The Truth of Never (The Never Trilogy Book 3) Page 19

  He didn't respond, and just quietly pulled the door open for me. To my surprise there was a small setup, along with a photographer waiting for us at the bottom of the steps.

  "Try to smile." He said to me. "This will be in the New York Times."

  *

  Later that evening, I sat in my home office and worked. I'd been there ever since I'd returned from the court house and hadn't moved an inch. As I wrote, I trembled with fear, and as each hour passed it grew worse because sooner or later, Nathan would come looking for me and I would have to explain to the love of my life why I had married someone else.

  Eventually the hour came. My doorbell rang, followed by a pounding on the front door. I didn't get up to open it because I didn't want to break down again. Because I didn't want to see whom I had just given up and worse, I didn't want to face him. I suspected that worse than any charge that Damian could have brought against him, my doing this would hurt him even more. I was sorry, but I didn’t regret it, at least not yet. As long as he was safe, I was happy, and I would do anything to guarantee that.

  The ringing continued and then the pounding, until eventually his voice became so loud that I could hear it all the way in my office. I got up then because I didn't want the management, or my neighbors calling the police on him. When I got to the door, I looked through the peep hole at him but I couldn't see his face. He had his forehead against the door.

  "Nathan." I called. "Please go back. I don't want to see anyone.” I wasn't sure if he could hear me through the thick doors so I repeated myself, and this time a bit louder. He turned then and said calmly.

  "Lenora, open this door."

  I sighed. "I’m sorry but I can’t..."

  "Lenora, if you don't open this door right now, I'm going to break it down." He said and that scared me. I took a step back to think but before I could make up my mind, he kicked it. The door vibrated so loudly that I took another step back in fear. He did it again and I yelled.

  "Nathan stop!" but he didn't respond. He continued kicking it and although the door was solid, I was scared that he'd either be able to break it down, or he would dislocate his leg in the process. The sickening thought of him injured instantly made the decision for me so I yelled back. “I’ll open it. I'll open it.”

  He stopped then, so slowly, I walked forward and twisted the lock on the door. I pulled it slightly open and immediately retreated.

  He came in, his eyes fixated on mine, and banged it shut.

  "What did you do?" He asked, and strode towards me. I walked backwards even faster but there was no use. In what seemed like an instant he got to me, gripped my arms -which took my legs an inch off the floor, and planked me against the wall behind me.

  "What the hell did you do?" He yelled, and it was the most anguishing sound I'd ever heard in my life.

  His eyes were blood shot, and there were tears in them. I lowered my head and took my gaze off his. I couldn't look at him.

  He shook me hard. "Answer me! Fucking answer me!"

  "I'm sor-" I started to say but he cut me off.

  "Don’t you dare." He said. "Don’t you dare apologize. This is beyond an apology."

  He let me go and took a few steps away from me, while I used my hands to wipe away the tears that were now running down my cheeks.

  He turned back and pointed his finger at me. "You betrayed me."

  "Nathan..." I whispered.

  "How could you? Is this what love is to you?" He came back to me, and with his hand on my arms forced me to look straight at him "You promised me. I told you that life was going to happen and you promised me that we would work it out together."

  "I was scared. I didn't want you to get hurt."

  "And so you did this? This isn't just hurting me. This is robbing me of my entire life."

  "Nathan stop!" I yelled. "Stop saying that."

  "Stop saying what?"

  "Just stop." I yelled again. He stared quietly at me. I wanted to wipe the tears away from his eyes but I was too scared to touch him. Eventually I couldn't help it anymore so I lifted my hands, but he turned his face away from me and took a step back.

  It felt like a spear went through my heart.

  Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and immediately started to pull Damian's ring off my middle finger. He did it roughly and it hurt me, but at that moment I didn't care. When it was off, he threw it with all his might across the room.

  "Don’t you dare take my ring off." He said, "I'm warning you. Don’t you dare. And don't you dare let him touch you. If you so much as let him kiss you, I will kill him and it'll be on you."

  He turned around, and stormed out of my apartment.

  I couldn't move… I could barely even breathe, so I just stood there, trembling like a leaf until the door opened again and Wendy walked in.

  Immediately I gasped with relief and went to her. She pulled me into her arms. Elisa and Carlie were behind her but I couldn't even acknowledge them until a few minutes later when I had calmed down.

  "It's alright." She said, and wiped the tears off my face. "We'll fix it."

  « CHAPTER 13 »

  Lenora

  A few minutes later, we were all seated on the barstools in my kitchen and somberly watching Carlie as she opened a bottle of wine from behind the counter. When she was done, she placed some wine glasses next to the open bottle but no one reached forward to pour themselves a drink. Lifting herself unto the opposite counter, she ran her eyes over the three of us and asked. “So, how do we fix this?”

  There was no response.

  After a few more seconds however, Elisa spoke. "The guys are handling it." She said. "They should be able to come up with something soon.”

  Wendy reached forward then to pour herself a glass of wine, and the fact that she wasn't saying anything scared me.

  "Wendy?" I called.

  "We’ll fix it." She said calmly. "You're not staying married to Damian Bach. In the meantime, where will you be staying? Will you be moving to his place or will you be remaining here?”

  "He mentioned today that he would come by to pick me up so we could move to his place, but I don’t have any intention of going anywhere."

  "Maybe, but I doubt you have much of a choice.”

  "I know. If it appears that I'm not cooperating as I should he might even refuse to drop the charges against Nathan.”

  "There's probably an obvious answer to this but I'm not aware of it so enlighten me. What’s stopping you from seeking an annulment? He clearly blackmailed you into this.”

  "He did, but I don’t have the evidence to prove that he did so I might not be able to obtain an annulment."

  The doorbell suddenly rang then so we all turned towards it. The very thought that it could be Nathan again rooted me to the stool in fear, until Wendy, seeing that I wasn’t going to answer it got up, her glass of wine in hand, and headed towards the door. After seeing who it was through the peephole, she pulled the door open and took a sip of her wine.

  "And how can I help you?" She asked in an aggressive tone. We didn’t need to ask who it was then.

  "I came to pick up Lenora." We heard Damian respond.

  "Well, I'm sorry but you can’t. She still has a lot to sort out here before she's ready to change addresses."

  "I know that." He said. "But that doesn't stop her from at least visiting. Moreover today is our wedding night- it's only proper that she be present at my home."

  I wanted to shoot myself and him as the words came out of his mouth. Bile rose up my throat so I quickly poured myself a glass of wine, and emptied the contents in one drink.

  "Well, that’s not going to happen today.” Wendy responded.

  "And why is that?"

  "Her father is around.” She angrily replied. “And according to simple courtesy, which I’m not surprised that you lack, you were supposed to consult her family before getting married to her. This can't be categorized as elopement so your blatant disregard for his opinion before taking his daughter’s hand
in marriage has severely pissed him off. Therefore, he'll be staying with her for a while so that he can have enough time to be able to come to terms with what has happened."

  "I don’t agree with that."

  "Well, you can contest it with him when you see him, not me."

  We didn't hear anything from him, so we all quietly waited. Eventually he spoke. "Can I at least see her?"

  "No.” Wendy replied. “She's overwhelmed with fatigue from this nightmarish day, so I’ve put her to bed so that she can regain her strength."

  "Wendy, do not complicate this matter more than it already is. What's done has been done, so please just cooperate so everyone can go back to their normal lives.”

  "Damian, if Lenora doesn't physically hurt you badly after this mess, I'm going to. And you can count on that." She swung the door, and it banged shut in his face.

  We all turned to watch her as she headed back towards us, casually sipping from her drink.

  "You're not going anywhere." She told me.

  “Thank you, but we can only use that cover for so long. My dad's not here and I don't plan on involving him in any of this."

  From the corner of my eyes, I saw Carlie look away from me and when I turned towards Elisa, I saw that she was staring straight ahead too. “Elisa what’s going on?” I asked, and she answered.

  "Your dad's in town, Lenora. He's staying with Nathan."

  Nathan

  Later that evening, I was seated in Elisa’s home with Peter and Craig. Lenora's dad had insisted on joining us but I could see that he was exhausted from the day, so I'd taken him back to my place so he could settle down and get to bed. Peter pushed a folder of documents towards me, and after reading for a few minutes, I looked up at him.

  "Are these the letters I supposedly wrote?"

  "That's what they're claiming."

  My lips curved into a bitter smile as I leaned back against the chair.

  "What about your ex-girlfriend?" Peter asked. "Any idea why she agreed to this?"

  Straightening, I placed my elbow on the table, interlaced my fingers and considered the question. "I'm not certain," I eventually replied, "but I have a pretty good idea."

  "Can you speak to her about why she agreed to this, and if possible convince her to drop it? I want to try all we possibly can to prevent this from going to trial."

  "But isn't that why Lenora married Damian?” Craig asked. “To prevent this from going to trial? Surely Damian is aware that his case isn't strong enough to guarantee a win. Come to think of it, all of this might have just been concocted to scare her into marrying him. Maybe it had little, or perhaps nothing to do with Nathan at all. But what I can't figure out is why he would want that when he's well aware of her feelings towards him."

  "I think it still has quite a lot to do with me." I said. "This could very well be his way of getting back at me for whatever sin he's convinced himself that I've committed against him."

  "Well, there’s a possibility that that is true,” Craig replied, “but is it enough reason to do what he's done? I mean it's not as if they'll be living apart, so I don't understand how he's prepared to live with someone that holds a deep resentment for him, or is this just a means to some other end?"

  "It must be." Peter responded, "but on the other hand, you have to realize that she's not a complete stranger to him. He was engaged to her so he did or probably still does have strong feelings for her. It wouldn't be the first time someone has deluded themselves into believing that they can force affection, plus I’m sure he realizes that more than anything he can do to harass Nathan, taking Lenora away would be the absolute worst.”

  “Anyway, Nathan,” he called so I looked at him. “Our next course of action will depend on you. The way I see it, his case has a very weak foundation because it’s all been erected on lies and thus, it can easily come tumbling down. He knows this, and because of it he will nurse a degree of fear in his heart and we can use that against him. My question to you however is the route you’re willing to pursue; do you want to legally prosecute him or do you want us to find a way for the both of you to settle this dispute amicably, and of course return Lenora to you without having to go to trial? I’m putting this option forward as a consideration given that despite all that has happened, he does have some ties with you through your mother, and the wrong move can lead to a total estrangement between you two for a very long time.”

  “Also, the trial may very well be publicized; this could negatively affect your career and put a lot of strain on you that I would prefer you not to have to deal with. So it's your decision on what consequences you’re willing to accommodate; focus on prosecution which may result in him going to prison or, go the informal route and find some other way to make him pay for what he's done."

  As they spoke, I tried very hard to contain the anger that had ravaged me ever since I’d found out that Lenora had gotten married to him. My first destination had been his house, but then I’d realized that I wouldn’t have been able to leave him alive. With the way I’d felt, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to control myself the moment I’d laid eyes on him so I’d decided to go to Nora’s place instead. But right now, I was starting to regret the decision because both of the options just presented to me seemed entirely too slow, and was more courtesy than an animal like him deserved.

  Just then, we heard the front door open.

  "Peter?" Elisa called, so we paused the discussion and turned to see her come in from the hallway. She directed a small smile at me and I tried my best to return it. I knew that she was coming from Lenora’s place and I wanted to ask how she was doing, but decided not to. I was allowed to not care for at least a few days, but damn, she’d looked so sad, and the reminder of her tear-soaked face tore at my heart.

  "Where's Uncle Sam?" She asked, referring to Lenora's dad.

  "He's at my place,” I replied. “I took him there so that he could rest a few hours ago."

  "Oh, okay." She said, and nervously glanced behind her. Instantly I knew what was going on. Immediately, I rose to my feet and just as she appeared, I turned around and left through the back door. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see her, but in all my life I'd never felt as angry and upset as I did today. What she’d done hurt me so much that I just wanted to shut down.

  Coming out here, I found out a few minutes later, was a bad idea because of how quiet the backyard was. Here, it was much easier to be plagued with the realization that the woman I loved more than anyone or anything else in the entire world, had gotten married to someone else. For as long as I could remember that had been one of my greatest fears, but that was because I had been estranged from her. Never would I have believed that she could be snatched from right under my nose. The irony was almost as amusing as it was heartbreaking.

  On the surface I was boiling with fury, but deep down it didn’t escape me that she had done it in an effort to protect me. It was foolish, but Lenora, right from the day that I’d met her had been ruled by her heart. The consequences she hoped could be dealt with later but at a crucial moment, her emotions, her belief and her understanding of what was important to her was what dictated her actions. I couldn’t fault her for being who she was, but I could and I was going to fault her for being too careless. I didn’t need to speak to her to know that she expected that there would be a way out of this mess for her, otherwise she would never have done it. It was a decision she’d decided to make on her own because she knew that every other person would have objected to it. No one, she believed, would understand the craziness that they would see in her eyes when she told them that sacrificing herself in this way would hurt less than allowing me to get hit all over again. Her selflessness was one of the reasons why she owned my heart, but at the same time I was terrified that it was going to be the same thing that would break it.

  A knock on the back door was the only warning I received before it was gently opened, so I quickly took a step sideways so that it wouldn’t hit me. It was Elisa.

&nb
sp; "Hey." She greeted, and stepped out. She shut the door behind her and then turned to face me. "Lenora wanted to see her dad, but he’s at your place,” she took a deep breath before uttering the next sentence. “Can she come with you when you leave so that she can see him and take him back to her place?”

  The moment of silence that followed was me thinking about if I was ready to be in the same vicinity with her, and at the same time be able to stomach the fact that she was married to someone else.

  "I honestly don't know Elisa." I eventually replied.

  "I understand. Do you want her to take a cab instead?" She asked.

  I sighed deeply. "No." I replied. "I'll take her with me."

  "Okay. She's ready to leave anytime you’re ready, so just tell me when you are.”

  "Alright." I was about to turn away from her when she softly placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me, and then put her arms around me. I accepted the embrace, but it did little for me. "I'm so sorry about everything that's going on." She said.

  “It’s okay Elisa.” I replied. She let me go, flashed a smile and then went back into the house.

  After a few more minutes, I returned to the kitchen to meet the guys still at work.

  "I'll get back to you first thing tomorrow morning on my decision.” I said. “Is that alright?"

  "Sure." Craig replied so after bidding them goodnight, I went into the living room to see Lenora and Elisa seated in front of the television.

  "Lenora, I'm leaving." I said, and instantly she rose to her feet.

  "Um, okay." She said, sounding incredibly nervous and refused to meet my gaze. I sighed then as a sliver of guilt crept into my heart, but before I could act on it by pulling her into my arms, I turned around and headed outside. She followed quietly behind. When I reached my Range Rover, I opened the passenger door for her and then watched as she hurried over so that I wouldn’t wait too long. She was acting sheepish probably because she felt guilty and I didn’t like it because I more than anyone knew how fiery and overly self-willed she usually was. I wanted to make a comment about it but yet again, I decided to keep to myself.