Chapter 34: I’ll Make It Right

She hated this house. It felt gloomy, it gave her back these horrible memories, that honestly, she would have done very fine without. But it did shine some light on what Jayden had told her.

"If he hurts me again…" did this mean this was the only occasion that he showed her this level of disrespect, or had it happened countless times before? She wiped away her tears and slowly sat up. Her head was feeling much better. Maybe she could go downstairs and grab herself a drink.

She dragged herself out of bed and was grateful to find fuzzy slippers by the side of the bed. She slowly slipped them on and trudged downstairs—that flashback had of her shopping in wherever….was that also another scenario where Maddie was cheating? She tried to think harder and hoped she could remember something. She came up nil. She grabbed some yogurt from the fridge and went back to her room.

She got back into bed with the yogurt and phone in hand. She had to think logically, and technically, this was a marriage of convenience, did she really have any right to be so mad? She sighed out loud. She guesses it didn't. She gulped down her yogurt and placed the cup on her floor.

No, no, regardless. Couldn't he have tried and been discreet with the affairs? This was all so fucking confusing and annoying. She got out of bed, intending to pace and kicked the cup she'd previously placed on the floor sending all the remaining pouring all over the floor and some on the rug. "Fuck!' She shouted, frustrated.

A knock sounded on the door. "What?!" She shouted somewhat rudely.

The door opened, and Maddie stepped in. Great, just who she wanted to see. She mentally rolled her eyes. He was followed by a short elderly man in a clean-cut suit. He looked pretty good.

"Jiaye, this is Dr. Raul."

"I'm fine. I don't need a doctor."

She realized she was rude, but the ship had already sailed.

The doctor suddenly smiled, which even made her guiltier.

"Your husband has already briefed me of your…condition, how are you feeling?" he asked in a friendly voice.

"Much better now."

"Can you tell me how you felt before you lost consciousness?"

"My head started pounding really badly. Then I saw a black." She nonchalantly said as she went over and sat on the sofa.

"Did you remember anything-"

"I basically relieved everything that happened in this house while I was her. I'm fine, doc." She said, quickly cutting him off as she stood up to pace again. She noticed Maddie was tensing from the corner of her eye.

"Well, I'm going to prescribe you some painkillers that you should take, only if you have to. And I'll have to warn you. Places where there was a lot of," he fumbled around for a suitable word, "memories, especially those with strong emotions involved, this might happen again. The memories might come all at once, or little by little. Just be prepared mentally for, well, pretty much anything."

He looked between Maddie and her, probably sensing the tense air between them.

"Any other questions or concerns?" he asked, looking at them one after another. "No," She muttered under her breath. Maddie simply shook his head.

"Okay, then." He dug out a notepad and pen from his briefcase, which she just noticed he had been carrying all along, scribbled something on it, tore off the paper then handed it to Maddie.

He nodded and walked out, leaving Maddie and her alone. An awkward silence settled in the room before Maddie decided to break it.

"Can we talk? Please." His voice came out a bit strained. Jiaye nodded slowly, managing to stand still.

"What exactly do you remember?" he decided to kick it off with that.

"Most of it." She fidgeted a bit with her hands.

He ran his hand through his hair and motioned to the love seat by the window. She went and sat down as he followed her close behind.

"look, I know our marriages didn't have the best start. You were practically forced on me," He said distastefully. She clenched her fists, trying to act like that didn't sting.

"I had no intention of settling down. I didn't really look forward to this…life after seeing how my parents were." He paused a bit then looked at her. Her hands were now clenched tight together. She was trying to reign in her emotions. She gazed into his eyes, and so many emotions were running wild.

"When you left, I almost went nuts." He tightened his fist, "then I tracked you and found you in Jayden Payne's house-" he took a deep breath in. "I'm not going to proclaim my undying love for you yet. But I am very fond of you. All this time made me realize, my life wouldn't be the same without you. I don't want to lose you, Jiaye." He muttered softly and caressed her cheek. "Give me one more chance. Please, allow me to fix this relationship. I will make things right."

NO! no. Stop! Don't do this! Her conscience was screaming. She bit her lip, trying to stop the onslaught of words.

"I'm scared." She suddenly blurted out. No! what are you doing? "I don't know if I can trust you again." This was all just pouring out. She couldn't stop herself. She couldn't hold it in "I don't think my heart is ready for that pain again, Maddie. I really really…I really want to believe you. But I just can't allow myself to open up my heart to you again." Her tears were just openly pouring at that point.

Maddie took her into his arms and drew soothing circles on her back. Jiaye was full-on sobbing on him. She held him tighter, wanting so bad to punch him, but she couldn't bring herself to hit him. Minutes later, the worst of it had passed. Her emotions were still a bit raw from all the crying. She just wanted to sleep. Then when she finally awoke, maybe all this would be torn out to be a dream. She wistfully sighed as she snuggled closer to Maddie and shut her eyes. He shifted a bit to make sure they were both comfortable and continued rubbing her back. And just like that, she dozed off.

"I promise to make this right. I'm sorry, honey," He whispered.