The first few days without Darius are the hardest. Ironically, being separated from him like this has helped me to appreciate and recognize how much time and attention he devotes to me. It’s more than I thought. Come the fourth day I decided to call him just to talk, but I got his voicemail and left him a message.
Viktor found the perfect punishment for me. Silence from Darius is the one thing I can’t take. Every day I don’t hear from him chips away at my sanity. I begin to panic a little bit more.
I still dream about him every night. To wake up to an empty bed, knowing I can’t just walk to his room is starting to weigh on me. When the fifth day comes and goes with no word from Darius I’m stuck between panicking and trying to be strong. I tell myself this is exactly why he thinks I’m this weak, feeble human. It hasn’t even been a whole week yet and already I’m starting to lose it.
The sixth day comes and goes. Slowly I’m starting not to care about whether or not he thinks I’m strong. I just want to see him…to touch him. It’s sad really, but I don’t care about that either.
The morning of the seventh day, Asher shows up like clockwork for our weekly visit. I awaken to him sitting in a chair beside my bed, watching me sleep. At first, through my sleepy eyes I think he’s Darius. But as my eyes begin to focus I feel nothing but disappointment.
“Let me guess…you were hoping for someone else,” Asher picks up on my disappointment.
“I was hoping you were Darius. I haven’t spoken to him in a week. He’s supposed to come and see me today,” I sigh.
“Coffee?”
“I’m pregnant, I can’t have coffee.”
“Get dressed and come take a walk with me.”
Asher leaves the room to give me some privacy and I quickly get dressed. When I make it down to the kitchen he has a plate of breakfast waiting for me on the dining room table next to a steaming cup of coffee.
“Before you even say anything, I made the coffee before you told me you didn’t want it. I’ll drink it, you just eat.”
Taking the seat in front of my plate, I can’t help but notice how delicious the coffee looks. He even put whipped cream on top. Note to self, Asher is very observant…Darius doesn’t even pay this close attention to the small details that makes me who I am.
“Still disappointed I’m not Darius?” He asks.
“Yes,” I answer truthfully, “but I guess you’ll do for now. You know…you and Cara have a lot in common. You should get to know her a bit better.”
Sensing my motives, Asher smirks and says, “Thanks, but I’ve got my eye on someone else.” His eyes rake over me and that’s enough for me to change the subject.
“Morning!” Cara practically floats into the room. She sniffs around the kitchen looking for something to eat but there isn’t any more. “What? Do I not need to eat too?”
“Don’t look at me, I didn’t cook, he did,” I point to Asher.
She narrows her eyes at him. “Of course he did. What’s your angle? What do you want from Giselle? She’s already taken.”
“What do you want from her? Does she know why you agreed to come here? Does she know what happened to you?” He fires back. I’m not sure what he’s alluding to but Cara sure does. Her face drains of color and she looks petrified. I’ve never seen anyone shut her up like this before. Amused I start laughing. It only makes Cara angry. She steals a piece of bacon off my plate in retaliation and makes an obscene gesture to Asher before leaving the room.
“Eat,” Asher demands.
After finishing my food, Asher and I leave the house for the first time in days. I have no idea where we’re going. All I can think about is what if I miss Darius. He’ll be furious if he comes by to spend time with me and I’m off with Asher somewhere.
Still, I follow Asher down a long gravel road. We walk for a good twenty minutes before I have to stop to catch my breath. The baby is heavy and I’m winded.
“I could carry you if you’d like.”
“How about bringing a car with you the next time you decide to take me somewhere far?”
Once I catch my breath we start walking again, but it’s another twenty minutes before we get to our destination. It’s a small village of people nestled here on the island. They’re selling fruits and other items. I didn’t think there was anyone else on this island but us. Unlike the humans in the communities outside Draven manor, these humans seem to have a kinship with night-dwellers. They don’t even seem afraid.
Asher buys some papaya fruit from one of the vendors and hands it to me. I waste no time wolfing it down. That long walk worked off anything I had for breakfast. As I watch him talk to the natives in their native tongue I realize he’s familiar with these people. He cares about them.
Next he takes me to an orphanage. Or should I say the makeshift shack that houses these forgotten children. He reaches into his pockets and gives each of them a piece of fruit and a necklace he bought from the vendors along the way. I get so caught up in watching Asher interact that I don’t realize how long we’ve been out until the sun starts to go down.
“Asher, we should start to head back. Darius will be furious.”
He nods and we begin to head back. I push myself so hard, walking faster than I did to get here that I frequently have to stop and take breaks.
It took us around forty-five minutes to get to the small village and double that amount of time to get back. It’s a little after eight in the evening by the time we get home. Cara is pacing so hard she’s practically burning a hole in the floor.
“There you are!” She sighs with relief, “I thought something happened to you.”
“Cara I’m fine, where’s Darius? Is he in the bedroom?”
“Giselle, Darius hasn’t come by yet.”
“Its already after eight. He should be here by now.”
Now I’m the once pacing the floor. Do I call and appear desperate? Do I wait it out and see if he shows up? Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I choose the latter.
First nine o’ clock and then ten o’ clock comes and goes. The closer it gets to midnight the more I begin to panic. I begin arguing with myself. He wouldn’t let me down like this. He wouldn’t flake on me. He’s never broken a promise to me.
I resort to biting my nails when eleven o’ clock comes and goes. Now I’m hanging on every minute. Cara and Asher are both silent, letting me work through my emotions on my own. When midnight finally comes and goes, I’m hurt. I pick up my phone and call Darius but again I get his voicemail. “Darius, it’s me, Giselle. You promised you’d come see me today but you’re not here. I hope everything is okay…I miss you…please call me.”
I hang up the phone and tears form in my eyes. “I’m sorry,” Cara hugs me.
“Do you think he’s hurt or in a hospital somewhere?”
“Giselle, he’s a night-dweller. They don’t get hurt.”
“Maybe he’s away on business and just forgot to call me and tell me he’s not going to make it?”
“Or maybe he’s not coming because he doesn’t want to,” Asher chimes in. His words only add to my panicked state, “either you tell her or I will.”
Asher is glaring at Cara who seems nervous. She knows something she’s not telling me. Folding my arms across my chest, I narrow my eyes at her and demand, “Spill it. What do you know that you aren’t telling me?”
After a long moment, Cara sighs. “I didn’t think he would do it to you, you have to believe me. I thought he loved you enough.”
“Loved me enough for what?”
“Not to do what William did to me,” she sulks.
“What do you mean? What did William do to you?”
Again she goes silent. My nerves are on pins and needles and I need her to start talking…NOW. “Cara?”
“William got me pregnant. That’s why you didn’t see me for a couple of months at one point. When I got close to giving birth, I was brought here to this island. My son was born two weeks later and I thought great…now William and I can be a family, only he stopped answering my phone calls. Eventually Viktor showed up…he took my son and then he…he handed me walking papers. I was told I fulfilled my duties and was free to go. I haven’t seen our son or William since then,” she explains.
I’m trying to process what she’s saying, but I can’t. I’m not Cara and Darius isn’t William. He’ll come for me, he promised. He’ll come for me…he’ll come for me...
Reaching for the nearest seat, I sit down and frantically dial Darius’ number over and over again, praying he’ll pick up. He doesn’t. I get his voicemail for the umpteenth time. This time I’m practically begging him to call me. I need to hear his voice. I need him to tell me everything is okay…that we’re okay.
Asher and Cara both watch and wait as I sit by the phone willing it to ring. Now I’m the one pacing the floor, trying to stay sane.
He wouldn’t do this to me...dear God, please don’t let him do this to me…
Placing my hand over my stomach, I have to believe he wouldn’t do this to me. I have to believe in him. He knows what I’ve been through. He knows how I’ve been abandoned time and again. He knows how deep those wounds go. He wouldn’t do this to me…
Three days pass by and there’s still no word from Darius. I’ve gone from hopeful to distraught and now I’m starting to have contractions. It’s probably from the stress of not knowing where Darius and I stand, but just to be on the safe side the medics here are prepping me for delivery.
Again I call Darius to let him know what’s going on, but I get his voicemail. In the calmest voice I can manage, I ask him to come watch his son be born. I don’t expect him to reply, but part of me hopes he shows up. I need him to be there.
As my contraction move closer and closer together, my heart fills with dread. I’m undressed and prepped for surgery, but there’s still no word from Darius. As the doctor places a mask over my face all I can think about is how I’ll be going through this alone. Cara sits beside me holding my hand and I have no clue what’s about to happen. I’m nervous and scared. I just want to see his face, but he’s not here. He chose not to be here.
My world fades to black as the anesthesia takes over. When I finally open my eyes what seems like several minutes later, I hear the sound of a baby crying. It’s the most beautiful sound in the world. My son. Our son. Cara brings him to me and lays him in my arms. He’s beautiful. He has jet-black hair and blue eyes, like his father. He looks so much like Darius that it brings tears to my eyes. He’s not here. He didn’t keep his promise to me…
The one thing he did do was supply me with enough blood to heal from giving birth to his son. I’ve completely recovered.
Now the fear has kicked in. Every time the doorbell rings I’m afraid it’s Viktor coming to take my son away and shatter what’s left of my fragile heart. At first I think maybe Cara’s wrong. Maybe she’s mistaken somehow. Two weeks go by with no word from Viktor or Darius. According to Cara, Viktor came after the first few days.
My relief is short-lived. The third week rolls around and Viktor shows up alone carrying a large envelope with my name on it.
“Good morning Giselle,” he greets me with a serpents smile, “I hope you and my grandson have had time to bond.”
“We have,” I nod.
He takes a deep breath and sits on the side of the bed next to me. He sets the envelope down on my lap and takes Liam from my arms. I’m hesitant to let my son go, but I know better than to resist Viktor Draven.
Viktor motions for me to take a look inside the envelope, but I’m afraid to. Darius means the world to me. I’d be devastated if he decided to leave me. Still, I open the envelope, and I pull out what I know are official documents. My eyes immediately go to the three words at the top of the first page and my heart sinks into the pit of my stomach. Dissolution of Marriage…
My heart aches and tears form in my eyes. I can’t read anymore. I toss the papers aside and my eyes flicker back to Viktor.
“He’s being very generous Giselle. Not only has he gifted you fifty billion dollars against my advice, but he’s giving you several properties as well.”
“I don’t want his money. All I want is my son.”
“He’s Darius’ son and he will remain with his father. You have no rights to him. As a matter of fact, you should thank us for taking Liam off your hands. Upon the dissolution of your marriage to Darius, his partnership with your father will also be concluded. In short, your father will probably lose everything he has. No other family will touch him without our blessing except for my brother Lucien and his son Asher. Which brings me to the other good news. Should you so choose, Asher has generously agreed to take you on as a wife in order to preserve your family’s wealth.”
As if learning that the man I’ve fallen in love with has basically rejected me wasn’t enough…Darius is taking our son, and he’s selling me off to the highest bidder like a whore. Just like my father did…just like Elizabeth. All three of these things are things he knows will hurt me. He knows what I’ve been through and he knows how much I love him.
“I want to see him,” I demand, my voice barely above a whisper.
“You and Darius have seen enough of each other. Besides, he and Aria are away spending a few uninterrupted days in paradise.”
I swallow hard. This is a dream…that’s it…I’m stuck in a nightmare and all I have to do is open my eyes. I clench my eyes shut, but when I open them again Viktor is still here. This has to be a dream.
“Why?” I force myself to ask.
“It’s been the plan from the start. I have high hopes for Darius and he’s going to need someone strong by his side. Someone like Aria.”
“She doesn’t love him. Not like I do.”
“I don’t need her to love him, I just need her to keep him entertained in the bedroom and play her part.”
“I love him.”
“You can grow to love Asher as much as you love my son.”
“Does he know?” I asked.
“Of course he does.”
“And this is what he wants?”
“He wants to be with Aria. I’m told he made that very clear.”
“Yes, but we-”
“Don’t confuse his amusement with the promise of eternity. Your relationship with Darius was business, not pleasure. But your marriage to Asher can be whatever you want it to be.”
Those are my options. I could refuse Asher’s hand in marriage, but my family would suffer. I can’t do that to Eliza and Lucas. I can’t do that to my father either; they’d never forgive me for it. Darius knows this.
With no other choice, I agree to be sold off to Asher in exchange for his backing my father’s business ventures. I agree never to contact Darius again and to never try to contact our son. He belongs to Darius and Aria now. I don’t want to but Viktor is as efficient as he is clever. He made sure I would have no other choice.
After signing everything Viktor needed me to sign, he handed Liam off to a servant. I wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye to him. It was forbidden. Minutes later, both Viktor and my son were gone and my world as I knew it was flipped upside down. I dropped to my knees and cried, hugging my now empty womb. I didn’t stop crying until I fell asleep from exhaustion.
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