Contract Marriage starring Love and Revenge
Chapter 135. Worried.

Chapter 135: 135. Worried.

That evening, Alan rushed back home from his business trip and decided to spend the night at our place. Calls were coming in from Rey, from Duke’s parents, from everyone. Mary didn’t leave until past eight because she was just so sorry and did not really know how to make up for it.

It’s been a heck of a day.

A day I don’t want to go through again. I don’t ever want to feel the way I felt when I received Duke’s call this afternoon. I don’t ever want to be forced to go to the extreme like I did today.

I don’t like what I did to Alicia, using her to get to her mother but at that moment all I could think of was getting Shelly back.

The shots to her legs were real, but they weren’t fatal. Just a minor graze of her flesh. She’s been treated in a private hospital after which she’d be transferred to jail.

I don’t want to relive today ever again.

Just like how the twins had been so worried about me that day I was kidnapped by Rowan to the point where they climbed up those long stairs and came knocking on our bedroom door in the middle of the night asking to sleep with me and Duke... tonight I also can’t stop myself from wanting to be with the two of them, so I decide to spend the night in their bedroom and both Renny and Shelly are happy about it.

Duke joins us and the four of us lay together in bed, with Renny still asking questions and Shelly diligently answering her until we are forced to tell them both to go to sleep.

"You can continue tomorrow, it’s late now so let’s try and sleep." is what Duke tells them and they both agree they would continue in the morning.

Renny asks me to sing them a song and I do, Duke also sings along with me and in a matter of minutes, in between Duke and I they are both asleep.

Now it’s just me and Duke gently patting their shoulders as they sleep.

"Duke,"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think he’s okay?" I ask a question that is sincerely bothering me. "I mean, what if he ends up being traumatized by the entire thing? I know he seems fine now but what if deep down he’s not?" I’m worried. I just can’t stop worrying.

It’s my fault that he had to be in such a situation. So how can I not worry? Even if Duke keeps saying it’s not my fault, we can’t change the fact that all this would not have happened to him if Duke hadn’t brought me into his life.

"Pagne," His hand moves from Shelly’s shoulder to the side of my face and his fingers tuck some stray hair behind my ear as he silently stares at me for some seconds before saying, "You’re overthinking again."

"Am I?" I ask. "He might be having a nightmare as we speak."

"Look at him," he says but I don’t look. My gaze remains fixed on Duke. "Pagne, look at him." His voice turns persuasive and my lashes lowers to the child laying close to his chest. "Does he look like he’s having a nightmare?"

When I look at him now, thanks to the little light we always keep on in the twins room, I can see his face, rather than a nightmare, he looks like he’s having a pleasant dream. It’s almost as though he’s smiling.

"He’s fine Pagne." Duke says again and my gaze shifts back to him. "But just to set your mind at ease, we’ll take him to see a doctor tomorrow. A therapist should be able to diagnose if he has gained any traumas from the entire event. Will that set your mind at ease a bit?" He asks and I let out a grateful sigh.

"Yes, please. Thank you." I give him a soft smile and he leans closer to me and places a kiss on my head.

"Now get some sleep too. You’ll get sick at this rate." He says and I nod.

I close my eyes to sleep just as he has told me to, but then that nasty thought crawls into my head again, and it’s like I’m pushed to ask, "Duke,"

"Hmm?"

"A lot of horrible things have happened since I walked into your life... Now even Shelly had to suffer because of me... Don’t you regret meeting me?" I ask with my eyes still closed because I don’t want to see his reaction to that question.

For a long moment, nothing but silence follows my words. Silence and the slow calm breathing of Renny and Shelly fast asleep between us and that silence breaks my heart. It makes a million emotions pass through me in seconds but then his hand on my shoulder moves back to my face and I’m reminded of his warmth and those scary emotions disappear as quickly as they had overwhelmed me.

"My only regret is not meeting you sooner." He says. "If I had met you earlier, then I would have loved you earlier and you would not have suffered some of the things you were made to suffer."

Now those words force me to open my eyes and I’m staring at the man I married... a man who readily accepts my flaws. There can never be another Duke Grand.

"I love you Duke, you know that." I say. He nods and my gaze shifts to the twins one last time before I finally close my eyes and allow sleep to wash away the heaviness in my heart.

...

Just as he had told his sister the story of how he was taken and then rescued, Sherlock narrated the entire story in the exact same way to everyone else. To Mary, to Duke’s parents on the phone and also when they arrived the next day, to Rey who video called, to Alan on the phone and when he arrived that evening, to Giovanni too.

In fact it was more like he had gone on a fun filled excursion that he could not wait to tell everyone. He didn’t seem affected by the entire ordeal at all, but I just can’t help worrying.

Duke had promised me we’d visit the hospital with Shelly and as during breakfast, he tells me we have an appointment for 1:pm.

Before twelve, I’m packed and ready to go and so is Shelly and Renny who insists on coming with us.

After visiting the doctor, thankfully after carrying out some tests and asking Shelly some questions, he concludes that Shelly is in perfect shape. That he has no trauma associated with the incident at all.

It’s such a good news that I don’t even know how to thank the doctor for telling me those words. I’m just so glad he’s fine.

However, even after the confirmation from the doctors that he is perfectly fine, I can’t help blaming myself and I can’t stop myself from constantly thinking, ’What if he’s just acting strong? What if mentally he isn’t fine? What if emotionally he isn’t well? What if he has nightmares? What if deep down he’s frightened and all his laughs are just a facade?

What if the doctor’s diagnosis was wrong?

So without even putting much thought to it, I find myself watching him like a hawk. Every minute my mind is on him even when I don’t intend to think about it all, one thought always leads to another, then I’m back to thinking about the whole thing.

Even at night when he’s sleeping, I find myself going into his room to check up on him to see if he’s having trouble sleeping.

But it seems Duke was right, the boy is really as strong as his father. The more I watched him the more I got to know this. I got to see that he wasn’t lying when he told me he was fine.

Neither was he lying when he told me he had been scared at first when they grabbed him and when he woke up in a strange place with strange people, but eventually his fear had disappeared.

After focusing on him for days, I can finally accept the doctor’s diagnosis and I can’t help but say thank God he is fine.

Most little children of his age would have been traumatized by such an ordeal. Some would have been scared to ever step outside the house again or go to the store. Others would not want to hang around with the person who lost them, but he still hangs around with Mary like nothing ever happened.

Some children would not want to talk about what happened at all, but it’s almost as if he can never wait to be asked about that particular day. He’s always ready to talk about it no matter how many times he’s told everyone the story.

All in all, it’s like something happened but also like something bad never happened.

And every morning I wake up and see him moving around happily, I can’t stop thanking God for not making the entire ordeal a traumatizing one for him. For giving Sherlock a strong heart to be able to laugh even after all that.

Thank you God, really, thank you a lot.