Chapter 13: Unhealed Wounds

“Are you aware the time is 2 a.m.? Who goes about calling someone at this time of the night?”

Bashiru barked, his voice sharp, his feet still carrying him away from Celine’s hotel room.

On the other end of the line, Adam fumbled for words, guilt thick in his tone. “I’m sorry, Bashiru. I just wanted to know if you found anything. I’ve been trying to reach you all night, but your line was unreachable.”

Bashiru inhaled deeply, his patience thinning. “I found her.”

“You found her?” Adam’s voice jumped, rapid and desperate. “Where is she now? Is she with you?”

His breathing was heavy, betraying both fear and excitement.

“Calm down,” Bashiru ordered. “Even if she’s with me now, I can’t let you see her.”

“Why not? She’s my wife!” Adam shot back.

“Because it is late, young man,” Bashiru snapped, his tone full of authority. “Ain’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

Adam’s lips parted to argue, but Bashiru cut him short again. “Listen, Adam. I’ll call you by 8 a.m. and take you to the hotel where she’s lodged.”

“In the hotel?” Adam’s voice cracked with disbelief. “You lodged my wife in a hotel?”

The line went dead before he got an answer. Adam flung the phone onto the bed with a frustrated yell, his chest pounding with anger.

The hours that crawled toward dawn felt endless for Adam. Each tick of the clock on his wall mocked him, each second dragging his heart deeper into torment.

For Celine, the same dawn crept in with fear, heavy memories shadowing her fragile breaths. The meeting neither wanted was about to unfold.

*********

By morning, Bashiru’s firm steps carried him back to SkyRock Hotel. Adam followed beside him, tense and restless, his jaw clenched. At the reception, Bashiru’s gaze swept across the counter.

New faces greeted them, different from the women he had challenged the night before.

“We want to see Celine Wright,” Bashiru said, his tone leaving no room for delay.

The receptionist glanced up, startled by his intensity. “Okay, sir. Just give me a minute.” She picked up the phone, murmured a few words, then nodded. “You can go in now.”

Adam’s palms sweated as they walked down the corridor. The silence between him and Bashiru was thick with unsaid words.

Finally, they reached the door.

Inside, Celine stood rigid when she saw Adam enter. Her face darkened, her eyes blazing. Fury rose in her chest like fire.

“What is this man doing in my room?” she snapped at Bashiru, her voice shaking with anger.

She took a step back, her hands clenched. “I thought you were different. I thought you weren’t like all the others. Now I see you’re the same, bringing him here!”

Bashiru raised his hands in apology. “Please, calm down. I didn’t mean to upset you. Your husband—”

“My ex-husband!” she cut in sharply, her words like daggers.

Bashiru blinked, surprised. His eyes darted to Adam, brows furrowing. “You’re divorced?”

Adam said nothing. His silence roared louder than words.

Bashiru turned back to Celine. His voice softened, heavy with regret. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I was contracted by him to find you, to bring you back. I should have told you last night, but you were tired, and I thought you needed rest.”

Celine’s lips trembled, then curved into a bitter laugh.

She turned her scornful eyes on Adam.

“How dare you?!” she roared, her body trembling as she moved closer to him. “After everything you, your mum, and Barbra did to me? After you set me up with a thug who beat me and left me to die? I lost my child, Adam. Our child!"

Her knees buckled as the words tore out of her chest. The room seemed to shake with her grief.

Shockwaves surged through Bashiru. He froze, his breath caught. The weight of her revelation pressed hard on him: the betrayal, the cruelty, the death of an unborn child.

His jaw tightened, his hatred for Adam doubling.

He exhaled slowly. “Um… I’m sorry. I think I should leave the two of you to talk.”

Turning to Celine, he bowed his head slightly. “Please forgive me for disturbing you.” He slipped his card from his pocket, placed it on the side table. “Call me if you need anything.”

With that, he walked out, his tall frame disappearing through the door, leaving only silence in his wake.

Two broken souls, once bound as one, now stood fractured in the same room. The space between them carried the weight of betrayal, grief, and love turned sour.

Their hearts beat like drums, but no rhythm could mend the chaos.

“Celine,” Adam began, his voice low, strained with sincerity. “I didn’t know. I swear to you, I didn’t know anyone beat you. I never sent anyone after you. Not for once.”

His hands trembled as he reached out. “Believe me, please.”

But Celine’s chest heaved with anger. “You expect me to believe you? After your silence that night? After you let your mother humiliate me, accuse me, and tear me apart? Where were you when I cried out for you to defend me, Adam? Where were you when I bled?”

Her words tore into him like whips. Adam’s lips quivered. He tried again, his eyes glistening. “I was wrong. I should’ve listened. I should’ve stood by you. I was blind, Celine. But I didn’t know about the thug. I didn’t know!”

Despite the desperation in his voice, the sincerity etched into his face, Celine’s heart would not bend.

Pain, thick and suffocating, had already built a fortress around her.

“Get out,” she whispered.

Adam froze. “Celine, please—”

“Get out!” she screamed this time, her voice breaking, her hands pushing at his chest. She shoved him backward, her strength surprising even her.

Adam stumbled towards the door.

The sound of the door slamming echoed like thunder in his ears.

“Celine, I’m sorry for everything,” Adam pleaded, his forehead pressed against the closed door, his fists pounding gently against it. “Please, let’s talk about this. I was wrong. I should’ve listened to you that night. I should’ve defended you.”

No response came. Only silence.