Chapter Thirty-three

Alexander's POV

My eyes wander to look out at the glass window—seeing the city of Singapore. I can't really focus on the meeting right now, just by hearing him talk somehow bores me. Staying here for a few more days might as well kill me. I've never felt this troublesome before whenever I have business matters to attend.

I look down at my wedding band, feeling the material. Taking it off of my finger as I turn it around to see the contents inside. My lips curve up into a small smile as I see Athena's name written inside. I don't know what has gotten into me when I did this but I never really regret it.

''Mr. Herrera.'' I hear someone calling out my name as I keep on eyeing the ring. ''Mr. Herrera?'' Furrowing my eyebrows as I look up to see almost everyone looking at me. Clearing my throat as I sit up straight and slide the wedding band quickly into my ring finger, ''Everything alright?'' He asks once more.

''Yeah, everything's fine.'' I reply, glancing toward his personal assistant who has been gazing my way since the meeting started. She smiles at me and I quickly look away, trying to loose her attention but she doesn't seem to stop.

They all look forward, focusing on the latest rate up front. Sighing, I look straight but my mind can't seem to remove Athena away. She keeps on appearing. Her smile, her laughter, her glare, her stare, everything comes in a package that haunts me every time we're separated.

I didn't really want to leave her at the airport but this project is huge and I wouldn't want to lose it. I don't know how someone so plain, shy and beautiful manage to catch my attention. Just by seeing her drinking at the bar on the first time meeting her, she's really beautiful. Her dark brown hair falls softly down her shoulders—not to mention that they smell wonderful too.

''I think we should raise it by four.'' One of men says, catching my attention.

I raise an eyebrow as I look ahead of me, seeing them talking about the management. As I try lean forward, the two doors open, making me turn my head to look. Some of the men keep on arguing as they talk about how the percentage matters. My personal assistant, Jasper appears and I look down to see him holding my phone. He has a worried look written on his face.

Sitting up straight immediately as he hurries himself toward me, ''Alex, I think this call is really important. It has been ringing for the past five minutes.'' He says, quietly—enough for me to hear. Jasper and I are like friends, we don't use formalities. He's a great personal assistant and he's a great friend all in one.

I take my phone away from him and quickly put it on my ear, ''Hello?'' I say and I hear noises from the other line. I furrow my eyebrows before looking back at the caller ID seeing that it is indeed Liam. ''What's going on?'' I ask before clenching my jaw.

''Alex, I'm so sorry man.'' He says, his voice sounds like he has been running for the past hour. My heartbeat raises when I hear him breath hard. What does he mean by he's sorry? ''Athena's on the way to the hospital right now.''

Looking up, I see that the two men are still arguing as I lower my head, not quite satisfied with the joke that Liam is putting on. ''What are you talking about? This isn't funny, stop playing around, Liam. I'm busy right now and if you don't have anything important to say, I'm hanging up.'' Before I could even move the phone away from my ear, he mutter curses under his breath, catching my attention.

''Fuck, Alex, I'm not fucking kidding. You need to fucking listen and fucking understand that I'm not making a fucking joke. She's in the hospital. Someone, I don't know who, broke into the house and he was already choking her when I arrived—'' The next seems like a blur as I carelessly run my hand through my hair.

''Who?'' I feel myself wanting to rip someone's throat out.

''What?'' He asks, sounding out of breath.

''I asked you, who?''

Liam stays quiet for awhile, just hearing to the sound of him breathing, ''I don't know man.'' Then I quickly hang up the call before standing up, catching everyone's attention. I press hard onto the phone as I just make my way out—not even saying a word. I hear them calling out my name as I hear Jasper explaining something.

Without wasting any time, I press the elevator—trying my best not to punch the wall but I fail once I realise that it's taking forever for the elevator to arrive at my floor. Glancing over the stairs, I can't really take them. I'm high up. People are looking at me and as I look at my hand, I see small cuts, ''Fuck it.'' I breathe out.

Opening the surveillance camera app on my phone—it has been installed when I installed every surveillance camera in the house except my bedroom and the bathrooms. Pressing the reverse button before stopping at the exact timing. My grip on the phone tighten as I see Athena walking out of the room while holding her phone. I keep on looking as I change the view to the living room and see that she's looking around, suspiciously.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion as I see someone walking on the other side and Athena quickly hide behind the sofa. I see her looking around before moving backwards and her back hitting the nearest coffee table. In an instant, the stranger walks toward her. She keeps on moving backwards, away but little did she know that she's actually moving toward him.

I clench my jaw once I see her looking up at him. Her eyes wide as she open her mouth—probably letting out screams. The stranger grabs around her waist before pulling her roughly until they both hit the wall. I feel anger raising every second as I continue to watch. As he covers her mouth with his hand, she kicks out screaming for help.

He only let go of her mouth for a slight second before grabbing even harder on her waist. He starts to pull her—more like sliding her up the stairs. I bite hard onto my lower lip as I clench my hand into fists, fuck I need to punch someone. I change the view so that I could see what happened upstairs and I see Athena pushing his face away causing him to throw her against the wall before slapping her hard.

I turn around punching the elevator doors as I feel my eyes blur with tears. What the hell, am I crying? I breathe hard, trying my best to control my anger—without catching anybody's attention. I look up to see Jasper looking at me in shock, he quickly walk toward me but I glare at him—making him stop.

My eyes look back down to the screen to see her backing away from him. She shakes her hand, somehow asking him to stay away from her. I couldn't get my eyes away from her—knowing that she was hurting.

The look on her face was breaking me apart. How tears fall from her eyes as she tries to force him away. My hands are shaking as I keep on watching. I don't even have the strength to turn the volume up because I know that would only make me mad. A tear slip from my eyes as I see him grip onto her neck before slamming her against the wall—hard.

When the hood of his sweatshirt falls, I somehow stop breathing. Jeremy. Seeing the familiar face looking at her, hurting her, torturing her. My hands tighten around my phone, as if I could just crush the phone if I hold onto any tighter. All I can see is that he keeps on gripping harder around her neck, not even letting her breathe.

I couldn't hold back as I fast forward the footage, seeing that they are now inside the game room. Jeremy grabs her onto her waist as he pushes her against the wall before pushing her down on the ground and kicking her on the stomach. My eyes rage in fire as I see him did that. I roughly run my fingers through my hair as the elevator doors open.

Pushing a few people, I quickly walk inside—receiving glances from people. Jasper runs quickly and he manage to slip in before the doors could close. I roughly press the G button as I continue to watch the footage. When Athena stands up and tries to make for a run, he pulls her by the hair—making her stumble back.

I couldn't help it as I quickly press onto the volume, hard.

''You shouldn't have done that, Athena. You shouldn't have left me. After all those years, you can just leave? Do you think it was acceptable?! It's fucking not!'' He slaps her face hard and I can see that she's holding back her tears—preventing herself from crying. ''I'm the one for you. I'm always here for you.'' He grabs her chin, ''Baby, can't you see that?''

''You're crazy.'' She mutters but he only slap her more but she just look at him with full of hate. Somehow I can see her feeling hopeless. I press my palm onto the sides, preventing myself from falling as I feel my legs weaken. Jasper walk toward me, holding my arm.

''You okay?'' He asks.

I nod and he moves away, not even invading my privacy.

''I'm crazy, yeah I'm crazy.'' Jeremy starts laughing as he presses her down on the ground, hovering on top of her, ''I'm crazy because you made me crazy! You made me this way. You made me want you. You made me crave for your present.''

He roughly push her until her body slams into the nearest coffee table—shattering the glass. I wanted to break everything around me but I hold back by holding my breath. I see her try to sit up straight but he pushes her back down by the neck, ''If I can't have you...'' He whispers into her ear, ''No one can.''

Then he turns her around, slapping her across the face before gripping into her neck once more—choking her. My eyes widen as I see her try to scream which ends up being coughs. He grips harder before pushing her head up and down. I hear the banging as I look away and breathe in and out. Tears are covering my vision.

''If I can't have you. No one can,'' He repeats.

He keeps on slamming her head harder onto the ground, ''No one can.'' He says once more before forcefully choke her. Wiping the tears away, I see her hands falling down to the ground as she closes her eyes—seeing her somehow dying...

When the elevator doors open with a sound, I throw my phone on the ground—cracking into a million pieces. People look at me with wide eyes as they back away from the door. Jasper holds me back before I can do anything stupid but I punch the walls—breathing hard.

There isn't anything I can do as I fall onto the ground on my knees—receiving everyone's attention. I see my bodyguard running toward me as he looks down at me, not even doing anything but blocking people away. I cover my face with my hands before roughly pulling my hair. I'm crying endless tears—not even bothering to realise that I'm making myself look weak.

What he did to her was worst!

''Alex...'' Jasper whispers before pulling me by the arm, ''We need to go.'' And I nod my head. We walk ahead until I catch a glimpse of our car near the entrance. He opens the door for me before lightly shove me in. He then goes ahead to enter the passenger seat as my bodyguard enters the driver's seat.

Looking down at my wedding band, I can't help but feel hurt. Clenching my jaw as hard as I can before roughly hitting my elbow against the seat, ''Fuck, stop the car.'' I say under my breath. Jasper turns around, ''Stop the car!'' I say louder and the car comes into a halt.

Slamming the door before seeing the park coming into view. I hear Jasper following behind me but I don't care as I fall down on my knees and look down at the grass. I can't seem to remove the images that kept on appearing. Her being shoved against the wall, being choked, being in harm. This time, I don't punch the freaking grass or even scream to let out my anger.

I cry. I let tears fall and cover my vision. I want to hurt something, someone but I hold it back.

As I push against the hospital door, I see her looking at Liam and Liam doing exactly the same. My eyes wander to see her holding back his hand. Clenching my jaw, I see her look up at me as they both quickly let go. Liam stands up, ''I'll leave you two alone.''

Liam looks up at me as he walk toward me before slowly walking beside me—but not until he pat me on the back. I clench my jaw once more before pulling him by the arm, ''Thanks, man.'' I mutter—can't really find my voice from all the crying. His eyes widen once he sees my eyes are slightly red but he nods before walking away.

I close the door behind me. My eyes look down from her legs up to her face. Seeing her cheeks has a few cuts somehow wanting me to keep on punching the damn wall but I hold back and hide my injured hand behind me—away from her view. She doesn't have to see those cuts.

Sitting down at the chair, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. Her pale complexion—she has never looked so pale before. Her chapped lips and her slightly swollen eyes and swollen cheeks, she look like she was beaten up pretty bad.

I lean forward, sighing before rubbing my temples and looking down. I feel the tears appearing again but I close my eyes and try my best to control my breaths. Opening them, I see a few drops fall on the ground. My shoulders drop when I feel her soft hand touches the back of my neck—massaging my stress away.

Lifting my head up, I see her looking directly into my eyes, ''I can't pretend that it didn't happen, Athena.'' I say, my voice low and she furrow her eyebrows as I see her skin somehow getting cold, ''What happened last time in Rome was bad enough but what happened to you right now is the worst.''

She stops looking around until her eyes meet mine. Oh how I've missed those light brown eyes. They have always been my favourite part. She has always been my favourite. ''You know what I'm going to do to him and you're not going to stop me.'' I add. She looks closely and I can't help but notice her lips are bleeding, ''He may be with the police but I can't let that be it.'' I continue.

When I see her reaching out for my hand, I quickly stand up—walking toward the window and I hear her sigh softly. I turn around, half facing her, ''You don't know what it feels like to watch him do that to you.'' I say and she furrows her eyebrows in confusion, not even getting a word.

''What do you mean?'' She asks me, softly.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling the anger coming back in once. Biting my lower lip, I sigh once more. I can't stand it by looking at her face. I really want to see that fuck face and beat him up for good but I can't easily do that now.

''Alex, I'm fine. Besides, just like you said, he's with the police. There's nothing that he can do to hurt me anymore. He's—''

I run my fingers through my hair as I cut her off. I don't like hearing her defending him. He hurt her and how can she even think on not letting me do anything? I can't just stay back. ''You don't fucking get it, do you?'' I say, a bit too rough, ''He could have killed you. He could have killed you and I'm not fucking there for you. What if Liam wasn't there to safe you? Then what would have happened? Me seeing you dead as soon as I get back here? That is a possibility. That could've happened.''

''Well, I'm here. I'm not dead.'' She mutters under her breath, stubbornly.

God, sometimes I just want to say it to her face because she annoys me somehow, ''I'm worried about you!'' I hear my voice raising as I continue to look at her. I need to control myself before I spoil it in front of her, ''Why can't you see that? If anything happens to you, I'll be the one paying the price. It isn't just that, I'll—'' I stop, preventing myself from saying the next word.

We both keep quiet, not uttering a single word, just enjoying the silence. I use the silence as my time to calm myself. I need to calm down, that's the only way. Calming down.

''Surprise!'' I hear a familiar voice say but I cross my arms and just face the window, not bothered to turn around. Closing my eyes, I watch the view of the city—which doesn't help me from breaking the window. I know I won't be satisfied, not until I get to hurt him.

''Bad timing, bad timing.'' I hear Sarah mutter once more, including noises of balloons colliding. Then the sound of her closing the door.

Shoving both of my hands in my slacks' pocket, I turn around, not even glancing toward her direction, ''I need some air.'' And I pull the door, walking out of the room. When I turn my head, I see Jon and Sarah talking about something as they hold the balloons. As soon as they see me, they both stop talking.

Jon looks down at Sarah before looking back at me, ''Alex.'' He calls out but I roll my eyes before walking away toward the exit. I don't have the mood to face people and I surely don't have the mood to talk to anyone. Everything just pisses me off, right now so it's better if I stay all by myself for awhile until I'm fully calm.

After for what felt like hours, I walk down the empty hospital hallway. It's already nine in the evening. It's even darker outside due to the rain. I couldn't go home because I might end up breaking everything, just remembering everything that has to do with Jeremy.

I have changed into a sweatshirt and jeans. Even asked Jasper to bring my car so that it would be easier for me in the morning. Pushing the door to her room slowly, I see that it is already dark inside. My eyes wander to see balloons saying;

'Get well soon!'

'We miss you!'

'Hugs and kisses.'

Closing the door behind me, I walk ahead to a sleeping Athena. She have both of her eyes closed as they face this side but she's fully laying on her back. I sit on the chair, watching her sleep. When she sleeps, she looks so calm. So calm that it breaks me.

I lean back on the chair before closing my eyes—putting one of my hand beside her body, not touching her a bit. It didn't take me long to fall asleep because I know I'll be here if anything happens to her. I'm not letting it happen again. She doesn't need to go through all this pain.

The sound of the thunder somehow wakes me up but I keep my eyes closed, not even bothered to move or change my position. I hear her moving beside me before staying completely still. Within seconds, she moves her hand away from me, slowly.

Opening my eyes, I see that she have both of her eyes closed once more. Leaning in closer toward her, I lightly brush my thumb on her soft cheek, feeling her warmth radiating. My lips end up meeting her forehead for a short second before slowly pulling back but not even bothering to move my face—which is right now just inches apart from hers.

Just then, she open her eyes. I watch as she continues to watch me. Couldn't help but mesmerise her beauty even in the dark—she never fail to impress me. I trail kisses on the bridge of her nose and down her chin, purposely meeting her lower lip. She keeps on watching me when I lean back, removing her hair away from her face.

I don't know what has gotten into me but I press my lips into hers. She doesn't move and neither do I. I miss the touch of her lips and I can't help but feel them again. Leaving my lips for a few seconds before pulling away.

As soon as I move back, I see that she still have her eyes shut. My lips curve up into a small smile before entwining our fingers and using my other hand to run my thumb against her cheek, loving the feeling of her skin.