The Driver

CHAPTER 20 Izabela

                                   Izabela

            I loved to see him so happy. I loved him with all my being. I was still afraid of Marcel. I could not let him ruin my life now that I had finally found what I had been looking for so much.

        It was a miracle, though, that I got pregnant. At the last egg harvesting, the doctor accidentally cut an ovary and leaving only one, the chances of getting pregnant were reduced because the other ovary was very lazy.

        I knew that Alex's tumor could appear at any time, but there was still the slightest chance that it would not appear. I hoped and wanted with all my heart to live as long as possible because I would not have been able to live without him.

        I would not know how to live without him, especially now that we gone be a family. I prayed every day that he would at least live until our little girl was born. I wanted with all my heart to be a girl just to see the happiness on his face.

        I knew that people who live deeply are not afraid of death and Alex was not afraid, but I was afraid for him and for me. If Alex will die, I will remain a free prey for Marcel.

        Our little girl and I would have been in danger every day because of Marcel's obsession with me and the millions of euros I valued. Life knows scenes and says it is divided into acts, but the curtain is left only once.

        I was hoping Alex's curtain would come off much later. I needed him like I needed air and I couldn't imagine my life without him. I couldn't risk getting back into Marcel's hands. I never forgot the day I was finally free.

        When I could breathe the air in freedom. When my heart was almost ready to stop because of the fear that I would be caught and locked in that horrible clinic that had become a prison for me in my mind.

       The day Claudia and Eugen announced that I would be free. I will never be able to forget that day. It was the beginning of spring when Marcel fell ill and underwent surgery. It was his turn to suffer as he made the people around him suffer.

        He had a clogged artery and surgery was needed to clear his artery. It was close to his heart and risked death at any moment. On the day of the operation, Eugen came to pick me up from home to take me to the airport and to explain me his plan.

        He told me I would be in Norway for now. Even today I do not understand why he chose Norway as my first destination. He told me I would live there for a while and he would keep me posted and tell me when Marcel found out where I was.

        He had created a false identity for me, but I could only use it when I stayed at the hotel. He had even given me a card with a lot of money, even though I told him I didn't need it.

        He insisted and warned me from the beginning that I would need a lot of money to stay hidden from Marcel. He told me that he didn't know how long this whole story would last and that I might have to hide for a long time.

        I was glad, though, that I wasn't forced to be locked in a hospital room and that I could travel so much, but I was horrified at what would have happened if Marcel had found me.

        I had to get this scenario out of my head and live beautifully and fully as if it didn't exist the next day. Shortly after the operation, Marcel was informed that I had run away. It was Claudia who told him just so he wouldn't suspect she had anything to do with it.

        Eugen planned for Claudia to be scheduled at the dentist that day so as not to give anything away and to have proof that she was not home when I ran away.

        Fortunately, he couldn't blame anyone because I left the house just with my purse and told the guards at the door that I was going shopping.

        I had left with absolutely nothing I had brought with me to that house. Marcel started searching and Eugen kept me updated on his daily evolution.

        It was easy for him to find out what country I was in because of the plane ticket I bought under my real name, but it was hard for him to find out where I lived because of the fake name I was using.

        It took him a week to find out where I lived in Norway and I had to leave immediately. In the meantime, I had received several false identities from Eugen for the next locations where I would live.

        This time I could choose myself the country I wanted to go to. That's how my life went on for six years until I met Alex. I have lived in all the countries of Europe and in some of America and Africa.

        Sometimes he would find me faster and other times it would take a few months to find out where I was. I was always on the run and I couldn't have a normal life. When I heard that Marcel had committed a crime, I hoped he would be punished for it and get rid of him. I knew he would not be shot down so easily.

        I knew he would hunt me down even if he went to jail. My only escape was for him to die. I had already made many scenarios in my mind about how I could kill him, but I was always afraid that I would not be able to do that and I would fall into his trap easier than ever.

        I didn't know how long I would have until he found out about my relationship with Alex and especially about the fact that I was in Romania, but I hoped it wouldn't happen too soon. Unfortunately, Eugen died a year ago and Claudia resigned two years after I ran away.

        Now there was no one to tell me what Marcel was doing, and that terrified me a lot. I didn't know what he was doing, other than what I saw on the TV news, and I didn't know where he was. I was afraid that he was following me and that he was closer to me than ever.

        Sometimes I even felt his presence behind me when I went shopping. I turned my head to make sure, but I could not see him anywhere. I had become somehow panicked and extremely angry about this situation.

        I wanted to be able to tell Alex this whole story, but I was afraid he would do anything that would endanger his life. I knew he would do anything for me and that thought scared me so much.