Chapter 155 All The Time
"What..." Liyah whispered, her voice trembling, "What did you do to him?"
"I don't know." Arabella shook her head, her own composure fraying.
She had expected a reaction, but the fury radiating from William was a beast she didn't recognize. William never breaks.
Arabella turned to follow him. "I’m going to find out."
"He won’t tell you," Liyah spat, folding her arms. The malice was back in her eyes, "William doesn't share pain. He buries it. Of all people, you should know that."
Arabella felt a sting but she knew she must handle it calmly. This was the position she aimed to achieve after all.
“If he won’t share with me then with whom?” She smirked, wiping Liyah's amusement while flipping her hair gracefully.
“I can’t leave him like this, Liyah. I am not heartless like you.”
Liyah's jaw clenched, disliking her comment, she was about to yell at Arabella.
“How dare you-” But, she pointed her finger warningly at Liyah with a threatening look, enough to seal her mouth.
“Don’t you dare to cause a scene right now, Woman. My husband is already stressed.”
Liyah's mouth abruptly closed up, taking a step back in fear, not daring to release another word as Arabella went after her husband.
Inside the room, William paced around furiously. His tie loosened, brain impotent to function properly. In fact, it took a prolonged time to process Luke’s words too.
His world was spinning.
Nine years. The number beat against his skull.
He heard the soft click of the door. He didn't need to look up to know it was her. Only Arabella had the audacity to follow a predator into its den while it was still snarling.
"Get out,"
He spun around, his palm slamming onto the desk with a deafening crack, "Or do you just enjoy watching me lose my mind?"
Arabella didn't flinch. She walked toward him, her footsteps silent on the rug.
"Is this…” She reached out, placing a hand on his trembling shoulder. She leaned in, her voice a seductive, lethal whisper against his ear.
“... Soul-shaking for you, William?"
A deadly shiver went down his spine, he instantly turned, eyes widened with pure horror.
“Was it… a lie?” He swallowed hard, “To get a reaction out of me?”
“No.” She shook her head softly, resting her head against his shoulder. William glanced at her, the borderline of patience fading between the cracks.
"Luke… laughed.” He breathed out shakily, pulling away roughly with a disappointed gaze, overflowing with agony that caused his lip to tremble.
“...I went to him in mourning.. I went to him begging for a way to save your life… and he… he…”
Punching the table desperately, William yelled wretchedly, the resonance echoing in the room, “He laughed in my face!"
Arabella flinched, stepping back when a tear pricked in the corner.
"He told me you have been carrying this for nine years.” He clutched his heart which at this point, felt hollow, as if his years of worship were… meaningless.
“I, the man who created your presence spiritually failed to notice. I, who was dangerously obsessed with you, didn't know about this. I, your husband, was the only one kept in the dark!"
A miserable sobbing escaped his lips. Tears stealing his ability to see. The walls of the world he built selfishly began to crumble.
“... Nine Years. It’s a very long time, Bella.” William found himself defeated in an irrecoverable way that caused his knees to buckle and fall on the nearby couch.
Tears filled Arabella too, she couldn’t witness tears in his eyes and held her hand out, “Willi-”
“I was there too. What did he see that I failed to see? Is that why you got into a relationship with him?” He whimpered.
Arabella shook her head in denial, bent to her knees between his legs, trying to hold his face for comfort.
“Did he see what I failed to see?”
But, he grabbed her wrist roughly with his freezing and violently shaky hands, breaking into a painful cry, “Did he reach your heart before me? Was I invisible despite being everywhere?”
Lowering his head in utter defeat, William’s forehead rested on her shoulder, releasing the agonizing wails. Hesitantly, his hand held her arms, refusing to let go with a helpless feeling.
“I fucked up. Didn’t I, Bella?” He cried, failing to look into her eyes, afraid to confirm.
Arabella shut her eyes. She hadn’t realized her one jest would result in such devastation, she failed to fathom how ferociously it shook his core.
“I fucked up. Not you. It was a mistake.” She whispered, hands wrapped around his neck firmly, snuggling to soothe the resonance of his hefty cries that were suffocating her.
"I am terrified, Arabella," he confessed, sniffling to pull back a little, to stare at her with endless guilt.
"I look at you and I see a clock ticking. I see nine years I wasted not knowing you.”
“No. That’s not it. Trust me.”
“Just, just tell if you are going to die-”
“This won’t take my life, it’s not ‘that’ weak.” Holding his face firmly in her hands, her eyes locked sternly. A tear simultaneously rolled down.
Reflecting with the distances created by their own faults. Unknowingly, they both lost each other by their mindless actions.
“But, I will carry it till the end of my breaths, and I will cherish each second of it, even if it hurts,” She whispered breathlessly, wiping his tears, forcing him to maintain the eye-link.
Though they both were trembling, on the edge of being shattered. But, for the sake of comforting each other, they took a deep breath.
“That’s why. We have all the time in the world. Take your time and relax. Okay?” Arabella convinced him, kissing his forehead before resting her head on his lap, refusing to let him go.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, “All the time, right?”
“Uh-huh.” She smiled, remaining between his legs for the time being, submerging in his aura to find her comfort there.
“Okay… Okay….” He nodded, letting out deep breaths to relax himself and no longer panic. The fact it won’t take her life reduced a sting.
“Now, stop panicking. This doesn’t suit my man.”
She tried to lift the heaviness. He smiled faintly, brushing his knuckles on the side of her face, caressing her with extreme care. His eyes locked, filling his soul with content.
“For a second…” He gulped, “For a second I thought about dying along with you.”
“Don’t you dare. ” She warned, slapping his knee playfully, “Don’t you dare to talk about leaving when we haven’t taken two steps together.”
“As you wish, Madam,”
Deep down, he was willing to fight with fate itself to grasp a life with her. He had bargained all of him to make her his after all. Separation was no longer an action.