Chapter 155

Chapter 155


"Bernice, please just listen to me," Rafael said, his voice breaking as he entered the darkened room, his eyes heavy with regret.

Bernice stood by the window, her arms across her chest, the moonlight delineating her face in a silvery glow. She didn't turn around. "What more is there to say?" she asked, her voice tight. "You've already said everything that needed to be said years ago when you walked away."

Rafael swallowed hard. "I know I hurt you-

"Hurt me?" Bernice spun around, flashing her eyes. "You destroyed me, Rafael. You left me to raise our children alone. Do you know how it felt to be left behind by a man I loved? To be accused of things that were never true? I begged you to believe me!" Her voice cracked as she clutched the table back for support.

Rafael stepped forward cautiously, his hands up. "I didn't know the truth then. But I do now. Please, Bernice. I have seen it all. Olivia's lies, the betrayal. I was blind, and I hate myself for it." He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folder, setting it on the coffee table. "These are the photos. Proof of her deceit."

Bernice stared at the folder, paralyzed where she stood. It was as if her heart thundered in her chest as she spoke from trembling anger and incredulity. "Proof? You are showing me proof now? After all this time?" she exclaimed. "I don't need your proof, Rafael. I needed your trust. You should have done this three years ago.”

"I know," Rafael whispered back, his tone thick with guilt. "And I failed you. I failed us."

The tension in the room was choking. The pain of years seemed to resurface, and Bernice's breathing was reduced to short gasps. She moved closer toward Rafael, her fists clenched, and began to hit his chest. "Do you know how it felt? Carrying your children, feeling them kick inside me, knowing you wouldn't be there when they were born? How many nights do you think I cried to sleep, wondering what I'd done to deserve to be abandoned?”

Rafael didn't flinch; his eyes stuck with hers, taking each blow of her words. "I deserve your anger. Every bit of it. But I'm here now, Bernice. I want to make things right."

Bernice shook her head, and tears began cascading down her face. "You think you can just waltz into my life and make it all okay with a pretty apology? It doesn't work that way!" With this, she continued to pound her fists into his chest, letting the sobs breakthrough. "You left me! You left us!"

Rafael's hands closed over her wrists, his grasp firm and yet gentle, his tone even and anguished. "I know. And for that, I will bear guilt for the rest of my life." His eyes shone bright with unshed tears, his gaze speaking volumes. "I love you then, Bernice. I never stopped. I was a fool, blinded by lies, but my feelings never changed."

Her body had shaken in his arms, and for a moment, she let herself lean into him. The feel of his warmth was too familiar, but the freshness of the memories of betrayal still lingered in her heart. "You don't get to say that. You don't get to tell me you love me when you didn't believe me when it mattered most."

Rafael framed her face, making her face him. "I'm telling you now because I couldn't hold it inside anymore. I love you. I never stopped. And I'll do whatever it takes to prove it to you."

Bernice searched his eyes for deceit, but none stared back at her. His words pierced through her defenses, but the pain still lingered. "Words mean nothing, Rafael. Actions speak louder."

"I’m here, aren’t I?" he whispered, his forehead resting against hers. "I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere."

Her resolve weakened as the heat between them intensified. She could feel his breath on her skin, his hands trembling slightly as he held her. Every instinct screamed at her to push him away, yet she couldn’t move.

"Rafael…," she whispered, her tone begging, though she did not know what for.

He leaned in and sealed her lips with a light kiss. She was stiff for an instant, her brain working against herself with thoughts so contradictory. But then something snapped inside of her, and she kissed him back-desperate, raw, filled with longing and pain from so many years.

His kiss deepened, and Rafael pulled her closer, his hands sliding down her back. Bernice clung to him, her fingers digging into his shoulders, as if holding on would stop the whirlwind of emotions threatening to consume her.

Suddenly, she shoved him away, breathing heavily. "No," she said, shaking her head. "We can't do this."

Rafael said and did nothing, only heaved his chest up and down. "Why not? Why deny what we both feel?"

"Because it does not change anything!" she yelled suddenly in a voice that cracked easily. "It does not erase the years of pain, the loneliness, nor the betrayal. It will never, never bring back the time lost!"

"I know it doesn't," Rafael whispered. "But it is a start. Let me prove to you that I've changed. Let me be the man you fell in love with again."

She stared at him, her tears falling freely. "What do you expect me to do with this, Rafael?" she whispered. "You can't just say sorry and make it all go away."

"I don't expect it to be easy," he said, taking another step closer to her again and locking her eyes in that heated gaze of his. "But I'm not going to give up on us-not now, not ever."

Her heart ached with his words, so full of good intention, yet she knew well how much this could just be another ploy. Stepping back, she dried her face from the tears streaming down. "I do not know if I can ever trust you again."

"Then let me earn it," Rafael said resolutely. "I'll fight for you, for us, for our family."

Their eyes held, the words unspoken between them. Neither moved, both caught in the gravity of their shared past and uncertain future.