CHAPTER TWELVE

The sun was too bright, hammering down on her already aching head. Lauren rubbed her eyes but remained in bed. She didn’t want to face her reality too soon plus she was having a mad hangover. The door to their room creaked but she left her eyes closed.

“I know you’re awake, come eat your hangover soup,” came Nathan’s sweet voice as he entered with the tray he was holding before setting it down on the bed.

Lauren slowly opened her eyes, the sun biting into them as she winced in pain and sat upright on the bed. Now she remembered why she had quit drinking years ago, the hangovers were the worst.

“Sorry baby, drink this and you’ll be fine. Had to wake up early this morning to prepare it,” he said sweetly, smiling.

She opened her mouth as he scooped the soup with the spoon and fed it to her. she couldn’t help but look into his office, he looked like he hadn’t slept at all in the night.

“Busy all night? She asked as she took another spoonful of soup, the bitter taste making her gag but she kept eating anyway. She would eat anything at this point to keep the headache that was threatening to kill her at bay.

“Yeah, had to go over a few things from work,” he said, he paused for a moment to feel her temple “You’re burning up.”

“I’m not surprised, haven’t had a drink in a long ass time,” she explained. She finished the soup in no time. “Thank you for making this.”

“It’s my job to make sure you’re okay,” he said quietly, he wiped the corner of her mouth that had a bit of soup. He was relatable close to her face as Lauren could smell the strawberry tea that was left on his lips. He leaned in to kiss her but she moved her head back instinctively, regretting it when she saw the hurt in his eyes.

“Get dressed, I already made breakfast.” He left the room after that, carrying the tray with him.

Lauren breathed out in relief. She had never felt so tense in her entire life. it was like Nathan was caging him in and with everything she now knew about him it was getting harder to play the loving wife that he wanted her to be.

She entered the shower and let the warm water soothe her pain. She chose a short white dress when she was done. Nathan had gotten it for her during one of his trips outside the state to God knows where. Lauren never bothered to ask.

He was already sitting at the table when she entered. He smiled when he saw what she was wearing, happy that she was putting on something of his. Nathan stood up and pulled out a chair for her.

“You look really lovely,” he said. She smiled in return and they ate their breakfast of cupcakes, tea, and hearts that were about to be broken.

When they were done Lauren cleared the dishes. She was about to leave when he spoke. “What are you going to do about Harry? You can’t just let Damien get away with this,” he said, the gentle air that had surrounded them during breakfast disappearing with his question.

“I’ve thought about it,” she said, stalling because she didn’t know what to tell Nathan “I spoke to him when we met, he asked to keep Harry for just a couple of days,” she said blinking.

“you’ll have to get a lawyer to work these things out, that way you have legal backing and he can just do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I know this good lawyer in town, a friend of mine. I could call him for you…”

she looked up sharply, cutting him off “I’ll think about that. I’ll let you know if I decide to get a lawyer,” she said.

Nathan nodded slowly, noting her discomfort but he let it go “If you insist, I respect the fact that you’re his mother so I’m leaving that choice up to you. But…you have to remember that we’re legally bound, which makes Harry as much my son as yours, and I will do anything if Damien steps out of line.”

“Sure,” Lauren said and turned sharply on her heels. Her head reeled with so much that she wondered if this was a subtle way of Nathan threatening them both. He wouldn’t anything to her as long as they lived under the same roof, would he?

she should have kept some form of contact with Damien to know what his progress was with Nathan. She wanted out of the house, hating to second guess everything that Nathan did. Her life might even be in danger. Lauren dismissed that thought, Nathan wouldn’t go through all this trouble just to harm her in the end, or even worse kill her. What would he stand to gain?

Lauren laid down back on the bed, her head now pounding from all the thoughts that were going through it, why did her life have to be so complicated? She definitely didn’t have the answer to that. she had no one to turn to this time, not even a family that she knew had her back.

“Paula!” she suddenly exclaimed, she always spent time as she had basically grown up with them, they even took her as a family of their own. she grabbed her purse and was about to leave when Nathan stood at the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“Paula’s, I want to check on them,” she answered, hoping that the quiver she felt didn’t carry on to her voice.

“You can’t do that,” he stated simply, not offering any other explanation.

“But I always go to visit them,” she insisted, not understanding where his attitude was coming from.

“Not this time.”

She was about to move for the door when he grabbed her and injected something into her neck, making her feel immediately numb as she crumbled to the floor. Nathan’s smiling face was all she saw before she blacked out.

*****

Nathan sighed in relief when she passed out. He carried her into the room and left aspirin and a bottle of water on the bedside stand. He couldn’t risk her going to see Damien’s parents and have them find out that she wasn’t really dead, that would ruin his plan.

He left the house but not before looking at all the doors so Lauren wouldn’t be able to leave in case she came to when he wasn’t back. He left after that.

When Paula opened the door, she wasn’t happy to see him one bit. “What do you want?” she had straight up asked, not even letting him into the house.

“I just wanted to speak to you,” he said, his eyes watering to make her feel pity for him “I know that Lauren is dead,” he stated, making the color drain from Paula’s face.

“Come in then,” she finally said, letting him through the door. “How did you find out?” She asked, offering him a seat.

“I had people track when she left to confront Damien about taking Harry with him. I also know that they spent a night together at his secret home…” He trailed off, watching for her reaction.

“More like you were spying on them,” Paula spat.

“Believe whatever you want. The crash that killed Lauren, I watched it all happen!” he hit his fist on the table “I saw your son kill my wife.”

“Don’t go about spewing such rubbish, Damien would never hurt Lauren, I wish I could say the same for you!” she retorted.

“You’re lucky I like you, Mrs. Paula, you were more of a mother to me than my own bloody mother. you took care of me when she was drinking and fucking God knows who!” he said, a tint of a smile on his face.

“That is why I’m very fond of you,” he said. He took the cup that was at the center of the table and began to swirl it.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“Lauren is dead,” she said a tear escaping from the corner of her eye “God bless her soul. So what more do you want? Have you not hurt Damien enough?” she wiped her tear with the sleeve of her blouse.

“Your son killed my precious wife and you expect me to let it go?” he asked like she was saying the most insane thing that he had ever heard.

“He didn’t kill Lauren…”

“He might have, that was his jet she entered, he had complete access to it, so what could have possibly gone wrong? Don’t look the other way and accept everything you see just because he’s your son,” he said, biting the words deep into her skin.

“I’m not making excuses for him. I know the child I raised and he is no murder.”

“So who killed his fiancée then? Poor girl had a lot ahead of her.”

Paula covered her mouth with her hand in a gasp, “How do you know that Jane is dead?” she asked.

Nathan laughed a bit without humor “You tried to cover it up, didn’t you? You don’t want the whole world to know what kind of evil bastard you have for a child!”

“Watch your words!” she said, slamming her hand on the table.

“You don’t have to get yourself all worked up, I’m not going to run around telling everyone all the flaws that your son has.”

“Why do you hate him so much?” she asked, breaking into a sob “Is this about Lauren? You married her at the end for crying at loud.”

Nathan’s face turned serious “And then Damien killed her. He doesn’t want me to be happy as long as he isn’t happy too, is that right?”

Paula was about to say something else when the front door slammed. Gab walked into the kitchen where the pay sat. his eyes moving from one person to the other. He rushed to Paula when he saw her tear-stained face.

“What did you say to her?” he asked Nathan who was grinning.

“Absolutely nothing that is not the truth,” Nathan replied still smiling. “She just needed a little reminder of all the little flaws that your son has.”

“You will have to leave,” Gab told him, meanwhile he rubbed Paula’s shoulder, hating that she had to bear the major brunt of Nathan’s visit. And with the look on her face Gab knew that it was as unpleasant as Nathan could be.

*****

When Lauren came to, she was lying on the bed. There was a bottle of water by the bedside and aspirin. She immediately consumed it with the water seeking an instant relief to her still aching head. She tried to remember how she ended on the bed but everything came up blank.

All she remembered was that she was going to see Paula, the purse she had been carrying was on the table. Did Nathan do something to her that she wasn’t aware of?

“What the hell happened to me?” she rubbed her head, it felt sore.

The door opened and Nathan entered. “You fell down,” he answered. “Do you still feel dizzy?” he asked going to sit beside her, he checks her temperature.

“You must have really drunk a lot,” he said, “Why don’t we go to the hospital to make sure you’re not sick or anything.

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice groggy with sleep.

“Are you sure?” He asked again.

Lauren nodded, still feeling disoriented. She had no explanation but she was sure it had something to do with Nathan.

He was leaving the room when he turned back to her at the door “Before I forget, you missed a call from Damien.”