If I Could

{28} - It's Late

Sorry for taking so long to update this, I was busy writing chapter number 29 and 30 but I had not written chapter 28 yet?!?! I need to know what's wrong with me hehe. Anyways, expect fast updates in the future since I already have two chapters written. Enjoy and thanks for reading 💙

Roger grabbed Belle's arms before she could even properly react, he had to get a hold of her so she couldn't walk away, because letting go the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with her was not an option. The feeling of his fingertips touching her soft pale skin produced such a strange sensation of reassurance inside his mind, just reminding him that the only route to his happiness was real — and it was in front of him.

"You've got to listen to me, Belle", Roger said as he looked deeply into her eyes, taking the fact that Belle didn't pull away from his grasp as a sign to continue. "I'm sorry that I tricked you this way, but I need to talk to you".

Belle was completely dumbfounded, her lips slightly parted as a sign of astonishment. She really thought she would never see him again for the rest of her life. And now that thought was gone. She wasn't angry but she was confused, wondering where Roger wanted to go with this encounter this time.

"Yes, yes, just let go of my arms", Belle murmured, her face flushing red.

"I don't even know how to start this conversation", he chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I cannot even describe the way that I've been feeling these past months. I've wondered about you every single day. And a week ago, Rami told me that you had been sick. Are you okay now?".

"I am, Roger, thanks for the concern", she answered as she took a small glance at her small baby bump. "I've wondered about you too. I apologise for not listening to you the last time we talked. My stubbornness has brought me some problems".

Roger tilted his head after noticing something he had not noticed before. Belle looked as beautiful as ever, looking every inch the angelic woman he had fallen in love with. But even though only a few months had passed since he had seen her for the last time, she gave a completely different vibe. She was the same person, of course, but she wasn't the bubbly, bright Belle Bulsara he had always known. Her gaze was marked with an evident stain of sorrow that he was sure he could only see, only when you are so in love with someone can you detect what they are trying to hide.

"Have you been alright, Belle?".

Belle looked at him in surprise, yet she didn't need to ask him why he was asking that question. She knew very well why, and she started crying, somewhat embarrased she couldn't give him a proper answer. Roger's heartbeat became unsteady after seeing how shattered she looked, but Belle couldn't help but react at how genuinely concerned he was for her, something she had never seen Rami do. She could never feel love the way she did with Roger.

"No", Belle responded. "I'm not fine at all, Roger. My emotional life has gone downhill ever since I started dating Rami. He's a freaking jerk and doesn't care that we're living together, he still won't even try to hide his obvious cheating evidence sometimes".

"You can end it all", Roger said as he took both of Belle's hands in a firm grasp that wasn't too strong to hurt her but it was strong enough to let Belle know he'd never let her go if he could. "You can end it all, sweetheart. Come with me, let's be together, and I promise you that you'll never feel sad again. I won't let it happen. I'll take care of you forever".

Roger's words sounded sweet as honey, but Belle couldn't get any joy from them. Not even the slightest feeling of fortitude, consolation or delight. And it wasn't his fault, it wasn't because his words were void or because he sounded shamelessly hypocrital. The entire problem was her. It wasn't her baby, even though it was everything that kept holding her back from doing everything she wanted to do, the problem was still weighing on her.

"I can't, Roger", she wheezed, briefly shutting her eyes as she felt her heart breaking into a million pieces.

"Why? Why can't you do it? Is it because of our previous arguments?", Roger questioned but proceeded to keep on talking before giving Belle the chance to answer him. "Look, that's why of the reasons why I'm here tonight. Something happened that left me speechless and it concerns the two of us. You know Daisy Newton, right? You know she worked for Catherine. Well, she resigned a few days ago and told me everything that Kate had made her do, which was the reason why she resigned, actually. She said she was the one who had taken candid pictures of us, the one who had called you to pretend I wanted to meet you at my office when I wasn't there, the one who had pretty much plotted everything to make me seem like a jerk. I don't know if my words come off as believable, but if they don't, you can ask Daisy yourself, and I'm pretty sure she'd tell you the same things she told me".

Belle grimaced as she attempted to process the bunch of unexpected sentences Roger had just told her.

"But.. Daisy was supposed to be my friend", she murmured as her eyes fell to the right side of the conference hall they were in, a billion of confused thoughts going around inside her head but she was only able to put up a small sentence.

"I know, I thought about that too, but I don't think she did it out of malice. I mean, I wouldn't do that to any friend of mine either, but she had to keep her job".

"Your wife is such an evil person, Roger. I remember you had told me she was nice", Belle uttered as she looked at him again.

"I didn't want to bad-mouth a woman and most importantly, I didn't want to bad-mouth the mother of my kids. I also didn't know what she was capable of doing back then", Roger responded.

"You can't bad-mouth someone when you're only stating facts about them".

"That doesn't matter anymore", Roger frantically said as he felt the conversation digressing from the main subject. "Catherine did all those nasty things just so we couldn't be together. She wants us to be apart. Will you let her get what she wants?".

"Listen to me", Belle said as she placed her hands over Roger's cheeks to direct his gaze towards her, her eyes getting tearful again. "No, I don't want to let her get what she wants. I wish you could knew how much I want to be with you again, Roger", she paused as she felt her voice breaking from the sadness that was now travelling her whole body. "I'd be with you the rest of my life if I could. But I can't".

"What do you mean you can't?", Roger looked at Belle with a grimace on his face, desperate to know what she was thinking. "Of course you can. You're single, living under the same roof with a man who doesn't appreciate you. You don't deserve everything he's put you through, he does not deserve to be with you. Get rid of him, Belle. Do it as a sign of self-respect".

"I wish I could do it. This is not a case of Stockholm syndrome. I really cannot leave him", she whimpered, her voice getting lost in her throat as a result of the immense emotional distress she was feeling. She wanted to run away, she didn't want Roger to keep asking what her reasons were, because she didn't want to go through the pain of telling him she was pregnant.

"Just tell me why you can't leave him".

Belle immediately gave up, proceeding to tell him the truth.

"Because I'm pregnant".