'Love?'
Arthur was stunned. This is the first time they are discussing Love. He felt this unexplainable joy combined with fear bubbling in his heart.
Talking about love might take their relationship one step forward or it might end the little hope he has in his heart forever.
"I do love you... In fact I've loved you for twelve years... I've loved you enough to make me mad, " he said and he could see her hands wrapping around his waist as if she is believing what he said.
He didn't know what changed her mind. It seemed like she previously said he was pretending to care for her to make his family win.
Talia heard him and smiled silently as she listened to his heartbeat. It was beating like a drum and it was pleasant in her ears. His warmth from his chest passed through her ear to her heart and she felt blissful.
There is every possibility that he is telling the truth. He has no need to pretend to care for her if he had any other reason than his love for her.
They way he looks at her like he wants to swallow her whole, the anger he showed at David out of jealousy and a lot of things in the past couple of days like cooking for her... The roses...
She trusted him once and he wasn't there for her that day... But, she is willing to trust him once more.
But... This time, she'd leave him, for good.
Not out of spite or for revenge but because it is good for him.
If she acts out of selfishness and tries to keep him with her, his life would be ruined.
Just like her mother, her father... Just like Cyrus...
Or maybe like her grandpa...
"Do you love me?"
His deep voice rolled like a rumbling thunder in her ears as she was resting on his chest.
Talia wondered for a moment if she should say the truth or not.
"Yes"
She opted to tell the truth. She wanted to make it a clean break.
Previously they didn't have the chance to speak freely about their feelings and even when he came for her a year later, she was not in the right mindset to speak to him patiently.
Sadly, that made him lose his better part of youth pining for her.
She believed Jordan's words that Fred was never with a woman till now deep in her heart.
Yes, nothing is sure one hundred percent and if one must find a reason to doubt, they really can.
But she knew Fred... He is a guy who preferred cleanliness unlike Cyrus who was hedonistic. He wouldn't have whored around.
But he is a man and he is just twenty eight and there are a lot of fishes in the sea. He still has time to get over her and begin a new chapter of his life.
Arthur on the other hand who was listening closely to her answer, felt an unspeakable surge of happiness in his heart.
She agreed! She agreed! My Iris told me that she loves me!
He never thought she'd accept his love for him this easily. It came as a sweet surprise. His eyes watered as his hands wrapped around her neck and he kissed her head.
He wanted to see her. See her expressions and kiss her properly.
Talia felt Arthur rolling over her and wrapped around his waist tightly.
"I want to see your face, Iris... Let me turn on the lamp," he said, his voice was a little husky.
"No, please... Let me speak, "
Her hold on his waist tightened and he stopped moving much.
The darkness gave her an unusual calmness and strength to speak her mind.
"I loved you when I was in high school. I knew we can't be together and I tried to control my love for you but in the end I couldn't and ended up falling deeper and deeper for you..."
Arthur took a deep breath, "I know... It was the same for me."
"But then that day... It happened..." her voice shook and Arthur realised she is meaning the death of Cyrus, and held her more closer. Closer to his heart.
That was the incident that changed their lives entirely. If only Cyrus didn't die, their life would have been in a different track now. Who knows? They might have even eloped and might even have a child by now.
Yeah! If only...
"You saw the marble and the necklace you gave me right? That day I was so frustrated at you and I brought that out to throw it in the creek. But in the end... I couldn't bear to throw them away... Guess, I loved you even when you abandoned me... But at that time I thought of having them with me not to forget your betrayal."
She sniffed and Arthur could feel his chest getting a bit wet and chilly. He knew she is crying and he didn't want to interrupt her.
'I didn't abandon you...' he wanted to tell her. But he stopped himself. He wanted to listen to her heart.
Her words were so sweat to hear like pure honey dripping from a honeycomb but there was a slight disturbance brewing in the bottom of his heart.
The slight uneasiness...
It was like his brain telling him to not revel in the sweetness of the honey too much... To brace himself for the incoming stings of honeybees.
"And when you were announced as my husband... I got more hurt... As much as I had dreamt of becoming you wife one day back in high school... I didn't want it to happen this way. I hated you... I hated the thought of being your wife. I felt the title of being Mrs. Sinclair... The daughter-in-law of the family who had a hand in my Cyrus' death... I despised myself for being in such a position."
Talia paused sensing Arthur tensing up. He might not know about it or he might not accept it, but she knew, she believed firmly that the Boswell family has a hand in Cyrus' death.
Arthur almost refused her allegations. His family truly had nothing to do with Cyrus' death. He really cannot understand why she insisted on it.
"Is that why you dated that guy in university?" Arthur asked trying to let her continue her story. Other things can wait but for now he wanted to hear what she wanted to say about her love.
"Yes, I wanted you to get ashamed of being made a cuckold and back off from that fake marriage... But I couldn't understand why you still continued with that farce marriage... Even wearing the ring and all..."
Arthur couldn't bear her calling their marriage fake and farce and almost slipped up and told her the truth. But before he did, she continued,
" But then nothing changed at the other side and I finished university. And then one thing led to another and I came to this city... And got a job in Feldstein Associates... And all I did was read about you in every tabloid out of Esteria."
When she was saying that, Talia realised the tabloids aren't talking bad about her anymore.
Did they forget? Huh! What am I thinking...? They never will forget. They probably were forced to stop writing about me by grandpa.
But she continued, "You never agreed to have gotten cheated on and still pretended I was your wife and I got more angry and then came that other guy and so we dated for a while and all the while I was filled with anger towards you and that only ruined my mental health. And you still seemed the same. So I decided to start anew... "
Talia paused and shifted her position to be more comfortable in his embrace and she could feel him kissing her hair.. This all seemed so magical, like a dream. But it is real. It is real and she wanted to hold on to every second of this moment.
I'm going to miss this so badly!
"So I concentrated more on work and the firm got more and more better and I rose in the ranks and became COO. Those times, I could get a handle of my emotions and became more... normal. So I decided to not think about my past and wanted to move forward. It worked well, I was fine. And that's when I met David. He was a freelancer back then. It was during a photo shoot for..."
She could hear Arthur grunt in disapproval. She could understand why he didn't want to hear her and David's story.
" Guess, I truly didn't fall for him too."
She told the ultimate truth to him first. And as expected, she felt him getting relaxed.
" You didn't.?" he asked softly and even though she could not see, Talia could feel him smiling gleefully.
"Yeah, I first realised I was still in love with you when the photograph over me was taken... Do you know what I was thinking about when that photograph was taken?" she tried to look at him but he hugged her closer. She didn't know where the duvet was, but she was warm since he was covering her like a warm blanket.
" Our first kiss... That's why I left this picture here, " she said and she heard him laugh and she felt like something warm and wet dripped on her hair.
Is he crying out of joy?
"Fred?" she called and she could only feel his hold getting tighter and his slight sniffles.
Arthur could remember his thoughts when he saw that picture.
So she was thinking of me and that's why she looked so in love?
She was always in love with me just like I was always in love with her!
What is this feeling....! I want to scream in joy! But why am I crying?
Arthur who heard her confession couldn't hold back his joy.
Talia on the other hand, didn't speak further and just stayed silent in his embrace. She knew he wouldn't want to see him crying out of joy like a little girl and so she let him have his dignity.
But why were there tears in her eyes? Was it out of joy too?
Both of them laid on the bed in each others embrace for a long time without saying anything.
Arthur after his explosion of joy felt a pinch in his heart.
The root of the problem between them according to her, is her belief that his family was involved in Cyrus' death and her belief that he abandoned her on the day of their wedding.
She, thinking that she was avenging, did something like dating other guys and ended up getting hurt herself too.
Her first belief cannot be debunked with definite proof for now but her second belief... That I abandoned her....
So should I tell her?
"Iris, what if I told you that I was the one who stood beside you that day when we signed the marriage register?"
He decided to ask as a question to test her thoughts. She didn't want the sweet moment just now to get ruined completely.
He remembered how angry he made her previously when he talked about it.