Four

This time around, I won’t let go. 

Taking the phone from the bed, I ended the call, turned her phone off and tossed it aside. Tears had already brimmed in her eyes and from the way her bottom lip was trembling, I could tell she was doing her absolute best to keep the tears from falling. 

“You don’t have to go back.”

Her throat bobbed up and down as she swallowed.

“What?”

I shrugged and walked back to my seat. 

“I’m offering you a place, Isabel. You can stay here, you don’t have to go back.”

“But I am married to him.”

“I bet he won’t think twice to sign the divorce papers once you hand it to him. You and I know who he truly wants.”

Her face contorted into a pained expression, and my nails digged into my palms. I hate to hurt her, but this was the truth she needed to accept.

“We’ve been married for three years, I possibly can’t just up and leave. And you are the one that brought her back, you are the one behind it all.”

I cocked my head to the side and my lips curled up into a smirk, “and what if I did?” Her eyes slightly widened, “what does it change? They were already in contact with each other.”

Evelyn’s return has nothing to do with me. I came with the sole intention of wishing Isabel a happy birthday, knowing fully well they wouldn’t do it. I bumped into Evelyn at the door.

She had already pressed the doorbell before I even joined her. But there was no need to say all that to Isabel, who looks so good even with her eyes full of tears.

“Why ruin my home? I was holding it up perfectly.”

Was she that blind? Or was it just easier to lie to herself? 

“Were you?”

“I was!” She yelled, and immediately after, she held her head. 

I had to force myself to remain seated, and not rush over to her like my body begged me to.

“I think you should rest,” I said, hoping my voice came out calm and steady. Isabel was the only one that had the ability to rile me up by doing the simplest of things. “You can go back if you want when you are better.”

“I want to go back now.” 

Was she joking? She looked like she has to sleep for 3 days straight and only wake up to eat. 

“You can’t be serious, you obviously need to rest more.”

“You don’t get to decide what I need or don’t need,” she was already standing as she spoke, “thank you so much for your help, but I have to go back. My family obviously needs me and I also need to attend to my twin, who came back to visit me.”

I ground my teeth, my jaw tightly clenched as I forced myself to swallow all the words that were threatening to spill out of my mouth. 

The promise I made never to fo anything she wouldn’t want was one I was willing to keep, even when it goes against the very thing that my mind, my soul, and my body wants.

“You want to go now?”

“I already made that clear.”

“Alright, I’ll take you home.”

A heartbeat of silence passed, then she clamped her lips together and shook her head.

“There’ll be no need for that, you have done a lot.”

“I insist and it’s hard to get a cab from here.”

Before she could resist any further, I was already up on my feet and ready to go.

“Fine, just get the nurse to remove the drip.”

I rang the call button, and in the next second the nurse was in the room. I could tell she was against the immediate dismissal of her patient, but she said nothing and did as she was asked.

In the next second, we were both in my car, and she seemed paler than she did a few minutes ago.

“Are you sure you are strong enough to leave?”

“Yes,” she whispered, and anyone could tell it took a lot from her to say those words, but I was done trying to convince her.

The ride was a painfully silent one, and it was a mixture of relief and pain when I finally pulled into the Blackwell compound. 

“You don’t have to come in,”‘she said when we got to the door and I still showed no signs of turning back.

“This is my home too. You know that, right?”

Her mouth formed an O shape then she released a breath and I pressed the door bell, but she twisted the door knob and it unlocked.

“It’s usually not closed during the day, no one is home by…” a loud laughter interrupted her words, and she paused for a moment.

“I guess today is an exception.”

Lightly brushing past her, I marched ahead, hoping to shield her from whatever it is that was going on in there. I failed at it.

She caught up with me soon enough, and side by side, we made an appearance into the living room.

Evelyn was dressed in a very skimpy shorts and an oddly transparent shirt, Scott was dressed in like manners, and although there was more than enough space in the living room, Evelyn was seated right on top of him.

Eunice and her husband, both acted like it was normal for such.

When they finally noticed us, I expected Evelyn to show courtesy and step down from a married man’s body, instead, she flashed a smile and waved her hand.

“isa, you’re back,” she said excitedly, but then the smile on her face slowly dropped as she looked at the both of us. “Did you spend the night with your brother-in-law?”

All of them present squeezed their faces, and the hypocrisy made me want to pummel someone’s face into the ground. 

“She did, and so?”

Dead silence filled the room, then Eunice stood to her feet, eyes trained on Isabel. I watched as she closed the gap between them, and Isabel lowered her head as through she did something to be ashamed of.

“You are not fit to be a Blackwell.”

Isabel’s head snapped up so fast, I worried she would pass out again.

“It is not like that. He… I… I passed out and he…”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. You have been walking on thin lines for a very long time now and this was the last stroke. Go in there and back your bags. You can go back to where you were whoring around last night.”

“That’s not… Scott!?”

Her eyes were wide and panicked as she looked at the man, who was meant to be her husband and instead of standing for her, he simply wrapped his arm around Evelyn’s waist.

“I don’t even want to see you right now. I think you should leave.”

She looked like she was about to beg again, but I immediately held her back.

“Seems you all already decided this before she got back.”

“And what has that got to do with you?” Eunice interjected, her voice high and sharp.

“Careful, you are talking to the eldest Blackwell.” My father doesn’t count anymore.

Anger flashed in her eyes and she gritted her teeth, but another word didn’t slip out of her mouth.

“Let’s go.”

Before Isabel could protest, I swept her off her feet and threw her over my shoulder.