Belle's POV
"No." I screamed. "I am not leaving him"
Christian's father turned from where his son laid on the bed in the large room to look at me. There was fire in his eyes, ready to burn at the slightest annoyance."It's not a request young lady." He said sternly. "You are going to leave and never come back. Do you understand me?" He asked.
I shook my head uncontrollably. He couldn't do this to me. I wasn't going to allow him do this to me. I knew how much money and power he had but it wasn't right for him to destroy my relationship and life easily like this.
"Christian will be crushed when he wakes up. He will look for me and if he realizes that I'm gone, I…."
I was sobbing profusely as the sound of the rain broke through the windows.
He was lying down there. Christian, the love of my life was lying down there, connected to life support machines and his parents wanted me to just leave him there. For no just cause."He won't even remember you."I shifted my gaze to the weak voice that spoke. Christian's petite mother looked at me, tears in her eyes as she held her son's hands. She has not left his hands ever since she entered the room. She had prayed, cried, spoken words to him, asking him to wake up.
"You don't even know if he is ever going to wake up and there you speak of him being crushed. Remember he is lying here because of you"she said.
"What?"I asked unable to control the tears running down my eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"He is in this condition because of your recklessness. I knew you weren't good enough for my son. He is just with you out of pity. You are not his type of woman"
I was surprised at what was coming out from her mouth. I knew she didn't like me. But saying that was just too much of her.
I felt a hand yank my shoulders pushing me close to the door of Christian's large room. I resisted the force to fall and used my hands to protect myself from the door.
Christian's father, Alexander pointed his long fingers at me."Go back to that little crib you call home and leave my son alone if you do not want to lose the people and little things in your life." He said.
The threat was a surprise to me but that didn't stop it from carrying enough weight. Knowing the type of family Christian had, I knew he meant every thing he said.
"Please." I begged one last time. "Don't do this to me and Christian. He will never forgive you if he finds out."
"Allow us to worry about that." Alexander said to me. "Leave."
His voice was calm and at that point, I knew nothing else would make him change his mind. I was an ordinary girl and the fact that their only son was in love with me, was something they hated with the fibre of their beings.
"Make sure you avoid Christian with everything you've got. Make sure both your paths never crosses if you want to continue to see your parents alive"
Alexander added.The threats were getting bigger. There was nothing else to do. I had my parents to protect from the claws of the Martins and that should be the most important thing. I took one last look at Christian, he was still lying there, very still and turning my back, I walked out of the room. I never stopped walking, until I left the big mansion.
And into the rain.
Five years later.. I stood outside the housing registry, counting my breath and gathering the courage to go in and demand for an explaination to the letter I had received an hour ago.Bernard, my best friend and boss had told me to be careful and diplomatic no matter the situation I meet inside and that was what I was going to be.
I walked into the registry, demanding to see whoever was in charge of giving exit notices. I was directed to him and immediately I was settled in the office, I began to speak to the large man occupying the seat.
"I demand to know why I am being evicted from a house owned by my parents." I said going straight to the point.
The man whose name I discovered to be Patrick Mendosa because of the tag sitting at his desk, shifted his glasses at me.
"Good afternoon Miss or Mrs……? "He said reminding me of my manners and demanding to know my name at the same time.
I didn't care about my manners. This wasn't the time to worry about manners."Madrigal." I answered to his question and waited for his response which he took his time in giving."I'm not the person you should be seeing for this matter" he replied later.
I blinked at him."But I was directed to your office."I said.
"You should complain at the counter. You only come here when you are ready to pay your lease"be said.
"Lease?" I asked. "One doesn't pay a lease for something that belongs to him or her." I replied trying my best not to scream at the top of my lungs.
"Like I said ma'am. Go to the counter." He said cooly.
"To hell with you." I shouted, surprised that something that harsh could come out of me and stomped out of his office.
I located the counter he had spoken of quite easily and went straight to them.
"Hello, how can we help you?" A pretty lady asked me.
I banged the eviction letter I had received on the counter, angry to the core not only because of the letter, but also because of the time I had wasted sitting at the arrogant dude's office.
"I was served an eviction letter today." I said, trying my best to control the heat in my voice.
"Okay. And?" She asked.
"AND I'm confused seeing the fact that my parents own the HOUSE!!!" I screamed.
The lady turned her head to the other people inside the building whom I was sure was staring at me and offered them a smile. Then she turned back to me, still staying polite."What is the name and the location of the property miss?" She asked.
"Belle." I replied. "Belle Madrigal. Block 624, 6th street, St Louis." I said calming myself down.
She typed something in the system and raised her head to look at me seconds later.
"The property in question Miss Belle, was left to you by your parents." She declared.
I breathed twice, relaxed that the mistake was about to be solved.
"Yes"I replied.
"Well, they had used it as collateral to collect a loan three years ago. The deal was to take the property if they didn't pay up the loan." She announced to me.
"What?" I exclaimed, turning the computer directly to face me. I stared at the words on the screen, unable to believe my ears and eyes. I had stormed here demanding an apology, it shouldn't be the other way round.
What did my parents use a loan of that much amount to do? I wondered. The house had been very important to them when they were alive. They had always wanted me to have it.
How could they have used it as a collateral?"There should be a mistake somewhere." I said calmly as the situation began to dawn on me.
"There's no mistake miss. Your parents took a loan of thirty thousand dollars and used the house as a collateral. You have until two months to make the payment or you evict the house." The young lady continued.
I took two steps backward feeling weak in my knees and was surprised at the strong arms that held me from behind. I didn't turn to look at whom my savior was, not until he called my name.
"Belle"
My heart skipped twice. I knew that voice. Only one person in the whole world was capable of possessing that voice. A voice that could move me to my knees whenever it wanted. A voice so calm, one that I had been running away from for the past five years. And one I wasn't sure I deserved to hear, not today, not ever.
"Belle" The voice called again and closing my eyes, I turned.
Belle’s POV I looked into the eyes of Christian as I turned to his voice. He didn’t change much. His expression I couldn’t read but still, he remained handsome. It had been so long since I saw him lying there as the life support machines he was connected to had tried doing their job of bringing him back to life.Now he was awake and healthy. And the look he had in his eyes was too difficult to comprehend.“Christian” I called, moving a little bit away from the counter so that the lady could attend to other people waiting in line. “What are you doing here?” I asked but he didn’t reply. He just stared at me, probably surprised that I was alive and breathing well.“You are causing a scene.” he muttered later in a stern voice when he must have realized that his staring was beginning to make me uncomfortable.“Oh” I exclaimed. “Sorry about that.” I apologized not knowing the reason for the apology. “But what are you doing here?” I demanded. I didn’t run away back to my childhood city to h
Christian's POV.I watched the color disappear from Belle's face when I muttered those two words. She didn't reply immediately. She only stared, as if processing what I had just said.Served her right, I thought. She was sitting opposite me, looking beautiful as always. I wanted to touch her, I was dying to touch her, but everytime, the thought of the pain of waking up from my coma five years ago and not seeing her there was enough to keep my hands away.I looked for her. Searched for her like a crazy person, yet I couldn't find her. No one had hurt me like she did. And now she was sitting before me, listening to a proposition of me asking for her hand in marriage. I wanted to punish her for leaving me. I wanted to tie her down so that she wouldn't be able to love anybody else and still wouldn't get love from me. She deserved to pay for what she did to me. And if I will inherit the company in the process, then two birds will be killed with one stone.Her response was taking a while s
Belle's POVMy heart was beating heavily in my chest but I tried my best to show composure. I was about to make a very big decision, one that would change my life for the next six or eight months, so I needed all the composure I could gather.Christian didn't say a word to acknowledge what I had said. He only leaned forward, enough to allow me take in his wonderful scent, and used the key card to open the door.I didn't realize I had closed my eyes when he leaned in and immediately opened them to inspect the opened room. I walked slowly into the large suite, taking in the view of the beautiful room. Christian walked over to release the curtains and turn on the remaining lights, as if he needed a certain kind of caution around me.When he was done with what I figured out to be his hotel ritual, he offered me a seat which I took. Then he sat opposite me, a serious look on his face."Yes Belle." he said.I raised the folder up and went into business immediately, since he didn't want to
Belle's POVThe look on their faces was priceless. I saw different expressions in them. His father was annoyed, his mother disgusted. As for Gabrielle, hers was expressionless but I knew she wouldn't have flowers to give to me."Belle?" Lucy called. "Belle?" Your ex-girlfriend who abandoned you on your sick bed? She's your wife?" She asked, eyes wide in shock. I wasn't surprised at her attitude, but the way she spoke about me abandoning Christian, as if they had nothing to do with it was disgusting.Christian didn't reply. He only nodded his head. He was a man of very few words who wasn't swayed easily by baseless talks.I didn't speak either. He had commanded me not to. They didn't need to know that being his wife also sounded ridiculous to me, because unlike him, weddings were sacred to me."You got married in St Louis?" His father asked sternly, cutting me stern looks while addressing his only son."You got married without any of your family members present? How could you do that?"
Belle's POV.I used my right palm to massage myself after the realization of the slap had hit me. I stared at her, wondering why she had done that."You came back?" Lucy asked, anger in her voice. "You had the effontery to come back after the warning we gave to you?" She asked again.I couldn't respond to her questions. I tasted blood in my mouth due to the slap and didn't want to suffer another one."With your parents dying, do you suddenly think you have nothing to lose? We warned you to stay away, didn't we?" She asked me."I did." I replied softly and calmly. "I left him and I stayed away""Then what the hell are you doing here? Claiming to be married to my son?" She asked and when there was no response, continued to talk."He never mentioned you. For the past four years, after he got tired of searching for you, he stopped mentioning you. He was fine and healed of you, so tell me why the hell you are back? When did this so called relationship begin that it even led to a secret mar
Belle's POVI continued to look at Gabrielle as she stood at the door, a basket of fruits in her hands. I didn't know if telling her to come in would sit well with her, after all, this was her cousin's house. She must have been here thousands of times."Gabrielle." I called again but she only rolled her eyes at me and entered into the house."I forgot Christian was married." She started but turned around suddenly to look at me. "Oh but it is quite easy to forget, isn't it?"I sighed. The last thing I wanted after receiving Christian's wrath this morning was another drama."Make yourself comfortable, Gabrielle." I said to her and was about to walk out when she called."You haven't even apologized. To me. For walking out and allowing me to deal with whatever it was Christian was going through alone. You walked out and now you're back as if nothing happened." She said shaking her head and going back to the business of arranging the fruits she got inside the fridge.I watched what she was
Christian's POVI was still holding her against the wall, my lips now inches away from hers. I wasn't going to kiss her. I only wanted to torment her more. I wanted her to want it so badly and then I'd step away."Answer me Belle." I said one more time. "Have you witnessed what an animal is capable of?" I asked.She didn't say anything. She just stared at my eyes, breathing heavily. Her heart was pounding. I knew it because I couid feel it on her wrist. Whatever her heart was pounding for, I didn't seem to understand.Was she scared? Nervous? Or just wanted me to kiss her."Let go of me." She shrugged off my hold after a while and I released her. She took four steady breathe-ins and outs as I watched for her reaction."You have changed so much Christian." She said, her eyes huge with anger and nerves and I nodded my head in agreement. She could think whatever she wanted about me. I didn't care.Her hair was parked roughly on her head and she looked like someone who had been thoroughly
Christian's POVConfusion clouded my mind as I stared into the face of Bernard; Belle's childhood friend and bestfriend, wondering what the hell he was doing in my house.He stood up from his seat immediately I entered and had a weird expression on his face. He always annoyed me with that look, as if he was better than everyone else.I was mad that I had wasted my beloved time to find out that the supposed man in my house was only Bernard."Hello Christian." He said to acknowledge me.He was used to saying just few words to me. Even at the court, when Belle and I had signed the marriage forms, 'Hello Christian' had been the only thing he had said to me throughout the entire time."Hello Bernard." I said in return and turned to talk to Belle."You didn't tell me we were expecting a visitor." I said trying my best not to sound angry at her. She didn't need to know I was pissed off."I didn't know he was coming either." She replied. "He only called when he was at the airport and I gave h