Chapter 3: The Prank call
1609 Words
Ava Duval
In all her five years of marriage, yesterday was the first time Damian ever hit her, and it was because of Serena.
He had rushed Serena to the hospital, and came back shortly after just to berate Ava.
Ava sat alone in the living room when he came home the next evening, after three days of staying in the hospital with Serena and the children.
"Damian, I want to talk to you about something." Ava's voice was low which made Damian look up at her for the first time in three days, and the red print of his fingers on her cheeks was still there.
"There's nothing to talk about, Ava." He shot back. "You still feel no form of remorse after what you did and—"
"Is it true?" Ava stood up to face him, not hiding the first and last tear that slipped from her eyes. "Is it true Serena sabotaged my pregnancy, and you knew about it all these while?"
Damian's back stiffened and his jaw went slack when she dropped those words. That reaction was all that Ava was looking out for.
It meant Serena wasn't lying. It meant Damian had been wicked towards her from the start of their marriage. Everything was a lie!
"Ava..." Damian started. "Serena was just young and foolish. You shouldn't make this a big deal!" His words shocked her to her core.
"Was that the reason you hit her and made her almost lose her pregnancy?" He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I'm so disappointed in you, Ava. You went too far. You're too petty!"
Ava felt her entire body shaking with so much rage when the words fell from his mouth. "What. Did. You. Just. Say. Damian?"
Damian stared at her, but his eyes were empty. "I'm saying you should rest and take responsibility for your actions for hitting her. Serena has already paid the price of what she did because she was just being a child." He sighed heavily.
"You needed to see the way she beat herself up all year because she was ridden with guilt. Isn't that more than enough? You're just overreacting, Ava, and you need to chill."
More than enough?
"So..." Ava began, chuckling at how her life had turned.
"She destroyed my womb, took my kidney that you lied to me was for you, and because she beats herself up for a year, you think it's enough punishment?" She shook her head in disappointment and turned on her heels to leave.
She wanted to get away from all of these. She got into her car and sped out of the estate. Ava drove as fast as she could. She wanted to get away from everything. The pain... the betrayal... everything...
She didn't know where she was going. She needed to move. The house felt like a cage. Damian's words were still in her ears. “You're overreacting.”
Her phone buzzed beside her, and she almost ignored it, but she remembered the text from last night that she barely saw while her eyes were blurred with tears. She could remember three words from the text last night... Father, Grandfather, and Inheritance.
Maybe this was what she needed to keep her mind off her reality. She didn't care if it was a prank or not. All she wanted was to forget everything and the burn in her chest.
She swiped her phone's screen and answered the call, and a woman's voice filled the speakers of her car.
"Ms. Duval? This is Rebecca from Tate & Associates. Mr. Tate's assistant."
Ava gripped the wheel. "Yes?"
"I'm calling to reschedule your appointment."
There was even an appointment?
"We've been trying to reach out to you, but you never answer. We were lucky to get your response yesterday agreeing to the meeting, however, Mr. Tate had an emergency. He's very sorry. Can we move you to tomorrow at 2 PM?"
She sent a message back to them? She didn't recall doing any of that. Or was it because she was exhausted last night?
"Ms. Duval?"
"Yeah. Sure. Tomorrow." She replied, her mind still in a haze.
"Great. I'll send you a confirmation." She said before the line went dead.
Ava's mind had began wandering as she drove to nowhere in particular, and she didn't notice two vehicles following behind her and an incoming vehicle in front of her until it was too late.
It was too late to slam her brakes and swerve around.
The cars that hit her reversed and sped out of sight, and Ava was left in her own pool of blood and a crushed car, and she was slowly slipping out of consciousness as she reached out to her phone to call the only person that her life had revolved around all these years... Damian.
***
Ava didn't know how many times she slipped in and out of consciousness, and when she was able to touch her phone again, she saw that two hours had already passed, and she was still in the wreckage.
Damian had not come.
The cold realization that she was now all alone, hit her hard that a tear slipped from her eyes.
She was about to slip out of consciousness again when she heard commotion outside the car as someone was detaching the car door from it's hinges.
Hope bloomed in her chest that Damian had come, but even in her blurry unconscious mind after the door was pulled apart, the man above her wasn't Damian.
"s**t!" The stranger cursed under his breath.
"How come there haven't been any paramedics brought here already?"
He pushed his head inside the wreckage and his hands slipped under Ava's waist as he tried to carry her out of the car.
"Sir!" Ava could hear someone speaking in the dullness of her mind.
"You will stain your shirt. At least, wait for the police or ambulance to come. You will stain your expensive clothes!"
Ava, in her haze, could perceive the scent of his perfume filling her nose and giving her a strange sense of calmness. The calmness that Damian once gave her, and another tear slipped down her cheeks.
"She's alive, but her breathing is shallow."
The man that was carrying her said hurriedly. "We need to be in the hospital in the next five minutes, Colt. I don't care if you break all the traffic rules. I'll pay the fines!"
***
When Ava opened her eyes, the room was brightly lit, and she could tell she was in the hospital. Her eyes darted around the room until they landed on two tall and imposing men in the corner of the room, speaking in low tones.
She recognized the tallest of them almost instantly, as the man who carried her out of the wreckage, while the second man had the voice of the person trying to stop him.
"You saved me." Those were the first words out of her mouth that made both men turn, and she could swear her breath caught at the sight of her saviour. Not only was he tall and broad shouldered, but he had a lethal face card.
"You're awake. That is good." The man began, his voice deep and dark in a way that sent shivers down her spine.
"The doctor will be here shortly, and I have had your phone repaired in case you have a family you would like to call."
He didn't waste any more time, and Ava didn't have the chance to thank him, then he patted his friend on the shoulders and the both walked out. Shortly after, the doctor came in to check her vitals.
"Thank you, sir." Ava began in a small and weak voice.
"You're one lucky woman, do you know that?" The doctor peered down at her with a small smile on his face.
"We had to do a full body check on you, and you're one strong woman. If the boss didn't find you on time, you would have bled out and died. But you're lucky."
"The boss? Who is he? I would like to thank him."
"He is the owner of the hospital." The doctor said. "Lucian Wright. Everyone was surprised to see him running into the hospital with you in his arms. And you shouldn't worry about thanking him. He is... hard to find and talk to."
Ava gathered that in the short conversation she had with the man. He wasn't uncomfortable making conversations, he just wasn't interested in one.
"He cleared all your bills too, if you're worried about that." The doctor gave her a deep smile. "Have you already called your family members to come? A room will be prepared for them to stay, paid by Mr. Lucian already."
After the doctor left, Ava managed to carry her phone and dial Damian's number. It went to voicemail six different times before he finally picked up.
"What? What is it? What do you want?" The sharpness in his voice broke her.
"Serena, the children, and I are out on an outing as a way to welcome her back from the hospital you sent her to. What do you want?"
Ava bit her lips and swallowed. "I was in an accident, Damian." Her voice was low. "My car has been crushed, and I'm in the hospital. Can you come pick me up?"
There was a pause on the other end of the call. "I don't know what kind of clingy games you're playing now, but if you're serious, I'm sure you'll find a way to sort yourself out. I have to go. The kids are coming.”
- Writer
