My, my name was safest in your mouth
And why'd you have to go and spit it out?
Oh, your voice, it was the most familiar sound
But it sounds so dangerous to me now.
-Camila Cabello
[Warning : This chapter contain depiction of sexual assaults that may be upsetting for readers. Reader discription is advised]
THIRD PERSON
Athalia never had refused to smoothies before, but today it was giving her nausea.
'It must've because of the cocaine from last night' she thought placing the cup back on table. But still, she should not had let her guards down, especially at an unknown place.
Who could have drugged her? It runs back and fourth her mind.
When she woke up this morning, a warm blanket was wrapped around her naked body, she remembered everything happened last night, her head was spinning and there was soreness between her thighs when she tried to move.
Athalia was scared that Cade would scold her, but instead he kissed her forehead and said that it was no where her fault, it was them who druged her should feel guilty, not her.
"What about the person who mixed Cocaine in my drink?" she asked to Maya, who was busy into some pile of papers.
Maya and here? It was a coincidence that they met last night, but Maya decided to help was a good thing. A moment ago Maya confirmed that she never bought that manuscript book it was someone using her name and she is too onto that person.
"Don't worry, Your Sugar Daddy alredy took a good care of him" Maya smricked, and the heat rushed through her boby with the blur memories of last night. How clingy she was and called him her husband, and Did she really step over Asher's ribs?
"What did he do? Did he beat him?" asked Athalia with worry, he do not want him to get into violence because of her.
"Beat him?" Laughed Maya
Before she can ask anything Cade start explaining about the manuscript, and they went back to thir work.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Rose," Asher called for her, and she looked up at him, puzzled. He slowly knelt down, and she wondered what he was trying to do. She looked around and noticed there was no one else in the room. Where the heck is everyone?
It's just her and Asher. Before she could say something, he held both her hands. There was guilt written all over his face. She couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head, what he was grieving over.
"Please, please, let me apologize," he pleaded. He had been saying this ever since the day they broke up. But she never had the courage to listen to him, never had the courage to look into his eyes. She had been running from the memories they had together, because somewhere, she still wanted him. Why? She didn't know.
"And what do you want to apologize for, Asher? I've moved on, there's no point in coming back," Athalia finally replied, looking at him. He slowly placed her palm on his cheek and laid his head on her lap, just like he used to.
Cade would surely kill him if he saw this. That was the only thought that came to her mind.
"Don't come back. I don't deserve you, but just... just let me hear you out once," he pleaded, his voice trembling. She set a timer on her phone. "Five minutes. You have five minutes. I won't listen after that," she said, pressing the start button. Maybe he could come up with a better excuse this time.
"I know you hate me, and you should. After whatever I have done to you, I don't deserve your forgiveness. But you do deserve to know the whole truth," Asher said, looking up at her. "If I actually fell in love with someone in my life, then it was you, Athalia. And it will always be you."
"You never made it to the hospital, Asher. She died, and it was only me who was hurt. Is that what you refer to as love?" Tears started falling down her cheeks, and he wiped them away with both hands.
They both were a broken mess, crying uncontrollably. He placed his forehead on hers. "Let me explain, Rose, let me explain, please," he cried, holding her tightly.
He knew what he was doing. He didn't want to, and he shouldn't, yet here he was, giving himself to her.
'You know who is keeping you alive, Asher. You're not even equal to a mere penny without me' he remembered those words, but he couldn't help himself, not in front of his grandfather.
'So do as I say, or else you'll end up just like your father' He didn't want to remain a puppet in his grandfather's hands. He wanted to be free.
Do as he says.
He removed the piece of cloth from her thigh, biting her lips. She moaned loudly, but it was not a pleasure for him. He didn't want to be near her, especially when there was a pregnant woman waiting patiently for him in the restaurant.
It was a perfect date he had planned for her. He was trying his best to end this mess as soon as possible, and after that, it would just be the two of them, and soon they would become three. He would give his child all the happiness he never had in his life. Just two more weeks, and this all would come to an end.
They called him a heartbreaker, but she was the only one who tried to fix his heart, to collect him up and make him whole when she herself was in pieces. It was her broken pieces that filled his gaps.
He was in love with her, and this was the most beautiful thing that had happened in his whole life.
"Baby... fast," the girl moaned again. It was disgusting to him. All of him belonged to her, so why was he forced to lure some girl just for his grandfather's business deal? He felt like shit for doing this, but there was no choice. He didn't want to end up like his father - dead, or away from his Rose.
He would never forgive himself for cheating on his Rose and his soon-to-be-born daughter. It felt like he was cheating on himself. How would he live holding this secret all his life?
What if something like that happened to his daughter too? He would surely break the bones of the boy who did this. He knew karma is a bitch, and he was scared of it.
He would tell her the truth himself, the whole truth after all this ended. She deserved to know. She would shout at him, maybe even throw things at him, but then he would love her unconditionally, so much that it would wash over all their pain.
After all, Love is all about pain.
The door cracked open, and fear washed over him. He jerked away from the girl lying on his table. It was his nightmare, it should be. His hands trembled, his throat became sour as if he had just seen a ghost.
His heart had never ached this much before. What was this feeling? Sorrow?
What was she doing here? She shouldn't be... This shouldn't be... His mind stopped working. The world around him became blurry, and if something was visible to him, it was his Rose, standing there like a statue, shedding tears like a maniac, multiple hiccups leaving her mouth as she sobbed heavily.
What should he do now? It was all messed up now. He tried to reach her, but she ran off, crying heavily. "Rose, let me explain," he ran behind her, but there was nothing he could possibly explain.
"What do you want to explain? That you were with some girl, leaving your girlfriend all alone waiting for you?" she sounded drunk, indeed she was. She must have found out about him from someone else.
She started running down the stairs while his heart was beating wildly. "Rose, don't run, please. You'll fall, please, Rose." There was no word left in his mind except sorry and please.
Everything was shattering like sand in his eyes, every dream, every moment he planned for them. But the thing that was hurting him the most was he made his Rose cry, his Rose to whom he promised that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, and he did it himself.
"You don't even think about our daughter before doing this. What do you want to explain?!" She shouted, running out of the building.
"Rose, please calm down, please," he tried to grab her wrist, but before he could, his love was lying on the ground, blood all over her body.
The gaps she filled in him were crushed by the car. The petals of his Rose dried as he knelt down beside her unconscious body. What just happened? His mind couldn't process any of it. Tears—were they tears coming out of his eyes or blood?
His hands shook as he tried to pick up her bloodied body, her soft cheeks covered in dust and blood. He held her close to his chest, dying with his love. She couldn't leave him like this, not when she became his life.
"Rose, wake up... Rose, please," he cried, dialing for the ambulance. Each and every part of his body screamed. "Rose, please..." Her blood covered his white shirt, his hands. She couldn't die. Fate couldn't snatch away one more life from him.
Holding his almost-dead Rose in his arms was just like holding his dead mother when his father killed her. Was this a déjà vu?
"Rose... wake... up," his words mixed up with his tears. "You can't leave me like this." She can't die like this. She was the Rose keeping this beast alive.
"Rose, Rose and Rose," was the only word coming from his mouth for the past few hours. The ICU light was still red. He couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't stay stable. His petals were falling as he looked at her ongoing surgery.
'Just open your eyes, shout at me, be angry, be angry in my arms. Tell me I was stupid, a jerk, an asshole. Tell me I am your Ash, please Rose' he thought to himself as more tears poured down.
A hand gripped him from behind his neck and pushed him hard against the wall. He saw anger, he saw the monster, he saw that same face which almost killed him last time. Was it Cade Hanniel? No, but for sure he was not less than him. He was his father, he was Lewis Hanniel.
"How dare you do this to her!" screamed Lewis at the top of his lungs, his punch almost breaking Asher's jaw. Lewis grabbed Asher by his collar and pushed him hard against the wall again. "She is my daughter!" He shouted, gripping his neck tightly.
Of course, this was the same anger he held for himself. She was his Rose. "He'll die, leave him," Nathan rushed over to free Asher from Lewis's grip. But Asher wanted to die with his Rose.
Lewis loosened his grip and grabbed his collar again. "If I see you coming close to her again, I'll make sure to kill you myself. Don't forget who I am," Lewis threatened him with his family's famous poker face and threw him hard onto the floor.
Away from his Rose, how could he? Nathan helped him to get up. "It's better to walk away from here; he's quite angry," said Nathan, comforting him. "Let's go out and get some air; it would calm down your nerves." Nathan placed an arm on his shoulder, helping him to walk out.
Comfort? It only came from his Rose. Calm down his nerves knowing his girl is dying inside the ICU?
The exit came closer as they walked out together. It was dark, with some flickering streetlights. He noticed something moving near the dumpster. Vivene was lighting up a cigarette.
"Are you hurt?" Nathan asked, and he nodded. "Then just think how much she would hurt." Then a punch landed on his face, and he fell to the ground, unable to stand anymore. He groaned in pain.
"Do you know what we do? We follow orders, and Lewis ordered us to give you a demo of what would happen if he saw you close to Athalia ever again," he heard Vivene's footsteps coming closer. She crushed the cigarette with her feet and then kicked him hard in his stomach.
They were five of them. With every punch, every kick, and every scream, he saw her face, smiling at him. Picking up his favorite flowers, pouting at him, or laughing heartily.
He wanted to feel her again. He wanted to listen to her voice. "Why do you call me Rose, Ash?" she asked. "Because you are beautiful like a rose, and roses are my favorite," he lied.
He called her Rose because roses are a symbol of love, and he loved her more than anything he loved in his whole life.
They would tell her lies to keep her away from him. They would tell her he cheated on her with another girl. They would tell her he was a coward. They would tell her he never actually loved her, and she would believe all of them.
When his Rose would open her eyes, she would no longer be in love. If anything would be left, then it's her thrones of hatred for him.