Chapter 5: Explosion

Lucian’s POV

Hanging up the phone, I raked my hand through my hair. Why was Elena still calling me? I’d made it perfectly clear that I wanted her out of my life.

Annoyed by her pestering, I paced up and down the hallway of the obstetrics department.

I had to admit, for a moment there, I’d almost believed Elena. Her voice on the phone had been trembling; she was begging for my help. And she was so insistent that the baby was mine.

But thankfully I had Lydia. She’d warned me that Elena could be very manipulative and highly convincing when she wanted to be.

Elena was just crying wolf, making up stories about a forced abortion. She was trying to reel me back in, to regain my sympathy.

I saw through her lies though.

Lydia had gone for a private check-up. That’s what she told me, so I slumped down into one of the chairs in the hallway to wait for her. As I did, my mind whirled.

Elena had cheated on me. I still couldn’t believe it. And then she tried to attack Lydia. I never imagined that Elena, usually so docile and obedient, could be that vicious and cold-hearted.

My grandmother met her first, Elena. Elena was an orphan, but my grandmother took a shine to her. She took her under her wing, so to speak, and offered to be her benefactor. My grandmother paid in full for Elena’s post-secondary education. It was through my grandmother that I met Elena.

My grandmother was a brilliant, wise woman. She insisted that I marry Elena. She assured me that Elena would be a loyal, doting wife. I wasn’t so sure at first, since I didn’t have feelings for her at the start. But I trusted my grandmother’s judgement and agreed to marry Elena.

At first, I was distant. Elena was only my wife on paper. But over the years, she started to grow on me. She was patient and kind. She was eager to make me happy. My feelings for her began to develop, to grow stronger.

That is…until I found out she’d cheated on me and she wanted me to raise another man’s child.

It was a blow right to my heart, the twist of a knife in my gut. The fact that she’d cheated on me hurt like hell. But even still, I was willing to give her one more chance. People have affairs, it happens. I was willing to forgive her, to move on. All she had to do was abort the baby. If she did that, maybe we could still be together.

Elena was obsessed with the baby though. I saw it in her eyes. She flat out refused to do what I asked. She was too attached to the baby, to another man and his child.

And it was that attachment that made my blood run cold.

Lydia had been great through it all. She was supportive and nurturing. She warned me that Elena had a dark side, a manipulative, cunning edge to her.

“She’s very good at getting what she wants,” Lydia had warned me. “And she doesn’t care who she hurts in the process.”

I appreciated Lydia’s candor. Lydia was gentle and sweet. Almost soft-hearted. But without her guidance, I might have fallen right into Elena’s trap.

Which was why, when Lydia asked me for a favor regarding her own pregnancy, I was happy to oblige.

 A nurse walking by accidentally stepped on my foot.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“Don’t worry about…”

But I didn’t finish the sentence because suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud bang reverberated down the hallway.

“It’s the abandoned hospital wing,” a doctor said, his eyes wide. “There’s been an explosion. Quick. Everyone evacuate.”

The hospital broke out into chaos. People screamed, scrambling down the hall, running for their lives. The thick scent of smoke wafted down the hall.

Horrified, I made my way through the throngs of nurses and doctors, looking for Lydia. She emerged from behind a door, a panicked look on her face.

Our eyes locked and we rushed towards each other. Shielding her as best I could, we pushed our way through the crowd, scrambling for the exit.

But as we all piled into the stairwell, the phone conversation I’d had with Elena flashed through my mind.

She’d claimed she was being forced into surgery. Lydia said she was lying.

Where was she now though? Was Elena still in the hospital? People shoved, trying to get down the stairs as quickly as possible.

Did Elena make it out safely?

The thought of Elena somewhere in there, trying to get out, surrounded by flames made me pause.  

“Come on, Lucian. Hurry!” Lydia said, her face scrupulous. “What are you waiting for?”

“What if Elena’s in there?” I asked. People shoved past us, casting us dirty looks.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lydia said. “Elena left the hospital a long time ago.”

Glancing back up at the stairs, my heart raced.

Did she? 

Deep down, I was worried about her. Even though I knew I shouldn’t be. Elena had betrayed me. She’d lied to me and had an affair.

But even still, what if Elena was still in there?

“Come on,” Lydia said, her expression more insistent. She took my hand and started leading me away, towards the emergency exit stairwell. 

I was sure that Elena had escaped. Everyone else was escaping the fire. If she was still there, she’d escape too.  

Besides, Elena didn’t deserve my concern and worry. Not after what she’d done to me. 

She’d made a fool out of me. That wasn’t something I could tolerate. 

And it certainly wasn’t something I could let happen again.