CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

I woke with pain, and the limbs of my body were hurting. I was gasping for air and was trying to calm myself down. Yet nothing worked, and my ears were ringing loudly.

Then suddenly, everything ceased around me as a hand touches mine. A familiar soft voice slows my heartbeats. "You are alright, Ellie. I am right here."

Fluttering my eyes, open I see Leo sitting beside me. I looked around and, see brightness around me instead of the dungeon's red light. We were inside my room. I tried to get up, but Leo stopped me.

"Doctor said that you have to rest," her face was stoic, and her voice was stern.

Slowly everything from before rushes back to me. Arcadio! I immediately put my hand around my neck. There was no pain there, but the image of him holding my neck was fresh than ever.

His murderous glare looking down on me gives me shivers down my spine. Maybe I shouldn't have talked about his father but finding him amid all those women did a number at me. I lost myself as well. Finally, I thought that maybe even if our marriage was a sham, there could still be a reason to have a fresh start.

It was my fault. Trusting a guy like Arcadio who never once in life became committed with any woman, yet I was envisioning him to be with me. I was so involved in the thought of changing him that I lost a part of me as well. I became blind to the fact that he had always been a Casanova, a womanizer.

His betrayal hurt me the most because I never expected him to leave the mafia. I had only one expectation from him, for him to be loyal. Yet that was the hardest for him, I guess.

Sighing, I close my eyes only to meet with a flashback of Arcadio and me standing in my room. Him being angry at me for even thinking that he could cheat on me. However, he forgot about the irony of his words while choking me.

My heart feels heavy, and the urge to cry rises once again. Pinching myself, I try to hold it back. I was not going to waste my tears on a man like him. It was my fault for staying in the dreamland rather than waking up to reality. Everything was black and white in front of me, yet I was trying to see grey.

Moments like these make me question myself. They were making me doubt my worthwhile all my insecurities were screaming from the background. I have the worst habit of trusting anyone who talks sweetly with me, even for two minutes. My only problem is that I forgive the person so casually when they say two nice words. Also, I forget the pain that they have caused me. Things like these make me realize how foolish I am. These are all my doings, and it is my punishment.

My heart beats get faster, and it gets hard for me to breathe. The voices in my head become too louder, and I want to get rid of every memory that I had with him. The memory of all those nights started playing in my mind when his hand roamed around my body. His eyes were looking at me, and his scent stuck in my brain. His smile gave me butterflies in my stomach. Everything about Arcadio made me feel disgusted with myself. I was the one, who even after knowing it all, gave him a chance to break me.

"Ellie!" I shake my head and look up to see Leo.

"Huh?"

"What, huh? I was calling you for so long. Where did you go?" She appears to be worried.

Even though I wanted to shout all my problems to Leo, I couldn't. I wasn't able to form the words to tell her what was my thoughts. So, I gave the simple reply that was now so easy to say, "nothing."

I knew that if I did tell her the truth, she would get angry with her brother and that I didn't want to. Honestly, I should've seen it coming. Arcadio was already distant from his brothers. It was a miracle that Leo loved him and saw past his rough exterior. I don't want to say something to ruin that. I was the one who created this mess, and I will be the one who will fix it.

Taking a deep breath, I again tried to get up. Only this time, the physical pain seemed so little than the emotional rift going on inside me. Ignoring Leo's shouts and orders, I get up from the bed.

Just as I got up, all the blood rushes to my head, making me feel dizzy. Leo says while helping me sit back on the bed, "I told you not to get up till you have to act like a kid!"

"Leave me, Leo. Let me go. I can take care of myself," I tried to remove her hold from my arm, but she only tightens it.

"Don't even think about going anywhere. The doctor has given strict orders to keep you in bed. So, either you can lay down on your own, or I will call someone to make you."

I frown at her after laying down on the bed, "who are you going to call?" I continued, "pfft, there is no one here who cares for me apart from you, Leo. So, can we stop pretending?"

She instantly freezes at her spot, "what? Why do you say it like that?"

I don't know if it was the medicines or my subconscious replying to her, but the words came out of my mouth, "You know this yourself that your brother-"

We get interrupted. Both of us look at the intruder, whose none other than the person I want to run away from, Arcadio, dressed formally better than before. The open black shirt changed into a crisp white shirt.

Leo doesn't acknowledge him, but her eyes are still on me, inquiring to complete the sentence. At that moment, I could ruin the most precious thing Arcadio has, and that is his only family, but I am not him.

"My brother, what?"

Glaring at Arcadio, I turn back to Leo, "nothing."

"No, don't give me that bullshit. Tell me!" She imposes.

"Let her rest, Leona. The doctor gave strict orders." His voice echoes in the whole room.

She rolls her eyes at him, "don't remind me what the doctor said. I was there when he told us. What are you doing here anyway? I thought I told you to stay away."

It is why Leo was my best friend. She could snap at anyone she wanted to. I wish I could be this strong to tell people to keep their shit away from me.

"You do know that I have every right, actually more than you do being in this room. It is my room, and that is my wife. You are the outsider. I suggest you leave."

Leo gives out a sarcastic laugh, "oh please. If you have such a right, then where were you when your wife fainted because of stress?"

Hey, I know the answer to this question! He was the one giving me that stress and had his hand wrapped around my neck, choking me to death. And that ladies, gentlemen is my husband of the year!

"Don't even think about it," his eyes are stuck on me. He replies as if he could listen to my thoughts.

"I am talking to you. You promised me that you wouldn't let anything bad happen to Ellie. Now see where we are. Is this how you fulfill your promises?"

"No, and I already apologized for it. So, would you mind going out because I want to talk to my wife alone?"

"No!" Thank you, Leo.

"Fine, I did not want to do this, but you've left me no choice. Savino!" He announces.

Hearing his name Savino enters the room wearing a grey suit. I have never seen him in something so formal before.

"Yes?" Even though he replies to Arcadio, his eyes are on Leo and me.

"Take my sweet little sister out of the room," he orders Savino, who doesn't need to be said twice. He moves closer to Leo and drags her out of the room while she keeps on screaming curses.