towards her, but she stumbled away, trembling fearfully. “You are evil! You know nothing about love, and I want nothing to do with you.” He said and walked to the door.
“I am with your child.” She spoke up, making him pause.
He didn’t turn to her. “I don’t care. I want you out of this house before I get back, or they will take you out in a body bag.” He vowed and walked away.
It did not hurt as it did five years ago; it hurt differently, knowing the truth.
Imela knew the truth, and she told him over and over, but he never believed her. He believed everything else but her. He had been a fool, not because Imela had fooled him but because he had been a jumping into conclusion–without–listening idiot.
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The evidence was glaring, but he should have heard her out. He thought she had made him a fool, but he made himself a fool by believing lies. Ela never lied; she had never lied to him, and he shouldn’t have thought she would.
He couldn’t imagine how she had felt all those years watching him turn his back on her when she needed him the most. She was innocent, and he hurt her. He betrayed her; he betrayed their vows, for better or
worse. He remembered how miserable she looked when she found him with Cecil.
He could never forget the look on her face, even though he didn’t consider her pain. He hurt her that day. She begged him to kill her, and he thought it was because she couldn’t live in the reality she created, but
it was because she didn’t want to live in a world where everyone was against her.
She lost her best friend, and she lost Elena; she lost him.
She had been betrayed by everyone around her, including him. If she was a monster, if she wanted to set his entire world on fire and make him pay, she had every right to do so.
She was the one good thing he had, but he lost her, and now he would never get it back.
Yes, what she went through brought her to her father, but she didn’t deserve everything she went through; no one did.
What she went through made her into the woman she was today.
Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Oliver drove to Lawrence Hospital, where the news reported that Marcel had been since he suffered a heart attack. Knowing everything he knew, he couldn’t go to the Plane Enterprise or the Garcia Group in search of her; this was the best place to find her.
He got down and made his way into the hospital with a heavily beating heart. A few reporters turned their cameras on him, but he didn’t care about that and answered none of their questions as he walked inside, which was easier said than done.
He approached the nurse at the counter for directions to where Marcel García was, and he followed the instructions she gave. He was here for Imela, but asking for Marcel’s ward would make it easier.
He walked through the hallway to the ward and saw Ela step out, holding Ocean’s hand.
His heart skipped at their sight, and everything else slowed.
Seth didn’t speak about Ocean, but Oliver didn’t need him to. The little angel was his son. This brave young soldier came out of the love he and Ela once shared. She was his mother, and he was his father. He
couldn’t call himself a father when he was never in Ocean’s life. He had to earn that title.
He missed four years of his life because of what they did to him–what he did to himself for choosing
everyone but Imela. Four years that he would never get back.
He took a step towards her, and she paused in her step, watching him, and she no longer had the anger
and resentment she usually did. Something had changed within her, and it showed.
“What are you doing here, Oliver?” She broke the silence that had weighed over them for over a minute
to ask.
“I am sorry.” He said, and she stared at him blankly.
“For what?” She raised a brow, and he realised he wasn’t being specific; there was a lot he had to be sorry
for, one of which was storming out days ago the way he did.
“For everything.” He replied, adding, “Seth told me everything. I don’t know where to begin, but I am
sorry.”
Her eyes flickered, aware of what that meant, and she pressed her lips together. “It doesn’t matter
anymore, Oliver.” She said in a small voice. “You should leave.”
“He does matter to me, and I can’t leave yet. I came to ask for your forgiveness for everything I did. I was a fool, and I was cruel. There is no excuse for what I did to you, to us. I was the man who swore to protect you from the world, and not only did I fail in keeping that promise, but I hurt you just like the rest did. I
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