Arabel's POV
When my eyes open, I know I cannot keep pretending. I cannot keep hoping and wishing Richard's suspicions were wrong.
I see Richard talking to someone wearing a white coat, whom I presume to be the doctor. I had been awake from my unconsciousness, but I didn't want to face Richard, so I pretended to be asleep until I slept off.
Now that I am awake, I know I can't continue doing this.
Richard's eyes meet mine, and he rushes forward as the doctor goes out. “Hey.”
“Where is Daisy?” I demand, my voice barely in a whisper.
“She is asleep. Natalie is with her. I didn't want her to see you this way,” he mutters, his hand caressing my hair. I pretend as if I don't see that.
In fact, I have been pretending as if I don't see how much he cares now, unlike before. I always ignore the way he stares at me lovingly. Something he didn't do when I desperately wanted him to.
Every bit of my anger has subsided ever since I told Daisy about her father. I thought it was going to double, but I was wrong. There was no point in being angry anymore.
Daisy loved him. I can't even badmouth him in her presence.
He loved her in return.
What I didn't want was for him to take her away from me, but he isn't doing any of that. She loves me too.
We haven't seen each other in a week, and I thought he must have gone back to New York. I didn't know who to call. He was the first person who came to mind.
Now that I think of it, I do not want to regret calling him. If I hadn't called, I would have called Alex instead.
“Alex called,” he blurts out, as if hearing my thoughts out loud. I struggle to sit up immediately as shock submerges my existence once more.
He called? Why?
He hasn't reached out to me since we fell out? Why does it have to be now that he is a suspect?
“Arabel?” Richard calls. “Alex called, and that means only one thing. He wants to know if you are shaken. He wants to know if you are fine or if you would like to ask him for help. He is doing this so you can run to him like you once did.”
I shake my head in disagreement. “No, Alex wouldn't do that.”
“Really?” His eyes are cold and deadly. He seems upset that I am defending Alex.
This was exactly how I always defended him whenever Alex accused him of something bad. What the hell is wrong with these men?
Alex might have shown me some strange behaviour these past few days that I never knew was in him, but doing something like this is definitely not it.
Alex is a good guy. Soft spoken. Kind. He wouldn't want to hurt me or my baby.
Deep down, I know men who are ill-tempered, like Alex, can do anything. A side of me wants to believe Richard because of the statement he made, which was also the reason that led me to leave New York.
He was so sure I was going to run to him if I encountered a problem again, either with Richard or not. Perhaps he is doing this to scare me and make me feel the need to have a man close by.
He was my go-to person. He knew if I needed a man for protection, he would be the one I run to.
But he is wrong this time. I would rather call Richard than call him. Alex said that with so much arrogance and confidence, and I vowed never to ask for his help.
“Really?” Richard's fist is clenched in anger, and his voice is loud now. His eyes are no longer cold and full of rage. “You want to defend him? How sure are you?”
“How sure are you, too, that he is behind this?” I snap back at him.
“I saw him. I saw him snooping around, taking a picture of your house. Can't you see the connection?”
“No, I don't. There is no connection because this isn't the first time Alex has come without coming into the house. Perhaps he was driving past, and he thought to visit but changed his mind…”
I don't want to tell him we had a fallout.
“Really? Are you even convinced? Someone took a picture of your house, and you are assuming he came for a visit? He didn't look like he wanted to enter. Obviously, he was still mad at you, and I am sure he will do anything to get back at you.” He raises his hand and begins to pace, still in his pajamas. He hasn't gone back home.
“What do you mean?” I demand with confusion.
“You think I don't know? I see the way he stares at you, and I know how upset he is whenever we are together. I know you two had a fight, which was why you left for Germany that night, and I am sure you two haven't reconciled,” he states the obvious making my jaws drop.
“How did you know all this?”
He only shrugs without saying a word.
I don't need to think he has someone following and spying on me. Richard is one intelligent man. With just a clue, he can solve a puzzle.
How he figured out I left Germany because Alex is baffling. Alex made me leave, but I felt leaving was the best so I wouldn't have to cross paths with Richard as well.
That was what Alex accused me of. His accusation made me take that decision.
“You shouldn't rely on strangers. That guy is no good…”
“Strangers?” I almost shout, a soft chuckle leaving my mouth. “Did you just call Alex a stranger? Really? Tell me what a stranger means, and I will tell you who the hell the stranger is between you two.”
His hands hang in the air. His anger is suddenly replaced with guilt.
I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I can't help. I won't let him dictate to me. Just like I did with Alex, I won't let him tell me who to relate to and who not to. He can go to hell for all I care.
Just because I called him for help doesn't mean I am at his mercy.
“That stranger was the first person who carried your child as soon as she came out of me. The nurses mistook him for her father. He bought her her first toy. He played a fatherly role since her father, who didn’t even know his seed had grown into a child, was missing. So you think a man like that would want to hurt her? Someone who considers Daisy his?”
He releases his fist, his head lowered down in regret.
We ought to have gone past this, but I doubt if I can ever do this without revisiting our past.
Alex won't hurt Daisy or me. He won't do that.
An awkward silence fills the air, making me lean my head on the headboard, my gaze on the drawer where my phone is.
I am contemplating calling Alex back. I want to know the reason for his call.
My curiosity gets the better of me, and I pick up the phone just in time for my eyes to connect with Richard.
He darts his eyes away quickly, still standing, making me feel guilty for what I said.
I see he has called several times, so I quickly dial his number and put it on speaker so Richard can hear our conversation.
I want him to know how caring Alex is. He was my best friend. He took me in when I had no one. He gave me a shoulder to lean on and cry on. He gave me a house too when I went back to New York.
“Arabel?” His loud voice booms out. He sounds so worried and concerned. “Are you ok?”
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“I heard you called.”
“Yes. I was damn worried when you didn't pick up…”
“Why were you worried?” I furrow my brows as I ask that question. We haven't spoken in days, and now that he called today when something happened, he is mentioning how worried he is, as though he has an idea about what happened.
If he was in the neighbourhood, I wouldn't mind. Most of my neighbours already know since the police have been here all morning, and they must have heard the shot too, but he hasn't.
His apartment is two hours away from mine.
There is no way he would know about this incident.
Except, of course…
I look up to see Richard staring with a look of I-told-you-so.
This is when I realize Alex isn’t saying anything anymore.
“I'm sorry,” he mutters, his voice dripping with guilt, and my heart skips a bit.
Is Richard right?
“What…what are you sorry for?”
“Everything. For what I said the other day, For bringing Julia without informing you. And not for staying with you when you needed me the most,” he lists out, making me more terrified.
“Needed you the most? I don't need you, Alex. Remember how you mentioned how pathetic I was when I got divorced and was pregnant? Remember how I used you because my ex-husband didn't want me? That was what you were trying to say that day. So you think if anything happens, you will be the first person I run to after what you said? You must be mistaken. I would rather die than call you for help. You and I are done for life!” My tone is dripping with hate, fear, and fury, and I am shivering.
“Bella?!” Surprise fills his tone. “What..”
“And my regards to your beautiful girlfriend, who threatened to do something to me or my daughter if I didn't stay far away from you. Good life,” I interrupt him from saying any word as I let it all out before disconnecting the call and putting him on my blacklist so he doesn't have to reach me anymore.
“His girlfriend threatened you?” Richard's voice jerks into my reverie as I look up, my hands still trembling.
Realizing I was mad at him for accusing Alex, I don't answer him, and he sighs.
Slowly, it spikes in my head. My mind reels as I imagine Alex or his girlfriend doing this to me. After much thought, I realize Julia has nothing to gain from doing this when I haven't been in New York in a month. Alex has a lot to gain from this.
He did that to scare me. When he didn't receive any calls from me, he got worried and decided to call to check up on me.
His guilt is at work.
And his mind isn't at rest.
He must have thought the people he sent did a bad job by hurting me or not.
Even though I am still sure he wouldn't want to hurt Daisy or me, it slowly dawns on me that a man who ordered the killing of my guards just to make me call him will do anything to make me do his bidding.
In panic, I break down into tears.