|| LORENZO KING's POV ||
The last hour of my life has been one of the most painful lessons that I have experienced throughout my entire life.
Never lie to your partner...
I guess, my luck was never on my side. I had planned to tell her someday maybe after she fell madly in love with me. But today, her visit to my office had ruined my entire plan. It was a miracle that she found that evidence in my drawer. I almost forgot that Luka had once found it as well and slammed those papers on my face. I should have just burnt it like hell.
After that meeting, I returned to the office to see that everything was in its place. However, Lily and Leonardo's picture was laying on the floor. It took a minute for me to understand what possibly had gone wrong during my absence.
Now, the consequences were right in front of my eyes. She was leaving me for real. I had better known it from the beginning. There wouldn't be any coming back if she left me this time. Without thinking about anything, I chased behind her and hugged her back tightly. The rain continued pouring over our heads heavily. Our clothes felt sticky to each other but I could care less. I begged her about sincerity,
" I am sorry.. please don't leave me.. Please...One last chance..I want you to give me..one last chance... Please Valentina.."
She stayed numb in my embrace. After a while, her cold, emotionless voice penetrated into my ears through the heavy rain,
" LET GO OF ME, MR.KING. YOU SHOULDN'T BEG TO STRIPPER LIKE ME."
I stiffened her voice. Never in my life, Valentina had used such a tone to speak to me. Her tone sounded so foreign to me as if I was a stranger from the street. She attempted to leave again but this time, I got on my knees and hugged her by the waist. My heart was in pain so much that I don't even remember what I was saying to her exactly,
" I beg you.. Don't.. Don't be so cruel to me, Valentina.. Think.. think about our baby.. Please..I promise to never lie to you again..You can hate me as much as you want but don't.. don't.. leave me.."
I burst into tears without any hesitation. There was nothing wrong in begging for the person whom you love. I believed that I deserved a second chance. If she allowed me, I was going to bring down the hell to prove to her that I really loved her to death.
Finally, she spoke in a choking voice, not showing any sympathy over my apology,
" Tell me, how will I believe you again, Lorenzo King? TELL ME, HOW WILL I TRUST YOU AGAIN? YOU LET ME FALL FOR YOU SO THAT YOU CAN BREAK ME INTO PIECES?? I HATE YOU, LORENZO!! LET GO OF ME!! LET GO OF MEEEE!!"
I kept shaking my head vigorously. I couldn't imagine living without her. I had experienced it once but I wasn't ready to experience it again. When she started struggling in my hold, I let go of her for a while to get up. Once she started walking away hastily again, I scooped her up in my arms carefully and began to stride to the car before saying,
" You can hate me as much as you want but you must stay next to me, Valentina Avery."
________
" Are you feeling okay?", I asked her nervously. Her eyes were empty like a shell. For the past two hours, she didn't talk to me for a minute. Thankfully, she fainted when I brought her to the house by force. I knew that it wasn't a good idea but how could I let her go all alone by herself when she was five months pregnant.
She was looking down at her clean clothes absentmindedly as if I didn't exist in her vision. From the moment, I threatened her by telling that she would be in jail if she tried to run away with my baby. She became totally silent. I obviously didn't mean those words. It was all because I trapped her by my side. However, I hated her silence as well.
When she refused to respond stubbornly, I let out a helpless exhale. She looked like a puppet who was being controlled and directed by me. Having nothing to do, I tried to explain to her my feelings again, hating the sight that she acted distant,
" I know that I am wrong, Valentina but..I..I really want you to give me one last chance. I promise to you. I will give justice to Lily's death. I really thought of buying you my money but it was never my intention to play with your feelings. You have to trust me, Valentina...I really.."
" I am sleepy!!", she blurted suddenly, cutting me off between my words. I swallowed the rest of my words painfully. Never in my life, I thought that ignorance could be this painful especially from the person that you love.
With her words, she rolled on the bed to fall asleep. She didn't even try to take those handcuffs off. Even after my threat with the baby, she tried to act violently stubbornly wanting to leave. I had no choice but to put those handcuffs on her so that she wouldn't leave me anymore.
How foolish love could be!
With my first love, I had never been so desperate to keep her by my side. But Valentina was totally different to me. It was impossible to imagine a life without seeing her smile. I hurt her deeply. I understood her hatred for me but our love meant nothing to her? Was the vengeance more important than our beautiful days together?
Leaving the questions behind, I stood up to leave her room so that she could sleep in peace. Hopefully, she will forgive me tomorrow when she wakes up.
One more longest hour of my life passed after I left her alone in the room. When I went back to check on her, she was sleeping peacefully. But her face looked exhausted and tired. I felt guilty for being the reason behind her pain and sorrow. I wished that I could tell her in advance.
Sighing through my nose heavily, I tiptoed to approach her on the bed. A sting of pain appeared in my heart to see how uncomfortably she was handcuffed.
So selfish of you, Lorenzo King!
My self-conscious mind shouted at me. Before I could think further, I leaned down to unlock it carefully so that she could sleep without any trouble. Before leaving her side, I silently landed a small kiss on her forehead. I guess, it was better for me to sleep in a separate room today. Although I was pretty sure that I was going to be an owl tonight, I decided to give her space.
Coming back to the next room, I felt lonely in my heart all of a sudden. In my entire life, I was always afraid of being left alone especially after my mother died. Only Valentina was the only person who made me feel like home. Whenever I looked at her baby bump, I felt like it was worth waiting all these years. How could I hurt her so much?
I felt another round of guilt, storming in my heart. Holding the tears back, I laid flat on the bed, trying to fall asleep so that I wouldn't remember her pains.
When I woke up again, it was early in the morning. Suddenly, I panicked, thinking about Valentina. When I rushed into her room to check on her, my heart dropped looking into the empty room.
Was.. she...gone?