Chapter 38
Run. Just run.
My feet slapped against the marble floor. Slap. Slap. Slap.
I was crying so hard I couldn't even see where I was going. Everything was a blurry mess of pink runners, dark wood, and tears. The hallway felt endless, like a nightmare corridor that stretches on forever.
"Hello, love."
The voice echoed in my ears. Smooth. Confident. The voice of a woman who knows she belongs.
I hate her! I hate her! And I hate Gabriel!
I reached the grand staircase. I stumbled down the steps, gripping the railing so hard my hand hurt. I almost tripped over my own feet (as usual), but I caught myself. I didn't care if I fell. I just wanted to be out.
I reached the bottom floor. The Grand Foyer.
My pink fur rug was there. The giant Monstera plants were there. The cozy gray sofas were there.
It all looked like a lie now. A pretty, pink lie covering up a dark, scary truth.
I ran to the massive double doors. The heavy oak handles loomed over me.
"Open! Open!" I sobbed, pulling with all my might. It was heavy! Why is everything in this house built for giants?!
I got it open a crack. The night air rushed in. Freedom!
WHOOSH.
A hand—large, warm, and terrifyingly strong—slammed against the wood above my head.
BANG.
The door shut.
I gasped.
Before I could turn the handle again, two hands grabbed my waist and spun me around.
"Aleesha..."
It was Gabriel. His chest was heaving. His shirt was still torn open, revealing the tattoo I had drawn. His hair was messy. He looked frantic.
"Let me go!" I screamed, pushing at his bare chest. "I don't want to talk to you! Go talk to your Love! Go talk to Natalia!"
"Listen to me," he growled, his voice rough. "You are misunderstanding—"
"I am not!" I wailed. "I have ears! I heard her! She called you Love! And you... you didn't say anything! You just froze! You didn't tell her to shut up!"
"I was shocked," he argued, tightening his grip on my waist. "Aleesha, stop fighting me."
"NO!"
I didn't want to listen. Listening hurts. Words are lies.
I balled up my hand. My palm still stung from the last two times, but I didn't care.
SLAP!
For the third time. Right across his jaw.
The sound was sharp in the high-ceilinged foyer.
Gabriel didn't flinch this time. He didn't even blink. He just took it.
He looked at me. His eyes weren't angry. They were... sad? Desperate?
"Are you finished?" he asked softly.
"No!" I sobbed, my hands falling to my sides. "I will never be finished! You broke my heart, Gabby!"
He moved fast.
He grabbed both of my wrists. Not hard enough to bruise, but firm enough to stop me from hitting him (or running away). He pulled me close, trapping me against his body.
"Look at me," he commanded.
"I don't want to!" I squeezed my eyes shut, tears leaking out like a broken faucet.
He let go of one wrist. His hand came up to my face. His thumb brushed away a tear on my cheek.
Then, he leaned down.
He kissed my right eye. Soft.
He kissed my left eye. Gentle.
"Aleesha," he whispered against my skin. "Breathe."
I sniffled. My shoulders shook. But the warmth of his lips on my eyelids... it made the anger leak out a little bit. Just a little.
"It was Natalia," he said. His voice was steady. "She came back. She found my number. She is... messing things up. She is trying to create chaos."
I opened my eyes slowly. He was looking at me with such intensity it made my knees wobble.
"She called you Love," I whispered, my voice trembling.
"She can call me whatever she wants," Gabriel said, his jaw tightening. "It does not mean I answer to it. I do not love her, Aleesha. That part of my life... it is ash. It is gone."
I looked at him. I wanted to believe him. I really, really did.
But the doubt was like a heavy stone in my tummy.
"But you have her name on your back," I whispered. "For years. You forgot to remove it. You forget things you don't care about? Or do you keep things you secretly love?"
"I removed it," he reminded me. "It is gone."
"But she's back," I countered. "And she's pretty. And tall. And probably smart. And she doesn't cry over spilt milk or... or slap people."
I looked down at his chest. At the J-Ali tattoo. It looked so silly compared to the elegance of Natalia.
"I think..." I took a deep breath. My heart felt like it was cracking in two.
"I think I want a divorce," I said.
Silence.
Pure, suffocating silence.
The air in the room seemed to vanish. The clock stopped ticking. Even Primrose, who was sleeping in the living room, seemed to hold her breath.
Gabriel went still.
His hand, which was caressing my wrist, stopped moving.
His face... changed. The sadness, the desperation, the warmth... it all evaporated. It was like a shutter coming down over a window. His eyes went cold. Dead. Blank.
"No," he said.
It wasn't a shout. It was a statement of fact. Like saying, "The sky is blue."
"Yes," I insisted, finding a tiny bit of bravery. "It is my right! I am a wife! If the husband is... is emotionally compromised... or if there is a third party... I can file for divorce! It's in the movies! It's the law!"
I looked up at him, pleading.
"You can find another vessel," I said, my voice wobbling. "For the heir. Natalia... she would be perfect. She is tall. Her babies would be giants! They would be smart and beautiful. She can give you the heir, Gabriel. You don't need me."
Gabriel's expression didn't flicker. He looked at me like I was speaking a language he didn't understand.
"I said no," he repeated.
"But I don't want to be with you anymore!" I cried, stomping my bare foot. "I don't want to be the second choice! I don't want to be the distraction! I want to go home to my yellow house and my leaky roof!"
Gabriel looked down at me. He resumed stroking my wrist with his thumb. Back and forth. Back and forth. A soothing motion that felt terrifyingly possessive.
"You cannot leave," he said calmly.
"I can! I have legs!"
"Clause 14," he stated.
I blinked. "Huh?"
"Clause 14 of the Marriage Contract," Gabriel explained, his voice smooth and cold. "Section C. Paragraph 2."
He leaned in closer, his dark eyes boring into mine.
"The Asset—that is you, Aleesha—waives the right to file for divorce, annulment, or separation for the duration of the agreement. The right to dissolve the union belongs solely to the Principal. That is me."
My mouth fell open.
"W-what?" I stammered. "That... that's not fair! That's illegal!"
"It is perfectly legal in the jurisdiction where we filed," he countered. "You signed it, Aleesha."
I racked my brain. The contract. That giant stack of papers he gave me on the first day. It was like a book! It had tiny words! And big words!
"I..." I bit my lip. "I didn't read that part... The font was size 8! And I was too busy reading the part about the allowance clause...I trusted you!"
"A mistake," he murmured. "Never sign what you do not read."
"But... so I'm trapped?" I whispered, tears welling up again. "I'm stuck? Even if you love her?"
"I do not love her," Gabriel said, his voice gaining a hard edge.
He released my wrists and placed his hand on my lower back. He guided me—pushed me, gently—toward the sofa.
"Sit," he ordered.
I sat. I felt small. I felt stupid. I signed my life away because I was lazy reading? I am the worst adult ever.
Gabriel sat on the coffee table in front of me. He spread his legs, his knees touching mine. He was at eye level now.
He took my hands in his.
"Listen to me," he said. "And listen well. Because I will only say this once."
I sniffled, looking at our joined hands.
"Natalia came back," he began. "She came to my office."
My eyes widened. "She was there?"
"Yes. She walked in. She tried to... leverage our past."
He looked at me intently.
"She touched my chair. She leaned close. She tried to seduce me, Aleesha. She used her scent. She used her words. She tried to pull me back into the toxicity."
I felt sick. "And... and you liked it?"
"I was... affected," he admitted. "Memories are powerful drugs. I was paralyzed for a moment. I was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down."
He squeezed my hands.
"And then... the phone rang."
I blinked. "My call?"
"Yes," he said. "You called. Screaming about a teddy bear. And french fries. And Eli's car."
A tiny blush crept up my neck. "It was a big bear..."
"It was ridiculous," Gabriel said, a hint of a smirk touching his lips. "It was noise. It was chaos. It was pink."
He leaned closer.
"And it saved me."
My breath hitched. "It... it did?"
"Hearing your voice," he whispered, "snapped me out of it. It reminded me of what is real. Natalia is a ghost. She is poison. You... you are the antidote."
He let go of my hands and reached up to cup my cheek. His palm was warm. His thumb traced my lower lip.
"I left her standing there," he said fiercely. "I walked out. I left my own office to come pick you up at an arcade. I chose the fries, Aleesha. I chose the bear. I chose you."
I looked into his eyes. They weren't cold anymore. They were burning.
"And the phone call just now?" I asked weakly.
"She is desperate," he said. "She is trying to claw her way back in. But she cannot."
He took my left hand—the one with the wedding ring. He pulled it towards him.
He placed my palm flat against his bare chest.
Right over his heart.
Right over the J-Ali 3 :) tattoo.
I could feel his heart beating. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Strong. Steady.
"Feel that?" he asked.
"Yes," I whispered.
"That is yours," he said.
He pressed my hand harder against his skin, branding me with his heartbeat.
"This mark," he looked down at the smiley face. "You put this here. It is permanent. Just like Clause 14."
He looked back up at me.
"I am the Principal," he murmured. "And I am telling you... there will be no divorce. There will be no separation. And there will be no other vessel."
He leaned in until our foreheads touched.
"I am yours, Aleesha," he vowed, his voice rough with emotion. "Yours alone. No ghost can touch what belongs to you."
I let out a shaky breath.
The doubt was still there, a little bit. But his heart was beating under my hand. And he chose the fries. He chose me over the supermodel ex-girlfriend.
And he has a smiley face on his chest.
Maybe... maybe he really means it?
"Promise?" I whispered. "Pinky promise?"
Gabriel sighed. But he pulled back, held up his pinky finger, and hooked it around mine.
"Pinky promise," he grumbled.
I looked at our pinkies.
"Okay," I sniffled. "No divorce. But... you owe me ice cream. And you have to block her number."
"Done," he said immediately.
"And... kiss me again?" I asked shyly. "Without the phone ringing?"
Gabriel didn't answer with words.
He just pulled me off the sofa, into his lap, and sealed the promise the only way he knew how.