Rafael who was sleeping peacefully jolted awake, his heart was pounding in his chest like a drumbeat. He looked around as he struggled to make sense of the darkness around him.
"Honey, are you alright?" He heard Valerie's sleeping voice beside him.
Instead of responding to her, he laid back in the darkness feeling his breath that was coming in shallow gasps.
What kind of dream was it?
Why was he dreaming about Marissa when his heart knew that she was a liar?
Why did he want to strangle her neck at one moment while at another moment he wanted her to come back to him and ask for help?
"Love, was it a bad dream? Why is your heart beating super-fast?
Valerie placed her cheek on his chest which was now wet due to the sweat. However, the air conditioning of the room was working fine.
He gently pushed his wife to make her lay on the pillow and got up.
"Where are you going?" She asked him, holding his hand to stop him from leaving the bed.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," He patted her hand and left the room. Right now, he wanted a strong drink.
"So that's how it would work from now on. Right, Marissa? You are planning to haunt my dreams?" He hoped she was OK and had enough help around her. When he could not take it anymore, he placed his phone on the counter and started dialing the number.
He did not feel ashamed when he heard his friend Joseph's sleepy voice.
"Rafael? Is everything alright, man?"
"We need to find her." Rafael uttered just one sentence, "We need to find her, Joseph. There is something wrong around here. I don't want to doubt my wife, but we need to find her, Joseph."
"Hey, man. What's the matter with you? We already talked about it, didn't we? This is past midnight and right now we can't do anything for anyone. I promise we will find her. I assure you that we will do anything to look for her. You just need to have patience, my friend."
Patience?
That was what Rafael did not have. He wished he could be decisive when Marissa was begging him to believe her. If she intended to betray him or if she was eyeing his wealth, then why did she hide her pregnancy?
She could have pinned her pregnancy on him, but she didn't. Instead, she preferred to leave the city without even informing him.
He almost jumped when he felt Valerie's hand on his shoulder.
"You should have gone to sleep." He said without looking up and took a big chug of his drink from the glass. He placed the glass on the counter a little forcefully.
"Go to sleep? Without you? When you are not there beside me? No Rafael, it is not happening. We already stayed away for too long, now I want your closeness."
Rafael who had touched the glass to his lips to take another sip went still when he heard her remark. He slowly turned to look into her eyes and smirked, "We stayed away? Since when? What I remember is we were quite inseparable from each other for the last two years."
Valerie's face paled for a minute, and she quickly tried to cover it up with a nervous chuckle, "No, you fool. I wasn't talking about those two years silly."
She then placed her hand on his arm quite delicately, I was talking about those three days when you had your surgery, and you were kept away from me to recover."
Rafael nodded as if he was easily convinced. In all honesty, he found this remark not only stupid but amusing.
Valerie seemed to take a sigh of relief for coming up with such a smart thing on time.
For Rafael, it was a blessing in disguise. He had gotten the answers to what he was looking for.
He needed to find Marissa.
"Once I find you, I'll not only apologize to you, but I promise you Marissa if you will forgive me, then Rafael Sinclair will worship the ground you will walk on."
"I promise I will spoil you to bits."
"If you are the one who stayed married to me when I was blind then you are supposed to stay beside me, Marissa."
"The one who stayed with me at my worst deserves me at my best."
"Just give me a chance Marissa. Wherever you are, just give me a chance. Because this guilt will keep killing me until and unless you don't forgive me."
Thinking to himself he laid back on the bed when Valerie climbed on his hard muscular body and started nuzzling her nose in his neck.
"Darling! Don't you think it's been time? Our counselor thinks we should get intimate quite frequently. The eye surgeon asked you to avoid sudden movements but now it's almost six months. Don't you miss me?" By the end of it, her voice had turned husky as her hand crawled inside his pants. Yet he was quick to hold it.
"Not now, V. I am still feeling pain in my eyes," With that, he covered his eyes by placing his arm on it.
Valerie who had disappointment written across her face gulped and then offered a quivering smile, "It's ok, love. Anyways, you are not going anywhere. I should show some patience."
Once he was sure she had gone to sleep, he changed his side and stared at the wall, "Just pray for yourself, Valerie. Because you have only witnessed my soft and loving side, once you encounter my evil side, I'm sure you won't be able to bear with it."
He closed his eyes with determination. I will never stop looking for you Marissa Sinclair until and unless I find you.
He picked up his phone and saw the screen. A message was there from Joseph, "Rafael. How about we go to Kanderton for your office visit? Change of place might do you good."
He agreed with his friend. He needed to be away from here. For some reason, he felt like Kanderton City was calling for him. As if this place wanted him there.
Rafael thought for a moment and typed… "Yes."