Chapter Six

To say that Belle was exhausted would be an understatement. That day, all she did was stay in her hotel room and reflect on her actions. Maybe there was too much doing and less thinking.

She blocked Nikolai and even Preston. Only accepting messages from Bonnie and her most trusted nanny.

“I shouldn’t be here.” Her heart clenched at the thought of Liam being away from her for that long. Liam's not even one year old, and she left her own child. All for her benefit and satisfaction. She wanted to be a better mother, and this trend of misfortunes is proof of the opposite. "What the hell am I doing with my life?"

The most logical thing to do was to sign the divorce papers. Forget Nikolai and move on. Two things that should have been simple. Now, everything's too late.

Belle cried in despair. This is it. She is finally giving up. Better cut losses than lose even more by making more mistakes. Enough wasting effort, tears, and even money. If she were to stay another day away from her child, she'd go crazy.

Belle booked the next flight to Auckland from Houston. After 14 hours, she could be with her child again. Now is the time to move forward and move on.

“Isobelle.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” His voice sent shivers down her spine. Her eyes were burning with fury, looking at Nikolai. “How did you even know I was here? Are you stalking me, Nikolai? ”

“Can we talk? Isobelle, please." His voice weakened. Belle wasn't sure if it was comforting that the guy looked sleepless and tired.

Her knees lost strength as he pleaded. It is such a shame that he still has that effect on her. Maybe it was because Nikolai never begged. She's never heard him say he's sorry before. He never looked at her with that much emotion, never mind that what she's seeing is sadness. The temptation is in her hand to touch and check if Nikolai was her hallucination.

Everything there was deja vu. She's sure that this scene has already happened before. Although, at the time, this wasn't the role she was playing. Back then, she was the one begging, and Nikolai was the one leaving.

“This hit too close to home, Nikolai. I can still remember how I cried, begging for you not to leave me. If you only looked me in the eyes, you would see how hurt I was. If you only glanced at me once, then you would know I was bleeding. I almost lost him that day, Nikolai. After losing my first child, I couldn't bear the thought of losing my baby again."

It was a miracle how Belle managed to speak straight without her voice breaking or crying.

“After going through that, don’t you think it would be best if we were away from each other? "

She didn't wait for an answer. Belle wanted to start a life without Nikolai as soon as possible. 

Both of them glanced at the car that stopped right in front of them. Preston's head popped out of the window, “Are you going to kill each other or are you going to make this work?”

For the first time since Preston punched Nikolai, the two of them were left alone in a single room. Preston's right hand is gripped into a tight fist, all ready to land a punch on Nikolai's still bruised cheeks. Belle tried to stop her brother from talking to her ex-husband, thinking it would end in tragedy, but he was determined—no one could stop a determined Preston.

Preston didn't want to be the mediator between his best friend and his sister. In his head, however, they are a family. Not just the two of them. There's also a kid involved. And truth be told, he was eager to see the kid in person after all this commotion.

"So... you and my sister?" Preston said through his gritted teeth. This is like every older brother's nightmare. 

"I'm sorry. I know it's too late, but I'm sorry."

"And why exactly are you sorry? For leaving my sister? For hurting her?  For not knowing that you two have a child? Because we've been working together for quite a while now. You looked disheveled and, in a way, depressed, but never did I hear you say something about this."

"For everything, Prez. I swear, I didn't want things to end up this way. There were a lot of things that I could have done differently."

"Oh, yes. Definitely!" Preston heaved a sad, long, disappointed sigh. His hands covered his whole face. "That's my sister, Nick. The hell I know how, but that is my sister."

In another universe, somewhere, Nikolai really loved Isabelle, enough for him to stay. Preston would have been happy to see them in a relationship and getting married. And perhaps, in another universe too, he would still have a little sympathy left to pity this guy in front of him. He has obviously been miserable and depressed. All these years, Preston has been waiting for his friend to open up. He never did, and recently, he learned why.

"Did you even love my sister?"

The longer he kept his silence, the more Preston wanted to throw another punch in the guy's once flawless face.

He waited, but Nikolai still didn't answer.

"You really are an asshole, aren't you? You left for six months before because you married my sister without even letting me know? And you didn't even love her?"

"It was complicated that time, Preston."

"You probably think I'm stupid, thinking I wouldn't understand."

"You know about her job offer in Auckland. She wanted to leave, and I didn't want her to be alone, especially because she's pregnant."

Preston scoffed. "Oh, the irony of you staying with her because she's pregnant. Only to leave her not knowing she is pregnant. What an ass move, Nikolai."

If erasing Nikolai in this picture was only an option, Preston would have done so.

"She had a miscarriage. We were never the same. I tried staying and making things work. We started at the wrong foot, Prez. We knew we ruined each other and our relationship got worse every day. I thought leaving her would save us from further damage. I can come back here and she can have the life that she should have had without me, without all the complications."

Well, that was it for him. They can all scream at each other and play a long game of blaming one another, asking who hurt who in the past. Things will stay the same, and they will still end up with the same dilemma.

"So, what's your plan? She already signed the papers. Are you going to proceed with the divorce?" Preston asked.

Nikolai looked him straight in the eye and answered, "No."

"Fucking make things work, then."