FORTY-SIX
“You can leave.” It’s not that I’m shunning Hendrick, but that’s the way it is. He is going too far in approaching my wife and now he has plans to enter my house. If he was not welcome then, he is not welcome now.
Today is Lauren’s release day. And he was the one to pick her up. I was like a bodyguard following their car.
“Can we talk for a minute?” he asked which made me frown and even Lauren was surprised too. The thick face of the fool who talked to me. Doesn’t he know that my time is precious and he can’t afford it if I price him?
“Something wrong, sweetheart?” Lauren asks him.
“No, sweetheart. I just wanted to say something to Dale. Boy’s talk.”
“Alright, Lauren, you can go inside first. Don’t be shy and don’t think that you don’t remember anything because it’s your house too. This is our house. Our room is right there. The last door.” I said.
“Ok.” She was about to kiss Hendrick but I took the lead.
“Let’s go in the garden, right here.” I let him walk first so they wouldn’t talk. When Lauren gets inside, I immediately closed the door and followed Hendrick. Can I lock it from the outside since I have a key so she can’t get out? Don’t worry, she is obedient and will definitely not go out.
“What do you want us to talk about?” I don’t want to wait that long. I want to spend my time with my wife even if she doesn’t remember anything. Who knows when we are inside the room she will suddenly remember how delicious I am.
“About me and Lauren.”
“Why?”
“I want to ask a favor.” He tried to tell me to stay away and I would strangle him. Well, he can be banned from this subdivision once he leaves.
“Tell me.”
“Lauren doesn’t know about me and Isabelle.” My eyes narrowed at what he said. “She forgot that I have a child with another woman.”
“Spill.”
“Please don’t tell her. Before the accident happened. I had a plan to propose to her. I want to fight for Lauren. I already asked my manager to pay all the expenses that you pay on her debt to her agency. Everything is settled. I’m just waiting to process her.”
“Are you stupid?” He frowned at my question.
“What?”
“You know that we’re married, right?”
“Yeah, but—-”
“You know that. Why would you propose if you know she is married?” Hendrick faces change. If earlier his face was gentle just like how he is in front of a camera, now he is very opposite.
“Because we know that you are only married on paper. You are not her real husband and I am the one she really loves.”
“Are you sure?” He frowned more because of my question. But since he is not important I don’t have time to explain. “What if I tell her that you have a child? What will you do?”
“Go ahead, so she knows what kind of man she is with.”
“What do you mean?” I was the one who frowned.
“I know your past, a past that Lauren doesn’t know.”
“She all knew.”
“Your son too?” I was shocked when he mentioned my son. “I bet she’s not. How will she feel when she finds out that you raped the mother of your child?” I clenched my hands because of what I heard. How dare he mention my son? And also what happened to Lindsay and me?
“How did you know about it?”
“Private investigator. I want to find an antidote to you and I never thought I would know something like that. Your past is worse than mine. Someone you abused, and you retaliated against others.”
“I did not retaliate against Lindsay. You don’t know anything so shut your fucking mouth.”
“Fine, you said so. I will shut my mouth if you will shut yours too.”
“Leave.”
“I have a fault with Lauren because I didn’t fight for her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love her. I love her and my only mistake is that I didn’t stand up for her. It is because of my contract with the company.”
“If you really love her why did you get pregnant by someone else?”
“It was an accident, I didn’t mean. At first, I didn’t believe that it was my son, but I have no choice but to believe it after I saw the paternity test. I was too drunk and devastated at the time because she was going to marry you.”
“You don’t love her, because if you loved her you wouldn’t let her marry someone else.”
“I let her marry you because she asked me to. She wants to help her daddy because she is the only one who has her even if they don’t get along. I know how much she loves her daddy and because I love her I let her. But if I’m the one to follow, if I’m as rich as you and I can buy her father. I won’t let her marry you. I will save her daddy so that she can be mine.”
I don’t know how to react. I am so damn speechless.
“I’m not stupid, Dwayne Dale. I know you already like her. I’m a man and I know, I see, and I can feel in your actions that you already like her. But sadly, you can’t get her from me.”
“Don’t be too sure, she didn’t love you then and she has plans to break up with you.” But he laughed out loud.
“And you believe? Come on, Dwayne Dale, she was upset at that time when she said it. I was there with her when she said that we were no longer together. She’s asking for something but I refused and you happened to call. So to make me jealous, she said it.”
“By saying I love you to me? And said she will come back to me, huh?”
“Yes, to provoke me.” I couldn’t answer what he said. I just stared at him who was also staring at me while smiling. “Lauren is only using you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Lauren loves me and she proves it.”
“Fine, believe in yourself. Think that she loves you just because she cried and begged you while kneeling in front of you when she visited you at her aunt Laura’s house. I was there inside the car.” Then she stood up and straightened himself.
“If you think she loves you because she gave herself to you and you are her first then you’re wrong. She gave herself to you as payment for helping him get out of his agency. Her reason is debt and there is no love in it. Love is what we do when we are together.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think?” Then he laughed. “He gave himself to you, even though she doesn’t love you. And that’s not an issue for me because I’m not perfect either. It’s just a body, Dwayne Dale. You only got Lauren’s body and not her heart.”
“What you say is not true. You’re a fucking liar.”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“I will not force you to believe me. Besides, you weren’t there during the times we were together. Only we know what we are doing. It’s like only you know what you’re doing. Maybe what we do is more delicious because our body moves and our heart beats at the same time.”
“Get out of my house.”
“I’m leaving, but I’m coming back for my girlfriend… again, my girlfriend.”
“You have no return here.”
“You don’t say that. The only reason Lauren came back to you that night was that she begged me. She doesn’t want anyone to know that we are together and the three of us might get scandalized. Accept it, Dwayne Dale, Lauren is only using you. Ask yourself, if she really loves you… why can’t she remember you?” And he laughed again.
“If he loves you, why did she remember me and not you?” And he left me dumbfounded.
My grip tightened. He has a point. If Lauren loves me why did she forget me? Is everything he said true? Is something really happening to them? Did Lauren really just use me and doesn’t really love me?