The vacation was over and Nathan never showed up. Michelle was furious and decided to return to Washington. Derek offered to accompany her and Sandra back which she didn't object to.
They got to Washington and a chauffeur was already waiting to pick them up in a black limo. Derek had sent for the chauffeur before their arrival. He asked the chauffeur to drop Michelle and his niece off first before taking him home. He bade them goodbye before heading home.
Michelle got into the house and Nathan wasn't home. She guessed he'd be at work, so she decided to unpack her things and freshen up just to kill time. She had dinner and rocked Sandra to sleep after feeding her. When she was sure that Sandra wouldn't be up, she left her baby's room with a baby monitor in her hand before going to the living room to wait for Nathan's return from work.
Nathan got home from work and was surprised to see Michelle in the living room. He had forgotten that they'd be back today.
Michelle just sat on the couch watching him carefully. Nathan walked towards her and was going to place a kiss on her cheek when Michelle turned her head away, making him sigh.
"Baby, I'm sorry. I know I-"
"What excuse are you going to give, huh?"
"Michelle, I was busy."
"Busy... Did you just say busy?" Michelle was already getting frustrated.
"Tell me, Nathan. What could've been more important than I and your daughter?"
"You have to understand, Michelle. What I had to do was important,"
Michelle scoffed, running her hands through her hair, trying her best not to yell because she didn't want to wake Sandra.
"You didn't even bother to call, Nathan. You should've respected me enough to at least let me know that you weren't going to show up."
Nathan didn't know what else to say to that.
"Not once did you call, Nathan... Not once," she said the last part in a trembling voice as she was already in tears.
"If you didn't think of me, you should've at least thought of your child."
"Michelle, I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to help, okay?" She yelled and walked out of the living room.
Nathan didn't know how he was going to face Michelle. She was right, he should've called to let her know that he wasn't going to be able to join them but he didn't. He had hurt her, he felt really bad about it and had no idea how to make up for what he had done.
It's been three days since Michelle and her daughter came back from Hawaii. Michelle didn't talk to Nathan after their argument because she was still mad at him.
Nathan tried all he could to apologize to Michelle so she would forgive him but she didn't want to listen to whatever he had to say. So, he made up his mind and took a break from work so he could spend time at home with his family to make up for ditching them in Hawaii.
Nathan and Michelle were in their bedroom, it's been a week since Nathan stayed home with his family. He hadn't had any bodily contact with Michelle, which worried him a lot because he needed her but she wouldn't let him touch her. She no longer slept in his arms like she used to. She now kept her distance between them with her back against him. It was like they were strangers.
Nathan moved closer to Michelle and placed his hand on her waist. He trailed kisses from her neck to her shoulder but she didn't budge. He slowly put his hand beneath her nightshirt and began caressing her.
Michelle was enjoying Nathan's touch but she couldn't forgive him that easily. He had hurt her. He left her lonely for days even before Derek showed up. She needed to make him feel the same way she felt.
She abruptly stood up from the bed, walked out of the room, and went to the living room, leaving a frustrated Nathan alone in bed.
Nathan was already fed up with Michelle's attitude, he had already apologized to her. What more was she expecting him to do?
He angrily got out of bed and followed after her.
"Why are you doing this, Michelle?" He asked but she ignored his question.
"God damnit Michelle, answer me!" He yelled, not being able to control his anger.
"I've apologized more than a million times, Michelle. What more do you expect me to do?"
"You have no right to be mad at me, Nathan. The one who should be angry here is me!" Michelle yelled back, irritated by his annoyance.
"What do you expect? That I'll forgive you that easily when you couldn't even come up with a good excuse for leaving Sandra alone in Hawaii?"
"I already told you, I was busy!"
"Then, we could've just canceled the trip as I suggested... I was lonely, Nathan. I needed you but you weren't there.. I waited for your call but you never called. I had planned on returning if it weren't for Derek who kept us company.. He was there for me and Sandra when you weren't."
"What did you say?" Nathan asked through gritted teeth.
Michelle didn't realize what she said until Nathan asked.
"Did you just say Derek was with you?"
Nathan already had anger in his eyes.
Michelle didn't want to mention anything about Derek to him. She had no idea when it slipped out of her mouth
"Answer me, Michelle!" He yelled, causing her to flinch in fear.
"Nathan,it's-it isn't what you're thinking," she managed to say as she was already nervous.
"Oh really?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Nathan had a lot of things running through his mind.
Derek had the guts to go near Michelle and his daughter when he had once told him to stay away from Michelle. He wondered if something must've happened between them. Maybe, that was the reason why she didn't want to be intimate with him.
Michelle was already in tears. She knew that Nathan was already doubting her fidelity. She could see it from the look in his eyes.
"Is he the reason why you don't want me to touch you?" Nathan questioned.
Michelle couldn't believe that Nathan could ask such a question. She knew she could already sense his doubts but going as far as asking her, that meant he didn't believe that nothing could've happened between her and Derek. Michelle knew that he wouldn't believe whatever she was going to tell him.
"You better answer me, Michelle!" he said, already boiling with anger just knowing that she had been alone with his brother, her ex.
Michelle was unable to speak. She hadn't done anything wrong.
How was she going to make an angry Nathan believe that?
She now regrets why she didn't just let him make love to her. They wouldn't have been having this argument right now.
Nathan just nodded like he had gotten the answer he wanted and walked out of the living room. Michelle ran after him.
"Nathan, please listen to me." she pleaded.
Nathan went into their bedroom and walked into the closet. He came out already wearing a T-shirt.
"I'm gonna kill him... I swear, I'm gonna kill him," was all Nathan kept saying.
Michelle was scared. She tried to stop him by holding onto his arm.
"Nathan.. Baby, whatever you're thinking didn't happen. Please just listen to me."
She needed him to calm down so she could explain but he didn't listen. He removed his arm from her grasp and took his car keys, storming out of the house.
Michelle immediately grabbed her phone and called her mom.
"Hello? Mom, please I need you to come over,"
"Honey, are you alright? You're sounding nervous. What's wrong?" Her mom asked.
"Mom, I don't know, It seems Derek and Nathan are going to get into a fight. Please, Mom, I need you to be here with Sandra,"
"Why? What happened?"
"Mom please, I don't have time to explain. I just need you to be here." Michelle said while looking for her car keys.
"It's late honey, but I'll be there."
"Thanks, Mom," she said and hung up.
Michelle quickly rushed out of the house, got into her car, and drove to Derek's place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Derek was working late in his study when he heard his doorbell ring. He was surprised that someone was at the door by this hour because it was already late. The person at the door kept ringing the door bell making him wonder who it was that was impatient. He opened the door and received a punch right in his face. He was shocked when he lifted his head to see who it was. He saw Nathan looking pissed.
"What was that for?!" Derek asked surprised.
"Stay away from my family!" Nathan growled through gritted teeth, as he was red with anger.
Before Derek could understand what he was saying, Nathan gave him another punch making him land on the ground, giving Nathan access to hover on top of him and throw endless punches at him.
Michelle got to Derek's house and noticed that the door was ajar. She immediately ran inside and saw Nathan on top of a bloody Derek. He was still punching Derek and didn't intend to stop anytime soon.
"Nathan, please stop!" Michelle cried out but Nathan didn't answer.
She ran towards him and tried to stop him from continuing his assault on Derek by holding his arm but he roughly shoved her. Michelle stumbled back but decided to try again
"Nathan, I'm begging you, please stop. You're going to kill him!" she pleaded as she held him a second time.
He roughly shoved her again. She lost her balance and fell hard with her head against the floor, losing consciousness.
Uh oh!
Michelle is hurt 😟
If Nathan didn't call Michelle, who was he then talking with on the phone?