"We'd always go into it blindly
I needed to lose you to find me
This dancing was killing me softly
I needed to hate you to love me"
~-~-~
Lucy was a month old by now and she would attempt to roll on the bed. It was incredible to see how quickly she was growing up.
When Leo got back that night, he was desperately on the phone with someone.
"Just connect me to Mr.Campbell," he told the woman on the other end.
"I'm sorry, sir, but Mr.Campbell won't be answering any calls after 9 pm."
"Tell him that it's Leonardo Xander. I own Xander Corp." He gritted his teeth.
"You don't own that company anymore, Mr.Xander. You have to make an appointment."
"Fine. When can I see him?" Leo clenched his fists in frustration.
"He's free next month sir."
"I'll have to wait a damn month?"
"There's nothing else that I can do about it, Mr.Xander. I'll inform you after fixing the date and time, have a good evening." She hung up on him.
"Damn that Jeffrey!" Leo yelled and threw his cell on the bed. As usual, he grabbed his pack of cigarettes and smoked on the balcony. It was such a disgusting habit, his mouth always tasted like charcoal after smoking.
Lucy began crying again, "Shut her up, Chelsea!" He yelled from the balcony. Yet again, he was in a terrible mood. I breastfed her and Lucy went quiet for a while.
"Give me your phone, I need to make a call. Mine died," He came out from the balcony and grabbed my cell from the shelf.
"Wait-!"
He glared at my cell before his scary eyes fell on my face, "Why are there so many missed calls from Trent?"
Fuck.
"I h-haven't answered his calls"
"I can see that but why is he calling you every day?" Leo questioned.
"He might be worried or something..." I whispered.
"Chelsea, look at me." His voice was dangerously low, making me gulp. "Why do you look scared?"
"You have this scary way of interrogating people, Leo!" I snapped.
"You had the same look on your face when you lied about Lucy being a boy. You're lying again."
I didn't reply.
"I'll ask him myself." He was about to call Trent when I left Lucy on the bed, in an attempt to stop him.
"Don't call him! I'll tell you!" I begged.
Leo hung up and stared down at me, his eyes were colder than ever.
"I wanted to tell you earlier b-but I was scared and-"
"What the hell does that mean?"
I couldn't help but tremble, Leo was extremely terrifying. There was no telling what he was capable of. I've heard so many stories about husbands murdering their wives for cheating... It made me pale all over.
"I- I s-slept with him."
I didn't dare to look up at his face but his silence scared me, "I was in my f-first trimester and you w-were always so distant... T-Trent was just there during a-all that... I'm s-sorry... I'm so, s-so sorry... I just-"
He slapped me.
I lost my balance and fell to the floor. My head was spinning and I found it really hard to keep my vision from blurring.
I felt blood roll down my cheek.
The edge of his wedding ring that had my name carved on it had cut my cheek and the emotional pain felt more terrible than the physical one.
"I spent all my fucking time building an empire!" He growled, "I've been striving for it ever since I can remember!"
"Do you have any fucking idea how hard I worked for ten whole years?!" He yelled.
My body was shaking.
"I married a stripper only for the sex but I stayed faithful to you, Chelsea! I didn't go fucking other women!"
His words were piercing into me like swords and I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. The pain in my chest was unbearable.
"My life became cursed ever since I married an ungrateful whore! It's the worst thing I've ever done so far!"
"I- I'm sorry..." I trembled.
"You're sorry?" He growled, "What the hell are you sorry for, woman? Is Lucy even mine?"
I snapped my head in his direction, "Of course she is, Leo... H-how can you say that..."
"You know what? Fuck off, Chelsea."
Leo slammed the door behind him when he left, causing the walls to shake. The tremors he left behind reverberated through my body and soul. The noise broke me to pieces. My vision was blurred because of all the tears I ran out of, they never stopped coming. I attempted to wipe my cheeks but it stung so badly that my fingers trembled.
The dried blood on my cheeks didn't matter as much as the burning sensation in my neck or jaw. But the cut mattered. With a lot of effort, I lifted myself off the floor and walked over to the basin to wash my face, but it was hard to do so without breaking down into sobs all over again. Touching the cut felt so painful, it would definitely leave a scar.
Lucy began crying all of a sudden and I knew that the loud banging had scared her as well. "My poor baby," I rushed over to hug her. "He will be back... Daddy will be back, I promise..." I whispered and kissed her head.
"I'm so sorry, baby... I'm so sorry!"
She kept weeping into my clothes, and I didn't know what else to do but cry with her.
[~ Leonardo's POV ~]
I kept punching the bag as hard as I could. It seemed to be the only thing I could do now.
"Woah, Ballerina, you seem pretty worked up, eh?"
I turned around to find Jim.
"It's your fault for getting me addicted to this."
"Who bit your ass?" He chuckled and walked over me.
"Leave me alone, Jim." I resumed punching the bag but he caught it.
"Years ago, I was in your shoes too. Young and angry, it was about thirty years back though." He smiled, "Punching this won't solve anything, Ballerina."
"What the fuck do you want me to do?" I snapped at him, "I lost everything I had. Every fucking thing. I worked my ass off to build an empire, but some asshole stole it from me. I'll kill him if he comes before me. Now I'm left here, biting dust..."
"You haven't lost everything, Ballerina." He smiled, "You have a wife and a daughter."
"She cheated on me with my driver. How the hell am I supposed to react Jim?"
He pondered over my words for a while, "Did she have a reason?" I was astonished at how calm and collected this old man could be.
"She had multiple crappy excuses," I muttered.
"People make mistakes all the time. Especially married people-"
"What would you know, smart guy?" I pushed the punching bag back and he was forced to let go of it.
"Believe me, I know." He had a certain look in his eyes that I couldn't read.
"Sure." I scoffed and grabbed my shirt from the floor. Just as I was about to walk out of the gym, I heard Jim mumble something behind me.
"My wife was pregnant when she died."
Slowly, I turned around to face him. He walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go on a walk," he smiled. Even though I was hesitant, the old man seemed worth my time.
"Thirty years ago, I was in my prime and a pro boxer. I was pretty famous too and I married the girl I loved. We got into a fight in the car and I said terrible things to her. Before I could correct anything, I woke up in a hospital and Scarlet wasn't alive anymore. She was six months pregnant at the time and it was going to be a girl... But I could never see the face of my baby..."
It was very chilly and we were walking down the bridge that ran over the city's largest river. Jim turned to me with tears in his eyes.
"I would do anything to see Scarlet and my daughter."
He leaned over the bricks and stared down at the river. I had never seen Jim get this emotional before, and I didn't know how to help him.
When Lucy cried, I liked rubbing her back and I did the same with him.
The thought of her light green eyes and sunny scent made me restless.
I wanted to go back and hold her.
I wanted to feel her heart beating against my chest.
"You were a powerful man. I can see that in your eyes. But honestly, you won't remember the things you did with your money. Ten, fifteen years later, you'll only remember the people who touched your life and what you did for them."
For some reason, his words seemed to hit me.
"It's getting cold, Jim. I'm gonna head back," I told him.
"Alright. See you on Monday, Ballerina. Always love them," he smiled and returned to the gym.
***
I knocked on the apartment door and heard shuffling inside. Lucy wasn't crying like usual, it felt strange.
When Chelsea opened the door, I saw the cut on her face and terrified, trembling blue eyes. I glanced inside to find Lucy on the bed, staring at something near the door. Her focus seemed fixed on it. When I walked past Chelsea, Lucy's attention turned to me as she urged me to pick her up. My little girl was staring towards the door again and I turned around to see what it was.
I froze.
There was a man behind the door and he pressed a gun against Chelsea's head. She stared at me with tears in her eyes. Her chest heaved while his grip on her arm scared her to death.
"Give me all your money." His voice was muffled as he wore something over his head. Only his dark eyes could be seen.
I held Lucy behind me. No way in hell was he hurting her.
"Leave my wife alone and I'll tell you."
The stranger pushed Chelsea towards me and I left my daughter in her arms, making sure that they stood behind me at all costs.
"It's in that bottom drawer," I told him. Slowly, he walked over without looking away from us and dug his hands into my savings. He stuffed whatever he could into his pockets while glancing at us often.
"There's more in that box, inside." I told him calmly.
His greed got the better of him and he turned away for nearly ten seconds in search of a box that never existed in the first place. I used that time to grab the gun from behind a picture frame resting on the nightstand and dash at him.
Even though he pulled the trigger in an instant, it didn't hurt both girls. The bullet hole left a mark almost a metre above where Chelsea was standing, but she was smart enough to crouch beside the foot of the bed with Lucy tightly secured in her arms. I knocked the gun off his hand as soon as the bullet left it and landed a clean uppercut on his face. Jim had done a good job training me and the thief was on the floor. I kicked his gun away and pointed mine at him.
"You won't shoot-"
I fired an inch away from his face.
"Got some guts to say that after you almost shot my fucking kid. Try me."
Lucy began crying loudly upon hearing the gunshot.
"Give her here and call the cops."
"O-okay..." Chelsea dashed to her feet even during her internal turmoil. At least she had common sense.
The cops arrived within ten minutes and took pictures of the bullet marks along with cuffing the intruder. They told me that he had been wreaking havoc in the neighborhood for a long time, and was finally able to arrest the bastard. My gun was licensed and I showed them the proof, but his weapon had been stolen, as I predicted. After bidding us a good night the cops left and Chelsea didn't hesitate to hug me the instant they were out of the door.
"I was so scared that he would shoot Lucy. My heart stopped beating, I swear..." she mumbled and began sobbing into my shirt. We sat by the edge of the bed with Lucy in my arms as I made a solitary promise to my wife.
"Nobody will touch her as long as I'm around."
"I- I love you, Leo... I am so sorry... I love you and Lucy so much... I can't lose either of you..." She nuzzled into my neck and I sighed. Lucy, on the other hand, kept grazing her tiny hands over my stubble and couldn't help but kiss her face.
I couldn't dream of losing something as precious as her.
"Chelsea, stop crying like a baby." I lifted her chin and forced her to look into my eyes. The bright red cut on her cheek would take a long time to heal. "That's going to leave a scar," I whispered.
"Yeah... I'll look pretty ugly..."
"You have other attributes to satisfy me like your mouth, ass-"
She placed her finger on my lips, "Don't ruin the moment, love."
I laid down on the bed with Lucy lying next to me. I nuzzled against her face and she made gurgling sounds, making me smile. Chelsea laid down too and Lucy was between us.
"What?" I snapped when I realized she wasn't looking away from me soon.
"You love Lucy," she smiled.
"I can't love anything."
"You say that but you would die for her."
"I would die for her because she's a part of me."
"What do you think love is, Leo?" Chelsea chuckled, "People change when they are in love. You changed a lot because of her-"
"You keep saying that you're in love with me. How come you never changed? You were a stripper when I met you and you lived up to your reputation by being with Trent. And you call that love?"
"I- I can't justify that... I told you I'm sorry. I really am... Trent just... He... He showed that he cared-"
"Don't tell me his bullshit." I retorted.
To be honest, I'm already working on the 2nd book lol and that one is gonna be longer than the first :3
Leonardo deserves an entire franchise 🤌
Lyrics: Lose You to Love Me by Selena Gomez
Anyway, remember to vote and comment!
Last Edited - 20/01/24