Chapter 44

Chapter 44
LOUISA’S POV

Benedict stooped down in front of me, his eyes searching mine like he actually expected me to answer him. What he didn’t know was that his presence was suffocating to say the least. I could feel the heat from his body even though his expression was so sharp and so distant. He leaned closer, and my tiny, foolish heart fluttered anyway.

“Why… why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his voice low, almost pained that I had kept it from him, but still wrapped in a cold edge that made my stomach twist.

I looked up at him, my eyes stinging with unshed tears, and I felt a surge of all the emotions I felt yesterday coming back ten times fold. All of it tangled together like a knotted mess in my chest. I pressed my lips into a pout, the most childish gesture I could think of in the face of his storming presence, and said, “If… if you had actually stayed with me after I was rushed to the hospital instead of running off to… to your ex-fiancée… then you would have known.”

The words came out cold and sharp just like I had intended, but my heart felt like it had shattered into tiny splinters. I had never spoken to him like that before. My usual foolish and naïve self, would have begged him to notice, to care, to love me. But something had snapped inside me that even I couldn’t fully understand.

Benedict’s dark eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of surprise passing through them, but I didn’t wait to see what. My mind was spinning too fast, trying to hold onto something, anything, to keep the tears from falling, to keep myself from collapsing into the mess of my emotions.

“I… I didn’t mean to hide it,” I continued, my voice quieter now, almost like a whisper, but still sharp enough to cut through the tension in the room. “I… I thought… I thought you’d… you’d care. I thought you’d be… here. But you weren’t. You ran off. And now you storm in here demanding explanations from me.”

I swallowed, my throat dry and raw, trying to form words. I had meant to tell him calmly that I hadn’t meant to keep the pregnancy from him. But then… then I remembered everything I had overheard. Every cruel, sharp word he had said to Sabrina. Every admission of how he truly felt about me.

He had called me foolish. Naïve. Senseless. A mistake. Me, his wife. And now… now he dared to look at me with that same calm, almost expectant expression as if I had wronged him.

Anger surged through me, a sudden inferno that made my knees straighten, my hands clench into fists and my pulse thunder in my ears.

“You—” I began, my voice shaking at first but gaining strength, sharp and fierce like a whip cracking across the room. “You… after everything I’ve done to fit into your world, you call me foolish? A senseless mistake?” My voice rose with every word, trembling but clear. “I was doing fine in the streets, Benedict. I didn’t have a roof over my head and there were days I lacked food, but I was fine. You tricked me into marrying you, promising me care and love. All those times you acted sweet and gentle and kind, I thought it meant you were finally starting to care about me, that you were finally starting to love me, but it was all a lie!”

Benedict’s eyes widened slightly, the cold edge in them momentarily faltering. He opened his mouth, probably to explain but I wasn’t done. 

“You told Sabrina that I was a mistake. That everything about me was wrong. That I was… nothing to you!” I yelled, my chest heaving, my hands gesturing wildly as if trying to physically throw the words at him. “Do you know what that does to a person? To a stupid, little, hopelessly in love fool who trusted you with everything?”

I pressed my hands to my belly. My eyes burned with tears, my vision swimming with anger, betrayal, and disbelief. “And you think I should just… just sit here and take it? No! I don’t care anymore! You don’t get to decide how I feel or what I… I…” My voice cracked, my lip trembling, “I’m carrying your child! And I will be just fine whether you decide to annul our marriage and run back to your ex or not!”

Benedict stepped closer, his hands raised slightly as if to calm me, but I stepped back sharply. “Don’t come near me! Don’t even try to explain! You’ve done enough!” I was shaking now, my entire body vibrating with fury I couldn’t contain. “Leave. Just… leave!”

His jaw tightened, his dark eyes searching mine as he started to speak again. “Louisa, I—”

“No!” I screamed, my voice echoing off the walls. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. I don’t want to hear anything from you. You’ve had your chance to act like you cared. You’ve shown me exactly who you are. Now, go! Just… go!”

There was a long pause. I could feel the tension in the air crackling like electricity. I didn’t move, and didn’t dare take my eyes off him for a single second. The anger made my chest hurt, my stomach churn, but it also gave me strength, a determination that I hadn’t known I had inside me.

And then I heard a soft, familiar laugh from the hallway. My blood ran cold. I glanced toward the door, and Sabrina was just standing there. Benedict hadn’t seen her, but I saw her. Her expression was a mixture of amusement and satisfaction, just like yesterday at the hospital.

Benedict’s eyes followed mine until they landed on Sabrina and that instant, something inside me snapped even harder. I straightened my shoulders, lifting my chin despite the tears still wetting my cheeks. I spat out, pointing toward the hallway. “Go to who your heart yearns”

Benedict froze, caught between my furious gaze and Sabrina’s presence outside the doorway. He opened his mouth, and I could almost hear the words forming, but I wouldn’t let him.

Benedict took a step forward, his expression tightening, but I pressed my hands to my belly instinctively. “You don’t get to hurt me, anymore, Benedict. Leave.” 

Sabrina’s smile widened in the hallway, as if she were enjoying the chaos, the spectacle of me shaking with fury and heartbreak all at once. I didn’t care. I wanted to scream and shout and make it as clear as I could.

Just when I thought Benedict was about to speak up, Sabrina beat him to it. Her voice was laced with fake concern as she spoke. “It’s okay, Benedict. I will talk to her.”

For the first time, Benedict tore his gaze from me. “No, Sabrina, You need to rest. When did you even get here?”

Sabrina walked up to Benedict and rested her hand on his shoulders. “I couldn’t rest with all that yelling so I had to come see for myself.” She explained, shifting her gaze momentarily to me. “This is all my fault, let me fix this.” Sabrina said in a tone that made me want to puke. How had I not seen past her facade?

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