Darker And Devastated

11.

"Love is not important," he mumbles, looking at the divorce papers in a cafe, taking a sip from his coffee.
"Bullsit," replies a girl with cute glasses, frowning, making him choke on his coffee.

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IVA FAITH

"Sit here for the rest of the night and think about what you did," he says, pushing me towards a chair sitting in the furthest corner of his room.

I chuckled sarcastically at the irony of the situation.

His hair looks messy as he couldn't stop running his hand aggressively through them during the ride home. His tie is gone, he threw it somewhere in the lounge.

"I didn't do anything wrong. You did," I say in a low voice, through my clenched teeth, keeping my eyes low. My hands are fisting the armrests of the chair in an attempt to keep myself from doing anything violent out of anger.

"What did you say?" he asks, leaning toward my eye level.

I snap my head up. My eyes must be red from the constant tear shedding. "You heard me,"

His hand came to my jaw again. I hiss in pain because his grip is intensely tight. "Looks like you haven't changed," he says, giving me a disgusted look.

"Your habit of going against me for some other man has thrived more than ever," he comments.

I jerk his hand away. "I'm not against you, Casper. I'm just stopping you from doing what's wrong. I have learned from my mistakes, but now you are the one who is wrong,"

He pauses, staring into my eyes with a deadly glare.

"Mistake? You call your grave sins a mistake?" he chuckled, sarcastically. "Have you seen Juan? My son? That two year old child with the gleam of the entire universe in his eyes?"

He grabs my jaw again. "You know that boy, right?"

"Look into his eyes now before you conclude your sins are a mistake and try to get away with them," he says, letting go of my jaw.

"He is dead from the inside!" he yells, making me flinch. I close my eyes, clenching my teeth to stop the sobs that were threatening to be set free from my heavy chest. It hurts, I swear I never intended to do anything wrong to Juan. He was like my own child.

And let alone Juan, I never intended to do wrong to Casper. I was brainwashed. But again, I was not a child. I could have researched before following Dylan blindly.

"I'm willing to sacrifice everything I own," he says, breathing heavily. A psychopath, which he looked at a moment ago, is now a vulnerable, helpless father. "If it can make my son happy again,"

Tears rolled down his cheeks. He closes his eyes and raises his head up.

I stand up, resting my hands on his chest. "I want to do everything right, Casper," I say, palming his face. "Give me one last chance, please,"

He doesn't say a word and goes to sit on the bed, resting his head in his palms. His elbows are on his thigh. I sit beside him, caressing his back. He rubs his face with his palm once and starts breathing heavily. His hands fists the bed sheets tightly.

"Casper," I grab his face because he isn't looking alright.

"Get out of my room," he says, in between two deep breaths. His body is shaking and the beads of sweat are appearing on his forehead.

"Everything is gonna be alright," I tried to calm him down.

"Ge– get out," he says, struggling to talk.

He lies down on the bed, keeping his hands on his head. His eyes are looking at the ceiling blankly. "Casper," I pat his cheek, but he is not looking at me. It terrifies me to the core.

"Juan is going to be alright," I say, laying beside him, resting my head on his chest. I try to balance my neck in a way that I'm not putting too much pressure on my weight on his body.

"You will see him smiling like Emma soon. I promise," I say.

His breathing returns to normal, and a moment later, I feel his body relaxing. He let go of his head, and now his arms are on either side of his face. I move up, rest my head on his arm, and hug him tight. I have missed this warmth. I don't look at his face because I'm afraid to ruin this peace. He stays silent, maybe recovering from the minor panic attack that he just had. I close my eyes, snuggling my face in his neck. My hand caresses his chest, and everything seems to feel good all over again until I remember Noah.

I feel a sharp pain right in my chest as his face flashes in my head. How would he be dealing with it? He is strong, but it was his dream that got crushed tonight. It was his entire life.

I have to do something, but I can't do it right now. I can talk to Casper in the morning as it will infuriate him now.

"Get up from my bed and leave," I hear Casper say.

I stay silent, pretending to be asleep.

"Don't make me throw you out," he says in an intimidating voice.

I don't reply.

He grabs my chin and looks at my face. I let go of my body to look asleep. He stares at my face for a few seconds before moving his body away from me. I peeked under my eyelashes to see what he was doing. He stands up and leaves the room, shutting the door with a loud bang. I sit on the bed, sighing. My head is hurting from the constant agony that I'm enduring. I wish I had never let Dylan manipulate me. I wish I had used some of my senses. Everything would have been so beautiful if I had stood beside Casper, my husband, instead of following some stranger.

I sigh, holding my head, frustratingly.

I close my eyes, but when I open them, I see Casper's cell phone. It was vibrating. I look at the door and wait for a few moments before grabbing it. There was a message from the guy who sealed Noah's restaurant.

"What to do with him, boss?" the message read.

My heart starts beating faster because the thought that just crossed my mind can put me through a lot of trouble, but I think I can do this for Noah. I owe him a lot.

I lick my lips and start typing, "Let him go and make sure he gets home safe,"

With my shaking fingers, I pressed the SEND option.

A quick reply comes from the other side, "OK, boss,"

I sigh, feeling a bit relaxed. My eyes were closed, but when I opened them, I found Casper standing in front of me, infuriated. A small scream leaves my mouth before I put a hand on my lips. My trembling hands are the visual representation of how much my heart is scared right now.

"Give me my phone," he asks, holding his hand out.

"Let me explain first, Casper," I say, wetting my dry lips.

"My phone," he says in a calm but intimidating tone.

"I was–..."

"My phone!" he screams at the top of his lungs, scaring the hell out of me. I have never heard anyone as loud before.

I gave it to him.

He goes through the texts, and his breathing pattern indicates the rising level of his anger. He snaps his head in my direction, and I wish I was dead because I don't see a way to escape him.
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Who thinks Iva did the right thing by sending that text?

This update is dedicated to all eager readers who can't wait to read what happens next. I love you all❤️