CHAPTER 10

“Give me a minute,” Orion said to the nurse and answered the call.

A sob came from the other end of the line immediately after he picked up the call, causing his forehead to crease in concern.

“What happened?” He hurriedly asked, his voice heavily laced with worry.

"Where are you?"

"I took my wi—Elysia to the hospital, she's feeling unwell."

A loud sniffle filled his ear before she let out any word past her lips. “I-I, um, got into a really terrible accident, and I re-really need you here. I'm in pain,” she said amidst sobs.

“Text the address to me,” he said to her in a half panicked state. “I'll be there as fast as I can,” he added.

“oh my, I knew you would come, I'll be waiting,” she mumbled and ended the call.

Not long after she ended the call, she sent the address.

Orion stared at the screen, torn between two women; he had no idea what decision to make.

Either to move to the love of his life, Seraphina, who seemed to be in pain and terribly injured, or to follow the nurse to his wife, who he was about to divorce.

He shut his eyes and ran his hands through his hair.

There wasn't really much to think about; it was obvious what he was going to choose, but his morality was what was judging him, increasing the time he needed to make the decision.

He turned to face the nurse that came to fetch him.

“Help me inform her that I will be back soon, but I have to head out now; I have something urgent to attend to,” Orion said to the nurse and walked out.

Immediately he ignited the engine of his car, and he couldn't help but contemplate whether he was really making the right choice.

He threw his head backwards on the chair. The choice was between his wife, the woman he was legally married to, and the woman who had always owned his heart long before he could trace back.

A memory flashed in his head. He remembered the conditions they had agreed on before they married, and that was enough for him to make the choice between both of them.

He drove out of the parking lot with the thought that Elysia would understand the choice he made, after all.

Sitting across from the doctor in the consultation room, Elysia had her head bent down, staring at the floor, preparing to hear what the doctor had to say this time.

The doctor cleared his throat to get her attention, which he successfully did.

“Mrs. Steelhart, after the tests, we discover that there's nothing severely wrong with you, just that your blood pressure is low and you're underweight.” He intertwined his fingers and placed them on the table, leaning forward a bit.

Elysia was quite tempted to correct the doctor after he called her Mrs. Steelhart. Let him know that she's divorced; the man she hoped would one day fall in love with her never did so, but she decided against it and instead let him continue.

“And you've been putting yourself under a lot of stress, which is quite bad for the health of the baby,” he added.

That was quite expected; Elysia herself knew that she had been stressing herself. Ever since the day after she got news that she was carrying a child, she hadn't been at ease for once, because the day she thought would have been one of the happiest moments of her marriage was actually what ruined it totally.

The news of her husband's childhood love getting back into the city.

“I would have to recommend a few drugs for you to take, and also, you need to take as much rest as you can and avoid anything that will jeopardize the life of your baby,” the doctor added, grabbing her attention. He picked up a pen, writing a few things on a piece of paper.

“Ok, thank you, doctor,” she replied with a tight-lipped smile.

“You're welcome.” He stretched the piece of paper to her.

She grabbed it and squeezed it in her hand.

“Is the father with you?” He questioned.

Without hesitation, she shook her head in reply and offered a faint smile. “No, I'm alone.”

He pushed a form to her. “Then you will have to sign this.”

She signed it and made her way out.

Deep in the depths of her heart, there was a faint glow of joy, joy that she would see the man of her heart, even after the pain he had caused her lately.

She stepped into the hallway and…

He wasn't where she had left him. The chair was empty.

She looked around with a slightly furrowed brow.

“Good evening, ma'am,” someone called for her attention.

“He said I should inform you that he had something urgent to attend to,” the nurse informed her.

Elysia doused off the faint glow of hope in her heart and simply nodded.

She blamed herself for thinking that he would have a change of mind and maybe show her some affection after seeing that she wasn't in good health.

Thinking back to the conversation they had earlier, where he called the happiest moment of her life a mistake between both of them.

She let out a sigh and pushed the thoughts deep down, but she also knew that this wouldn't be the only time she would be burying her thoughts or even emotions that night.

She called for a cab immediately she stepped outside.

She told the driver her address immediately she entered.

She strapped the seat belt around her and leaned her head on the window, watching the city turn into a slight blur with a lost look in her eyes as the driver drove her home.

Unconsciously placing her hand on her stomach, she recalled the earlier days of her marriage.

The moments she had mistaken for love, the romantic touches, touches she had thought meant something—alas, she had thought wrong.

The memories shattered her heart into a million more pieces.

“Are you alright, ma'am?” The driver questioned, staring at the mirror in his car.

“Yes, why do you ask?” Elysia asked.

“It's just that you seem a bit like you're lost in thought. I might be wrong; pardon me,” he answered.

Elysia offered a faint smile. “I am simply tired,”

He dropped her off at her house not long after that.

She made her way straight into the room she shared with Orion and pulled out a bag, filling it up with her clothes and nothing else.

She didn't include any jewelry, none of the things that weren't necessary; her gaze moved to the photos, and she moved her gaze as fast as they had landed on them.

Sitting on the edge of the bed she reminisced, Nana's word ringing in her head but they were not true in her case, she couldn't manage the marital crisis and it had crucified her shot at a lifetime with the man she loved but that was life.

When she was done, she picked up her bag and dragged herself out with it. "Out with the old," she mumbled.

She did everything without letting a single tear run down her cheeks, her brows were furrowed in silent determination.

It wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth her crying over for, especially after everything she had poured into their marriage.

On the way out, her eyes landed on the baby catalog, she took a pause and folded it, just before she placed it into her bag.

For the first time in a long while, the house didn't offer up any warmth. It was really cold.

Deep down, she said to herself, “He doesn't know… but I loved him more than anything. That should have been enough.”

The sound of rain falling gently welcomed her immediately she stepped her feet outside.

She tried to call for a cab, but to no avail. None of them were available.

She clenched her teeth in pent up frustrations, mixed with other emotions she had bottled.

There was this urge to yell to the sky, but just like every other feeling, she pushed it down into that bottle.

Standing in the driveway, it didn't take long for the pouring rain to drench her from head to toes. She retreated to the porch to wait out the rain.

Shivering in the cold caused by the rain, she kept staring into the dark with an indifferent expression on her face.

Her phone buzzed in her hand, drawing her attention. She stared at the screen, the caller ID written boldly on it was Orion.

She watched it ring till it stopped, making no attempt to answer it. After the ringing stopped, she slipped the phone into her bag and stepped off the porch. With no worry that it was still raining, she kept on walking forward.

It didn't take long for her to disappear into the dark night, leaving everything behind.