BEATRICE:My chest felt like there were a ton of rocks inside it. What a freaking bastard. How could he hide that very important thing to me? What if I allowed him to kiss that night? That would make me a mistress! I did not have any plans to compete with any woman at all!What if Christina was not here to tell me about that? What if I was blindly believing all my ex-husband words? "How could you, Drake?" My voice shook at the end due to his betrayal. "Beatrice. Let me explain. I will try to make you understand. That woman…I will tell you the whole story. Please allow me to talk to you."I did not know if I had the heart to listen to him after holding that important information from me. I did not know I was the only one who was left in the dark. When I was suffering, he was in the arms of the woman whom he truly loved. Christina scoffed while my chest felt like it was being ripped into a million pieces. When I was slowly trying to open myself to him, then I had to discover his be
73BEATRICE:I stared at the ceiling, while sleep had been elusive. No matter how many times I tossed in bed, I just could not find the right position to be sleeping now.My body was tired, but it refused to sleep.Until now, I was thinking of Drake's secret.How could he hide it from me? Was it because he was scared that if I found out, I would hide Grayson away from him? After what he did, how could I not do it? If he keeps on lying to me like that, how could I trust him?You don't have to trust him. Make him totally disappear from your life, the evil part of my mind said. That man always causes you pain and headaches. Isn't it the right time for you to remove him from your life? Well, that could be true...But how? No matter how much I think about it, Drake was not the type who would easily let go especially Grayson was at stake. My phone had been ringing nonstop and even if I did not check who it was, I had an idea that it was Drake. Maybe he wanted to explain himself on how the
BEATRICE:Am I turning him down? If that was what it looked it was, maybe I was doing it. I did not know anymore. My heart was tired from everything. If I give Josh a chance, what was my assurance that he will not betray me like what my ex-husband did? "I...I'm sorry if that's what it looked like, Josh. I...don't have the time to entertain men as of the moment. I want to focus on my son, first. I hope you will understand me, Josh." He was a good man, but I did not think I would be able to be fair to him. I was not fully healed on the scars my ex-husband had inflicted. "Is this about your ex-husband?" he whispered. "Perhaps, do you have feelings for him?" My knuckles turned white as I stared at my son's sleeping form. "I never said anything about that, if you're only listening to me." I would be a fool if I continue to cling on those fucking feelings. That man was not worth it at all. "Little One, I don't have to hear those words from you. Your actions said everything. I know a
BEATRICE:"Beatrice. What's wrong?" Drake asked on the other side of the line. "Why did you suddenly go silent?"The hair of my back stood as my heart raced wildly against my ribcage.What if a thief was able to enter the house? "N-Nothing," I retorted, but I was not able to hide the fear in my voice which my ex-husband was able to detect."I don't think it's nothing, Beatrice. Tell me if there's something wrong."Tiptoeing, I silently checked the doors if they were locked. They were as well as the windows of the room."N-Nothing.""I swear, Beatrice. If you don't answer me right now, I will go there and see for myself what's wrong."I craned my neck to check if there were some noises, but found none. Maybe I was only imagining things? What if there was no burglar here? Perhaps I was only paranoid after all the stress that I felt this week?"Beatrice. You're testing my patience.""I...I think someone trespassed the house. But worry not. Maybe I am only imagining it, okay? You don't h
BEATRICE:I may hate my ex-husband right now, but as of the moment, I just wanted him to come here and save me from whoever was trying to enter. My heart was screaming for his presence and not anyone else.What about his woman?I closed my eyes momentarily and opened them again, wanting to forget about that woman. Not now. “Beatrice. I’m going there. You have to hang on, okay?” I could hear his panic on the other side of the line. Who would have thought that the calmest person I knew would panic like this? And who would have thought that his voice would be this soothing which I usually found irritating on some special occasions? I tasted bile on my throat as I waited for the burglar to enter the room while preparing myself for the worst thing to happen. Whatever happens, no matter what will happen to me, I will protect my son."Beatrice. Are you still in there?" he asked, his voice already coated with panic. "Damn it. You have to speak if you don’t want me to tell the driver to ma
BEATRICE: My ex-husband’s voice seemed genuine and his words were able to reach my heart. He leaned his forehead against mine, while breathing deeply. I was not the only one who was shivering. He was too. He was also shaken at the events. Was it true that he did not want us to be in danger? That he did not want us to leave? I wondered if this man was not persistent and did not call me what would happen to me and Grayson? You could call Josh or Christina, the other part of my mind exclaimed. As embarrassing as it may sound, I did not remember Christina or Josh earlier. My mind was screaming my ex-husband's name which I did not understand at all. I did not usually rely on anyone especially after he divorced me, except Christina, but with Drake here, it felt…right. “Nothing will happen to us,” I answered, giving him an assurance. Maybe he also needed an assurance. “I hope so, Beatrice, because if that bastard ever succeeds in hurting both of you, I am willing to stay i
BEATRICE:“This is not a dream,” I whispered and brushed the side of Grayson's cheeks. I wished they were. I wished this would not bring any trauma and would still allow me to sleep peacefully at night beside my son. “When you wake up, your Dad is still here.” With us. The question was, until when? How long will he be with us? Grayson pinched both of my cheeks. “I believe you, Mommy. Good night, Mommy. Good night, Daddy,” he said and closed his eyes leaving me and Drake. A couple of minutes and Grayson was already snoring. Glancing at my side, Drake was staring at the ceiling, wide awake, without any idea what he was thinking at all. Did he like staying here with us? Of course he did. Remember how he rushed here just to save you and Grayson from danger even at this hour? That’s how important we are to him. Don't you think it's high time to give him the benefit of the doubt, Beatrice? It's not that easy. “Do you want me to turn off the light?” Drake asked all of a sudden, when
BEATRICE:I stared at the two in disbelief as I tried to understand what was going on. Wait. Did I miss something? Josh never informed me that he would be visiting me in the morning. So why?“Josh?” I asked while my brows formed a straight line. “What are you doing here?”How did you get my address? I tried to recall if I did give him my address, but did not remember anything like that. Or perhaps I only forgot about it? Sometimes, I was quite forgetful. The man automatically stood hearing his name while bringing a bouquet of flowers with him. He sauntered towards me and closed the distance between us while Drake was sitting at the coach, but was wearing a deep scowl on his forehead. I was as confused as him, too!“Little One. Are you okay? I was deeply worried.”My lips parted as Josh checked my body, as if he was looking for some wounds. “Why won't I be okay?”“A burglar broke last night,” he commented. “The moment I came here, I automatically rushed here. Why did you not call m