Chapter 10 THE RESULT

FELICIA's P O V

After lunch, we got back into Marcus' car, and as soon as we did, I heard his phone ringing inside the pocket of his jeans. He paid it no attention and continued assisting me in fastening my seatbelt before moving on to buckling his own.

‘‘Aren’t going to answer that?’’ I inquired while pointing to his pocket, because it continued to make that grating noise that was annoying me despite the fact that it was hidden.

He heaved a sigh before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone, at which point he answered the call in a loud speaker.

‘‘Yes…?’’ he answered, throwing the phone on the dashboard before he inserted the key into the ignition and started the vehicle.

‘‘I've sent you the result of your wife's CT scan, Mr. Blakely...,’’ the reassuring voice of Dr. Joe echoed inside the car, and when I heard what he had to say, my eyes widened in excitement and distress at the same time.

I didn't waste any time and grabbed the phone at the dashboard. I ended the call without even thinking about it, and then I scrolled through Marcus' phone with my fingers were shaking.

‘‘Where is it?’’ I asked, my heart was racing so fast that it felt like it was going to burst. Due to the fact that I was still learning how to operate this new model of phone, I had no idea which icon to tap to open the file.

Marcus snatched the phone away from me and gave me a knowing look while shaking his head. He scrolled through the phone with his thumb, and when he found what I was looking for, he handed me back his phone.

I narrowed my eyes as I started reading the result.

Impression: Normal MRI brain.

Parenchymal Atrophy: None.

Callosal Atrophy: None.

Overall Disease Burden: None.

Other Findings: None.

Overall Result: Normal.

‘‘What?! I can’t believe it!’’ I yelled as I threw the phone back on the dashboard while simultaneously doing so. ‘‘How is it that everything is normal about me? I have already informed that physician that I am unable to recall anything!’’

‘‘But you've already had a test, and the results show that everything is fine...’’ He didn't say anything else but shrugged his shoulders and quickly got behind the wheel, turning the wheel to the right. The car came to a complete and orderly stop just in front of the flashing red light.

‘‘I'd like to get a second opinion on this...’’ I declared while maintaining a poker face and leaning back in my seat.

‘‘But Dr. Joe is already the best Neurologist in the country! We should make an appointment with a psychiatrist this time, and I will make the necessary arrangements for you...’’

My mouth hanged open as I whipped my head to look at him. ‘‘What do you think of me? I’m not crazy, Marcus! Why would I want a psychiatrist to check on me! I am not going to allow you to treat me like this under any circumstances! No fucking way I’m going to be checked in a mental hospital!’’

He groaned heavily and said, ‘‘Mental hospital…? Who said you’re going to a mental hospital?’’ Despite the deepening of the line on his forehead, he is still as gorgeous as he has always been. Oh my god, what am I even thinking?! ‘‘Listen here, Felicia… I'm dead serious about this. Look at yourself, you think you're still a high school girl who can't get used to modern society, and because of that, I'm taking it as my obligation to assist you get back to normal!’’

‘‘Then let's get divorce!’’ I responded. ‘‘Let's move forward with the divorce, Marcus, if you want me to get back to normal…’’

The next thing I knew, Marcus had his foot down on the gas pedal, and the abrupt acceleration had me pinned against the back of my seat. After navigating a number of sharp turns, he pulled over to the shoulder of the road and came to an abrupt halt with his car.

At this moment, my heart was beating at an Olympic speed. It seemed as though he was daring me to reiterate what I had just said as he turned to stare at me square in the face. His eyes looked at me in a way that both examining and challenging me. My arrogance and self-assurance vanished in an instant when I met his menacing look piercing right through me.

In the very small space of the car, I could feel his warmth and smell his musk cologne. The fact that he’s in such close proximity to me caused me to swallow hard since it brought to memory the events of the previous evening. I was startled when he leaned over and came so close to closing the gap between us that I had to pull back.

But he didn't do the thing that was running through my head; instead, he spoke slowly, his voice was so deep and magnetic that I almost felt myself leaning closer to him, but then I reminded myself to stop.

‘‘A few days ago, you gave me a divorce agreement...’’ he began. ‘‘You would prefer to give up all the fortune, but you insist on keeping our son with you. However, I didn’t sign it…’’

‘‘Why?’’ It piqued my interest to find out the reason. If this marriage is really a contractual arrangement, then why did he not sign the divorce papers?

I noticed him hesitate for a moment, during which he avoided meeting my gaze. After that, he let out a long sigh before he spoke. ‘‘Because your father is now in business competition with his half-brother, and I think… it’s not good for your father’s business to finalize our divorce at this time…’’

‘‘W-what do you mean?’’

‘‘The reputation that your father had built up over the years was being chipped at by Cleto Harmon, your uncle…’’ he stated. ‘‘You should know that he has the insatiable appetite of the devil, Felicia... Since it’s my company that’s assisting your father's business in some way, it’s up to you if you would still pursue the divorce, but I would like you to know that I would terminate the agreement I made with your father. And one more thing, Cleto will use this chance to finally vanquish your dad, and I know that's something you wouldn't want to happen...’’

Of course… I wouldn’t betray my own father. Even though I understood what Marcus was saying, I couldn't shake the feeling that there’s something more significant going on behind this marriage... but I have no idea what it is. I have not been successful in discovering the reason yet, and the only way I will be able to do it is by retrieving my memory.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I completely missed the fact that Marcus' face was only an inch away from mine. As a result, I was speechless for a few seconds. Even though he claimed that I am his wife, I'm still not used to being so close with the person who bullied me throughout my entire time in high school.

I felt like I was drugged when I smelled the minty scent of his breath, so my eyes automatically closed and I waited for his lips to touch mine, and when they did, it was like a light feather that only touched my lips for a moment, and then it vanished immediately.

Is that it?

I opened my eyes only to find Marcus’ lips curve into a smirk and I felt my face turned into deep pomegranate red.

He scratched the nape of his neck as he spoke and explained, ‘‘Uh... there's a grain of rice in the corner of your lips... so I... helped you wipe it out...’’

Wipe it out? With his lips?

I heaved a sigh as I retreated farther into my seat. This is too much to handle for me… This is too much for a 16 year-old high school girl to accept all these things, especially my relationship with Marcus…