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Home / Romance / Ava, My Heart / Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Lahat ng Kabanata ng Ava, My Heart: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

76 Kabanata

20

Alexander shut the door slowly. Quietly. Like if he made one sudden move, the entire apartment would fall apart...just like everything else tonight.The silence hit him like a punch to the chest.Ava was gone.She had walked out not more than forty minutes ago, her eyes wet, her shoulders trembling, and her heart... broken. And he had just stood there…watching. Wanting to stop her. Needing to. But frozen. Powerless in the one moment that mattered most.Alexander stepped into the kitchen, yanked open the liquor cabinet, and grabbed the vodka. No glass. Just the bottle. But then he hesitated. No. Not like that.He grabbed a tumbler, filled it halfway, and took a long, slow sip. The burn grounded him. Reminded him he was still here. Still breathing. Even though it didn’t feel like it.Christ.He leaned against the counter, one hand gripping the edge, the other clutching the glass. He stared ahead, not really seeing anything.He loved that woman. He loved Ava like his life depended on it.

21

Alexander gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. Every time June whimpered in pain, he flinched. His jaw was clenched hard, his mind spinning, his chest tight with guilt and confusion.“Hold on, we’re almost there,” he muttered, barely recognizing his own voice.In the backseat, June was curled sideways, clutching her arm. The blood had slowed but her cries hadn’t. They came in broken gasps, sharp and pitiful.“Alexander…” she whimpered.“Try not to talk,” he said, his voice softer now, fighting the panic bubbling under his skin. He ran a red light.And yet, she didn’t miss the way his voice cracked...just slightly. It made her heart flutter.Hidden beneath her long hair, where he couldn’t see her face, June allowed a tiny smirk to tug at her lips. She buried her face deeper into the crook of her arm and let out another groan, louder this time, dragging it out.She had played it perfectly.The nudge he gave her was harmless...barely enough to make her stumble.

22

The faint chatter of children was outside the classroom windows, mixing with the chirping birds and occasional rustle of wind. Ava stood at the front of her fourth-grade classroom, her hands chalk-dusted and her curls pinned up in a quick bun that morning at Chelsea’s place. She hadn’t planned on teaching today...not after the night she’d had...but here she was. In her favorite place, standing in front of the kids who always managed to pull her back to life.“Okay, little stars,” she said, clapping her hands to get their attention. “Let’s head to the bulletin board and write one thing we’re proud of this week.”The children lit up, rushing to grab their markers and sticky notes, eagerly writing things like “I helped my mom with the dishes”, “I learned to tie my shoelaces”, or “I didn’t cry when I scraped my knee.” Their joy filled the space, and Ava smiled, the first real one all day. She knelt beside one of her students who was stuck on what to write.“Write about how you remembered

23

Alexander’s car pulled into the hospital’s parking lot just as the late afternoon sun began to fade. He stepped out, shutting the door with a little more force than necessary, jaw tight, eyes forward. Every inch of him looked like the man he was...controlled, powerful, deliberate. But inside, it was chaos.He had just seen Ava. For a few seconds.That wave. Her eyes. The way she drove off without a word. He hadn’t expected anything more...he was giving her space like she asked...but it still left him gutted.A few hours apart from her and it already felt like days. Weeks. Too long.He walked through the sliding doors and made his way toward the nurse's desk with heavy steps, every movement efficient and sharp.“June Holloway,” he said, voice low but firm. “Room 103.”The nurse looked up. “She’s been discharged, sir.”His brow tightened. “What?”“She completed the paperwork. Doctor cleared her about ten minutes ago. She should still be inside, though, waiting for someone.”Alexander tu

24

Ava sat cross-legged on Chelsea’s oversized couch, clutching a throw pillow to her chest, the weight of the day still lingering in her thoughts. The city lights outside blurred together, soft car horns in the distance, but her mind was elsewhere...back at the school. Her fingers nervously toyed with the rim of her tea mug as the silence stretched between them.Chelsea padded into the room, bare feet making no sound on the wooden floor. She carried two steaming mugs of tea, and a grin spread across her face when she saw Ava sitting there, clearly deep in thought.She handed one mug to Ava and plopped down beside her. “You look like you’ve been holding in a secret for hours. Spill it. I’m dying here.”Ava smiled, her lips barely curving as she looked into her tea. “He came to school today.”Chelsea’s eyes immediately lit up. “Who? Alexander Reed?”Ava nodded, staring at her mug. “Yeah. He just showed up. Didn’t text, didn’t call. Just stood there. Watching me.”Chelsea straightened up,

25

Alexander sat in the back of the car, staring out at the passing city like it might give him the answer he’d been chasing since the moment she walked away.The lights rolled by...red, blue, gold...but none of it touched him. His phone rested in his hand, screen black. Still no reply. No call. No trace that Ava had read the message he left behind.But that wasn’t the point.He hadn’t sent it to win her back. Not tonight.He just needed her to know. That she still mattered. That nothing had changed for him, even if everything around them had.Earlier that evening, he'd sent her favorite food to Chelsea’s flat...still piping hot from the same small place she swore made it better than anywhere else. He had made use of a delivery guy to deliver the food. Along with it, a handwritten card. No branding. No signature. Just a message written in his own sharp, impatient scrawl.She hadn’t replied.He didn’t expect her to.She was the only thing he’d ever given himself to without caution. Withou

26

Ava gripped the steering wheel as she drove through the early evening traffic, the sun dipping low behind the buildings. Her fingers still tingle from the card she had read just minutes ago…Alexander’s handwriting, his words, so full of love and devotion. The gesture had touched something deep inside her. She was on her way home now, eager to see him, maybe throw her arms around his neck and kiss him until he smiled that boyish smile she adored.Then her phone rang.She hit the hands-free button, still thinking about him.“Hello, ma’am,” came a voice she recognized instantly. It was Alexander’s occasional driver. He didn’t sound right. His voice trembled. “It’s Mr. Alexander. He…he was attacked. He’s at the hospital. He was stabbed…”The world spun.“What?” Her voice cracked. “What did you just say?”“He’s in surgery right now. We’re at Rosemont General.”She couldn’t breathe. Her chest tightened as her foot slammed down on the accelerator. The car jerked forward, horns blared behind

27

Alexander slowly came to, his mind sluggish, as though it was trying to piece itself together, step by agonizing step. A sharp ache shot through his abdomen. He winced, feeling the bandages wrapped tightly around his stomach. It felt as though his body had been crushed and hastily repaired, the pain ate at him with every shallow breath he took.His eyelids fluttered open, and the white hospital room came into view...the soft beeping of monitors in the background. He shifted slightly, and the pain only intensified, sending a wave of nausea through him. He was on a drip, a needle in his arm, and everything felt too surreal, too foreign.But there was something else. Something that didn’t belong in the coldness of the hospital. The sight of it brought a sense of warmth flooding his chest.Ava.She was asleep in the only chair in the room, curled up, her head resting against the side of the bed. Her face was peaceful, but there was a sadness about her, a heaviness in the way she lay. He c

28

By evening, Deidre Reed had done exactly what she said she would.The man who had stabbed Alexander was caught and dragged into custody. Not just him…the entire group that had jumped into that fight, throwing punches like it was some kind of street game, were picked up one after the other. Their faces were bruised. Their mouths swollen. The station reeked of sweat, blood, and regret. All because they had picked the wrong man.Alexander Reed.A name that carried weight in every circle, from corporate boardrooms to the dusty corners of the city’s underbelly. And behind that name stood his mother…Deidre.She walked into the police station in her sharp black pantsuit like she owned the place. No badge, no title. Just power. She didn’t need to shout. Her presence alone forced the officers to stand straighter, to speak more clearly. To respect her.She wasn’t running the investigation…the officers were. But it was no secret that Deidre had poured a mountain of money into speeding up the pro

29

The low sound of the air conditioner filled the silence like a steady background rhythm. Sunlight slipped through the blinds, soft lines stretching across the floor and lighting up the clean white of the hospital walls. The television played quietly in the corner, forgotten.Ava sat close to the bed, her body turned slightly toward Alexander. One hand lay gently over his, her thumb brushing small circles against the back of his palm. Her gaze moved occasionally to his face, to the way his eyes stayed fixed on the corner of the room, his expression unreadable.He was upright, propped by two pillows, the line of stitches near his collarbone visible against the clean hospital gown. He looked strong, still, calm, but Ava could tell. In the way his shoulders sometimes tightened. In the shallow breaths he tried to hide. In the set of his mouth. He was in pain. He just didn’t want her to see it.She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to.She just stayed beside him, fingers warm against his

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