Why was he feeling guilty? Did he lie to me again? And if I hated this Raul so much, then why did I feel scared to loose him back at the hospital? I am so confused at this point and my head starts spinning. As for Ace, he was asleep, his arms around me and I felt safe there. Even though he was a liar, I still loved him. I loved him so much I started questioning myself for loving him despite the lies. I decided to sleep it off and let my head calm down.
**********************************************
Just as I was getting comfortable, someone barged into the room and Wallace quickly jumped up, drawing his pistol, ready to shoot at whatever was at the door. As our sight came to us, we were able to make out a clear face. A familiar face.
"Elizabeth?" We both say at the same time.
"Wake up, Stefano is on his way. You need to get Iris out of here before Stefano sees her or he will rip you to shreds without a second thought." she says. Her voice was shaky and her fear filled the whole room. I, for one, somehow wanted to meet this deadly Stefano. Back at the hospital he sounded like one of the sweetest guys you could ever talk to when he was addressing me.
"You need to leave." Ace tells me and I nod without question. I quickly dress up and go to Elizabeth.
"Well, if Raul finds out that I helped you in this, he will make sure to torture me even in hell." she says, in a shaky voice.
"He did that to his previous wife. Then for you it will be worse." Ace says jokingly, but I feel like he was trying to get to me, because he looked at me as he said those words.
"Oh stop it Wallace. We both know Maria deserved what she got. She was a traitor who used Raul to get power and fame. She tried to eliminate your mother from Raul's life just to make sure that when she does Raul will not have anything. Even if I was Raul, I think I would have done the same. " Elizabeth says as she drags me out of the room.
Before I left, Ace strongly grabs my arm.
"Listen Iris. I love you okay?" he says.
"I love you too." I reply and we share a deep passionate kiss. We draw apart and I follow Elizabeth to her car. As we drive off, Ace waves at me and promises to call me. As we were driving, I decide to talk to Elizabeth and clear my doubts.
"Umm... Elizabeth, I really need to ask you something but you need to be honest with me." I say .
"I swear." she replies.
"Did Raul force me to marry him?" I ask and she chuckles.
"Yes. At first. But then he gave you an opportunity to break free but you stayed." she says, but my mind doesn't recall.
"Did he kill his ex wife?" I ask again.
"Yes he did. In the most brutal way possible. But I gotta say, she had that coming." she says.
"How is Raul now?" I ask and she develops a sad look.
"Ever since you were taken away from him, he never smiles. He is at his most ruthless and angry self. He talks to himself in his room and he only knows how to kill. He has become a mess. Without you, he can't feel. It's like he died a second time and as much as he wants to kill himself, he can't, since he knows you are somewhere out there. And despite one year and a few months, he has been searching endlessly for you." she says, "He rarely goes out or goes for meetings, since he can't focus. It breaks me to see him that way. As if loosing his mother was not enough, he had to lose the woman he loved more than anything. He feared that day would come. And sadly, I am contributing to his pain, despite him taking care of me and my son Wallace for years. I feel so guilty." she says, as she breaks down.
As I comfort her, I feel her. Maybe that was why Ace said whatever he was doing was wrong. Because this same Raul had taken care of him since he was a child. And now, he repays his kindness with betrayal. How could Wallace be so ruthless? Or maybe it was Drew misleading him. The Wallace I know was not a traitor. Maybe I knew the wrong Wallace. I feel my head spin as I try to put two and two together. Was I really Wallace's love or was he trying to use me? No, if he wanted to use me, he would have done so, a long time ago. What was his game plan? As we were driving to wherever, Elizabeth sees my distraught.
"Are you okay Iris?" she asks.
"How did Raul end up in hospital?" I ask.
"Even worse. Well, he was trying to protect Wallace since a bullet was fired in his direction, but he got in the way. since he was injured, he was easily targeted, thus he ended up in hospital." Elizabeth says, and the guilt in her voice was clearly frustrating. I for one, wanted to rip her off that burden.
"Can we go and see him?"I ask.
"No. Ace will be killed if I dared." she says.
"Would he really kill Ace?" I ask
"I'm not so sure, but all I know is that Wallace has hurt him so bad. This to him will be the ultimate betrayal, especially to Stefano, who has raised Wallace as his own son since Drew left us to die in order to have no distractions to run his syndicate. Even I wouldn't defend him, even though he is my son." she replies sincerely.
Even though Ace was lying to me,I didn't want him to die. So, I came up with a genius plan of talking to Raul and finding out more about him .