CHAPTER FOUR:NATHAN II

“Audrey, please. No one has to know, just for a few weeks or even a month” Mrs Hernandez cajoled, “I will feel better with you here. Nathan doesn’t have to know anything until our business is finished”

“But….” Her voice trailed off when she saw the handle of the door turn and the door opened.

“Mum” Nathan called from the door and the woman froze, she was hoping he didn’t hear their conversation.

“What happened baby?” Mrs Hernandez asked, “you need something?”

Nathan didn’t move as he stretched out his hand and she took it, “is Vanessa planning on leaving?”

“Of course not,” she answered, “are you?”

Aurdrey was dumbfounded for a while, she could feel the pain in his voice but how could she lie like this! This was not what she thought would happen and now..

“Nessa, I know I am blind but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you, you know that right? If you are willing, we can get married and I can give you everything you want”

A lot was going on in her head as she stood watching him talk. How could a man who commanded so much respect be so vulnerable when it came to the matter of love?

“Look baby” he made to walk to her and almost lost his balance but Audrey quickly ran to him and got a hold of him.

“Be careful,” she said.

“Thank you baby” Nathan answered while his lips curled into a smile, “I know you are mad at me for losing my eyesight and all of that but I am promising you that I am going to work on myself and get my sight back Nessa” he placed his two hands on her shoulders, “please don’t go again”

Audrey could feel the tears sting her eyes, he loved her sister so much but she had to run away at the last minute. What would happen when he found out the truth?

Now she was in a dilemma, what could she do?

“I will leave you both to talk” Mrs Hernandez winked at Audrey before walking out of the room.

“Baby” Nathan called to her again, “you know I met with my occultist and he told me I could be able to see again, I will be able to see again and give you all that dream life you have always wanted baby”

Audrey could no longer stop herself and she began to cry. This was too painful to watch and she had only Vanessa to blame for all of this.

“Say something, Nessa” Nathan’s voice reached her ears again and she jolted back to reality, “i really want to hear your voice”

“How sure are you that I am Vanessa? You can’t even see me” this was the only word that could come out of her mouth, this was the only thing she could say.

“I can feel you Nessa” this time a smile appeared on his lips, “remember that necklace i gave you eight months ago, that is my way of telling you how much I know you Nessa”

Audrey’s hand went to her bare neck and she gulped, she was not a lover of jewelry and definitely not wearing any necklace.

Nathan’s eyebrows creased into a frown when he noticed her neck was bare.

“Did you take the necklace out?”

“Uhmmm '' now Audrey was at a loss for words, if she lied to him now that meant she was ready to lie to him for as long as this shenanigans continue. But was she ready to do that? Was she ready to keep her life aside and become her sister? A lot of things she planned for herself but now everything was going down the drain but the fact that fifty million dollars was in this for her made her mouth water, no one was willing to offer that amount of money for just a few months. Now she was torn between being greedy and letting her human side win.

“Say something, Nessa”

“Uhmm, I kind of lost the necklace last week. I went to swim and it got…” her voice trailed off, she allowed her greedy side to win and this made her stomach to Churn. This was the most bizzare thing she had ever done.

“It’s okay,” the blind man advised, “I can get you a million kinds of necklaces if you want, okay?” His hands flew to her cheek and he caressed it gently, “I am so happy that you are back Nessa”

“Do you love me that much?” Audrey was forced to ask, she pitied him and the kind of lie he had to endure.

“Remember the promise I made, do you? I am never leaving you no matter what. It was insane of me to go blind and I understand your frustration and disappointment. When I get my eyesight back, I will you the world”

With each passing minute, Audrey felt like crying her eyes out. What the hell was happening? He was confessing his love to someone who just met him for the first time and he was not aware of that fact.

He was still talking happily and she used that opportunity to study him.

With a good physique and equally handsome face, Nathan was sure to get any woman he wanted but who would agree to stay with a blind man forever? A man who could not even differentiate the woman he loved from her twin sister.

“Will you stay?”

“Do you trust me, Nathan?” She finally asked.

“Of course buttercup” he immediately answered, “I trust you with everything I have got”

This time she didn’t feel like she was lying to him, she felt like she was trying to help him. What Vanessa couldn’t do, she was going to do it and get her fifty million dollars in return. To Audrey, this was purely business and nothing more.

This time she lifted her hand and caressed his face gently, “I am not going anywhere okay? I will be here for you”

“You don’t mind that I am still blind? I don’t even remember much either”

Audrey sniffed back a tear, “it’s not your fault that you got blind okay? It’s not and don’t ever blame yourself for what you have no control over, am I understood?”

“Sure” he nodded and pulled her to an embrace as a tear trickled down his eyes.

Nathan met Vanessa when she was an Intern working at one of his branches and he immediately took a liking to her. He was more of a social nerd and they fell in love when none of them planned it. The two of them began to date but kept their relationship a secret from the public and everyone was thrown into a frenzy when it was announced that the almighty Nathan Hernandez was in a relationship. Everyone was anticipating the outcome because Nathan was someone who always stayed out of the public eye and the announcement of his wedding meant he would finally show his face to the world.

A year ago he had a bad accident that claimed his eyes and since then, he has been staying on the island alone hoping for the way Vanessa would come back to him after she left. Little did he know that his mum already had her own plans. Vanessa left six months after he lost his eyesight and came back two months ago when Mrs Hernandez promised to pay her a huge sum of money but bailed on them at the last minute before the wedding claiming her peace of mind was better than a lot of money.

Quite frankly she loved Nathan but being a wife to a handicap was something she didn’t bargain for and this was how her twin sister found herself in this situation.

“Babe” Nathan called for the umpteenth time and Audrey jolted back to reality.

“What are you thinking so intently about?”

“It’s nothing sir” Audrey mistakenly said and her eyes opened wide as saucers.

“Sir?”

“Slip of the tongue” was her answer, “why don’t you take some rest now? You have been up and about since I got here”

“No” he clung onto her like a baby koala, “I don’t want you to leave again”