Loving my Former Enemy

Chapter 16

Arthur POV:

Today, I got up and dressed myself in casual jeans and a button up shirt. The town here was nice, and the food was good…but I had to stay on track.

It was about one day before I had to get back on the road and leave for New York….with Alina.

Today was a good day, the sun was shining and everyone around me seemed extremely excited for the day. It was still early, but the day had begun.

I wondered how she was doing and if she had figured out what I tried to hint her on. If she did, that wouldn’t be good at all.

Getting two breakfast burritos and drinks, I placed them in the car with me and started my drive towards the house where Alina was at.

Even though he still claimed to love her and all, who could literally trust that he wouldn’t drug her food or drink? And with her pregnancy cravings, she would be even more hungry.

I played some low music in the car and singed along to most of the lines, while I passed up some houses I had knocked on days ago when I was looking for her.

Turning onto another street, I looked around to make sure I went the correct way. As I was doing so, I saw a person in a distance, walking slowly. It was a woman.

I couldn’t see her face, but her hair and clothes were visible enough. The persons hair resembled Alina’s, actually it was the same color. And despite the clothes, I could see a small baby bump.

My eyebrow raised up, curiosity filling me. Who was she and why was she walking? Her steps were off, and she looked like she could faint any moment.

Even though I was somewhat impatient to make sure Alina was good, I couldn’t leave this woman like that. She didn’t look well, even though I could only see the back of her.

Turning my car around, I followed the woman and tried to get a good look at her. After a few moments of repositioning my truck on the street, I could get a clear view of the side her face.

The moment I saw who the woman was, my eyes widened and a gasp escaped my lips. It was Alina.

I immediately got out of the car and ran to her, she hadn’t noticed my presence yet. Once I got to her, she finally looked at me.

Her eyes were swollen and they were bloodshot, the dry tears staining her face while a few still ran down from her eyes. Her lips were quivering and she looked like she would faint any moment.

”Alina, are you okay? What are you doing out here alone, what happened?“ I asked in a rush, holding her in my arms so she wouldn’t fall down.

”H-he…” She tried to tell me something, but couldn’t. She continued to hiccup, and the more seconds that passed, she looked even worse.

”C’mon, you can tell me all about it in the car.” I told her and she faintly nodded, allowing me to walk her to the passenger side.

Before we could even make it completely to the car, her steps became more sloppy and it took me more effort to get her to it. I looked down at her to find that she didn’t look fully conscious.

I stopped immediately. “Hey…are you…you okay?” I asked, worry evident in my tone.

She didn’t respond, instead I got my response from her next action. She had fainted.

I swiftly caught her from falling and picked her up, walking towards the passenger side.

I still couldn’t believe she had just lost consciousness. The entire walk to my car, I was wondering what happened to get her in this situation.

Opening the door, I sat her in the passenger side and buckled her seatbelt. Once done, I literally ran to my side and drove away into the direction of Louis’s house.

The moment I got there, I immediately got out of the car and walked up to the door, banging on it.

I proceeded to try and open the door when I got no response. Luckily for me, the door opened and I stepped in. I looked around the house and found Lucas in the living room.

He was on his knees and his head was bowed down. I mentally cursed him with every single word in the dictionary. Just looking at him, I knew he had everything to do with why she passed out.

I took long strides to where he was kneeled on the floor. The moment I got to him, he looked up…but not fast enough to dodge my next action.

”You bastard, what the hell did you do to her?” I yelled in his face and punched him hard in the nose, followed by a raging kick in the stomach.

He wailed out in pain, unable to answer my question fast enough. “Do you realize what the hell could have happened to her and the baby if I didn’t find her?“ I continued to yell as I hit him repeatedly. 

“Ple-please…” I heard him say in a meek voice. I thought about it for a moment, not really wanting to.

After another kick and two punches, I finally stopped and huffed, catching my breath. “f*****g talk. Now!” I spat out, my eyes blazing.

I couldn’t believe what I saw. I didn’t expect to see Alina in that condition. It broke something inside me. The moment I met her, I knew how innocent and nice of a person she was, only wanting peace and solace in her life after what happened with her father.

Her life wasn’t easy, and I couldn’t bear to see her being hurt constantly. If it wasn’t my cousin, it was this asshole or some random enemy of Tristan’s.

In my eyes, she was like a sister to me. I didn’t know when I felt that way, maybe it was when I saw how she was at the business arrangement my uncle hosted.

She brought out a side of me that I didn’t even know existed. I have always been a good person with good intentions, but I felt like a greater person when it came to her. I wanted to be someone she could rely on and trust.

Not only did I view her as a friend, I thought of her as a little sister whom everyone wanted to harm. All I wanted to do was protect her from these assholes. Even Tristan, despite that fact I knew how much he cared and loved her as well.

So you’d understand why I was extremely pissed and in the mode to break this man’s limbs. He broke her before and now I can see why she can’t accept Tristan. But whatever he did for her to walk out like that and put everything on the line to get away from him, was a whole another level. I couldn’t bear the sight of what I had witnessed.

”I….s-she walked out on m-me when….I….” I immediately stopped him.

”When she found out about you and the silly game you wanted to play.“ I finished off.

He didn't respond, but he knew that I was correct. “No matter how many times you try….you will never be able to get her back. No matter if you change you name, your hair, your eye color and try to change your identity as a person that you are…..you’ll still be who you was. The same person who broke her. All you’re doing is shattering those broken pieces more. What do you think of yourself, now?” I asked him.

He was still quiet, but just before I raised my fist to throw another punch in his direction, he spoke.

”I….I still love her and I wanted to try and change. I know that you think I am not worthy of her or her love, but that doesn’t change the way I feel for her. I just wanted another chance, be someone else and get the love of my life back.” He said, finally looking at me.

Even with his confession, it was still wrong of him to do what he did. “You don’t get second chances, you can’t fix what has already been done…you move on and change yourself for the betterment of who you are as a person, not to get someone back who won’t even take a look in your direction.”

Louis looked back down, the guilt on his face. “I didn’t mean her any harm, nor her baby.“

I refrained from rolling my eyes. “You can’t have not meant it when you knew what you were doing from the start and the outcomes of what would happen.” I replied.

”No, I would have guessed she would have heard me out and at least tried to forgive me if not anything else.”

A scoff escaped my mouth at his words. “Like she’d ever give you another chance. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I know whatever it was that YOU did, it changed her.” I told him.

He sighed. “I humiliated her and told her something that I didn’t mean because of a stupid bet I made with a few of my friends. I didn’t know how much she meant to me until I lost her.”

I shook my head, unable to process his confession. He was literally unbelievable.

“If I was her, I wouldn’t take you back either.” I said out loud. He finally looked up again.

”How….is she?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Like you honestly care if she was okay or not?”

”I am, though. I seriously had no intention of hurting her anymore.”

I wanted to argue back and tell him how much of a lie he was, but I wasn’t going to waste my time and energy on a person like him. Alina, the baby and their health was more important than holding this conversation.

”I don’t know yet myself, but most probably….she’ll live through it. She’ll be fine as long as you stay away from her from now on. No stalking or running after her, no having people go to her on your behalf, nothing. Don’t even look in her direction. Don’t go near her. Leave her alone.” I said in a warningly tone, almost threatening.

”F-fine….I won’t.” He said after a few seconds.

I gave him a glare, unable to trust him. “I promise, I won’t.” Louis promised.

I sighed, ready to just leave from here altogether. “You better not break your promise, or I will break you. Not only me, but her LOVER.” I said, making the last word loid and clear to him, that she moved on and wanted better in her life. Not that Tristan was honestly a better pick, but at least I knew he’d never hurt her….maybe. At least he had good intentions and only wanted the very best and keep her happy.

I could see how his shoulders slumped and his face morphed into sadness. He looked pathetic in my eyes.

”Well, my work is done here….good luck changing your life around for the betterment of YOU.” I said and walked away, closing the door behind me and walking back to the car.

The moment I started the engine, I drove away and went to the hotel I was staying at. I was ready to just go.

As I parked, I heard Alina stir beside me and the next moment, her eyes slowly opened up.

She looked at me with so much confusion, but the hurt still there. It broke my heart in pieces to see what had become of her after what he did. There was probably even more to the story, but that alone was enough to prove how much he broke her, how wrong he was and how much of an evil sick human being he is.

”Arthur….I…..I am sorry.” She said to me.

I shook my head. “Don’t apologize, there’s nothing to be sorry for.“ I said back.

She nodded, a small smile on her face but it looked painful. I could see the tears forming back in her eyes.

”Hey, don’t shed any tears on that bastards behalf…..” I said and rubbed her back soothingly.

She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. I immediately hugged her back, and in an instant…she started crying.

In the middle of her sobs, she tried to speak but it all came out so weird she just stopped trying.

I continued to give her solace, comfort and warmth in my hold and eventually, she stopped crying.

The moment she did, I let go and passed a smile to her. “It’ll all be alright. I promise.” I said.

She nodded, not one look of doubt or worry about what I said on her face. She trusted me.

”Thank you as well, for helping me.” Alina croaked out, her voice a little scratchy.

I shrugged. “Just a gentlemen helping out his fellow friend.” I told her.

She smiled fully and let out a small laugh. “Well, thanks anyway.“

I opened the door to the car and she looked at me with confusion. “Why are we here?” She asked.

”I am done here. We should go back, so I’m getting my bag that I packed.“ I informed her.

She slowly nodded. “Oh, okay…” I sensed the worry in my tone, causing me to reassure her some more.

”Would you like to stay in the car? It’ll only take a few minutes.” I asked.

She nodded again. “Yeah, I don’t feel like walking.”

I totally understood why, causing me to nod back. “Alright, I won’t be long.“ I said and closed the door after rolling the window down, locking the doors and playing some music for her.

Once I got to the suite I was staying in, I grabbed my stuff and packed it. I paid the very last bill and then proceeded to leave back to the car.

Sticking the bag in the back seat, I unlocked the car and got back inside the car, pulling out of the hotel parking lot.

”I really like this music.” She hummed to the song as it played. I smiled.

”Yeah, me too. It’s one of my favorites.” I told her.

”Mmmmm” , she hummed out.

As we made our way back on the road, I stopped to load the car with some more fuel and got us some snacks and drinks.

She accepted them and immediately began munching on them. I also handed her the burrito I got for her earlier, after warming it back up inside the gas station.

Once everything was good, our trip started back to New York, where every single issue and problem was waiting.

And most of all….TRISTAN was waiting….

And I didn’t even know how right I was, until I found out that he knew about my trip here all along…

TO BE CONTINUED….

So dear readers, how was today’s update? Please do let me know and share your thoughts with me. Also, don’t forget to like my story if you are enjoying it and haven’t already. The support means so much more than words could ever say.

What do you think will go down in the next chapter? One thing is for sure, Alina and Tristan will encounter either in the next chapter or the following after it, but it won’t be too pretty.

So, who’s ready for those upcoming chapters? I am, for sure! A new update is coming soon….

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!