Ten Minutes

CHAPTER 23: I Promise

Cicilia's POV:

I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night after spending an exhausting day at the beach.

Seb's arms were wrapped around my waist as he slept soundly.
Not wanting to wake him up, I tried removing his arm but his grip tightened.

"Go to sleep, Cicilia", he said in a hoarse voice with his eyes still closed.
Shit! I woke him up.

"I...need to go to the washroom."

Few seconds later, he loosened his grip and I got up and went to the washroom.

After coming back, I didn't feel like sleeping, it was 3 in the morning but I was not sleepy at all because my mind was filled with million other thoughts.

Seb was sleeping, so, I slowly made my way towards the balcony as I stood there as half of my body was resting against the railing.

The moon was shining brightly, it was a full moon and it looked really beautiful and even added more beauty to the sea.

I sighed deeply, thinking how everything has changed. The last one year had been a rollercoaster ride for me, from being raped...not exactly raped...but you can understand, to being pregnant then being thrown out of my house and finally in the end marrying someone I never thought I would.

Life's never certain, you never know on which path destiny is gonna throw you.

Everything starts to seem perfect to me, Seb is really caring and a really good father to Angela but...I have a fear, this marriage was arranged, he married me because of Angela and what if one day, he just losses interest in this marriage? What if he leaves me? I don't wanna be somewhere else but with him. I like him and I really feel safe and secure with him.

"Not able to sleep?", I heard Seb say as he walked up to me and stood beside me.

"Yeah."

"A penny for your thoughts?", He asked me as I was busy staring at the sea.
I continued staring at the sea as I said,"Nothing important."

Seb turned my face towards him and lifted my chin with his finger as our eyes met.
"What's wrong, darling?", he asked as concern was visible on his face.

"Seb...", I trailed off, "...I...Are you really going to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Without any doubt", he replied immediately,"What made you think about it?"

"I...don't know. I really feel safe with you Seb. I am happy with you and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you and Angela, you both are my family but...please Seb don't leave me ever, my own parents refused to accept me because I was a disgrace to them but I promise you that I will never ruin your reputation, I will do whatever you will say but please--"

"Shh...", He cut me off by placing his finger on my lips as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Who the hell gave you those ideas?"

As I didn't say anything, he continued speaking,"I am never going to leave you Cicilia. I would never hurt you, either physically or emotionally, I promise. But if someday I might hurt you emotionally then believe me, I would have not done that intentionally."

He then paused as he knelt down on both his knees and held both of my hand as he said, "I promise, I will always be there for you. I will always support you, I will always protect you. You are my wife Cicilia. And I don't want you to change a bit cause I have accepted you the way you are." I had tears in my eyes as he spoke, I never imagined that he would say all that.

"If you want", he said again, "I am even ready to sign a contract, to assure you that I would never leave you."

I immediately shook my head and managed to say through the tears, "I...I trust you, Seb."