Chapter 3

ARIANA

“Maybe you should stay back one more day? It won't hurt.” Mom said, following me to where my car was parked vertically in the driveway.

I'd parked it wrongly last night when I drove in, blind with tears. I spent the night in my old room with her arms around me, consoling me till morning.

But now was the time to head back home and prove my truth to them. “No, mom. I need to call Gabriel and have him speak to Zayde. I don't care if they are rivals or not. I need to clear my name.”

She sighed with a facepalm, wrapping her sleeping robe around her again. “With the way you described the situation last night, I doubt he'd want to listen to you. And his mother —”

“Oh she can go fuck herself. I'm married to Zayde, not her.”

She gave me a gentle smile. “Why don't I come along before she tries anything else stupid? Nobody gets the right to touch my daughter. Give me a minute, baby.”

I put out a hand to stop her. “No, mom. I'll be fine. It won't be like last night. Nothing will go wrong on my watch. Don't worry.”

Her brows furrowed to express the exact worry. “Are you sure? It won't take two minutes. I'll rinse off and change into something quick.”

“Mom?” She muttered something under her breath and walked back into the house. “Mom! I'll be fine. This is something I need to handle alone. It's my marriage we're talking about. If there's anything goes wrong, I'll call you immediately.”

“Are you sure?” She drew near to me, brushing her fingers through my hair, before she pulled me into a big hug. One last one for support. “Call me when you get home, baby.”

I nodded as my response clogged in my throat, then we pulled apart. I bade goodbye and got into my car.

Back on the highway, my phone pinged with a notification. It was from an anonymous sender. Curious, I opened it. A picture. I clicked on it with slightly shaking hands.

My heart plummeted to several depths when I saw the pictures. It was Zayde. With Isabella. His freaking ex! In one photo, his lips were on hers and in another, she knelt in front of him with his pants down.

My breath caught in my chest as the missing pieces of the puzzle started to come together. No wonder he'd insisted on picking her up from the airport when she first came to this city two weeks ago.

No wonder she'd visited earlier today, pretending she wanted to see his mother. They'd been seeing each other. Behind my back and before my very eyes.

Tears blurred my vision as rage and heartbreak swirled in my chest. I gripped the steering wheel tighter and changed my route, heading back to my mother's instead of home.

I placed a call to my mom to notify her before I showed up but the moment her voice floated out of the receiver, my lips wobbled.

“Hello, Mom.” I sniffled back tears.

“Ariana, is everything okay?” Her voice was filled with worry.

Before I could respond, headlights flooded my vision and a truck barreled toward me. It’s horn hooted and blared but it didn't slow down.

Fucking hell! I swerved. The brakes gave out and that was when I knew it wasn’t going to end well for me.

“Ari? What's happening? Are you… what's that?” My mother's distorted voice came again.

“Mom—” I screamed when the truck got closer and my feet stomping on the brakes would not cause any effect.

The call cut off as the impact hit. My life's memories flashed before my eyes.

Glass exploded around me, slicing into my skin. Pain erupted in my side, my head snapping forward before everything faded to black. The last thing I felt was the warmth of blood trickling down my face and the faint echo of my mother's voice fading away.

~~~

I woke up to a sharp pain in my head and a soft familiar voice calling my name. My eyes fluttered open, and the blurry figure of my mother hovered over me.

Why the hell was she crying?

I tried to sit up but my efforts were only met with wired objects attached to my skin and holding me still.

“You're awake,” she whispered hoarsely. Her voice broke. “Thank God, you're alive. I thought I'd lost you.”

I blinked, disoriented. Something felt wrong. I tried to speak but my throat was dry. “Did I…die? Am I in heaven?”

She shook her head quickly, her hand brushing my cheek. Her face was distraught, even her smile looked forced. “No, honey, you're still here. You've been in a coma for three weeks after an accident.”

“An accident?” I processed the words slowly, confusion clouding my mind. “What…happened? Where's my husband? Where's Zayde?”

She turned around to grab her bag and with trembling fingers, she reached into it to pull out a set of papers.

“Zayde,” I continued regardless, struggling to sit up even though my strength failed me. “Where is he?”

Her face tightened with regret and she shook her head. “He… he's not here. He filed for a divorce, Ariana. On the night of your accident, he'd tried to reach out to you about it but was unable to get to you. So, he sent his Mom to hand me the papers. I couldn't bring myself to tell him about the accident.”

The words didn't register at first, and then my brain kicked into overdrive, recalling every single thing. The cheating allegations by Zayde and his mother against me. The photo of Zayde with Isabella. Calling my mom right after. The truck.

“No!” I gasped. “No. This can't be happening.”

My mother handed me the papers, her voice trembling as she explained. “It says here…he's accusing you of infidelity. He claims there's evidence of you and Gabriel…touching, kissing in public.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “He's lying,” I hissed as my heart hammered hard in my chest and my head banged with pain. “He's the one who broke our marriage vows. He's the one sneaking around behind my back. Oh my God!”

“I…I don't understand,” she said.

The details of that day remained as vivid as ever. “When I was driving home, I got an anonymous message that included photos of Zayde and his ex girlfriend.”

“And he also accused you of cheating with Gabriel? Something is definitely not adding up somewhere.”

I laid back gingerly, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how I'd gone wrong in all of this. How was I the victim and now being accused?

My mother's hand enveloped mine and she wiped her eyes. “It doesn't matter now.”

I raised the divorce papers up to my view again.

“He didn't even wait until you were conscious enough to sign this.” She was angry and she had never been this moved to anger. “No decency. He filed it while you were in a coma, Ariana. How eager was he to get rid of you?”

The tears I'd been holding back spilled out of my eyes. “At least his mother would be satisfied now. She had always wanted Isabella for a daughter in-law and never failed to compare us both.”

She reached out to touch my face gently but I couldn't feel her hands. I was too numb with pain. “I'm so sorry you had to go through this, Ari. I know this is hard.”

I nodded, feeling the weight of the betrayal in every inch of my body. But the rage—burning hot and relentless in my chest like molten lava over spilling to reduce everything else to a crisp.

Heaven help me.

The door opened and a man on white coat stepped in. His eyes danced around the room little before they came to settle on me.

He smiled at me whilst still oozing professionalism.

“Ah, you're awake,” he noted, his eyes lighting up. “Your mother had done nothing but stay by your side and pray. Her prayers were answered.”

I said nothing in response.

“I’m glad you've made progress. But there's been some real damage to your face from the accident. If you noticed, it's why you've got the bandages.”

I hadn't even noticed the bandages. I reached up, feeling the rough texture of the gauze. “How long until I heal?”

“A few months at least,” he said. “But they'll leave a lot of scars. You'll carry them with you.”

Scars? Why did I have to bear the scars? This was all Zayde's fault. I had this accident because of him. My marriage was falling apart now because of him.

The storm inside me was raging so much I wanted to hurl something across the room. “No,” I whispered fiercely.

“No?” The doctor echoed.

“I can't bear scars. I can't…I won't. I don't need memories tethering me to this unfortunate day. I need to be flawless again.”

The doctor hesitated before speaking again. “Well in that case, there is surgery. If you want, we can start the process. We can make sure you heal properly.”

I looked at my mother and she nodded, squeezing my hand so tenderly. “Whatever you choose, I'm with you every step of the way. You deserve to toss the remainder of bad memories away and feel good about yourself.”

And afterwards, I would ruin Zayde and his mother inside out, so much that they'll crawl and beg for my mercy.