Strings Attached

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

During the entire flight, I tried to be tentative to Cora and her needs, but my mind kept returning to Isabelle. The suspicious and wary nature of my character made me explore every single possibility that she wasn't as innocent in all of this as she appeared to have been, but my reasoning didn't fit the puzzle that I was trying to put together. The more I thought about it, the more I came to accept the conclusion that she was truly unaware of that clause in the contract. It seemed to make much more sense and it shed some light onto her confusing behavior. As it was, I couldn't deny I had yet to catch her in a lie. The ruthless businessman side of me told me that her lack of knowledge didn't matter because it was her own responsibility to make sure she knew what she was signing, but that other side that held a soft spot for my wife insisted that I couldn't be such a cruel bastard and unleash this hell on a girl who seemed to be so lost and powerless in this war that she was by no means equipped to fight. Those same words I said to Rosario came back to haunt me. She was only nineteen and when her sheltered upbringing got added into equation, it wasn't difficult to believe she was even more naive than her peers. If I took all of these things into consideration, I was confronted with the possibility that her lack of involvement to trap me into marriage perhaps went even further than this. I had no idea where this left us and how we would pick up this marriage from here, but I knew the major changes in the dynamic of our relationship were bound to happen.

The moment we landed in Texas and entered the car that waited for us at the airport, I made it my task to put thoughts of Isabelle aside and stand by Cora in every predicament she faced. It wasn't all that difficult because there was little time for anything else than Cora's appointments. When we arrived to the resort where the clinic was situated, we were shown to our separate rooms and then swept away from one examination to the next. Ever since I was a child, I had serious issues with the hospital interiors and their sterile smell—not to mention how much I hated the sight of needles—but I toughened it out for her. If she got upset, I was there, holding her hand during procedures that caused her pain and I made her eat three meals a day so she would replenish her strength. Although our time in Texas was anything but pleasant, it went by in the blink of an eye and when Sunday afternoon arrived, I was completely exhausted because I had to pull an all-nighter to catch up with work. Before we headed back to New York, we had one last meeting with the doctor that was appointed to Cora and the news was devastating. The kind woman explained they would try to help her, but the chances of success were very slim. To my surprise, Cora's initial reaction was calm like she had no difficulty accepting the situation, but then we went to pick up our luggage and she disappeared into her room, refusing to come out for an hour. Worried sick, I tried to get her to let me inside, but she just said quietly that she needed to be alone. When she finally reemerged with her suitcase, her cheeks were red and puffy and her eyes swollen from crying. I tried to comfort her and say something soothing, but my attempts were rebuffed.

"Don't," she said softly. "Let's just go home, Sebastian."

I had no other option but to honor her request. Our short flight went by in deafening silence and the closer we got to New York, the more I thought about the young woman that was waiting for me at home. As my thoughts kept returning to my cruel behavior and the crushed look on Isabelle's face the last time I saw her, I still didn't have a clue how I'd handle things with her from now on, but I had enough common sense left to know we had to talk.

Wheels of the plane touched the ground and I was shaken into wakefulness. It was time for Cora and me to part ways and she thanked me, saying that she would wait at the airport for her driver to pick her up. Given the nature of our relationship and the fact that I was married, we couldn't risk to be seen together in public. That meant that I had to leave her there by herself in this shattered state and I couldn't bring myself to do that. She had been through so much during the past two days and I didn't want us to part ways like this.