THE CEO BRIDE - CHAPTER 56&57
★★★★★
{ FIGHTS/MAKE UPS }
Rosetta stood rooted to her place, unable to say a word. She was completely stunned, her whole breathing changing. Her eyes were wide open, her eyelashes not fluttering a bit.
“Valeria” she whispered with a trembling voice, staring at the covered body with nothing but disbelief in her eyes.
Slowly, she took her steps backwards till her body froze momentarily. Then, her tears came trickling down her cheeks. This was a dream… A terrifying one.
The trio stood there in complete shock. This happened out of the blue, who could have ever predicted this?
Marcus’s eyes were already red, showing his pains which he didn’t bother to hide. He had just left her home that morning and he had to be back to meet her dead body?
“Valeria!!!” He finally found his voice. He rushed into the ward when a loud scream was heard.
“No!!!!” A woman rushed to them blindly. Her clothes were messy and her hair disheveled.
“Not my daughter! Not my Grace!!” She screamed like a lunatic. For a brief moment, Marcus couldn’t say a word.
“Daughter?” Romeo asked, consoling the crying Rosetta in his arms.
That moment, a nurse came out of the ward, having a solemn look on her face. Immediately she saw the woman, she shook her head and the woman understood immediately before she slumped to the floor, losing her consciousness.
“Ma’am!!!”
All through these, Marcus wasn’t saying a word. He was just there, trying to bring the pieces in front of him together.
“What’s going on? Can you explain this to us please?” Romeo quickly asked the nurse who was about to walk away. The woman had been taken care of.
“Well, her daughter died,” the nurse sighed and Romeo listened curiously. He was scared, very much scared for his friend.
“She’s just an eighteen year old girl.” Hearing that, Marcus snapped out of his thoughts and turned to the nurse
“What did you say?” He asked hoarsely. Eighteen years old? That means, she’s not his Val, right?
“She got pregnant and took drugs to abort it. She lost her life in the process,” the nurse said and that was when Rosetta stopped her tears.
Eighteen years old? Pregnant? Abortion? All this doesn’t relate to Valeria in any way. Does that mean…?
A sudden joy welled up inside her and a relief sigh escaped her lips. She wasn’t supposed to be feeling this way. Someone died, the least she could do was to feel bad but no! The happiness within her was second to none.
She had thought she was going to lose Valeria, the first friend she ever had. But, there’s a chance that she’s safe, right?
Marcus flung the door open violently and entered in a rush. There, he met the love of his life, sleeping peacefully. There was Oxygen on her nose but the continual beeping of the machine made him relaxed a bit.
“Baby,” his tears fell. This time, a happy and sad one. But, his happiness was larger than his sadness. She is alive! His woman is alive!
“Valeria!!” That was Rosetta’s scream. She left Romeo and rushed to the bed, getting a hold of Valeria’s warm hand.
“Val…” She whispered, sniffing gently. This wasn’t how she pictured their meeting to be. She had pictured Valeria teasing her about the honeymoon, asking if she wore her lingeries she packed for her.
But now, she was on a sick bed, struggling to stay alive. Rosetta shook her head and broke down into tears.
“Wake up, Val. I still need you to tease me, I want to hear you scolding me all the time. You’re the first friend I ever have, please don’t leave me” she cries. Romeo walked to her and held her shoulders, rubbing it soothingly.
“Aren’t you curious to know what happened on my honeymoon. I won’t hide anything from you, just please wake up,” Rosetta continued talking.
But it was as though she was speaking to a wall, because Valeria slept there, not moving a finger.
“Valeria!!!” Rosetta broke down into uncontrollable tears. Romeo immediately raised her up, covering her face with his chest.
“Don’t cry baby, she’ll be fine” he whispered, trying to calm her sad soul down.
After a while, Marcus sat down beside the bed, staring at Valeria’s face silently. Romeo was sitting on a chair by the wall, with Rosetta’s head on his chest. The whole place was an embodiment of silence.
“She’ll be fine, right?” Rosetta’s soft voice rang over the room. Romeo smiled before rubbing her hair.
“Yes, she will. Valeria is a strong girl, this is nothing compared to her strength. I believe her love for Marcus would overcome this” Romeo said.
Hearing that, Marcus smiled but it was cut short when a nurse entered the room. She was the one who directed them to Valeria’s ward.
“I’m sorry for the disturbance but I need to check up on her,” she said. Marcus understood and got to his feet, giving her space to attend to Valeria.
“It’s nothing serious, right? She didn’t lose her memory and anything, right?” Marcus asked slowly, preparing himself for the worst. Even if anything happens to her, he’d never leave her
As long as she’s alive for him, it’s okay.
“She’s fine” the nurse chuckled and then continued.
“She sprained her ankle as a result of the hard fall, but she’ll be fine after some days. She lost a lot of blood but hopefully, the Doctor took care of it” she explained.
“Thank Goodness,” Marcus breathed out. He suddenly felt something warm around his hand and he looked down for confirmation. His woman was awake and she was staring at him!
“Val,,” he mumbled shockingly. He could tell she let out a smile before her eyes narrowed a bit.
“Oh great, she’s awake” the nurse immediately disconnected the oxygen from Valeria’s nose. Valeria let out a breath and smiled faintly.
Rosetta got to her feet and rushed to the bed. Sighting that she was awake, she smiled out tears.
“Don’t cry,” Valeria whispered.
“I’d advise you not to stress yourself. You’re just recovering and you should not try to sit up, it might be dangerous,” she advised. After a few more words, she left the ward.
Marcus sat on the bed and covered her hand with his. For the first time that day, he smiled genuinely.
“I was scared,” he whispered. Valeria only smiled. She was too weak to utter a word.
“You should let her be like the nurse advised, you can exchange words with her later,” Romeo joined them. He glanced at Valeria and smiled in appreciation.
After receiving a call from Diego and Marcus’s persistence, Romeo left the hospital with Rosetta. Marcus was all alone with Valeria.
“I thought I lost you,” his voice was soft and filled with so many emotions. He caressed her hand before placing a light kiss on it.
“Thank you for not leaving me, Il mio mondo{My world}” he whispered. Valeria raised her other hand and touched his cheek, releasing a smile afterwards.
“I love you,” Marcus barely heard her as her voice was so low. He smiled out tears and quickly placed a kiss on her forehead, smiling widely.
“I love you, Val. I love you so much, I love you” he chants, placing his head on her chest lightly. Valeria smiled before caressing his hair as gently as she could.
“Boss!” Diego bowed when Romeo walked into the room. The cool and smiling Romeo was gone, instead this one here had a vile look on his face.
Romeo gazed ruefully as the man whose mouth was covered with a tape, his head was bent so he couldn’t have a view of his face.
“Let me have a look at his face,” Romeo said gruffly. Diego signaled two guards in the room to remove the tape. They did and forcefully raised his head up.
Seeing the man who betrayed him, what Romeo felt at that moment was indescribable. His brows raised as he lost his voice for a short while.
“Ma… Matthew,” he finally muttered. Now, his eyes were filled with disappointment, hurt but mostly… Hatred.
Matthew bent his head in shame, avoiding Romeo’s eyes. He couldn’t even afford staring at Romeo.
“How much did he offer?” Romeo asked coolly. There was silence and that was it, he lost his cool. He charged towards him and gripped his chin, forcing Mathew to stare at him.
“Fûcking speak!!” Romeo growled.
“I’m sorry, sir Romeo! I didn’t mean to! Sir Freudian thr_@tened to ki|| my family if I didn’t bid to his wills,” Mathew blurted out, tears filling his dark brown eyes.
“Freudian?” Romeo chuckled darkly, his eyes glowing ferociously.
“I’m sorry, sir Romeo! Please save me!” Romeo’s attention went back to Matthew who was pleading endlessly.
“Save you?” He grinned, one which didn’t reach his eyes.
“You plan to ruin me! Have you forgotten how I saved you? Your whole family? How did I bring you here to my company and pay you more than the staff? Have you forgotten?” Romeo yelled. This man here was the one whom he has helped a lot.
“If you needed money, you could have told me! I’d have helped you. But instead, you chose to betray me by trying to ruin my own company? My sweats?!” He thundered violently. He knew the hell he passed through just to get to where he was and a bastard planned to ruin it all because of money?
“This act of yours can’t be forgiven. Diego!!” Romeo barked. Diego immediately stood by him.
“Torture him till he’s almost unconscious, then hand him over to the cops. I’ll lay charges on him” with that, Romeo left the room.
“Sir Romeo! I’m sorry, forgive me!” Matthew screamed but it was too late. Diego brought out an iron whip.
“Diego, don’t do this to me, please. Help me plead to the Boss”
“You should have thought about this before thinking of betraying the Boss” with that, the whip landed on Matthew’s thighs and he let out an agonizing scream.
“Finally!” Rosetta smiled when Romeo entered the office. He asked her to wait here and she obeyed with exchanging more words with him.
“How did it go?” She asked but there was no response from him. She frowned when he walked to his table and picked his phone.
“Aren’t you gonna say a word?” She asked, strolling to him.
“Let’s go home, Rose” was the only words Romeo uttered before leaving the room. Rosetta carried the lunch bag and rushed after him.
“They found the spy?” Freudian asked bewildered. It was how many hours and he was discovered?
“Yes, Boss. It was through the help of the wife, she had a copy of the files with her and they caught our spy when he tried looking for it,” one of his men reported.
“That incompetent fool. Let him rot in jail, he was never useful in the first place” Freudian growled. Romeo would be aware that he planned to ruin him and now, he won’t ever back down.
“I’m going to ruin you before you think of doing so,” he clenched his fist. Romeo would never live as long as he’s alive.
And for his wife who ruined his plans, he was surely coming for her. She needs to know her place!
“Take care, Val. I’ll surely visit you tomorrow,” Rosetta smiled before ending the call. Marcus called that evening and told them Valeria has improved greatly. He was right because she and Valeria exchanged a few words.
“Should I get sir Romeo?” Anaya asked, bringing Rosetta out of her thoughts.
“No, I’ll do that myself. Just set the remaining dishes,” Rosetta smiled before walking away, heading to their bedroom.
Rosetta got to the bedroom and met Romeo by the window, staring at the sky. She sighed before walking to him.
“Dinner is ready, Romeo,” she announced. Romeo finally turned and their eyes locked, he looked away after that.
He made to leave the room but she quickly held his hand, staring at him worriedly. He was troubled, she could sense it. There was sadness in his eyes, she didn’t fail to see that
“Aren’t you gonna say anything? You’ve been this way since we left the company. What’s wrong? Who’s the spy working for?” She asked.
“It’s nothing, Rose. I’ll handle this, don’t interfere” Romeo said.
“I knew that’d be your reply!” Rosetta suddenly raised her voice.
“When are you going to learn how to speak up? You love keeping things to yourself even if I ask you countless times?!” She yelled.
“Why? Because I’m uneducated? Because I was once a cleaner and I’m not useful in the business field?”
“Rose, stop it!” Romeo warned. Rosetta moved away from him and yelled at him.
“Don’t tell me to stop it! Why do you love treating me this way? I’m your wife, Romeo! I deserve to know everything going on in your life, but you just love pushing me away!” Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared up at him. Romeo didn’t say anything, he was just staring at her which infuriated the more.
“And yet you aren’t gonna say something?” She chuckled, blinking back her tears.
“Then don’t worry, I won’t even care about you anymore! I won’t give a d@mn!” She screamed. Romeo only turned and left the room without a word.
“Ro…” Rosetta broke down into tears, crying loudly. It hurts to see him struggling alone and not being able to help. She was uneducated but, does he have to rub that off on her face?
Romeo walked through the passageway deep in thought. Rosetta’s words kept ringing in his head. The truth was, he was trying his best not to involve her in his family $h|t. His family life is complicated, he didn’t want to involve her in it.
He’s doing all this just to protect her. He needed no one to tell him Freudian was behind Valeria’s accident. That was to weaken him down of course but it didn’t work.
What if he decides to come for Rosetta? He wouldn’t be there all the time, what if he decides to hurt her?
“She’s your wife, Romeo. Walking away won’t seem to solve the problems” his subconsciousness spoke and he halted on his steps.
“Stay and protect the love of your life with ever fiber in you, don’t make her shed tears because of you,”
Without knowing it, Romeo retraced his steps and walked back to their bedroom. It was empty but he could hear the sound of the shower pouring. Without any rethink, he walked to the bathroom.
He met Rosetta completely naked under the shower. Even though the shower was running,he could hear her loud cries.
That moment, Romeo felt someone hard shoveled into his heart, hurting him badly. Like someone being chased, he went behind her and hugged her to himself.
“Rose,” he whispered and that made Rosetta cry more. Her tears grew louder as her body shook in his arms.
“Let go of me,” Rosetta managed to whisper and got out of his hold. Romeo walked to her front, he held her chin but she avoided his eyes throughout.
“Baby,” he whispered, but she never gave him a glance. Her tears were still pouring and that added to the pain in his heart. He h@??d the fact that he made her cry.
“Vita mia {My life}” he whispered and that was when she finally raised her head to stare at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and he cursed himself.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered and Rosetta cried louder. He pulled her to his chest, rubbing her hair gently.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry,” he whispered, holding her naked body to himself.
Rosetta wrapped her hands around him, feeling his muscles. She buried her face in his chest, crying her eyes out.
“I want to help you in any way I can, Romeo. Don’t push me away please”
The moment she uttered that word, Romeo felt something that he hasn’t felt in so many years, not even towards Helena.
“I LOVE YOU”
TBC