ARIANA
Once he was done talking, doing the math wasn't that difficult. The ages of his children made my blood boil but I had to make sure that I wasn't mistaken in any way. “So, you are saying you have moved on. And your kid is five. If I do the math, your child must have been in her mother's belly the day Enzo found you in my bed?” I asked him, staring into his eyes. I waited for him to answer, or react in any way.
And surely. The moment he heard the question, his face fell almost immediately. I watched him struggling to keep eye contact with me. He grabbed the bottle of water from the table and took a few sips. “Let's not talk about the past, Ariana. You and I, we are both happy in our lives. It was stupid of me but let's leave it in the past.” His little speech blew my mind.
I literally felt like a bomb went off in my head. Before I knew it, I was laughing at the fucker. And then, I stopped. “Leave the past in the past. You should have thought about it before you came into my house and laid naked in my bed with me.” My voice wasn't high. But I was angry.
Angry tears started forming into my eyes. “Valentina did something. I was struggling to keep up with my wife. She was very demanding and possessive. And when Valentina told me how happy you have been with your favorite Uncle, and how they were divorced just because of you, I lost control. I wanted to teach you a lesson. I am sorry. I know, I was wrong.” When he apologized, I laughed even more but my tears were no longer staying in my eyes.
“You're sorry. After creating havoc in my life, you are sorry. You believe that I am happy. With Enzo. After everything you did. You tried to destroy everything. And then you went into a bubble of assumptions where you believe everything is fine.” At that point, I was shouting at him.
He looked around, as if, searching if anyone was listening to me. “Keep it quiet, Ariana. It's our personal life. And why are you so angry? I know, you are still living with Enzo. I saw you at the hospital the other day, visiting the same gynecologist as my wife.” He had no idea what he had done to me.
I slammed my hand on the table. That got his attention. “You know nothing of what you did. So let me tell you what happened when you played that little prank on me.” He gulped hard, looking at my tears.
“Enzo is a crazy man. You and I both knew it. You were married, expecting a child. It wasn't my fault that you couldn't keep up with your wife. You blamed that on me. What was I, your dustbin? To blame me, kick me, throw anything at me and then behave like nothing happened.” I was shaking as I screamed at him.
“What did he do?” Charlie asked. By now, he also didn't care that the whole cafe was watching us, listening to us.
“He believed you. It wasn't a lie that I was pregnant. But it happened when he was heavily medicated. He didn't remember that night. And when you told him that I had your baby in my belly, nothing I said could make him believe that I was actually carrying his child.” I choked at the word child.
I grabbed the bottle of water and gulped it down as much as I could. “He took me to a doctor, to abort my child, his own baby. I cried, screamed at him, told him that the baby was his. But he didn't listen. He saw us together. He believed his eyes. And the lies you and Valentina told him.” By now, I was crying so hard. My hiccups wouldn't stop.
“Your lie destroyed my life. The abortion made me infertile. I can no longer have any babies. They had already killed my child. The DNA on the fetus told him the truth but it was too late. I left him because I couldn't stand him. And he refused to leave me.” I watched his face painting with guilt when he heard me how much his lie damaged my relationship.
“But I saw you at the hospital, with Enzo, at the gynecologist.” He tried to ask, as if still trying to stay in his bubble. But I was ready to pop it. His bubble of perfection.
“Yeah! I visited her. Because I have cancer. The gynecologist who performed the abortion, left fragments of the baby and placenta inside my womb. And now, it's cancer. I came back because I am dying. Your lie did this to me.” With that, I pulled my wig off, showing him my bald head.
He covered his mouth with both of his hands. “You have children, you have a wife. You have your perfect life. You were building your own when I was struggling because of Valentina. And you forgot the fact that if Enzo wanted something, he just took it without anyone's will. Did you try to think for a second that I might be with him forcefully as well? I was forced to marry him?” I watched tears in his eyes but I didn't care.
“Your struggles weren't my fault. But what you did to me, and how it impacted my life, is your fault. We are married but I can never accept him anymore because he killed my child and his mistake made me infertile. I am dying but he is trying to keep me alive. I can never have children of my own. Do you believe I still have my perfect life? Step out of your fucking bubble and see that you have destroyed me in the worst way.” Charlie narrowed his head. He was sobbing, as always. He didn't even try to apologize.
I got up and grabbed my stuff. “I wish for your daughter to never face whatever I have. Because fathers like you, often have daughters with an ill-fate. I never want another woman to go through this kind of pain.” I screamed at him angrily then walked away, wiping my tears.
I hopped into the car. Ronny was already waiting for me there. Of course, Enzo was keeping his eyes on me. He was controlling. I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't breathe. “Calm down, Ariana. You're gonna kill yourself this way.” Ronny whispered, offering me a bottle of water. I took it from him and after a few sips, I glared at him.
“You can go and tell him everything you saw. Just go on. I don't fucking care. I am dying anyway. What else can he do to destroy me? What can anyone do to destroy me even more?” I was shaking, with anger.
Ronny placed his hand on mine, it made me look at him. “I am not stupid like Monty. I know what to relay and when to keep my mouth shut. You don't need to worry about it.” He offered me tissues. I just nodded my head, sipping the water. But I was still angry. And I realized, I was angry at Enzo.
When I finally reached him, I saw that Enzo was home, waiting for me. Before he could touch me, I pushed him hard, with all the strength I had in me. “Don't you fucking touch me, you lying bastard. How could you?” I screamed at him, despite the fact that my throat was already sore with all the crying and screaming I just did a while ago. He had no idea that I had come to know the whole truth about him.