What He Saw
1373 Words
Adrian’s fist came down again, a dull, sickening sound filling the room.
The guard collapsed against the tiled wall, sliding to the floor, blood already soaking into his uniform. His face was swollen, one eye nearly shut, breath coming out in broken wheezes. Adrian didn’t stop. He barely even looked at the damage.
“Where did you take her?” Adrian asked quietly.
This was the guard Adrian had ordered to keep a watch on Arabella until she left the city. The same guard that had come back to tell him he watched Arabella get into her flight.
Yet the airline had no record of Arabella ever buying a ticket from them.
Adrian hadn't been suspicious.
He had thought Arabella changed her name and for a month he’d sent several guards and hired secret agencies to search all over the United States in search of her…until Gavin found out Serena had paid the same guard a huge amount of money the day Arabella left.
“Tell me!” He roared, his voice trembling with fury.
His knuckles were split open, blood dripping down his wrist, but he felt none of it. Pain meant nothing—nothing compared to the hollow, crushing ache lodged in his chest.
Nothing compared to the fear of losing Arabella forever.
The guard flinched as Adrian sent another blow to his face.
“H–havenbrook Psychiatric Hospital. Ms. Smith registered her as her sister.” the guard confessed, sobbing.
Adrian crouched in front of him, gripping his collar and yanking him upright despite the scream that followed. His brown eyes were cold, empty of mercy.
“If anything happens to her, you are going to pay for it.”
Silence.
Just then Gavin ran into the office, his iPad in hand, “Sir, Ms. Arabella was right. She did receive a text from your phone on the night of the gala.”
Adrian slammed his wrist on the wall just above the trembling guard, his eyes blood shot.
Ever since that night, he had been digging into every allegation Serena made, finally realizing how scheming she was.
“Is she in her office yet?” He asked.
Gavin nodded and before he could say another word, Adrian shoved past him storming out of his office.
“Clean this up,” Gavin instructed the idle guard before hurrying after Adrian.
***
Serena was just settling into her desk when Adrian stormed into her office.
He’d been avoiding her for the past month, using work as an excuse to cover up.
Serena knew he was longing for Arabella, but he hadn't dared air it out, so she kept on her good girl act.
But seeing Adrian in her office, her face quickly lit up, “Adrian, you came to see me today…”
Before she could link her arm around his, Adrian grabbed her neck, shoving her to her desk.
“How dare you Serena? You lied to me!” His eyes were blood shot, jaws tight.
He truly trusted Serena just because they’ve been friends since childhood…and that was his fault.
Blood rushed up Serena's face as she struggled to free herself from Adrian's choking grip.
“Let go, Adrian. I—I can't breathe…” her voice came in short gasps.
But Adrian pressed on a little longer, then let go when it looked like she was going to pass out.
Serena had to hold onto her desk for support as she coughed vehemently, gasping for air.
“My mom and I were the ones who had problems with Arabella. Why did you have to target her so badly?” He swallowed the last word like it hurt to say it.
Serena's jaw tightened, her eyes turning red as she realized Adrian caught her.
Not sure how much he knew, she tried to salvage the situation.
“Adrian…” she started, faking her sweet, innocent voice again, “Everything I did was for us.” Her voice broke for a moment before she caught it.
“She stole you from me and dared to stall a divorce for five years. I had to do something.” She added, trying to hold Adrian's hand again.
Adrian shoved her back, his eyes filled with guilt as he realized he’d have believed Serena again if he didn't know the truth.
“I already divorced her, Serena. But you still had to kidnap her and send her to a psychiatric hospital and even had the audacity to register her in Elena's name. Have you gone crazy?”
Serena swallowed, her grip tightening around the hem of her skirt as she realized she was completely exposed.
Yet, she still had to come up with a lie.
“You saw her at the gala, she has really gone crazy. I was just helping her because she’s Axel's mom…”
“Don't…Don't bring Axel into this!” He snapped.
His hands trembled in anger, turning his face sharply before the tear rolled down his cheeks.
He hasn't only disappointed his Father, he has hurt Arabella terribly and now his son is suffering the consequences.
“You are coming with me to the hospital now.”
He started to walk away, but Serena folded her arms, standing back in defiance.
“Serena Smith!” Adrian roared.
“What?” Serena snapped, “Do you think you are just going to bring her back and everything else will go away?”
Adrian turned to face her once again, “Yes. She is going to forgive me once I announce our engagement is over and I cut ties with you.”
“She will come back for Axel.”
Serena let out a humorless chuckle, “So you think you are guilt-free?”
“You enabled me, Adrian. You believed me every time and chose me instead of her.”
She took a few steps closer seeing how weak he'd become, a smirk dancing on her lips.
“That night in your room…it wasn't a wet dream as you thought, Adrian.”
Adrian's eyes widened, “What do you mean?”
Serena chuckled, slowly circling him as she spoke, “She saw me giving you a blowjob, Adrian. And she saw how much you f*****g enjoyed it.”
“You are a very terrible drunk, Adrian. So all I did was tell a little lie and you actually believed you had a wet dream. How stupid!”
Adrian angrily grabbed her neck again, pinning her to the wall, this time he couldn't hold back his tears.
His hands were too weak to even press against her neck firmly, so Serena didn't fight back.
“We are both complicit, Adrian…” She started with her innocent voice again, making a puppy face that could have otherwise fooled Adrien, “So why don't we just put her behind us and make our happy family?”
Adrian slowly let go of his loose grip, and for a moment, Serena felt like she’d won again.
“I have to save Arabella first. I will worry about her forgiveness later,” he concluded, pulling her away.
But when they arrived at the hospital, Adrian wasn't prepared for what he saw.
“The patient experienced acute anaphylaxis. There was nothing we could do,” Dr. Sebastian explained when they asked for Arabella.
Adrian felt his legs giving out on him, “No! Arabella can't be dead.”
“I need to see my Petals. There is no way she could just die like that,” he insisted.
“We advise against viewing the body in its current condition,” Dr. Sebastian suggested.
But even that went through Adrian's ears. If he was going to believe Arabella is dead, he needed to actually see her.
When he lifted the sheet from her face, he froze.
Adrian’s world shattered in silence. His knees locked as if his body forgot how to hold him upright. The face staring back was swollen beyond unrecognizable.
The doctor claimed it was as a result of allergy to her medication.
But Adrian refused to believe it.
For once in his life, he desperately prayed it wasn't her even as the faint reddish petal birthmarks on her shoulder burned into his vision.
- Writer
