Her comeback

Three

I crossed the street with my sanity breaking apart. I felt nothing at all, only numbness and pain inside me. If it weren't for the ear-shattering sound of screeching tires pulling to a sudden halt I wouldn't even raise my head and see a ten-wheeler truck towering over me, with only a ruler distance from where I stood.

I was nearly flattened by a ten-wheeler truck! I nearly died! The thought was enough to scare the hell out of me and I sobered up. I couldn't afford to die and leave mom alone. I just can't. I realize I need to live. Not only for myself but for my mother. I couldn't die on her birthday!

Before returning to the hospital I bought a cake for her forty-sixth birthday. It was a single-layer chocolate cake I could afford. It was decorated with flowers on the corners and 'Happy Birthday Mom, ' was written on the center with red icing.

I hailed a cab, clambered inside, and settled the cake on my lap.

I impatiently waited for the congested road to continue and move freely but I waited for a long five minutes but the highway was still choked with traffic due to a car collision ahead.

My back ached and I leaned to the backseat to calm the temper that had been building up inside me. It's mom's birthday, I don't want to return to the hospital late.

Mom was sound asleep when I left her. For sure she would be up at this hour and inquiring everyone where I go.

A sigh filled with relief escaped my lips when the congested road slowly flowed. I lifted my gaze to the window as the car sped up in time to see Ace with his arms protectively around Angela's waist. They dissolved into the door of a jewelry shop that sells golden bands. I turned away from the stinging sight.

Forget the pain. That scumbag isn't worth it Phoenix!

A gentle smile emerged from my lips as I ran to mom's room with a cake in my hand then a heavy bag on the other. The overflowing excitement to greet her happy birthday made me reach her room in a short span of a minute.

For the very first time, I wasn't scared to enter her room. I secured the back higher to my shoulder so I could open the door with ease. My left hand-carried the cake scrupulously and did my best not to ruin it one bit.

I flung the door open and I was greeted by the vacant bed. "Mom?" I called out but it was the silence that answered back.

"Mom?" I rushed to the sofa to check if she was there and whirled the items I held to the floor ignoring the rising panic on my throat. It was empty.

"Where are you Mom?" I screamed this time. Fierce fear clutched through me making me unable to breath.

The door opened violently, my panicky eyes landed on Ace who emerged from the door unceremoniously. His stony face landed on my paper-white face.

What was the bastard doing here?

"I'm sorry Phoenix, Mom's dead." His words shattered my whole world.

"That's not true Ace. You're lying right?"

My wide, expectant eyes waited for him to invalidate the statement which he painfully did not. Instead, he looked deep into my eyes as if he was reading my soul and took a step forward.

He felt the palpable fear emerge in me and he saw it right into my eyes as I took a retrieving step backward, overcome with panic, and on the brink of losing my sanity. The flicker of terror he witnessed into my eyes was enough of a warning to pull his legs into a halt.

"Please calm down Phoenix." His gentle voice urged extending a hand for me to take but I shook my head and slapped his fingers away. The kind gesture has no soothing effect against the emotional turmoil that numbed my whole body.

"You're joking right?" My voice trembled with fear and my fingers turned icy cold. I was still denying Mom's unacceptable death that took me by surprise. Surely she wouldn't die on her birthday,y, right?

"I'm sorry Phoenix but your Mom was dead. She died a few minutes before you arrived. She died repeatedly saying your name until her last breath." He poured the news in the most gentle way possible but the shattering news couldn't be softened by a gentle tone from the man who repeatedly stabbed, kicked, hammered, punched, tortured, and pulverized my heart with unfaithfulness and betrayal.

From that very moment, I knew he wasn't joking. Indescribable pain clutched my heart narrowing my air passage until I could barely breathe. I could feel my whole body shaking from the wave of shock mingled with tormenting fear.

This is not happening! This is not happening! I screamed inwardly when no voice came out of my trembling mouth. My horrified expression met his stare and I saw as pity emerged from his deep blue eyes as he looked down on me.

It took me a great amount of courage not to slap the expression off his face. I despise the inch of pity he was giving me. Pity was the last thing I needed from the scumbag who f****d his secretary on the same kitchen table he once f****d me.

He tried to reach out to touch my arms but my murderous glare was enough for his arms to fall back to his side. I lifted my fingers to touch my cold face to cast aside the hair that had fallen down my surprisingly dry cheeks.

I really want to cry to lessen the pain but my stubborn tears would not pour from my eyes as if it was frozen like my emotions. My heavy-lidded eyelids fluttered close and open as I fought back the enticing urge to drift into a spiraling slumber.

An icy cold wind struck me and I found myself staggering my way to the sofa to steady myself. My chest tightened and a thousand needles seemed to pierce through my heart. It feels like I'm dying!

I hadn't noticed Ace followed behind me at all. I was too busy trying to maintain my stance that it surprised me when my head bumped into his chin. The collision of his chin towards my head was painful but it was no match to the excruciating pain my heart was enduring as thousands of needles ceaselessly pricked my heart.

His strong fingers held my wrist to help me maintain my balance and my back collided with the hard muscles of his chest. I freed my fingers out of his iron clutch but there was no strength left in me to push him away.

"Holy s**t your pale as paper! How are you feeling? Goddammit, Phoenix answer me!" It was then followed by a series of unintelligent curses

My body was beginning to weaken and I shuddered from the freezing cold wind that engulfed my body. Wonderful memories with my mom slowly flashed in my mind as if I'm watching a large tv screen. My pale lips slowly trembled into a wry smile as I finally succumbed to the urge to close my eyes.

I drifted off to sleep.

"Happy birthday mom." A sob nearly tore my throat as she sat on the opposite chair in front of me, smiling brightly with a beautiful radiance emitting from her blissful countenance.

"Why do you need to leave mom? Can't you stay here beside me?"

The warmth of her palm reached out to my cheeks and dried my tears. "When you pick a flower in the garden, which one do you pick?"

"The most beautiful Mom," I replied.

"That's why I'm leaving honey. Beautiful souls are taken early so they don't need to suffer in this world."

"I'm going with you Mom." I held her fingers firmly, not wanting to let her go.

"In time baby, you will be with me." She whispered and kissed my temples. A comforting warmth spread into my heart. The raging emotion inside me vanished miraculously.

"I love you, honey." She whispered one last time and drifted into the light that blinded my sight.

I opened my eyes.

The first thing that greeted my vision was the sight of Ace's red-rimmed eyes. He turned away from me when he realized I was quietly watching him.

"You nearly two days ago." He said without even looking at me making me wonder if he was mad. "Your heart nearly stopped beating." The last sentence cracked his voice and I wondered if it was the product of my illusion which I believe it is.

How I wished I wasn't revived at all. I thought painfully and shifted to the other direction so I wouldn't see him. Knowing he was there standing close to me hurts like hell when I knew he wasn't mine anymore. And the thought he will never be mine was another level of torture.

"Go away, Ace," I whispered and I heard him turn. I could feel his lingering gaze behind my back.

"Phoenix—" There goes his pleading voice again but I wasn't naive anymore to pity a cheater.

"I said go away. I don't want to see you."

He must have read the finality in my tone that he dared not argue knowing I have a weak heart that could put my life in danger.

When I heard the door creaked close, I finally lost my control and the tears drifted down the smoothness of my cheeks. I suddenly wished my heart will stop beating. Why continue to live in suffering when I could just die and escaped the pain easily?

I have so many regrets in my life. I wished I hadn't seduced Ace that night. I wished I hadn't forced him to marry me at gunpoint. I wished I did not fall in love with him so I could avoid the first and second mistakes.

If only I could change my destiny. I will never again fall for the charm of a man like Ace Carter Greyson....the first-ever man who did not just break my heart, he also smashed it into pieces.

I was discharged from the hospital the following day. The expansive heavy grey clouds conquering the morning sky greeted my line of vision as I look up. The nostalgic scent of the damp earth permeating my nostrils persuaded me to close my eyes and I did succumb to the urge.

Ace took his jacket to protect me from the cold but it meant nothing at all. It doesn't change the fact that he was the same man who forcefully offered divorce on the night of our fifth wedding anniversary. I did not look at him and kept my gaze straight to my path.

The moment my feet made their move, the drizzle turned into a full-blown storm. The rain poured heavily against the cemented pavement as Ace held the umbrella to my head to prevent my condition from getting worse.

We traversed the wet and slippery pavement with his arms protectively wrapped on my waist which I did not object to as the rain continued to pour its rage on the flooding ground until we reached his car parked within the nearby parking lot.

He opened the door of the front seat and I clamber quickly to escape the cold whistling wind. I almost stumbled into a small piece of scarlet cloth on the floor as I got in.

Ace climbed into the driver's seat and roared the engine to life. My gaze landed on him by accident and to my horror, he was soaking wet from the rain. His grey shirt clung to the hard muscles of his body while his hair trickled with water.

My lips parted in surprise which eventually turned into pity as I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. However, the unwelcome pang of sympathy faded upon realization hit me, the scarlet cloth lying on the floor of his car was a used lace underwear. I did not say a word, instead, I turned my gaze away from the underwear, fuming with disgust.

I did not argue, I don't have the strength to. The near-death experience when my weak heart stopped beating drained the remains of my strength and until now I have not recovered them yet. I'm not sure if I will ever recover since Mom's death took half of my heart away and the remaining half was already torn into pieces by the only man I love leaving me no purpose to continue living.

"I'm not coming home," I spoke the word with an icy demeanor.

Ace looked at me, his face dark and unfathomable as he clenched his jaw. He opened his mouth to argue but changed his mind and close them again after seeing the threatening glare I cast him. It was the first time he saw that kind of expression in me which means he will follow as I say or there will be a bloodbath.

He drove into the nearest hotel which is a five-star super deluxe I would never afford with my salary as a Hotel Receptionist in a small-time business hotel. The regal place stood proud and majestic into the heart of the city. It was one of the family business Ace inherited as the eldest son of Mr. Greyson, a rich and hard-working businessman that built his empire from scratch.

The black Mercedes-Benz pulled into a stop in the parking lot. I did not wait for Ace to open the door. The gentlemanly pretense was making me uncomfortably mad.

I went straight to the front desk and asked the receptionist for a room to stay overnight. After eyeing me from head to toe, she offered me a strained smile that barely reached her ears. "The rooms are fully booked. We no longer accept new guests."

I swallowed hard, hurt by the uncivil treatment of the receptionist that left me wishing that her attitude was as beautiful as she looked.

"Thank you," I mumbled and whirled away. But before I could leave, Ace captured my wrist with his iron clutch. My startled gaze landed on his menacingly dark face, I never saw him this angry before. He paid me no attention, his dangerous gaze was locked to the startled receptionist.

"Your lack of professionalism disgusts me. I don't tolerate employees with rude behavior. See to it that tomorrow I won't see your face anymore."

The words were a sharp sword digging deep into someone's fragile heart. The receptionist trembled with alarm, her face contorted with profound fear. She did what she thought was the best thing to do, she fled in haste with tears streaming down her face.

Pity sprung inside my chest. Ace was too cruel. He doesn't need to fire the receptionist at all. He could just suspend her for a week for her misconduct.

Ace pulled my wrist before I could even react, I was about to argue but decided to save my strength for later purposes. I followed him like an obedient wife as I steer clear from the tempting idea of an argument.

He pulled my heavy backpack securely around his shoulders and set my fingers free when the door clicked close. The thought that there were only the two of us inside filled me with discomfort. I whirled my back towards him as I gently rubbed my sore wrists.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled in a sincere apology which I pretend not to hear. The weight of his stare against my back was making me uneasy.

The steel door clicked open, exposing the flawless splendor of the golden walls. My lips parted with awe watching the impressive structure of the hallways that reminds me of a royal palace.

My keen and observant eyes noticed how terrified the employees became as he made his way. The sight of him was enough for the hotel staff to shiver with fear under his sharp, scrutinizing glare. Greetings flooded his direction but he made no move to acknowledge them. He remained aloof until we reached the door to his room.

He produced a key card and the door clicked open. He entered the door and I followed behind him. My feet sunk into the warmth of feathery carpet and a soft amazed gasp escaped my lips. I was busy admiring my surroundings that I did not notice him stopped in his tracks and my head ended up bumping on the hard contours of his muscular chest.

"Careful." He murmured and held my shoulders tight to keep my balance. His touch burnt my skin and I flinched in shock. I quickly made a retrieving step backward.

He saw the palpable fear rose in me and he felt it too. His narrowed eyes captured mine. "Are you afraid of me Phoenix?" He asked into a threatening whisper that made me catch my breath in alarm.

"No, "I lied. He took a step closer until my back collided with the wall, leaving me no room to escape.

I pushed him away but my strength was too weak compared to a man as strong as him. He held my fingers captive and pinned them into my head.

"Please let me go, Ace." I pleaded while inwardly trembling with trepidation.

"No... Not yet Phoenix." He buried his nose deep into my neck and a shiver ran through my spine. "I'm not letting you go unless you answered me correctly."

A scream almost tore on my throat when he bit the flesh on my neck and sucked it lightly. "Please don't." I pleaded, heating up. I shut my eyes firmly while resisting the urge not to flung my arms around his neck.

My plea fell on deaf ears. He sucked my neck harder.

"Stop it, Ace!!" I pushed him hard using the strength left in me but my efforts were futile against a six-footer giant.

His fingers caught my chin in a tight hold that made me wince in pain. He lifted my face upward and forced me to look at him. His eyes were dark and menacing, and I never saw him look this dangerous before.

"Why did you cheat on me Phoenix?"