CHAPTER 06

ELENA. 

When I woke up again, I was greeted by the muffled voices of people in the background. My brows twitched, and I let out a small throaty groan while opening my eyes. 

I stared around, the first person I saw was Caleb, and he seemed to be arguing with someone over the phone. I tried sitting up slowly, while being conscious of my abdomen. I didn't want to feel hurt like the last time. 

The pain had reduced to just a small migraine. 

Caleb stopped talking when he noticed I was awake. "I'll call you back." He said to the person on the phone and then ended the call. 

"What did you do that for?" He growled at me. 

I flinched, surprised at his behavior. "What are you talking about?" My voice was weak. 

"Don't you dare try to play the victim card on me." He sneered. "Just because you saw me in bed with Rhea, you decided to be dramatic and try to get yourself killed to get my attention?" 

My jaw went unhinged, and I stared at Caleb like I was staring at an alien. His words were hovering around my head. "Wh-- why would you think I'd want to kill myself just to get your attention?" 

But he wasn't listening, his nose flared in anger. "And not only did you try to kill yourself for attention and trouble, you decided to kill my child as well?"

The room spun, the headache increased and I held the sheet in a tight grip. The child, I had totally forgotten about it. The doctor had said I had lost my child, and it broke me even more than Caleb's words did. 

But now... Was Caleb blaming me for something I never did on purpose? Why would I want to kill my child? 

How did he get here in the first place? 

Not caring about how much his words affected me, he went on. "You got into an accident, and you have no injuries, both internal and external, but somehow, you lost the baby. Try to explain that to me." 

"Wait, are you saying I lost the baby on purpose?" I scoffed because it really sounded absurd. "Why do you think I'll do that?"

"Maybe because you saw Rhea and me together, you just decided the best way to hurt my ego was to kill my child."

"That child was mine too. And stop pretending like you genuinely cared about the pregnancy!" Now I was more than just angry. My entire body was trembling in rage, fury. 

I never knew Caleb was like this. Cold. Heartless. Insensible. In more anger, I spat. "Because if you did, after I left your house under the pouring rain, you would come to look for me. You know I don't like it when it rains, you know how it always is for me when it's raining--"

"Stop trying to play the victim, you bitch! Do you think I won't know that you've been pretending all these while? And I just had to put up with all the lies just to make you feel better. I'm not the one who killed your parents... You and your stubbornness did. And now you're trying to rub the fake trauma which I think is just your parents haunting you for killing them untimely on everyone. I'm sick of it, but you're killing my child and trying to pin the blame on something trivial? That's out of line. That's what I won't accept."

My lips quivered, his words pierced through my heart like a saber. A lump grew in my throat, and I swallowed hard. 

"I killed my parents?" My voice was low, barely audible. But he heard me. 

"Come on, stop giving me that look. You told me everything, remember? And it's obvious that you killed your parents, and now you've killed my child! You're a witch!"

My body acted, it was swift. I didn't even give my brain the chance to rethink, I just went ahead. The resounding slap against his cheeks echoed in the four walls of the ward. 

I froze, my eyes widened in realization of what I had done. The anger dissipated instantly, replaced with instant regret. Caleb froze too, his hand holding his slapped cheek with his face bent to a corner.  

"I--" I couldn't even speak without stuttering. "I'm sor--." He slapped the rest of the words back into my throat. 

I didn't even see it coming, and my right cheek stung like crazy. My tears welled up in my eyes as I stared at him. "Caleb--"

"You slapped me." He rubbed his slapped cheek with his tongue. "I've been putting up with your attitude but you're really crossing the line." He moved toward me, and I stepped back, my heart racing in fear. 

He grabbed me by the collar of my hospital dress and pulled me close. His eyes were scary, unrecognizable. 

"Tell me the truth while I'm being nice. You tried to kill yourself so you can get my attention, right?"

My emotions were a mixture of something between shock, anger, and fear. "You're right." The words were heavy as they left my lips. "Can you let me go now? You're choking me."

"Not until you tell me the reason why you want to end things when I haven't said so. And why did you kill my unborn child because of a silly scene you saw?"

A silly scene I saw? I blinked repeatedly in shock. As the day goes by, I just keep witnessing the unfamiliar side of Caleb, or maybe, that's how he's been all along. I was just too blindly in love to see it. 

"You really think I'm joking, huh. We're leaving the hospital right now, I can deal with you better at home." His grip tightened. 

"Caleb-- what are you--" A loud gasp fell from my lips when he grabbed the top of the hospital dress to rip it. 

"Are you going to get out of the dress calmly or do you want me to tear it?" 

I swallowed hard. I didn't want to go anywhere with him, and the only way I could get away from him was by running. 

I was closer to the door, and if I'm fast enough, I could get past it before he caught me. 

"Fine," I muttered and I saw his shoulder relax a little. It was my only chance, and I seized it. 

I turned, bolting to the door while my heart was practically in my throat. I pulled the door open but found someone standing in front of the door. 

It was Kai. His overwhelming presence and his icy blue eyes were on me as I fell forward, it was too late to swerve. 

I fe

ll on him. His hand wrapped around my waist possessively, catching me right on time.