Chapter 10
For a moment, Veronica had no idea what to do. She rushed out the door without fixing herself up, and practically flew her car to the hospital. She called Dr. Portman who was her dad’s doctor.
“Hold on, Dad… Please hold on… Oh God, please not now.” She closed her eyes and prayed.
Veronica kept herself from crying. She needed to be tough for her father. She tried calling Matt but he wasn’t picking up.
When she got to the hospital, Mr. Sandoval was in the emergency room.
“Sorry, Ma’am, but you’re not authorized to come in,” the nurse told her when she attempted to go in.
“I just need to see him. Please... I’m begging you... I just need to talk to my Dad.” She was on the edge of crying now.
“I’m really sorry, Ma’am but-”
Suddenly, the door opened.
“It’s okay, I got this,” the man said. It was Mr. Portman. “It will do you better to stay here and wait, Veronica.”
Veronica grabbed his arms and shook it. “How’s Dad?”
“His condition is critical but he’s fighting.”
Her tears bursted out. “Please do everything to save him. Please, Doc.”
“We will do our best. But we need your consent, Veronica. We are going to perform a heart bypass operation for your Dad as soon as possible.”
She exhaled then bit her lip. “What are our chances, Doc?” her eyes were sore from crying.
“50-50.” He replied. Veronica’s knees felt week.
“The chapel is on the second floor,” the nurse said, looking sympathetic.
Don’t leave me, Dad. Please…she whispered before going to the chapel.
There were a few people quietly praying. She saw their maid. Immediately, she hugged Veronica and wiped away her tears. Veronica has never felt so scared in her life.
“Stay strong, Nica.” Nelly whispered. “You need to be strong for your dad. Even though you’re worried, just trust God.”
“I won’t be able to handle it,” she felt like her heart was being crushed. “Nelly, I can’t live without him,” she said in between sobs.
“Sssh… let’s pray.”
Veronica stared at the floor while waiting outside the operating room. She couldn’t believe what Nelly had told her. Nelly had gone home to pack her dad some clothes so she was left alone.
She couldn’t accept the reason of her dad’s cardiac arrest. How could Matt do this? How could he risk taking her father’s life? How could he tell her Dad about the real stage of their marriage? Why the hell did he give her dad their pre-nuptial agreement?
“Veronica…”
She looked up. It was Elaiza. Her eyes and nose were red.
Veronica promised herself not to cry. But this was too much. She buried her face in Elaiza’s neck and sobbed softly.
●●●
“When are you going to solve this, Matt?” Bianca’s tone was calm but frustrated.
Matt looked at her and drew a slow breath.
“I’m working on it.”
“That’s what you told me a month ago. And nothing happened. We need to tell your Dad about this.”
“Bianca, please…” he was tired of arguing.
She raised her hands in the air. “Suit yourself, Matt,”
“You don’t understand.”
Bianca paused and faced him.
“What don’t I understand? My God, Matt, I’ve been with you for two years, why do you think I’m still here if I do not understand at all? I just wanted your Dad to know before it’s too late.”
“I want Dad to know because he wanted to know. Not because I wanted him to know.”
“That’s pride, Matt. And that’s stupid. Because we both know that he needed to know about this. What do you think your Dad would feel once he knew? We’ve been hiding this from him for a long time!”
“We’re not hiding anything! He’s the one hiding from it. What’s the use of letting someone see when they chose to be blind about it? I know my father Bianca. And his no means NO.”
“But he still deserves to know! More than anyone else he-”
Their conversation was interrupted as the door creaked open. They both turned their heads. Mr. Elezar came in, his face red with anger and his fists were clenched.
Matt was surprised to see his father. “Good to see you, Dad,” his voice was sarcastic. Suddenly, his father punched him with full force. Bianca screamed as he fell on the floor.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Mr. Elezar yelled as he pulled on Matt’s collar and picked him up from the floor.
Matt felt his left jaw throbbing. He wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand.
“Was I too late to be a father to you, Matt? How could you do this? How could you dare do this!” his voice shook from anger. Matt got up, fighting his father with stares.
“Bianca, could you please leave us alone,”
“I’ll help you explain,” she persisted.
“I can handle this. We need a private talk.” He argued without looking at her.
Bianca paused for a moment before leaving the room.
“Is she the reason for this?”
“No,” he gritted his teeth. ”Bianca has nothing to do with this. It’s my choice.”
After speaking, Mr.Elezar jabbed Matt in his stomach. He closed his eyes from the pain. Gripping his stomach, he glared at his father.
“Go ahead, Dad. Hurt me! You’re good at it, right? You’re good at hurting people who love you!”
Mr.Elezar looked at his son.
“Do it, Dad. Beat me up for all I care!”
“I can’t believe you’re my son.” He said, shaking his head.
Matt stopped.
“You haven’t been my father for seventeen years, Dad,” Matt reminded him. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
“That’s it, Matt?” his voice was hurt. “That’s the reason you betrayed me? That’s the reason you betrayed all of us?”
Matt angrily stared at his dad. “I never betrayed anyone. I just did what is best. I tried to tell you so many times but you wouldn’t listen. I only did the right thing.”
“When has it ever right to kill someone?” Mr.Elezar’s jaws clenched.
Matt shook his head. “I didn’t kill anyone!”
“Of course, Max is still fighting for his life. But if he dies, Matt, it will be on you,” said his father bitterly.
“How did Uncle Max get in this conversation? Let’s get this straight, Dad. Go and talk to Mom while she’s still breathing!”
Mr.Elezar’s forehead creased. “What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t that the reason you punched me twice?”
“You’re mom’s here?” his tone was confused.
“For two years, yes Dad. I tried to tell you but you didn’t want to talk about her.” He said trying to keep his voice low.
“Not when her life is in danger!” he shouted. “Where is she?”
“Why don’t you make an effort and find her?” his tone was sarcastic.
“We have a lot to talk young man,” he said before rushing out the room. Matt ran after him.
“Wait Dad, I still don’t understand. What happened to Uncle Max?” he wrinkled his forehead.
Mr.Elezar stopped walking and faced his son. “You should know what happened. Before you sent him your pre-nuptial agreement. You should’ve known this was going to happen.”
He looked at his father, confused. “I did not send him anything except–” Suddenly, he remembered about what he told his secretary to do. “Oh, shit!” he yelled when he recalled that their pre-nup and the documents that Mr. Sandoval needed were in the same drawer.
“What hospital?” he felt his heart skip.
“St. Lukes,”
“Take care of Mom. I need to be with Veronica.” Matt didn’t wait for her answer. He quickly left the hospital and ran towards his car.
“How’s dad, doc?” she immediately asked when she saw Dr. Portman come out.
“We can’t really say, Veronica. We have to put him in the ICU, monitor him for 24 hours and see if he responds well to the operation.”
She felt a lump in her throat. “Can I go see him?”
He nodded. “We can arrange that. Follow me.”
Elaiza embraced her before she followed Dr. Portman.
She needed to put on a hospital gown before going into the ICU. A tear trickled down her face when she saw her father. Tubes were attached to him. He looked so tired even when he was asleep. If she could only take the pain he was feeling, she would.
“Dad..” she called softly. She covered her mouth trying to keep herself from crying out loud.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry I lied. I’m so sorry,” her voice cracked. “I just didn’t want to fail you. I know how much you wanted for that wedding to happen. And honestly, I dreamed of that wedding, too. That even if we had that agreement, I still hoped that Matt and I will one day be married for real… You know, build a real family and grow old together.”
Veronica roughly wiped her tears, trying to gain control. “You understand me, right Dad? Nobody understands me more than you do.”
“When Mom left, I didn’t feel a single thing. But there was a deep hole in my heart. But you continuously filled it up so I didn’t feel as sad. What would I do if you leave me, Dad? So you need to stay alive… I can’t live without you...”
Veronica saw her dad’s eyes watering. “I agreed on the wedding to keep you and Matt close to me. It didn’t matter whatever consequences it would bring me. And I knew I had to take care of your heart… and mine... Maybe it was selfish… Maybe there are just things that are not meant to be. And if I keep pushing for it, the people I love are going to be hurt…”
“I think I need to give Matt up, Dad…” she felt like her heart was being crushed. She took her dad’s hand. “So please… hang on, Dad.”
After leaving the ICU, Veronica walked towards the comfort room. But she stopped when she heard a familiar voice at the end of the hallway. She didn’t need to check whose voice it was. She stayed there. She wasn’t ready to face him yet.
“Oh, Matt! Do you realize how much she’s going through right now because of you?”
“God, I swear, it was a mistake! I wasn’t in the office for days. Lorrie took the wrong folder. And that’s it.”
“Okay, Matt. Given it was a mistake. But, pre-nuptial agreement? That’s one thing I could not accept. So, you’ve been faking all along, right? You’re acting you’re in love, for what? I don’t get it.” She said irritably, crossing her arms.
After a long pause, Matt spoke. “Do you really want to know the truth? You might hate me.”
“I hate you so much already. Bring it on.”
“I hate her.” Matt whispered, clenching his jaws.
Veronica leaned on the wall. She was losing strength.
“And I hate her still.” He added.
“Is she–,” Elaiza paused. “No way.” She covered her mouth with her hand.
Veronica didn’t want to hear whatever Matt was going to say. She wanted to run to a place where she wouldn’t hear them but she had no strength to step away.
“Yes, she was that girl who broke my heart ten years ago. You know I didn’t want to marry her because I’ve done my best not to see her again. But it happened. Things got out of my control and it left me no choice. I married her. And I want to remain married to her… See the pain in her eyes… see her suffer each day… I just want her to see what I’ve become after she left me. That I have become stronger. I want to prove to myself that she doesn’t matter to me anymore. That I don’t feel anything for her at all.”
Veronica clutched her chest, breathing rapidly like she was running out of air. She thought there was nothing else that could hurt her more. But she was wrong. She felt like there were a million needles around her body, that everytime she breathed, she felt the pain. She pushed herself to walk away. She entered another room. It was a private room but she didn’t care. There was a woman sitting by a man on the bed, both looking at her, puzzled.
“I’m sorry, I need to use the comfort room.”
Confused, the lady pointed to a door.
“Thank you,” she said before going to the washroom. She cried and cried, staring at her pathetic self in the mirror. When will the pain stop?
●●●
Elaiza was clueless as she looked at her brother. She couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Then why the sad look?” she asked, angling her head. “You’ve had your revenge. If you could have seen Veronica earlier, you’d be very happy. She’s hurting more than she can bear already. Go and celebrate!”
“I wish I can.” Matt ran his fingers through his hair.
“And what do you exactly mean by that, Matt?”
“I seem to be dying everytime I see her cry…”
Elaiza’s heart sank as she saw the pain in her brother’s eyes. Her anger faded away. She didn’t know what to say.
“I should not be feeling this. I should just hate her or feel nothing at all. There should be no other feelings than that!” He said sounding very frustrated.
“Then let her go,” she said softly while caressing her brothers back. “You’re torturing yourself. And her too. None of you deserves this. If you love her, why don’t you just love her?”
“I don’t know, Elaiza, I’m more cracked up than you think I am.”
“Wait a minute…” Elaiza stopped. She still couldn’t believe that his brother’s wife and the girl who broke his heart ten years ago was the same person. Suddenly, she remembered about her conversation with Veronica.
“If Veronica was the one who broke your heart, that also means that you were her first love.”
Matt’s forehead creased.
“She said she had her first love when she was sixteen. That she had to give him up just to keep him safe. And that...” Elaiza swallowed and looked at her brother. “That she could have married him if she wasn’t engaged to you.” Her face lit up. “It makes sense Matt. If I’m not mistaken, she loved you then and now.”