Chapter 74 Go Abroad
“I’m sorry, we did our best,” the doctor said sadly.
I stared at Daniel, breathing heavily, and mumbled, “Daniel, tell me this is a lie and everything is okay.” My face was etched with shock.
When I didn’t get a response from him, I glared at Maya, my eyes welling up with tears, and added in a broken voice, “I can’t bear to lose them. I can’t. They’re the only family I have left.”
I saw tears flowing down Maya’s face before she looked away.
I stared back at Daniel as he held my hand and said softly, “Natalie, you need to calm down. Your health is good now, and that’s all that matters.”
Tears flowed uncontrollably down my cheeks, and I shook my head in refusal, crying out between my sobs, “No, no, no, no!”
I pulled my hand away from Daniel’s and wept, “That can’t be true. My babies! Please tell me my babies are okay!”
I felt pain not just in my body, but deep in my soul, as if my very essence was about to leave me.
Daniel embraced me and murmured, “I’m so sorry, Natalie.”
“The baby’s heartbeat had already stopped by the time you got here,” the doctor declared. She paused for a second, then asked, “The miscarriage was due to severe trauma and stress, or even violence. Have you been attacked or beaten?”
I broke down crying, and Daniel tightened his embrace around me, whispering in a gentle tone, “Shh, everything is going to be okay, I promise.”
I looked up at the doctor with bloodshot eyes and asked, “Did you say the miscarriage was because of violence?”
She nodded and said, “Yes, and we need to file a report with the police.”
I wiped my tears and sniffed between my sobs, “Rafael… I need to tell Rafael. He has to do something; they’re his babies too.”
I looked around and asked, “Where’s my phone?”
Maya promptly handed it to me. “Here it is!” she said, handing it over.
With trembling hands, I called his number. He picked up immediately and said before I could even speak, “I don’t have time right now, Natalie. I’m busy. I’ll call you later.” Then he simply hung up, amidst the sound of many voices beside him.
I threw my phone onto the bed in frustration.
What was I thinking? To leave everything behind and come to me?
“Ma’am, I need to put you on a feeding tube and help you change,” a nurse said after entering the room.
Daniel looked at me with a reassuring smile and said, “We will wait outside.”
Once they cleared the room, the nurse helped me change and injected some medicine into my feeding tube, which was connected to a vein in my hand.
When she finished, Daniel and Maya returned to the room, but they weren’t alone; two officers were joining them.
“These officers are here to take your statement about the circumstances of your miscarriage,” Daniel declared.
I nodded, then I gave my full statement about how Debbie attacked me. She blackmailed me with a fabricated porn video, making me the female lead after luring me to the apartment where the clips were filmed.
“Sir, can I have a word with you in private?” the officer said to Daniel after he finished taking all my statements.
Maya helped me lay back on the bed and turned on the television to distract me from thinking about the miscarriage issue.
I closed my eyes, and the only sound echoing in the room was the TV.
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice, so I opened my eyes promptly, my heart beating quicker.
It was Rafael on TV, featured in the celebrity news section.
My eyes welled up with tears. How was I supposed to handle this? While I was losing our children and suffering in pain here, he was declaring his loyalty to another woman.
The woman who caused me this pain.
As I thought of that, and how he made me believe in him, I felt frustration, anger, and disappointment.
I can’t bear to stay in the same city as them and meet them on occasions.
“Take me out of here!” I said quietly to Maya.
She stared at me, confused, and questioned, “What happened? Are you in pain?”
I tightened my grip on my chest, near my heart, and replied, “My heart is in so much pain.”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“Oh, dear. Let me…” she started.
I cried out furiously when I saw Debbie kissing Rafael on the cheek. “Take me out of here, now. I can’t stay here!”
At my loud outburst, Daniel rushed in, asking, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
_____
I insisted on leaving the country immediately.
Daniel took care of all the details and prepared all the necessary papers for me to travel in record time.
One of the necessary documents I insisted on was signing a divorce letter. I knew Rafael was going to ask me to sign it soon, and I no longer wanted to deal with him or see him. So, I took this step to end our relationship once and for all.
I stood on the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea. The strong wind stirred my hair violently.
“Strong winds are not good for your health, Natalie,” Maya said.
I stared at the huge, angry waves crashing against the pointed rocks with all their force. They were much like my heart right now.
Without lifting my gaze from the sea, I murmured, “Can I stay alone for a minute?”
Daniel and Maya exchanged glances, then Daniel nodded and left with Maya, his arm around her shoulders.
I grabbed the marriage contract, the document that led me to all of this. It was invalid now.
I stared at it for a moment, then started tearing it up. With every tear, I felt a part of my heart tear up. Hot, bitter tears rolled down my cheeks.
After I finished, I mumbled as I threw the pieces of paper into the sea, “I release you from this toxic love, my heart.”
I picked up my phone from my pocket, the one Rafael bought for me. I stared at his photo, touched it with my finger, and whispered, “I can’t believe you did this to me, Rafael. I can’t. But you did.”
“Goodbye, Raf,” I said and threw it into the sea, unwilling to give him a way to contact me.
As the phone flew through the air, just before it smashed into the rocks, I heard the ringtone assigned to Rafael’s number.
I smiled bitterly. He called, but it was too late.
“Goodbye,” I whispered, staring out of the private plane window as it headed to France.