Chapter 25 - Thick Walls

Regina was angry, the first encounter with Edmund after all those years did not go as she envisioned.

Sure, she imagined shock and maybe crying, even accusations and criticism, yet she had never expected him to be so... distant, unimpressed, detached.

He sent her away with his obnoxious cousin like she was of no importance to him, needless to say that Moira hated her from the start, she never understood why she had left her father for Edmund, or how her feelings changed from one day to another.

Moira insisted on making her opinion very clear from the beginning of her relationship with her cousin.

She did not say a word to Regina on their way to the mansion and when they arrived, she ordered one of the maids to prepare a room for her. After that, she simply vanished and has been away all day long.

‘Like I would need a room, I will be sleeping in Edmund’s chamber!’

She was certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that after he would get home, they would sort things out. He was never able to resist her feminine charms, so he would fall for them one more time.

‘Certainly, he could have not forgotten me!’

She was aware of what feelings he had for her, how much he treasured her, how much he loved her, how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

‘For crying out loud, he used to worship the ground I’ve walked on, I was his most prized possession, the jewel in his crown.’

His earlier behavior didn’t make any sense to her, she thought he would happily accept her in his life again, moreover after she confessed her love for him and after she told him that his father threatened her into abandoning him.

Why did he not see her as the victim in this story?

‘Maybe I am concerned for no valid reason, his brother is in the hospital and God knows what his condition is.’

Regine has made inquiries about Noah, but as she was not part of the family, at least for the moment, the medical staff did not share any information with her.

‘Maybe his lack of interest has something to do with that woman, the one standing beside him.’

She inwardly laughed, dismissing her brief thought as nonsense. No new woman would be able to fill her shoes. None replaced her while she was gone, she conducted an investigation.

Edmund dated all sorts of women, but it was nothing serious, and he kept a few with the intention of satisfying his needs from time to time.

‘Those women had only my memory to fight against and they did not succeed in substituting me, now that I am here, none of them stands a chance.’

She decided she would have a last sip from the glass of exquisite red wine that they served to her after lunch and then she would go take a bubble bath, prepare for the moment of his arrival, put on her best outfit.

‘I need to look ravishing gorgeous, if he thinks that he forgot all about me and that he can carry on with his miserable life in peace, well guess again, he’ll be at my feet once again.’

He needed to, after all the ten million dollars she had demanded from his father as a remuneration for breaking his son’s heart and leaving the country after he found out certain things about her were almost gone.

‘I will not give him up, I’m here to stick with him, until I secure what I came for.’

* * *

Isabella had a meltdown earlier, and she was still affected by Noah’s words.

‘He struggled so much to talk, to make me understand the truth about Luisa, he must really love my sister!’

She closed her eyes and more recollections that endorsed his words invaded her mind. They were mental pictures that she wanted to bury somewhere in a corner of her mind, never to access them again. She wished to put them where they belonged, in the past.

It pained her to come to terms with the new reality, it hurt her to the bones to accept the fact that her misery was misdirected, to admit that she misjudged her sister, that she had lost so much time with Luisa while they were apart.

She had family in her sister, and yet she was a loner by choice.

‘Not the greatest subject to wrap my mind around at this moment, but I cannot help thinking about the fact that I would have met Edmund in other circumstances, if I would not have been so blind.’

Against her will, she wondered how that would have progressed. Obviously, different than how it did, however fate had other plans for them and she must accept that.

‘Let it go, Isabella, move on!’

“Here, drink this!” She opened her eyes and stared at the enchanting and well-mannered man while he offered her a cup of hot beverage.

‘No, I would not change a thing from the past for it will mess with present days. And despite everything, I like the present.’

“Be careful, it’s hot!” He pointed out as she kept gazing into his soul through his dazzling eyes, ignoring his words. “It’s tea, you need it!”

She nodded and grabbed the cup with care. “Thank you kindly!” She inhaled the fresh aroma of peppermint and ginger.

He reached her eyes and wiped her tears away. “I’ve seen so many tears in those beautiful eyes, I just hope there will come a time when you won’t cry anymore.”

“And it will, but not today.” She forced a smile and snuggled into his sturdy and welcoming arms.

World slowed down, and she felt safe, there, with his bulky body pressed to hers. It might seem weird given the chain of events that brought them together, but she felt protected by his side.

‘I could stay like this forever.’

Brushing his lips on her hair, he whispered. “Visiting hours are over, we’ll need to head home soon.”

“It’s fine. I am eager to read that contract carefully anyway.”

His figure stiffened and he broke away from her. She registered how his eyes darkened a shade, their shine changing from tender to ice-cold.

“What’s wrong?” He inquired, blinking nervously.

He took a deep breath and declared. “You’ll hate the contract.”

“Well, I’ve signed it, no?”

* * *

Edmund was driving home, trying to focus on the road, but he could sense waves of tension radiating from her body.

‘She’s frightened of what she will find in that dire document, and she should, that piece of paper is insulting, to put it mildly.’

The moment he had his lawyers redact that contract, his judgment was clouded by the suffering caused by his brother’s accident. His determination to take revenge and to ensure that his family’s wealth stays untouched was justified by his wrath directed to Luisa, the one he blamed for the dreadful accident.

Now he was not so sure anymore.

Though it only passed a few days, a lot of things have changed, his heart had changed.

It took many years to build thick walls around him. As a matter of fact, to build a whole fortress to shield his heart from being torn to pieces again, until Isabella came as a bulldozer and shattered those walls brick by brick with her fresh, innocent, yet spicy and fascinating personality.

Though he made great efforts to keep his feelings separated from his sexual cravings, as he did with any other woman since Regina, he could honestly proclaim that he had miserably failed.

Isabella meant more to him than an alluring figure or a beautiful face, she was a force that penetrated his body, soul and mind. She was passion, she was fire and the fact that she was quiet that moment made him lose his mind.

He had always held himself accountable for what happened with Regina, he had always asked himself what he did so wrong for her to abandon him without a single word, one minute they were doing great, or so he believed, the other he was standing all alone in her empty apartment with flowers in his hands and an engagement ring in his pocket, trying to register what the landlord repeated him, that she packed her bags and left the country to an undisclosed destination.

‘Oh, fuck! Regina!’

Reality just hit, there was more to be worried about in regards to getting home, it entirely slipped his mind that Regina was there.

‘Hell will unleash.’