Chapter 62

Even though Clayre is young, she possesses a lethal weapon—her body language. I’m fascinated by how she slowly blinks her eyes and leaves them half-open with an air of mystery. How her delicate gestures are filled with eroticism without being vulgar. The smile and the way her lips move beautifully to speak and even to cry. I missed all of her, but especially the feeling that burns and devours us every time we’re connected.

I force myself to release her, and her shy gaze analyzes me attentively.

“I need to resolve everything, Clayre. Could you wait for me? For your only man?”

She smiles, embarrassed, runs her tongue over her lips, moistening them, making me excited, and nods in agreement.

“Yes, Jack. I’ll wait for you, just don’t make me wait too long, I may not have the time I’d like.”

Her words hit my face, and I capture her tightly in my arms.

“Never say that again. Please, because it hurts to hear it.”

“It doesn’t matter how long, whether we spend a day or a year together. Happiness will always be in the memories. In the end, I will always live inside you. Death is not the end of love, it immortalizes it.”

I swallow the bad feeling of imagining an end and seal her lips again with a tender kiss.

“Come in, I’ll wait for you to pass through the door and go.”

“Okay, my protector.”

We smile together, and she hurriedly heads for the entrance, climbing the stairs.

Even when Clayre is sad, she has a light, and she can make any bad feeling dissipate and simply cease to exist. When I’m with her, it’s as if evil cannot reach us, but when I’m away, I feel all the demons devouring my soul.

I start the motorcycle as soon as she disappears and drive a couple of blocks to make the call to Gerald. This time I’ll be a damn selfish bastard, and yes, I won’t give in to Clayre’s wishes not to tell him, I’ll do whatever it takes for us to be together.

I dial the number, and within minutes, he answers.

“What do you want, Jack?” he asks gruffly.

“What do I want? That fucking bitch, Liana, didn’t go to the hospital today to do the test.”

“What? How do you know this? I’ve been trying to reach Clayre since this afternoon, and she won’t answer.”

“I just saw her, she was crying, devastated.”

Gerald sighs, and I hear something fall to the ground.

“My God, my daughter must be destroyed,” he laments, sadness in his voice.

“She is, sad, hopeless, but Clayre is strong, stronger than you think, we’re the ones who aren’t.”

He huffs quietly, stays silent for a few seconds, and finally speaks.

“What was Liana’s ridiculous excuse?”

“Well, Liana is pregnant, we’re going to have a child. I know she can’t donate bone marrow right now if she’s compatible, but after the birth, everything would be resolved.”

“What?” he retorts, perplexed.

“Yes, she revealed it a month ago, but we’ve only spoken once since then, to inform me of the doctor’s appointment. I don’t understand, I confess I’m scared for the baby, after all, Liana had postpartum depression with the last pregnancy and is getting more and more devilish. Making Clayre hope for the donation, asking me to leave her, and even lying earlier this week that we were together. All to hurt her. How much longer will she pretend to be a woman who’s suffering and start demanding the truth from her? Something isn’t right because she acts like her daughter was never her responsibility.”

“Yes, you’re right. For all these years, I’ve tried to understand her actions, but I can’t keep pretending she’s a good person. She doesn’t love Clayre, she doesn’t accept her as a daughter, and I will personally demand an answer. Liana will have to tell me about the past, or I won’t be responsible for what happens. I won’t accept my daughter dying when she has a mother who could save her.”

“I want you to tell Clayre about the blackmail. I can’t stay away anymore, I can’t watch her suffer and be alone.”

“Fine, Jack, I’ll ask for two days. I’ll think about how to start this conversation with her, but don’t speak yet, I’ll take responsibility for my mistake.” I sigh with relief.

“Two days, no more. I need to hang up, I’ll visit Liana and demand answers. I’m not a fool to deceive myself. She keeps repeating that Clayre is seeking revenge, but it’s all in her head.”

“Don’t go too far. She said the same thing to me, that Clayre was acting out of malice, but I know the daughter I have. However, we need to understand what’s happening, Clayre needs to be happy.”

“I’ll make her happy, and she’ll be healed and live for many years, even if I have to travel the world to find a donor. I won’t give up!”

***

POV Jack

The wind hits my body as I speed up the motorcycle through the streets. I love this feeling of freedom, power, and adrenaline. It doesn’t take long, and I park in front of Liana’s building. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this place, and remembering the times we were together doesn’t bring me any nostalgia. In contrast, thinking about Clayre hits me with an overwhelming ache of longing, even though I just saw her a few minutes ago. Every second with her is never enough.

I cross the street, and since I know the receptionist, I pass by easily. I make my way up to the apartment, rehearsing what I’ll say to this narcissist. There are two possibilities: something happened that kept her from going to the hospital, or she truly didn’t care. I stop in front of the door, sigh, and raise my hand to ring the doorbell. However, I hear laughter coming from inside. Soon after, a deep voice that isn’t unfamiliar.

“Liana, you always get what you want, so stop, look at how far we’ve come. This is a necessary evil.” The last phrase immediately reveals who is by her side.

Harry Welsh, the former partner who stole no less than a million dollars from me. When I ran into him at the pastry shop, I wanted to punch his face. I ruined his reputation across the country, and he had to change industries to find a new job. What makes me less pissed off is knowing that I drove him to bankruptcy again, and seeing him here proves that Liana is worse than I thought.

I press the doorbell, fists already clenched, ready to solve this my way. Liana opens the door, and her eyebrows raise, her eyes widen, and her mouth opens in surprise.

“Jack? What are you doing here?”

Blocking my entry, she steps out and quickly shuts the door behind her.

I’m done swallowing the frustration, and I shove past her, invading the room. Harry’s eyes widen, and he adopts an aggressive stance.

“So you’re together?”

Liana grabs my arm and stammers.

“It’s not what you think. Harry is just sorry for everything and came to ask for help to apologize to you.”

A laugh escapes me as I run my hand over my beard, scratching it angrily.

“Sorry? Is this a confession? Oh, I see, I caught you off guard. I’m not going to waste my time with this. It’s not worth it. Keep thinking I’m a jerk. Why didn’t you go to the hospital? The fucking agreement was that you would help your own daughter.”

Her expression changes, and she pretends to be suffering.

“I felt really bad today, it’s the pregnancy. I got nauseous, couldn’t eat, it was impossible to go out.”

“You have until tomorrow to fulfill your part of the deal. Otherwise, Clayre will be both the sister and the stepmother of our child.”

Liana swallows hard and puts her hand over her heart.

“I’ll fulfill my part, but how did you find out I didn’t go?”

“Gerald called the hospital.”

“If you get close to Clayre, you know what will happen.”

“I’m getting tired of your threats. Maybe I should start acting like you and impose a few myself. Let me think...” I pause for a few seconds to provoke her. “Maybe with a DNA test.”

“How dare you?” she screams, outraged.

“Yeah, that should’ve been your option when you didn’t do the bare minimum for your daughter. It’s better you start being responsible.”

She narrows her eyes and shakes her head.

“Don’t tell me to be responsible. You always thought I was mature and empathetic. Forgot we had a relationship? That we were going to get married? Harry here isn’t what you think. How can you treat me like this? Don’t you see how generous I’ve been? And even though Clayre wants revenge, I was nice trying to help her.”

This woman is a monster, and I’ve always doubted that bad people could have children, but yes, Liana is living proof of that, and in the end, she only served to hurt her.

She puts her hands on her hips, shakes her right leg nervously, and gasps.

“Of course I remember we were going to get married, I even need to find a psychiatrist to see if I’ve been cured from the disease, because I didn’t see who you were from the start.”

“You don’t need to humiliate me, Jack. Are you seriously going to have this kind of relationship with the mother of your child?” I huff angrily. “Now only my little slut of a daughter is worth anything, right?”

I get close to her face and touch her chin.

“I assure you she’s not a slut, she’s only been with me until now. I’d like to understand, why do you insult your own daughter? Especially knowing she’s not what you say? Are you so angry at both of us that you’ll ignore everything? She’s your blood, I shouldn’t even have to remind you of that.”

“One day, you’ll come back to me, Jack. You’ll see that you love me. You’re blinded by passion, but it’s fleeting. You think you love my daughter, but it’s just fire, pure wickedness. Clayre doesn’t even remember you anymore and will even have Rangel over at the apartment this weekend. Do you really think you’ll be the only one?”

Her words hit me straight in the stomach. Inside, I feel jealous, but on the outside, I pretend not to care, because this woman loves to lie.

“She’s an adult, she can do whatever she wants,” I state, but I’m almost out of here and heading back there to tell her that she won’t be seeing that asshole. “You’ve been warned, I have nothing else to say.”

I turn my body and face Harry, who is furious.

“You fooled me once, it won’t happen again, because I don’t mind breaking your face.”

Angrily, I charge at him and throw a punch to the left side of his face.