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“That night, you asked me how I got these scars. I told you the truth. I let the mirror hurt me so my boyfriend couldn’t get to Raffi. He had his belt in his hand, ready to beat the life out of him.”
My gut flips over.Raffi. What Isabelle does is always for her son. I should’ve known. And it turned out it was his own father who abused him. But before I surrender to my guilt, there’s one more question that needs to be answered.
Isabelle shakes her head, taking my pause as something else. “I guess you’ve already made up your mind. Once guilty, always guilty. Why are you even here?”
“Look me in the eye, Isabelle. You remember what I said when you were leaving Hartley Marine? I’ve been betrayed and ditched like an old shoe, and I’m not going to let this slide with you,” I retort. “Tell me the truth. Why did you lie to me about your baby?”
“Clayton?” Her eyes are on fire as if some kind of revelation is rattling her. I came with anger, but this woman is burning with rage. “What did Don say about my baby?”
I stand my ground despite her hostile vibe. “Why did you terminate her?”
“You believe what Donovan Fletcher claimed?” Her rage shakes her.
“It’s in your health records!”
“You’d rather believe your enemy than me? Some man you are!” Her lips tremble so hard, I’m surprised she still can speak. “Tell me I’m a cold-blooded murderer, but never,neveraccuse me of killing my own child!”
Something in me gives way. Call me a fool who never learns, but that is a pain that you can’t create without a cause. She’s a mother, and a great one, too. How could I have doubted her?
“She was inside me for more than seven months,” she cries, her hand clutching her belly.
I stride forward, reaching out to her. “Isabelle…”
“Don’t touch me!”
“Isabelle… I’m—”
“I’m looking you in the eye, Clayton Hartley.” She stares into me. “That night, I lost a part of me that I’d cared for, loved, and adored for all her life, and you’re questioning it?”
I gulp. My tongue never tasted so foul. What have I done?
“My boyfriend hit my stomach with a bedside lamp, then pressed my belly against the wall.”
Her words shatter me like an earthquake decimates a city. No one has ever made me realize how blind I’ve been. And this time, my blindness has devastated our lives.
She carries on. “When he was running to unleash his belt on Raffi again, I stopped him. He pushed me against a mirror. But I’m a mother, and I had to do all I could to protect my son. So I stabbed him.Once.”
“Isabelle… I’m so sorry.” This time I ignore her gestures to repel me. I take her in my arms.
She pushes me back with a deep groan. Her biceps swell, and her power is unbelievable. I sway backward, offering no resistance.
“Clayton, look at me. Look at me!” She keeps her distance to make sure I see the whole of her. “My boyfriend hurt me here. Right here.” She presses her palm on her belly. “I could’ve had a chance to save my baby. Don left me bleeding while he was leisurely looking around the scene, planning what he’d do to me.
“By the time I got to the hospital, it was too late. I tried to fight for her… I tried, but my body didn’t have a chance, and neither did little Caili. Blame me for that! That I failed to protect her, but don’t tell me that I got rid of her!”
“Isabelle, I’m so sorry.”
“I bet you are!” She stares at me with her tear-laden eyes. “I’ve never betrayed you, never cheated on you, and even though I want you to leave me now, I’m not ditching you like an old shoe. I’m getting rid of a thorn in my vein that is you.”
She backpaddles.
How could I do this to her?
For the first time in my life, I’m riddled with guilt and shame so vast I might as well perish.
“Isabelle, I’m so sorry. Come back to me. Please, come back to me!”
“I won’t be here, Clay. Tomorrow or the next day, Don might’ve burned down the house, but I won’t be here.”
