Chapter3.
1529 Words
Jennifer's POV
For the next couple of seconds, all I could hear were the doctor's last words. They echoed again and again, each word coiling around my heart and threatening to rip it into pieces. Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I couldn't let them fall. If they did, then it would mean that whatever forces that were at play in the unfortunate twists in my life had won and I didn't want that.
I glanced at the man sitting opposite me. He didn't say a word, but his eyes said everything he wanted to.
There was no cure. I was going to die.
Every effort I took to hold back my tears failed and in the end, I let out a disgruntled cry.
"Doctor." I sniffled. "Tell me, am I—really going to die?"
No words. Cold chills washed down on me, and the whole world spiraled.
"But how?" I couldn't help but ask. "As far as I know, I'm healthy and haven't had any health complications in a while."
"That's not what your scan results say." The doctor threw me a pointed look. He must have noticed the confusion on my face, because he slid the results in front of me. "What do you see?"
With shaky hands, I grabbed a hold of it, allowing my eyes to roam through it. However, no matter how hard I stared at it, I just couldn't bring myself to understand a thing.
"I don't understand." I shook my head. "I can't see any symptoms here."
"That's because there aren't." His voice dropped by an octave. "Your tumor is silent."
"When a tumor is silent, it's smoky means its signs are barely noticeable." He continued. "In your case, all you probably noticed were fatigue and forgetfulness, which you could have easily attributed to stress and overworking yourself. Right?"
I bobbed my head like a scared toddler as I stared at the doctor in equal parts confusion and grief.He was right. I honestly didn't read too much meaning into it. Whenever they happened, I always told myself that I was simply overworking myself and needed to rest, but I never did.
"I always forgot the names of my board members" I let out slowly. "I had no idea."
To say I was heartbroken had to be the biggest understatement of the year. My mind was a raging mess and the fact that I couldn't find it in me to focus on one emotion told me everything I needed to know.
I was done for.
For the next couple of hours, I listened with rapt attention as the doctor dove head on into details about my condition. By the time he was done, I felt worse. Despite his many words of encouragement, it did nothing to quell the fear that spread through my chest. I was going to die soon and everything I had ever worked for would be gone. Even though my mind was a raging mess, I was grateful for one thing; Daniel and Blair had no idea what I was going through. While I needed all the support I could get at the moment, I wanted nothing from them. Now that Blair crossed my mind I imagined her reaction if she found out about my condition and chills washed over me.
"Don't do that to yourself" I chided, shaking off the thought.
As I trudged out of the hospital, red- hot pain seared all around me as I collided with a hard body.
"Ow.." Like I hadn't been through hell already, I watched my bag topple to the ground, its content spilling to the floor.
"Are you blind by any chance?!" My life was already a mess and the last thing I needed was someone making it worse.
"I'm sorry..." someone's deep baritone cut through my thoughts. If I wasn't in such a sour mood then maybe I would have taken time to appreciate how deep and sexy his voice was.
" I didn't..."
"Do you not have any manners?" I yelled at the man in front of me. He'd bumped into me and if I was being honest, he looked just as shocked as I was, but I didn't care. "How dare you?!"
"Look, I'm sorry." He spoke up again, his voice taking a gentler tone this time. As he spoke, his blue eyes shone a deep blue color. "I honestly didn't see you there. I was in a hurry and..."
"That has to be the biggest excuse I've ever heard." I wasn't having it at all. I let out a hollow chuckle and it echoed all around the empty parking lot we were in.
"You're in a hurry? Where could you possibly be in a hurry to? You look like you don't even have a reason to live, so what could be so important to you?"
My words stung and I saw the reaction he put on immediately. While his lips curved into a small frown, I didn't make any efforts to stop.
"Just look at you." I sneered. I took a good look at him and fought the urge not to laugh out loud.
He was dressed in a blue tank top and a pair of shorts that I could swear had been picked up from the roadside. Even his shoes had no worth and it made me wonder how he could even show up in public.
"You're nothing less than a lowlife who's running around the streets." I clicked my tongue. "In fact, I'm sure this was some kind of trick to steal from me, right?"
"Mind your words." His voice was a husky growl. "You don't even know me."
"I don't need to know you to figure out that you're a bloody church rat." More and more words slid past my lips. "You're nobody. A lowlife"
One would think that with everything I'd said, he would at least retaliate, but he didn't.
Instead, he stared at me and I felt myself cowering under his intense stare.
"Don't you dare think of anything stupid." I hissed. I nudged some of the items on the floor before nodding at him again. "Pick it up, right now. And be careful with that. I'm very sure every item in here is worth more than your net worth."
Without a word, he gently picked up my scattered items. Instead of a thank you, I snatched my bag from his hand before walking away and towards my parked car.
With each step I took away from him however, I couldn't help but feel like I was being stared at. That eerie feeling still didn't leave, even when I was settled in my car. Just as I was about to drive off, I caught a glimpse of the man who had just bumped into me and I felt my stomach churn. Our gazes locked and for the entire duration, an uneasy feeling crept up my back.
After what seemed like forever, he finally went his way, but even as I drove out of the parking lot and towards my destination, I could only think about one thing.
Who the hell was that man and why was I feeling so weird about him all of a sudden?
The drive home was quiet, but what I didn't expect was bumping into my father of all people.
"Dad." I froze the moment I bumped into him in the hallway. I'd been avoiding him for the longest time, and now that news of my failed engagement had spread, I had even more reasons to hide from him. "I had no idea you were home."
My father said nothing, he only stared at me with curious eyes. When a frown made its way to his lips, I knew what it meant.
"How could you?." He was beyond furious . "What is this I'm hearing about you? How could you leave your engagement party? How could you leave Daniel!?"
"Dad I...." I trailed off. I couldn't even bring myself to speak about it..
"You have a lot of explanation to give." He shook his head in disappointment. "But first I'm going to help you clean up this mess.'"
I knew my father meant well, but I also knew his help was likely to be accompanied by something. A condition.
"Since you couldn't find a worthy husband by yourself." Dad droned on. "You will have to get married to the man I've chosen for you."
"What?" I knew Dad had the tendency of coming up with the craziest things, but this was absurd, even for him. "Dad, you can't mean that...."
The words had barely tumbled out of my mouth, before something interrupted us. Footsteps that indicated someone was coming. As they drew closer, my stomach churned and just before I could get a chance to figure out the reason for my unease, someone stopped beside me.
"Jennifer dear, meet Cassius." Dad announced. "Your husband to be."
My breath hitched in my throat immediately as I stared at the man in front of me. My mind whirled, but one thing stood out.
Why the hell did he look so much like—
“Oh no.”
- Writer
