4. Wounded Heart

The long journey from the hotel was filled with the relentless pounding that flowed from Bonita's heart throughout her body, causing her to shiver with rage. When arriving home, she haphazardly placed her bag and set of keys by the poolside, then plunged her body into the dazzling water.

The image of Benjamin being embraced lovingly by Zayna in the elevator hours ago was still vivid in her mind. The cold water of the pool failed to clear her thoughts. The shivering in her body intensified. Her anger was mixed with jealousy. She couldn’t articulate the emotions filling her soul.

However it seemed to Bonita, amidst her tumultuous feelings where everything appeared in shades of grey, Benjamin and Zayna indeed looked very compatible. Bonita was convinced that they had been in a relationship for a long time. It seemed Benjamin’s words about Zayna being an old friend—though he never mentioned Zayna’s name—were indeed true.

The idea of drowning herself in the pool and dying crossed her mind. It might be satisfying to know that Benjamin would cry over her death. However, it would be incredibly sad if he didn’t, because Benjamin already had another woman far better than her.

Bonita lifted her head above the water's surface and took a deep breath. She looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky. The brightness was so intense that the sunlight seemed to slap her mercilessly.

'Bee dazzled you so much that you gave him unnecessary trust. Look what he did to your precious trust! Maybe you should stay away from any man until death takes you, Boo.' That disgusting thought emerged in Bonita's mind without her realizing it.

A frustrated sigh sent ripples through the water around her floating body. She closed her eyes, but the same image persisted. Benjamin being embraced lovingly by an elegant and sexy woman—whose beauty couldn’t be surpassed by any woman she knew, even herself—filled her heart with a searing pain.

She knew she was jealous. She clearly knew she was angry. However, not a single word could escape her lips because her frustration had locked all the possible words.

'Zayna is so beautiful. What man wouldn’t fall for her sexy body? Compared to my face and body, I lose to her completely. I guess ... this is the end of my relationship with Bee.'

The thought of giving up came suddenly with a sigh that left Bonita's heart empty. The kind of emptiness that spread a pain unlikely to heal anytime soon.

The sound of the phone ringing by the poolside snapped her out of her reverie. She knew whose call it was because the ringtone was different from the others.

No matter how many times Benjamin had called her since their confrontation in front of the elevator, Bonita had no intention of answering. To Bonita, everything was clear when she saw Benjamin’s guilty look at the hotel hours ago. The pain in her heart that hadn’t left since yesterday felt even deeper, and she let that pain engulf her in suffering.

Hot tears escaped from her eyes, mingling with the cold pool water. She let her body float on the water and intended to stay like that all day. At least no one would disturb her in the house where she was alone since Nolan was abroad.

The ringing phone stopped and then started again shortly after. Bonita no longer cared who was calling. She intended not to answer any calls that day. She had already sent Velica a message during the drive home, saying she would go to another city to be alone for a while.

The sun grew hotter and more blinding. Despite the many thick brown clouds around it, even closing her eyes couldn’t block the piercing light.

Bonita dived and swam to the edge. She left her belongings where they were, then went to her room to shower and change clothes. She headed to the kitchen to fill her stomach with a slice of bread and half a glass of blueberry juice, just to avoid a long lecture from Nolan about stomach health if he knew she had skipped a meal.

She was about to return to her room when she realized it was raining. She walked lazily to retrieve her bag and set of keys from the poolside. Instead of going back to her room, she placed everything on a chair on the back terrace, protected by the roof.

She took her phone from her bag and sat in the empty chair. There were dozens of calls from Benjamin, and a few from Velica and Melissa, her sister-in-law. She returned her sister-in-law's call, which was immediately answered.

“Where are you, Boo?”

“I’m still alive. You don’t need to worry about me,” Bonita replied lazily, irritated by Melissa's panicked voice.

“Benj...”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Tell him I don’t want to see him again. I think our relationship is clear enough now. That’s all,” Bonita said, cutting off the call.

The pounding in her heart was still strong and anxious. The turmoil in her chest, which had subsided after the shower, returned. She stared at the falling rain without saying anything, letting time pass from noon to night. Her mind kept spinning with all the crazy ideas that were impossible to execute.

Tired of everything, Bonita forced herself to stand and decided to return to her room. She placed her belongings on the table and lay down on the bed. She pulled the blanket over her body, trembling with anger. Eventually, she closed her eyes, feeling exhausted by her own emotions.

Nightmares haunted Bonita. She ran aimlessly, trying to find a way out. Fear tormented her. Even the sweat from running in her dream made her body, wrapped in a blanket, wet. She didn’t know how long she had slept before being awakened by a gentle touch on her cheek.

“Wake up, Boo. Let’s talk.”

Bonita knew whose voice it was, so she pushed that body away before opening her eyes. She felt so angry that she glared at Benjamin as soon as she opened her eyes.

“I can explain everything,” Benjamin offered, trying to avoid Bonita’s hands pushing him away.

“I don’t need your explanation! Leave now, or I’ll call the police to get you out!” Bonita shouted, getting up and continuing to push Benjamin’s body out of her room.

“Listen to me.”

“Are you deaf? I don’t want to hear anything! Leave and don’t bother me! Our relationship ends here!” Bonita shouted after managing to push Benjamin out of the room and close the door, locking it. “Leave now, or I’ll call the police!!”

“Boo, listen to me.” The pleading tone in Benjamin’s trembling voice outside the room was clear.

Bonita ignored Benjamin’s pleas and curled up in bed again, this time with a pillow over her ears to block out the sound, though it was futile.

‘How did he get into this house? I’m sure I locked the gate and the front door. Did Dad or Jeremy come home? Or did he sneak in through the wall?’ Bonita thought, panicking.

Benjamin kept calling Bonita’s name and knocking on the door, his requests for Bonita to come out and talk becoming increasingly annoying. Even if Benjamin said nothing, his presence in the house was already highly disturbing to Bonita.

With a frustrated sigh and boiling hatred in her heart, Bonita shouted, “I don’t want to talk to you! I saw you with that woman. That model clinging to you like a snake! I know you two stayed in the same room last night! You can’t lie to me!”

“I can explain everything.”

“Leave, or I will call the police!!”

“Boo, listen…”

"I won’t listen to you! I trusted you, and you destroyed it! You said you were helping an old friend, but all you did was sleep with that woman!”

“Boo, give me a chance to speak. Zayna is indeed an old friend, and I’m helping her. I didn’t lie to you.”

“What kind of help requires you to stay in the same room? Do you think I’m stupid?” Bonita shouted, no longer using the pillow to block Benjamin’s voice.

“We can talk about this without shouting, Boo. Open the door, and I will tell you everything that happened.”

“I don’t want to talk to you! Everything I saw this morning was enough to explain everything! Go away and don’t bother me! I hate you!”

Benjamin sighed and sat down with his back against the door, “I will wait. I will give you time to calm down, but we need to talk. You have to hear my explanation.”

Bonita grabbed her phone from the table and called the police. She whispered to them that a man had entered her house without permission. Half an hour later, three policemen arrived and forcibly took Benjamin away. Bonita told the police she was fine but refused to open the door until they had all left.

Now, Bonita was alone with her wounded heart. Betrayal had come after she had tried trusting a man for the first time. She hated herself for having a heart too easily softened by seemingly sincere attention.

Something felt wrong in Bonita’s heart. Something felt out of place. She kept thinking, had she gone too far by calling the police to remove Benjamin from her house? Was she being too cruel for not giving Benjamin a chance to speak?

However, one thing was very clear. Benjamin and Zayna could not have done nothing while staying in the same room. Four years of a relationship, believing she knew all of Benjamin’s traits, had ended in vain. Their relationship had only lasted until now.

***