Contract Marriage starring Love and Revenge
Chapter 122. If... If is good.

Chapter 122: 122. If... If is good.

After they all greeted me, Duke carried me once again into the room. He helped me undress then carried me into the bathroom. He carefully and tenderly bathes me without pouring water on my bandaged feet.

Every now and then, I’d catch a glimpse of his hands trembling, reminding me of how terrified and shocked he must have been to read that text I sent.

After bathing me, he dresses me in a simple nightgown and goes down to bring something for me to eat.

He brought a little bread and soup Emily prepared and I felt bad because I wanted to be the one to take care of his parents this time around. I wanted to be the perfect lady of the house and do simple yet major things like preparing dinner for them, yet due to circumstances totally beyond my control, I’m being fed food made by my mother-in-law yet again.

He doesn’t even let me eat alone, he feeds me after which he tucks me into bed. He takes the plates back downstairs and it takes a while before he returns.

He goes straight into the bathroom and spends a little over thirty minutes in there. Sometimes I’d hear him bang on the wall, other times I’d hear him let out a low angry roar.

He’s still pissed, I don’t need a prophet to tell me that.

He finally steps out with a white towel around his waist. He disappears into the closet and later comes out dressed in loose pants and a body fitting tank top.

He climbs onto bed with me and for long minutes I expect to feel his arms around me but he’s at the far end of the other side of the bed. And he doesn’t seem to have any intentions of coming closer to me.

I understand he’s being cautious because of the injuries I sustained but he’s too far away. Besides, most of the injuries are on my feet, not my whole body. My face is just a little swollen from the slaps, that’s all.

Like a warm crawling back into its hole, I roll over to his side like I’m asleep, till I’m pressed against his bodyand just by being like this, is comforting in itself.

"Pagne, doesn’t your body hurt?" He asks as he finally wraps an arm around my waist. So he knew I wasn’t asleep.

"It hurts," I confess, "B_but a little pressure from your hold won’t make it hurt more so just hold me." I say and he pulls me closer with a soft kiss on my forehead.

"How did you find me?" I ask since I’m not feeling too sleepy right now.

He doesn’t say anything, he just silently begins to stroke my hair. Maybe he doesn’t want to talk about it. It was inconsiderate of me to bring up the matter in the first place, seeing how he had been affected by my kidnap today.

"I tracked your phone’s last recorded location." He suddenly replies while still stroking my hair.

"I called Stella too and she told me you were supposed to head to the supermarket, we sent some people to check the footage from the supermarket."

Ah, so Stella also knows about my abduction.

"When we confirmed that you entered the cab, we tracked the cab’s location." To think everyone went through all that trouble because of a man who’s supposed to be my ex. I can’t help but feel like I brought this all upon myself.

"We found the cab with the doors opened, your groceries still inside, and the engine still running. We checked the black box and saw that you ran into those woods."

But I thank God they were able to find me. I can’t imagine what would have happened if they didn’t find me right on time.

"I’m sorry I was too late." He suddenly apologizes. "I should have checked my phone earlier. If I had, then I would have found you earlier. Your face wouldn’t be this bruised and your legs wouldn’t have this much cut."

True, if he had found me sooner then I wouldn’t be this hurt. But how is that his fault? How is Duke to be balmed for anything that happened today?

"No, I should have had people guarding you in the first place. I knew that scum of a bitch was on the loose so I should have expected something like this would happen. I should have prevented this from happening."

If anyone has a blame here it’s me who went and married such a sick bastard in first place. If I had never associated with Rowan in the first place, if only I hadn’t blocked my ears back then when God was clearly not in support of my relationship with Rowan.

If only I had not turned my back in God at that point in my life then maybe things would never have come to this.

I might have met Duke under much pleasant circumstances, we would have flirted and laughed, exchanged numbers like normal people do. We would have gone a a first date, and I would have quickly fallen in love with him.

He would have introduced me to his parents and I would have introduced him to grandpa. Grandpa would have loved him and approved of him in a heartbeat.

We might have had a small wedding in the church and I would not have been made barren. I might have even been the biological mother of the twins.

All the is and more could have happened if only I had never said yes to Rowan. If only I had prayed and listened more. If only I had waited for God’s time and not force my own.

If... if is good.

But I didn’t pray nor did I listen and that one mistake of my life has led to so many sorrows and pain I just can’t help but ask God for mercy for being so stubborn back then.

"How could you have known?" I finally speak. "I was married to the man for five years and even I didn’t realize until today that Rowan Fletcher was a madman. So it’s not your fault."

"I’ll make sure this never happens again." It’s obvious no matter what I say, he’d still feel a sort of guilt and I understand why but it’s really not his fault.

I snuggle into his chest, "I’m just glad I’m home with you. Do you know?"

"Know what?"

"That the sound of your heartbeat and your breathing is very calming." I place a hand on his chest where I can feel his heartbeat. "When I was in that forest in the dark, all alone with that madman chasing after me, I was tired, scared and hungry, but most of all I missed this sound. This soothing feeling of your heart beating against your chest is like a lullaby to me, so I imagined myself laying in your arms, listening to your heartbeat and I wasn’t so scared anymore."

"Oh pagne."

"In that moment, in that forest, I realized again how much you mean to me. And howuch I had gotten so used to you."

Once again, I snuggle and curl into his body even though there really is no more space between us. "I love you Duke." I confess. "I say this with the whole of my heart. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. There’s no one on this earth I love as much as I love you, and I know this sounds super cliché but it’s the truth. You’re second to God alone." I say and I feel a movement in his stomach and chest before I hear the soft short chuckle.

"That man up there keeps stealing my number one spot." He says and places a kiss on my center of my head. "I love you too my dearest. Even he knows it."

...

Sometime in the middle of the night, from my sleep, I can hear Duke whispering some words so I open my eyes and realize he’s not in bed with me. I look around me and my gaze stops at thee door he’s crouched down in front of the open door, "Duke, what are you doing over there?" He slowly turns around, rising to his feet as he does and in I can now see two very small and tiny being standing next to him with a touch in both their hands.

"Sorry, I was trying not to wake you." Duke says. "I think they woke up and remembered what happened. They say they want to see you. But don’t worry, sleep, I’ll put them back to bed quickly and—"

"What do you mean? Let them sleep here."

"Really?" He asks. "You know theire sleeping postures are the best they’ll be all over your face in the morning." He reminds me.

"Yes, Duke, I’m not glass, I won’t break. Shelly, Renny come here." I say to them and with one last look at their father who gives them a go-ahead nod, they run to me.

Oh they must have been so worried to make them wake up in the middle of the night.

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