Probably

Chapter 15

How??

Antoine

It was hard to say it but I still managed to gather the required courage to say those hurtful words in the morning. I didn't mean a single one of those words. Yes, I wanted to start over but not as her friend. We have been closer than best friends for God knows how long and look at where it has brought us. Our relationship is barely hanging by a thread here. Forget the relationship, we individually were barely hanging by threads that would snap any time.

She knew it and so did I. She knew the cost of ignoring her fate and yet she chose to deny it. But being a father, I know I can't afford to hurt my daughter because of Veronica's foolishness. My daughter needs me and the only way I can give her what she needs is by getting Veronica back. I need her. I know I can manage very well without her in my life but if I'm being honest, I have not slept in two weeks just thinking about what went wrong between us that caused her to take this erratic decision of getting married to that green eyed lizard. The woman lets me be a better me. A person that is good enough to be a decent father, a decent husband.

I know I was going to get her back and this time, I didn't care if she was hurt in the process or not. Enough is enough! I have played the good guy for too long. It's high time I showed my bad side because Alex deserves it for cheating on a woman like Veronica. I know things will fall into place when Veronica and I are together. But the question that remained was HOW do we end up together??

Well, I still have two weeks to think about that plan, followed by two weeks to execute the plan successfully. But for now, I had to somehow regain Veronica's blind trust. In this way, I could wash off this wicked enchantment that Alex had cast on her and make her see the mistake that she was making by marrying him. But again, the same question remained- HOW??

I was thinking about a plan when I was snapped out of my imagination by a series of merry laughter coming from the gang in the pool. The gang included members of the Beaumont family, my daughter, and the love of my life. My daughter and Veronica had an instant connection which was a clear indication that we were meant to be one big happy family. The sign was so obvious that even Mary, who currently despised me, agreed that Veronica and I were supposed to be together. The whole world could see it except her. I mean, was she actually blind or was she so stubborn that she was intentionally snubbing and overlooking this possibility?

Whatever her reason was, at least for this brief moment, I know she let her walls down and didn't let our complicated relation affect her's with Mia. And this realisation, brought an immense amount of peace within me. A feeling that I wished never left my soul. In short, I didn't want this moment to end. This was my dream and I know will get it one way or the other... but as always, one question still remained unanswered- HOW??

Just the thought of not knowing how, started frustrate me. I could go back to being the villainous, dark Antoine I was, six years back, but I know for a fact that he was not a reliable solution for this problem. If anything, he would increase my problems by complicating them even more. Moreover, I had banished him from within me with great difficulty and if he returns, I will not be able to recover this 'relatively better' version of myself.

And even if, for a brief moment, I considered the possibility that I invite this monster back, to reside in me, and it managed to help me win Veronica back, it would not be fair to my daughter and to Veronica in the long run because that monster would surely not leave and trust me, he is not a family-oriented man. He will extract more from me than he is willingly give and as a result, I was afraid of the consequences that I would have to face. So, now that I think of it, being a bad guy is definitely not a viable option. The one basis on which I was trying to build my so-called plan had also collapsed now and I felt helpless.