Chapter 0005

After Winter fell asleep, Gerald spent a few more hours in her hospital room, attempting to work on his laptop. It was fruitless; the little fiasco with Desiree had left his mind messed up.

He also probably needed a little sleep since he hadn't slept much recently, but he didn't want to leave Winter alone, especially now that Desiree had discovered where she was.

A knock sounded on the door, and it opened a few seconds later to reveal Rafael, one of Gerald's best friends.

"Please come to my office, Gerald. I need to speak with you," Rafael said calmly, turned instantly, and left.

Gerald closed his laptop and got up with a sigh, having an idea of what Rafael wanted to talk about. He followed Rafael into his office.

"What happened today, Gerald?" Rafa asked as soon as Gerald stepped into the office, sounding a bit annoyed. "The nurses said you and some other woman were screaming in Winter's room.”

Nodding, Gerald slumped into one of the visitor chairs in the office with another sigh.

Rafa stared at him.. "What happened, man?”

“I need you to do something, Rafael." Gerald said instead of answering, leaning his elbows on Rafael's desk. “I want you to switch Winter into another room.”

“You want me to send her to another room? Why?" Rafael's brows pulled together in a grimace. “Dude, what is going on? Why was there screaming inside Winter's room? And who was that extra woman with you in there?”

"It was Desiree,"

"Oh, she finally found out that Winter is awake?" Rafa inquired, settling into his swivel chair. "Was that why she was upset? I told you to tell her, Gerald. I never even understood why you insisted on keeping it from Desiree."

"Because I didn't want Desiree to hurt Winter any more than she has already done."

A frown marred Rafael's face. "Hurt Winter? Why would Desiree hurt Winter?"

Reclining into the chair, Gerald finally informed his friend about what had been going on for a while. "Rafael, it was Desiree who tried to kill Winter.”

Rafael stared at him. "What? What are you talking about, dude?"

Gerald explained, "Desiree was the one who ran Winter over with a car. She's the reason why Winter fell into a coma."

Silence reigned for some seconds before a chuckle of disbelief left Rafael's mouth. "Dude, what the heck? Is this some kind of joke?"

Annoyed, Gerald just stared at him coolly until Rafael figured out that it couldn't be a joke if he was the only one laughing. Once he figured that out, his eyebrows raised incredulously as he said,

"Those are very serious claims, man. Who told you that? Winter?"

"Yes."

Rafael snorted. "Well, I'm sorry, Gerald. I know you trust Winter and all, but these claims are wild. This is Desiree we're talking about. She can't even hurt a fly. How could you even believe that she would think of killing a human being?"

Gerald nodded slowly. He could understand his friend's shock and disbelief because he'd had the same reaction when Winter first told him about it.

He ran a rough hand through his hair. "That's exactly what I thought when Winter first told me, Rafa. I thought it was all some kind of grand confusion, and Winter was mistaken about what she saw. Until I saw the video."

Curiosity lit through Rafael's disbelief. "Which video?"

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Gerald played the video and handed the phone over to Rafael. He watched as a variety of emotions played on Rafael's face, from shock to confusion to denial.

After the video was done, Rafael looked up at Gerald and asked, "Where did you get this video, Gerald?"

"You remember that after the accident, the CCTV camera in that area had been conveniently off for maintenance, which was why the police were never able to find out who ran Winter over with the car?" Gerald questioned and continued when Rafael nodded,

"After Winter told me everything, I had Patrick, my assistant, do some investigations. Turns out the cameras weren't off for maintenance like the guy said. After we threatened him with some things, he finally coughed up that Desiree paid him very well to delete the video and lie to the police. But the bastard didn't delete the video." He chuckled a bit. "He was obviously looking forward to blackmailing Desiree for money in the future."

"Oh my God! Desiree?" Rafael exclaimed, looking like the information being handed out to him was too much and too shocking to absorb at once. "So what are you going to do? Are you going to report the guy for withholding the CCTV footage from the police?"

Gerald shook his head instantly. "Of course not. Reporting him would mean incriminating Desiree as well, and that's not something I want."

Silence reigned for about a minute in which Rafael stared at Gerald with such a knowing look that Gerald snapped, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You still care about Desiree, don't you?" Rafael asked. "That's why you don't want to report her even though you believe she's guilty."

Gerald stared back at his best friend, not knowing what to say or how he was feeling for that matter. Everything was so confusing to him. After everything Desiree had done, he should be hating her.

First, she'd practically forced him to marry her. There was nothing Gerald resented more than arranged marriages or any kind of relationship of convenience. His parents had gotten married just to satisfy a business arrangement. They'd given birth to him like he was an obligation they needed to fulfill, forcing him to grow up in a home where there was no love between his parents.

Because of that, he never believed in love, and it was never his intention to get married. Sure, he could've refused to marry Desiree, but at that time, his father had been mounting pressure on him, threatening to strip him of his rights as an heir if he didn't marry Desiree.

Gerald had always refused because he'd only ever seen Desiree as a little sister. He'd expected Desiree to also refuse to marry him, so when she also insisted on marrying him after helping to save Winter's life, he'd felt like he had no other choice but to agree.

Yet, despite that and also finding out that Desiree was the one who tried to kill Winter, he couldn't hate her. Somehow, he felt like it was his fault. She'd been such a good person until she fell in love with him.

"So what now? Are you going to divorce Desiree?" Rafael asked.

Gerald stared at him like he was crazy for even asking that question. "Of course I'm going to divorce her. I'm going to move out of the house and leave it to her if that's what she wants. I just don't want her trying to hurt Winter again."

"Damn," Rafael said in wonder. "I never thought this could get this messed up. You and Desiree were such a perfect couple."

That made a brief, bitter chuckle leave Gerald's mouth. "No, we weren't. Even if I hadn't found out that it was Desiree who ran over Winter, she and I would've never worked. We should've never gotten married in the first place. The only reason why I married her was because she saved Winter's life and I felt obligated to fulfill her wish, plus the pressure from my father. But I never loved her and I never will even if Winter isn't around."

A knock sounded on the door, and Rafael's administrative assistant walked in. She was a fine, beautiful young woman. She was carrying a coffee cup.

“Good morning, doc. Here's your coffee.” She beamed at Rafael and smiled politely at Gerald before she set the plastic cup in front of Rafael.

“Thank you, Beatrice," Rafael said and turned to Gerald. “Would you like her to get you one?”

Gerald shook his head. “No, thanks."

“Well then excuse me," Beatrice said and turned to leave.

Gerald didn't miss how their eyes met ever so briefly before Beatrice walked out, and he vaguely wondered whether there was something going on between Rafael and his administrative assistant.

“So what are you going to do after the divorce?” Rafael asked after taking a large sip of his coffee.

“I'm going to bring Winter to live with me.”

Rafael nearly spluttered out the coffee he'd just sipped. “What? That quick? Tell me, what's next? You're going to marry her next week?” He said sarcastically.

Gerald glared at him. “Winter doesn't have anyone, remember? She grew up in an orphanage, and she wouldn't have anyone to go to in her condition. Besides, all this is my fault. If she hadn't met me, then Desiree wouldn't have tried to kill her and she wouldn't have ended up in a coma.” He hated that he felt the need to explain himself.

“Oh, God. Are you even listening to yourself?” Rafael stared at him in astonishment. “You keep using that excuse that she doesn't have anyone. That's the same reason why you found it hard to break up with her one year ago. Sounds like some kind of manipulation.”

“It's not manipulation," Gerald said through gritted teeth.

“What? Are you telling me that you're in love with her now?”

For some reason, the question irritated Gerald. Shooting to his feet, he glared down at his best friend. “Are you going to do what I asked? I want Winter moved to another room. I'll pay whatever.”

“You know money is not the issue." Rafa rolled his eyes. “Winter has made a lot of progress. I was even thinking of having her discharged in a few days, so honestly, I don't see the need to move her to another room. But if you think her life is in danger, then I'll do what you're asking.”

“Thank you.” Gerald nodded curtly before walking out.

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“Good evening, sir.” The maids greeted as Gerald walked into his house.

He nodded slightly and greeted back, “Good evening."

“It's been a while since we saw you. Glad you're back, sir.” The head maid, Lola, said. “Do you want us to serve you dinner?”

“No, Lola. Thank you. I'm going upstairs to speak with Desiree." Gerald informed her. He noticed the maids exchange looks among themselves but he didn't pay much attention to it as he walked on upstairs.

He came because he wanted to calmly talk things through with Desiree, and finally get her to sign the divorce papers without any issues. He wanted things to end as quietly as possible. Otherwise, he would have to drag her to court and that would turn into a huge scandal, something he wanted to avoid.

On entering his and Desiree's bedroom, an ominous feeling hit him instantly. She wasn't there, but that wasn't what struck him. It was the fact that the feminine decorations that made the room so lovely were all gone, leaving it almost feeling bare.

“Desiree.” He called out as he walked towards the bathroom door, knocked on it, and entered. She wasn't there either. Walking out, he felt a premonition to check their walk-in closet, and he froze! All her things were gone together with her suitcases.

His chest felt heavy for some reason as he walked out of the closet. That was when he noticed the papers on the nightstand. He recognized them immediately as the divorce papers. Picking the document up, he flipped through the few pages, realizing that she'd signed on every necessary page.

He'd offered her an alimony of 200 million dollars, but she'd cancelled it out and signed against the amendment.

With the papers in hand, he went out of the room and headed downstairs. “Lola?" He called out the head maid.

“Yes, sir?" She responded as she walked out of the kitchen.

“When did Desiree leave?" He questioned.

“This afternoon," Lola responded. “I'm sorry, Mr. Butler. I wanted to tell you when you were going upstairs but you didn't respond when I said your name.”

“It's okay,” Gerald said and nodded almost like he was in a daze.

He was still in shock. Desiree had been so hell-bent on not divorcing him that he'd thought that he would have to fight harder to finally convince her to sign the divorce papers. But she'd signed them and left so easily without making another fuss.

Why did she change her mind so quickly?