The last chapter….

The last chapter….
CHAPTER 48


Selena.

After one year—

I was sitting in the corner of a café, reading one of the popular books I had heard about. It was written by some mysterious person who had chosen to use the pen name ‘N.B.C.’ It was weird, but it somehow attracted me to read this book. I admitted that I was hooked by it, and the characters affected me mentally and emotionally. I don’t know why, but I felt a strange connection that made my stomach growl loudly, as if I had been there with those characters.

Maybe it was because the main character shared the same name as mine—‘Selena’—but no one loved me with all his heart like her husband did. I had definitely stopped writing years ago after the death of my parents. I didn’t even know what had happened since I left Italy. I couldn’t understand why I was there or if I had been kidnapped! I thought I would find Ahmet in his old house, but I didn’t realize he lived abroad now with his new boyfriend! I guess being alone here for a couple of years after my parents’ death was something I had grown used to.

I just hoped I could start writing soon, but something had happened to me that I couldn’t remember—as if my mind refused to recall it. Or maybe I was dead and walking like a ghost, but I didn’t know?! I had been acting strangely lately—zoning out a lot, especially in the last few days since I started reading this book.

I was almost finishing the last page when the waiter stepped closer to me.

“Excuse me, do you need anything?” the waiter asked politely.

I nodded with a slight smile. “Yes, just coffee, please.”

I had stopped drinking alcohol; I didn’t know exactly when, but I had finally done it. I realized it wasn’t the best solution for me to forget about my useless past life, and my doctor suggested that I should be stronger and not destroy my brain and memories any longer. I did it, and I was so proud that I was getting better—or at least that’s what I hoped.

My body was different, and that was noticeable, but I didn’t know why or how this had happened. The only conclusion I could draw was that I had a one-night stand with someone and was pregnant in my first month, but I had an abortion. That’s why I was in this hospital in Italy—but I couldn’t remember any more of the facts because when I woke up, I didn’t see anyone else next to me, as if I was in a deserted hospital.

When I flipped to the last page of the book, I noticed there was nothing—except for those two weird lines at the end. The book was not finished yet. I still didn’t know how it would end. I just hoped I would find my Selena soon. Your husband, N.B.C.

I cleared my throat; I couldn’t deny that his last few words squeezed my heart. It was different, as he was looking for his missing wife. I don’t know, but I liked this plot and this open ending.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice. “Still the same coffee?”

My heart throbbed louder and deeper. I raised my head slowly to find Ahmet in front of me. I widened my eyes and jumped out of my chair, immediately squeezing him in my arms and kissing his cheeks warmly. “Where have you been? I missed you so much. Oh my God, I thought you had left me forever.”

He kissed me back and hugged me tightly, letting out a pained sigh as if he were in deep sorrow or as if he didn’t think we would see each other again. “I missed you too, Selena. I thought I would never see you ever again, sister.”

I pulled back to look at his face, which looked so pale and tired. I moved my fingers to his face slowly. “What happened, Ahmet? Where have you been?” I asked, curiosity bubbling inside me.

He blew out a long breath. “Don’t you remember anything?” he asked, raising his eyebrows with a questioning tone.

I narrowed my eyes. “No, what do you mean?”

He glanced at the book I was reading and grabbed it. “Have you read this book?” he asked.

I nodded and smiled slightly. “Yes, but you’re not here now to talk about this book. Tell me what happened to you?” I pushed the book away to the table, but he snatched it back and handed it to me again.

“I was in a coma, and we are here to talk about this book, actually,” he emphasized, making each word come out of his mouth slowly and loudly.

I swayed my head, trying to process what he had just said, but I couldn’t understand what he was pointing at. I shook my head in frustration and pulled him to sit next to me. “I’m sorry, but I don’t get it. Please explain.”

He inhaled and exhaled. “I was in a coma for a whole year. I just came back to consciousness two weeks ago. I was able to stand on my feet and talk just a day ago.”

I screamed and pulled him back into a bear hug. “Oh my God! Why?”

He pulled back and gestured for me to stop talking and pay attention to what he was going to say. I nodded silently.

“Selena, sweetheart. First, I wanted to say I’m sorry. I wasn’t honest with you. I loved you as a woman loves a man, not as a sister.” He blurted it out, not letting his eyes leave mine. He spoke sternly and directly.

I cleared my throat as he trailed off, but I realized that I had been selfish. I wanted to take you away from your soulmate. I didn’t deserve to be treated as your brother. You trusted me, but I wasn’t that honest and loyal to you.” He sighed, trying to catch his breath.

Then he continued, “This book was all about you. Steven was your ex-boyfriend, and the one who was in a coma was me. Yes, I got a bullet in my chest because I was defending you. I tried to save you and protect you, and thank God I did, but you—”

He trailed off, his eyes filling with tears. “But you left after you gave birth to your kids. It was my fault. If I hadn’t dragged you away from the guards, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt or lost a part of your memory.”

But I cut him off, my eyelids unfocused. I was shocked, but my mind couldn’t bear to hold what he was saying. He looked so honest. He wasn’t kidding for sure this time. “Wait. What do you mean I gave birth to my kids when I left? You mean this book is about me?”

I stood up and stepped back a few inches from him, scared by what I had just heard. If he was telling the truth, then it meant I had a husband and kids, and I had left them for a year?!

He stood up and pulled my hand, then walked toward the door of the café, making way for a very handsome foreigner to step inside.

I stepped back even more. “Who is he?” I raised my eyebrows, but my heart was drumming louder and faster. My brain started to hammer with flashbacks that made me scream from the pain.

I stepped closer to the man who was looking at me with a mix of lust and love in his eyes. “Who are you?” I asked him.

Tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m Noah Blanco Corsini. I’m your husband,” he blurted out, then pulled me into a long hug. I could hear our heartbeats, mingling together, but I didn’t know why.

He whispered in my ear, “I have been looking for you for a year,” he said in a deep, pained tone.

Ahmet interjected, “He couldn’t find you because I was the only hope to find you. I’m the only one who knew where you would go. But I have been in a coma since the last accident.” Once Ahmet finished his words, I began to remember slight visions of this accident.

I pulled myself away and sat down on a chair to reclaim my composure and process my mind. “I saw Ahmet sending this message to Noah. I was shocked and screamed at Ahmet, asking him why he would do that. But at that moment, a few men with guns stepped into the restaurant and started threatening me. Ahmet pulled me to the bathroom and locked us inside. But they smashed the door, and Ahmet protected me as a shield in front of me. He got shot. He was bleeding. I screamed, and I started bleeding as well. I was losing consciousness, but at that moment, a man came next to me and told me, ‘Your husband is still the king of the mafia. If you die, he will die. So just die. If he loved you, he wouldn’t risk your life as he did.’ Then I fainted, and everything turned black. I woke up in a hospital and just left. I thought I had been kidnapped or that I underwent an abortion surgery, which is why I didn’t try to find out what happened. I just came back to my country to search for Ahmet. I tried to contact him, but I couldn’t remember his cell phone number. I felt like a lost person, especially since when I left the hospital, I didn’t find my cell phone or any clothes next to me. I just got help from my mother’s hairdresser in France.” I remembered, my memory returning bit by bit, as if I needed a huge shock to remind me.

Noah stepped much closer and stared longer into my eyes. “How? Was he in Italy? How did you contact him? I know he is living in France!” he asked with curiosity.

I was barely breathing, and my heart couldn’t take the idea that I had kids and a loving husband, and I had left them without remembering them. I felt coldness wash over my body. My body was shaking. “His cellphone number was easy to find. His advertisement was everywhere. He found me, took care of my passport, and sent me back with him to France for a few months. Then I asked him if I could come back to my country. He rejected the idea at first, but later he accepted when I begged him and assured him that I would be okay. After I came back home, I couldn’t stay at my parents’ house. I just rented a new apartment, but my daily routine has been the same since then. In the morning, I keep reading new books in this café. And at night, I do my best trying to write again, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know the reason behind this long writer’s block. Now I figured out why. Because I left something precious behind. I lost my life, my love, and my kids.” I cried heavily once the whole truth finally came into focus.

Noah moved his fingers to my cheeks to wipe my tears. “Don’t cry, baby. I’m here now with you, and Ahmet is here as well. I forgave him, as you asked me to do before. Even Steven was the one who donated blood for you. Our triplets are fine. They’re still babies, and they won’t know about you leaving them.” Noah tried to calm me down, assuring me that everything would be okay.

I nodded and hugged him tightly, clinging to his jacket. “I’m sorry,” I sobbed. I was afraid of losing him again. I now understood why I had forgotten this year of my life: because of that guy’s words—that Noah didn’t care about me and didn’t love me. Those words had terrified me. I was shocked; he was my life, the only one who had stood by me. The only one I trusted and loved with all my heart, soul, and mind. He was my everything.

He smiled back, looking directly into my eyes. “I guess the book is finished now.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Did you write this book?”

He nodded. “Yes, can you believe that? I did it for you. But I didn’t mention the meaning of the tattoo on your shoulder and mine. I still have that small paper you wrote. Do you want to know what it means?” he asked.

I smiled as he handed me the paper, but he took off his jacket and shirt first, revealing the tattoo in the same place as mine. I touched his skin slowly while unwrapping the paper. He spoke in the same breath, as if the words were etched in his mind, something he had revised with his soul every day of the last year. “NPS—N for Noah, P for Pamela, and S for Selena. You asked me if we had a daughter, then I should name her Pamela. If we had a boy, we should name him Noah. If we had two girls, we should name the other one Selena. But God gifted us with two girls and one boy. So now we have Selena, Pamela, and Noah.” Noah pecked my lips and carried me bridal-style.

I chuckled, asking, “What are you doing?”

He halted and leaned closer to my lips. “Taking you back to your palace, my princess.”

THE END

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