Chapter 9: gone for good

Annalise shook her head. “No Cody, you hurt me first”

“You exchanged me for money” he retorted.

“What the hell are you talking about? It was you Cody, you think I’d have ever approached you if I knew you were a breed of those rich spoilt kids” Annalise yelled.

“Then why did you accept money to go abroad and leave me?” He questioned.

“I don’t get you, you asked your mum to come see me and get to know each other better right?” Annalise tried to remind him.

“No I didn’t” Cody answered.

“Have you forgotten? Your mum started calling me out to meet her and I did. Later she said, you’d be happy if I started out on a clean slate, so she offered me a scholarship to go study abroad and so I could have a better future, then one and half years into my studies you got married, how could you do that to me, we were chatting day and night and you didn’t even have the decency…”

“What on earth are you talking about? I never asked my mum to see you, how come you never told me she came to see you? Cody cut in.

“Your devices had been taken away from you, and also she told me not to mention our meeting because she was embarrassed to admit to you that she had grown fond of me” Annalise informed him.

“What the fuck? And you’re saying we spoke for 1 year then i got married behind your back?” Cody asked becoming very confused.

“What the hell is wrong with you did you lose your memory?” Annalise asked. “We were in touch for about a year and then you stopped responding to my messages, it took me long to gather some money but when I finally did, I got on a plane to come find you then your sister told me you were getting married and gave me your new number, that was when I reached out to you but i was too late i guess”

Cody dropped to the ground and sat down like someone who was in pain.

“When you left this country we never spoke again, I never got any messages from you” Cody said realizing that they had both been played.

“So who was I texting with? We could never have video calls because of our time zone and schedule but we spoke sometimes and texted everyday” Annalise answered.

“You were chatting with my mum then, she seized my phone when she wanted us to cut communication, she never gave it back, dad got me a new one” Cody said calmly. Annalise raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh my God, how did she fake the voice and everything?” Annalise questioned.

“I don’t know” Cody answered trying to organize his thoughts Annalise sat beside him a tear dropped from her eye.

Everything was beginning to make sense to Cody, he remembered the day before he got married Annalise had texted him, he rushed to come meet her at this very beach, she looked angry. “So you couldn’t wait” she had shouted at him. “How long did you expect me to wait?” He asked in return.

“You’re just like every other guy Cody, I thought you were different, I thought you were the one for me, I thought you loved me!” She had yelled at him.

Cody began to cry he couldn’t understand her anger then but he was still a boy in a man’s body who didn’t know what was going on. He fell on his knees and begged her.

“Whatever I’ve done, I believe we can sort it out” he pleaded.

“Isn’t it too late now? Are you not getting married tomorrow?” She asked.

“I feel lost Annalise, I don’t know what I’m doing, but one thing I know is if you tell me not to do it I won’t do it”

Annalise shook her head.

“Annalise, please, if you tell me to leave with you I’ll do it”

“No Cody, I won’t be the reason why you abandon another woman at the altar and cut ties with your family” she said and walked away. Cody had cried the whole night and gotten himself drunk. He hadn’t cried like that before not even when his beloved grandma died did he cry this way. He didn’t understand Annalise’s behavior then but he just knew he still loved her.

Annalise held his hand bringing him back into the present. She put on his hand a silver bracelet with their initials engraved in it. A.M loves C.W.

“I had wanted to give it to you 5 years ago but then you had gotten married” she said softly and then burst into tears.

“Do you remember what you told me the night we met? When you begged me to take you back?”

She asked to which Cody nodded.

“I’m here today to ask you for the same thing, I’m getting married in a month’s time Cody, if you tell me not to then I won’t do it, I’ve never loved anyone as much as I loved you”

Cody started to tear up again he shook his head.

“Don’t say no Cody, please”

“Nina is pregnant, I’m going to be a father I can’t abandon her now” he stated.

Annalise held her breath. “Is it true?”

Cody nodded, “why didn’t you come back earlier? Why are you always late?”

Annalise slowly got up on her feet “goodbye Cody, this time for good”

She walked away tearfully while Cody watched her leave and wept.

The drive back home was silent, he was trying to put his thoughts together, he couldn’t believe the biggest betrayal was from his mother. Cara was confused as to whether to ask him questions or keep quiet. Cody’s phone beeped and he answered it.

“Hello… mom”

Mrs. Whyte’s angry voice greeted them. “Where the hell are you? I’ve been trying to reach you to no avail! Come to the St. Theresa’s hospital right now” the line clicked dead.

“What on earth could’ve happened?” Cara asked and Cody shrugged.

When they landed in front of the theater Mrs. Whyte angrily walked to meet the two of them. The rest watched on in fear.

“Where the hell did you go Cody?”

“Mom, Cara…”

“You see what you’ve caused? You caused your wife so much stress she just lost her babies!”

Mrs. Whyte shouted angrily to Cody’s utter shock.