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chapter two : brewing storm

Amelia pov

"This is not my station and neither is it my place to say it, but Amelia, you are pregnant, eight weeks in, in fact.

You can leave, but be careful," Ashton said to me in one breath.

My heart grew heavy and my eyes watered more.

He made his way towards the door with hesitation, and I could not help but feel pained; it made me wonder if he hated me.

"I do not hate you, Amelia, I will never,"

Ashton said, as if reading my mind.

"When did you come back?" I asked him, fighting back the tears in my eyes and the numbness in my chest.

"Long enough to know you have been enduring s**t," he replied through gritted teeth and controlled breath.

"I need to leave, I am busy," he said, finally leaving me alone in the hospital room.

The sound of the machine that had been soothing when Ashton was here became haunting after he left. I laid on the floor, letting my remaining tears stream out.

I laid there for what felt like hours until I heard the door creak open.

"Mrs. Harlow, Mrs. Harlow."

"ENOUGH WITH THE MRS., CAREN! I HAVE HEARD IT TONS OF TIMES ALREADY AND IT DOES NOT MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!" I jeered at her.

"I am sorry, Ma'am,"

she muttered as she sat down in front of me with a remorseful expression.

I felt bad about it, but I was in no mood to console her, so I just laid there as the silence grew deafening.

"TING TING TING TING TING TING TING TING TING TING TING TING TING TING."

The machine beeping continued, making me remember the day Mother died.

"Mother had been diagnosed with arsenic poisoning that has developed into a malignant stage, causing her cancer."

The sound of a phone vibrating broke my thought train. Caren brought out her phone, and I saw fear flash in her eyes.

I swallowed as I tried to sit up. She moved to support me with sitting, but I motioned to her to pick up the call instead.

"Mr. Devon."

Caren spoke in the meekest tone she could muster.

"WHERE IS MY WIFE, CAREN?" Devon's chilly voice echoed from the phone.

"She is..."

"Don't you dare lie to me, Caren! I have got Amelia's phone tracked and cloned.

Her location keeps showing the store, but I am right in front of the store and I can't see you or that b***h!" He spoke in a clipped tone, as if afraid someone would hear him.

"WHY THE f**k IS THIS PLACE CLOSED, CAREN?

WHY ARE YOU NOT ANSWERING ME?

ARE YOU DEAF? DOES AMELIA KNOW WHAT IT COST ME TO MARRY HER?" He screamed this time around.

I collected the phone from Caren, who looked more shaken than I was at the moment, and I spoke,

"HI."

"HI? HI? AMELIA, ALL I GET IS HI?

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PICK UP MY FAMILY FROM THE AIRPORT! YOU LEFT MY PARENTS STRANDED AT THE AIRPORT AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS HI?"

He hollered.

"I am at the hospital..."

"I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR LOCATION RIGHT NOW, AMELIA!

I NEED YOU TO LEAVE THAT PLACE,

GO TO MY PARENTS, GROVEL AT THEIR FEET UNTIL YOU ARE FORGIVEN, AND DO NOT THINK YOU WOULD NOT BE PUNISHED FOR YOUR INSOLENCE TODAY!"

He hollered once more before the line went dead.

Almost immediately, a text popped in with an address and a message which was more of a warning:

"Apologize and smile."

I looked at Caren, whose expression had gone back to normal, and I could not help my sigh.

"You know you can always quit." I murmured

"The car is out front."

I bit my lips at her lack of response.

"I am pregnant."

She looked up at me with the light in her eyes sparkling , and almost immediately, her expression changed into that of terror and pity.

"Let's go, Caren,"

I said, stretching my left hand towards her.

She stood up first, then pulled me up.

We got out of the room, leaving the machine still beeping constantly.

I looked around in hope to catch a glance of Ashton, but I was only welcomed with the views of patients and their families walking around the wards.

The nurses stared at me with conflicted expressions that is when I caught sight of caren filling a form.

We finally got out, leaving the smell of cleaning supplies and latex gloves behind.

My teeth began to chatter as I walked towards the parked car.

"Ma'am, should I take you back to the store?" Caren asked as she gripped the steering wheel.

"Take me to the nearest jewelry store, I need to get a piece for Devon's mother," I said to her.

She opened the car's glove compartment and handed me a bunch of wet wipes. "You need to clean the blood on your wrist, Ma'am."

She mumbled and ignited the car immediately while I got on with the cleaning of the dried blood that had trickled from my wrist into my palm.

Then my thoughts began to wander.

Why is Ashton back here in L.A.? He was supposed to be in New Zealand or was it Chicago? Did he come back because he found a wife?

At the thought of Ashton having a wife, my chest began to feel heavy, and my despair grew.

Another round of tears formed in my eyes, and I did not bother with them; I just let them fall.

My heart began to cooperate with my brain to conjure memories of Ashton's and my past.

I could not help the smile that formed on my face till my brain conjured that day which caused disgust to replace whatever giddiness I felt by remembering being involved with him.

And suddenly I was back at Wellington high,my memories blurring my reality.

#Wellington High#

Ashton came back from the restroom, settling beside me and reaching out for a piece of my apple pie simultaneously.

I tried to swat his hand away, but his grip was faster, and he bit into the apple pie immediately, munching on it loudly.

"f**k, this tastes good," Ashton moaned as he dipped the leftover portion in his hand into his mouth.

"You are such a glutton, Ash," I said to him, watching him eat the pie Aunt Claire made me.

"Do you know how long I begged for this?" I groaned as he pulled the platter of pie towards himself.

He picked another piece, and I immediately snatched it from his hold, dipping all of it in my mouth.

I chewed on it aggressively, gaining a raised brow and a smirk from him.

"Mel, how could you be this stingy?" Ash said to me as I pulled the platter towards myself.

"Of course I will be stingy! It took a lot to get a full platter! You know how populated our house is!" I said to him with my mouth full, causing my voice to come out like mumbles.

"I cannot believe it, Ashton looks so calm. He can't possibly do that," I heard some girls whisper as they looked at us and walked away.

"ASH, WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME?" I whisper-yelled at him.

The whispers grew harsher and the stares became worse and more focused.

"Are you sure you did not do anything?" I asked again, looking appalled by the sudden atmosphere change.

"I did not do anything," he replied, looking as confused as I was.

"Then why is everyone staring at you?" I asked again, giving him a pointed look.

"I know I am a lot, but I did not wrong this time," he said, facing me.

"Are you su..."

Before I could finish my sentence, "THAT IS HIM!" A shrill, loud voice belonging to a girl in a semi-torn and stained uniform said, pointing at Ashton, cutting me off.

The murmurs in the class grew, and they began to stare at Ashton with a look of disgust.

"He really did it."

"Such a pity."

"I know he is a bully, but I never pegged him to be a demon."

"It is always the handsome and calm-looking one."

"Look at what he did to an innocent girl."

Whispers from every corner came, and I could not contain the rage that was building in my chest.

"You have started bullying girls now, right?" I asked Ashton, who looked confused and distraught.

"I do not understand what is going on, Mel, I swear," he retorted immediately as his face morphed into disappointment.

One of the guards moved closer, trying to pull him away.

"AT LEAST I DESERVE TO KNOW WHY I AM GETTING DRAGGED AWAY!"

Ash snapped at the guard trying to pull him away.

"Mr. Mahone, you have been accused of raping Miss Cecile."

"WHAT???"

HONKKKKK

I got jolted back to the present as Caren suddenly came to a halt, slamming her hand onto the car horn.