Chapter 004: The sacrifices

"I don't want to die, I want to live long by your side. I want to carry our children and have a perfect family."

 Felix mumbled softly on the bed with the paper still in his hand.

Lyra closed her eyes as she listened to him because his words were yet again re-echoing the deep wishes of her heart. The same thing that drove her to take such a drastic move in the first place.

"I desire that too, Felix." She whispered from where she stood, gazing straight at him so he could see the sincerity in her eyes.

   "Trust me, I do. And I know we will surely get the money they are asking for. I won't let you die."

Felix nodded weakly on the bed. But then, after a second, he slowly brought the paper to his face again.

    "This contract, I think it's not that bad. It's just two years. It's God giving us a chance." He remarked, fixing his eyes on the first page.

Lyra inhaled and shook her head in calm disagreement.

"Two years is a lot, Felix. I can't live without you for that long."

Felix coughed, and the sound of it was dry and throaty.

"Sorry, dear,"  Lyra said, touching him lightly on the leg.

"It's fine." He said, clearing his throat properly before he continued with what he was saying.

  "It won't be a problem." He reiterated, looking up again to meet her gaze.

"Okay, look at it this way. After the operation, I will still be in Silver City; Alive... healthy. We could even be seeing ourselves secretly. You can tell him I'm your brother. After two years, then we get back together and live our normal lives again." 

 He let out a rare smile that was still tainted by the evident fatigue of his sickly face before he went on to add;

   

"We could even use the remaining 500 thousand dollars to set up our joint fashion brand. Isn't that what we have always dreamt of?”

Lyra paused for a moment in a bid to give his suggestion a little more thought, but before she could even go far, another dart of worry struck her heart in that instant.

"But what if he finds out we are married?" She thought aloud.

 Felix looked at her and looked away. Then he exhaled, sitting up slowly on his bed and allowing his face to go silently sober for a few longer seconds, probably because of how serious what he was going to say next was. 

Indeed, when he was fully sitting up, he opened his mouth and made an even more shocking suggestion.

"Let's get divorced then. Let's just do it." 

He repeated, and when he noticed the cloud of despair already enveloping Lyra's face, he emphasized further on their getting back together to soothe her nerves.

"Remember it would only last for two years, honey. I will not just be able to live again, but we will also get back together and return to our normal lives."

Lyra folded her arms, still looking quite skeptical and confused.

    "This is not easy." She whispered without looking at him.

  "It's not." She repeated.

A difficult silence ensued after that, with the two of them apparently lost in thoughts. Suddenly, the sniffing from Felix on the bed punctured the silence and drew Lyra's attention to his direction.

   "I…I just wanted to prove them wrong this once in my life." He sobbed.

  "I just wanted to prove my family wrong and make them see that I made the right choice by marrying you. And that I could do well without their support."

Lyra felt heartbroken to see him cry. She brought her arms together and moved towards him quietly, sitting right next to him once she was close enough.

   Then, with a low voice, she said.

   "I'm scared, Felix, but if things go wrong, won't you leave me?"

Felix lifted his wet face to meet her gentle patient stare. They locked eyes. Then, without batting an eyelid, Felix drew closer and took her hand, covering it up with his.

"I swear to you, Lyra. I will never let you down. If you give me this second chance at life, then I promise you my life because you own it. I will never betray you."

"Really?" Lyra's voice was so much more tender now. 

"I promise." He swore, crossing his heart. Then he leaned forward to press his cracked lips onto hers. They shared a quick kiss and wrapped their arms over each other in a tight hug, muttering loving words to themselves and crying together.

A few minutes later, the two of them concluded and placed a call to Felix’s best friend, Michael, who was also a lawyer.

 

Later that afternoon, Michael arrived at the ward. They both agreed that he would process the divorce since Felix had informed him of the plan, too.

Michael smiled when he saw her. He embraced her with a tight-lipped expression that portrayed understanding.

"How have you been coping?" He asked after they disengaged.

"Well, let's just say we are still alive." She replied, hugging herself.

 

Michael presented the divorce papers, and they both issued their respective signatures.  The atmosphere between them was silent and heavy with meaning. Felix and Lyra sealed the moment with another long kiss and embrace, while Michael hovered over them with satisfied eyes.

A few moments after the exchange of signatures, Lyra called Dante to inform him that she was ready to take the deal.

    "Good, meet me at the Diamond district registry tomorrow by 10 am." He said.

   "Alright." She responded after a quick swallow.

"Dress well," Dante added before ending the call. 

After the call, Michael patted Lyra on the shoulder and said;

"You look tired already. Just go home to catch some rest and prepare. I will stay back here with Felix.” He said.

Lyra thanked him and kissed Felix on the cheek before heading out of the building with a stiff inflexible gait.

Lyra did not go straight to the house after she left. Instead, she stopped by at her friend Aria's place. She related everything to her, including her divorce with Felix and the contract marriage she was planning with Dante to save Felix's life.

"You're not serious. Tell me you're joking?" Aria asked, looking at her incredulously.

Lyra maintained her silence, looking away to show she wasn't joking.

Aria clapped furtively and kissed her fist in disbelief.

 "And you're just telling me this, Lyra. I mean, how could you do this? It was such a desperate move. Too fast. Too fast if you ask me." She had chastised while Lyra kept her head bowed, knowing fully well that she was going to react that way.

After venting for a few more minutes, Aria stopped to look at Lyra a little more meekly. Finally, she exhaled and shrugged, sitting beside her on the armchair.

  "Well, you did what you had to do. I would have advised against it. But now that you have gone this far. I guess I  have no choice but to stand by you. What is important is saving Felix's life after all." She added.

Lyra looked up slowly with relief. And slowly again, she drew closer to Aria and embraced her without saying a word. Aria hugged her back, tapping her back gently and repeatedly 

   "He will be fine." She echoed softly.

The following morning. Aria made Lyra's face up, as the latter dressed up in one of her white spotless gowns, rocking a silvery pair of high heels and looking gorgeous in a way that she had not done for a while now.  

Aria drove her to the Diamond registry as directed by Dante, and at the time they arrived, it was just  25 minutes past 9.

   Dante was waiting at the front of the registers when he saw the alluring figure of Lyra. 

Her curvy figure, her glowing skin, her perfectly symmetrical face.

Unlike the first time he met her, he settled down to observe her looks closely. She was surprisingly an incredibly beautiful woman, sporting a body one would practically kill for.

   "So she is this beautiful?" He found himself asking in his thoughts.

  When she was close enough, he took her hand gently and whispered into her ears calmly.

   "Let's go take our vow.”