Chapter 142 End of an era
White noise rings in my ears as I look at the screen of my new phone.
Miguel: Ben committed suicide, Caroline found him dead this morning.
"Baby girl?" I hear Mom's voice from afar, as if I'm swimming underwater. "Are you okay?"
I can't answer her, I just hold the phone out for her to take.
"Oh my god." Her arms come around me, holding me steady. "It's over, it's over!"
Is it, though?
All this time I thought I wanted Ben dead, and out of my life, but when he was arrested, I felt some kind of relief and redemption. That what happened to me wasn't in vain. They reopened Katherine's case, they charged Jeffrey, all because I finally grew a pair and spoke up.
Now he's dead.
Just like that.
What a coward's way out.
I shouldn't be surprised, though. Things didn't go his way, of course he would take the easy way out.
It sucks that justice wasn't served for all those people he raped, for Armando who didn't deserve to die.
Tears start pouring from my eyes, and I start sobbing in Mom's arms. I don't even know why the hell I am crying.
Maybe I'm crying for the boy I once knew, for that fourteen year old met and for the naive girl who believed he was good.
Maybe I'm crying for the woman I am now, who somehow survived him.
Mom just holds me through it all, keeping quiet and rubbing circles on my back. I don't want to be crying over that psycho, but it's like I have no control of my emotions.
"It's okay to cry." She whispers in my ear. "You're free now, no more hiding, no more being scared"
But I am still scared. I'm scared of what the public might say about me. And I can hide all I want, sooner rather than later the truth will come out about Miguel and me. And the baby.
If Ben's investigation garnered so much media attention, and it probably will for a very long time, then the press is going to be vultures around me if they find out I'm pregnant.
So what should I do?
Miguel will never forgive me if I disappear again. Not now that he knows about the baby.
And I don't want to be without him or my family either, so will I just endure what's coming our way?
Mom holds my hand while we check the news. There are numerous reporters in front of the Cargill house reporting on Ben's suicide, everyone speculating that he did it because of Katherine's case.
I don't know why I feel sad for the Cargills, but there are drones flying over the house, and then the cameras on the body bag being removed from the house with Ben's body inside.
Lord knows I hate Caroline, especially after what Katherine told me, how she was the driver of the car that Ben raped her in. No, Catherine is a vile woman, but I can't even fathom how she must feel right now losing her only son.
Miguel may have been raised in that same house, but he was never her son, not even a little bit. He probably hates her as much as I do.
"What do you think happens next with the case?" I ask Mom.
"Well, they are still going to investigate I think. And there's also Bloomberg being charged, but you only implicated Ben, so maybe now you won't have to testify in court."
I hope she's right, because I wasn't looking forward to testifying anyway.
I wonder when I will be able to see Miguel now, especially with their house being surrounded by the damn paparazzi.
Mom tried to cheer me up with cute baby stuff she started buying online. Some of the things are ridiculous, babies won't even know what it is.
That night, it takes me a while to fall asleep, wondering if I'll at least get a visit from Miguel like the previous night.
But if course he doesn't come. He probably can't even get out of the house right now.
I eventually fall asleep, the stress of the day too much.
I wake with a start the next morning from my phone ringing non stop, and I scowl at the caller I.D.
"You do know I need more sleep right, T.J?"
"Yeah, I didn't want to call you, but I figured you'd be really pissed off if I didn't keep you in the loop."
"Just spit it out." .
"I'm at the hospital, seem like your boyfriend really likes these kinds of places."
I sit up immediately. "What the fuck happened?uyùkl
"He says he was on his way to you in the early morning hours, but someone ran him off from his bike."
My heart immediately starts beating wildly in my chest. I can't let anything happen to him.
"Is he going to be okay?" I'm even scared to hear the answer. I'm literally pregnant, something can't happen to him.
"A few nasty scrapes, but he will be okay. They're discharging him soon." T.J. clears his throat on the other side. "Just be careful, okay? Don't go out, please. It might be dangerous for you out there right now."
Is he implying that someone intentionally hurt Ben? If so, who would do that?