Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 60

NICHOLAS

I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt so helpless.

Probably when I was five or six, and I couldn't get a hang of riding my bike. No amount of lessons helped, and I'd go to bed in tears because Matteo and some of my other cousins had gotten a hang of it so fast.

That was nothing compared to what I felt as I sat in the waiting room of the hospital because Giselle didn't want to see me. It was over thirty-six hours since I'd brought her to the hospital. Did that cut me? Yes, but it didn't overshadow the relief I felt after Fitzpatrick had given me the all-clear.

I hadn't been able to do shit to help her, and the thought that I could have lost her left a sickening twist in my stomach. I couldn't lose her. It hurt too much to think about - more than the news of losing my mother. That was my first fucking sign.

I reviewed the interaction I had with her that morning, looking for signs that she'd try to take her life merely hours late.

I woke up, and she wanted to snuggle for an extra ten minutes. I stayed there with her, her head on my chest. Ten minutes probably passed in that position, and it wasn't until she was deep in sleep once more that I crawled out of bed to get ready for the day.

I did just that, and when I was about to leave, she opened her eyes, asking for her morning kiss, which led to me taking my clothes off and fucking her until she passed out again. That was it. Nothing else happened until I left the house.

Whatever had triggered that change in her had everything to do with the phone call Sara said she received from her mother. Fucking Lucia.

Her therapist had once told me that Giselle hadn't been able to take her life in the past because she was too afraid to do so. Lucia had pushed her past that point, past the fear, past caring, and she was going to pay with her blood for that.

I rose to my feet when the door to Giselle's room opened, and Sara walked out, a somber expression on her face.

"Does she want to see me now?" I asked, grasping at that tiny string of hope. It was cut only a second later when Sara shook her head.

"She didn't say. She's a little tired."

I sat back down on the chair, sighing. "Adrienne is somewhere in Dubai. I told her not to make the flight, and that I'd fill her in on the situation. I called her friend. She's hopping on a plane and coming to see her. She should be here tonight. I had Matteo go pick up Cara from school. They'll talk to her."

Even though she didn't want to see me, I knew she couldn't turn those two away. They were family to her. As much as it fucking gutted me that I wasn't able to, I was glad they'd be able to offer her solace.

"That will be good for her."

"Why the fuck doesn't she want to see me, Sara? We were good that morning. I did nothing wrong. I left her unconscious in bed. So what the fuck is up with this switch-up? Did she say I did something wrong? Did I say something wrong to her that morning?" I asked. The frustration of not knowing was slowly driving me insane.

The stress of the situation was fucking with my head. I could taste my desperation on my tongue.

'Fucking pathetic!' I could just hear my uncle saying that with a nasty scowl on his face.

Never in a million years did I think she'd be able to reduce me to this, but here I fucking was, on the verge of a breakdown because my wife didn't want to see me. It was almost laughable, except, in this case, I didn't have the will to crack a fucking smile.

"Fuck!" I cursed, burying my face in my palms.

Sara sat down next to me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "She didn't mention any of that, Niko."