Chapter 65 Chapter 65
Chapter 65 Chapter 65
“Sure.” Claudia drawled, raising an eyebrow at her older sister.
Noémie ignored the look Claudia was giving her—partly because it made her feel guilty—and moved towards the only window in the room.
Drawing the curtains aside and noticing for the first the bad weather that had darkened the sky.
There was about to be a heavy downpour outside. She could already tell.
But something about the knowledge did not sit right with her. A feeling of unease gripped her tight. She tried to shake it away, the bad feeling that is. But the feeling never subsided.
“Do you really love him that much?” she heard Claudia ask. But because she was occupied with calming down the building worry in her heart, she couldn’t quite hear her right.
“Huh?”
“I said—do you really love him that much?”
Noémie scowled, her back turned to her. “It has nothing to do with you.”
“Maybe. But it has everything to do with you. And considering you’re my sister, it’s only fair for me to know everything that is going on with you. If you were in my place, you’d have done the same, wouldn’t you?”
Claudia was right. Noémie couldn’t disagree. “It’s complicated.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I don’t know if it’s right.”
“Right what?”
“To be in love with him after everything that had happened.”
“What do you think is wrong with that?”
Noémie couldn’t believe her sister had just said that. To see that Claudia really was in her right mind, she turned around to fix her with a glare. “Are you seriously asking me this? You know. You know what he did…”
“I know. In fact, we all know what he did. Which was wrong. Terribly wrong. And for which, at least I would give him hell wherever and whenever I could. But one thing that no one is asking is, why did you agree to stay with him? Did you ask yourself? And don’t—don’t even try to give me that crap about the reason being the baby. Because, my dear, lovely sister, we both know that’s only the half-truth, isn’t it?”
“What are you trying to say? Of course, it was because of the baby. Why else would I…” Noémie struggled to complete the sentence. Her heart hammering inside her chest.
“Then give me one good reason why did you not call us? Your family! You could have called and told us everything. And you know we’d have understood. When have we never? Noémie the truth is that you didn’t want to part with him. Tell me if I’m wrong. Because when he brought you back and you looked him in the eye, you knew. You knew you could trust him. That he wasn’t the kind of man who could do something so awful. Not to you. Not to anyone.”
“You’re spewing nonsense!”
“Am I?” Claudia grimaced. “Fine. Then, answer my one question. Just this one.” Without waiting for any response from Noémie she continued. “If he were that awful and hateful and irredeemable, then how did your heart even allow you to trust him with the safety of yours, and most of all, of the baby? You couldn’t be that foolish, Noémie, or were you?”
Noémie chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking anywhere but her sister. For a long minute, she did not say anything. She could not. Words had practically abandoned her. And even if she did manage to form some sort of response in her head, the lump in her throat refused to go away.
Deep down, Noémie knew there was nothing she could say to retaliate against what her sister had concluded. The truth she had been trying to circumvent for so damn long. The truth she was too afraid to face on her own.
Perhaps that was the reason an immense relief claimed her heart when her phone went off—distracting the conversation—and she scrambled over to the nightstand to answer it.
Another layer of unease slipped beneath her skin after seeing the name of the caller.
“Hello?” she said, and the worried lines across her forehead only deepened once the person on the line spoke until he was done. “What? When? Where? Text me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She was ready to disconnect the phone when the person spoke again. Noémie bristled. “I don’t care about the damn weather, Vincent! Just text me the address.”
“What happened?” Claudia was on her toes by the time Noémie disconnected the phone and sprinted for the door. “Noémie! Say something. You’re freaking me out.”
Dashing out of her room, Noémie yanked out all the drawers. “Where are the keys?”
“Keys of what?” Her father came charging out of his room. Looking just as worried and puzzled as anyone.
“The car! I need the keys to the car!”
“Why?” her mother appeared from the kitchen, her brows knitted in a furrow. “What’s happening? Why are you panicking? You’re gonna hurt the baby like this. Calm down!”
Noémie was too worked up to care about anything else. She headed for the side cabinet across the hall. But it was taking too long. “Ugh. Fuck it! I’ll get the cab!”
“Noémie!” Claudia blocked the main door. “You need to tell me what happened. Else you’re not leaving.”
“I don’t have time for your dramatics. Just get the hell out of the door!” Noémie scolded, clamping her fists tight.
“Not until you tell me what happened. What did Vincent say?”
“He said that they can’t contact him.”
“Contact who?”
“AJAX!” Noémie screamed at the top of her lungs. “HIS PHONE IS OUT OF REACH. IT’S BEEN HOURS SINCE ANYONE SAW LAST OF HIM. NOW PLEASE LEAVE THE FUCKING DOOR OR I’M GONNA DO SOMETHING AWFUL TO MYSELF AND YOU ALL WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT!”