Black Rose

Chapter 20

My fiancé is a mad man.

That's the only conclusion I could reach given the fact that he made the doctors keep me in the hospital for four weeks instead of one. He was stressing unnecessarily and I think they went with it more for his sake than mine.

The only endearing thing about the situation was how genuinely worried he was about me.

Things were still rocky between us, but he'd taken time off from work to be with me at the hospital every single day. I'd tried to kick him out, but of course it hadn't worked. Instead he'd had me moved to a private room where he'd set up a little office for himself. When I was asleep, he would work.

I couldn't even remember the last time he'd slept for more than two hours.

"I swear to God Olivier, I'm going to disappear once I leave this place just so that you don't see me for a while," I threatened.

"I've told you before that there's nowhere you could go that I wouldn't find you, so knock yourself out," he challenged, straight-faced as ever.

"Can you at least sleep?" I pleaded.

He looked like he was about to say something but changed his mind at the last second. "Let's make a bargain."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm listening."

"You've been avoiding having a full conversation with me, and we can't ignore the topic at hand for the rest of our lives, so here's the deal. If you hear me out and let me explain, I'll sleep," he bargained.

"Whether or not you sleep actually doesn't affect me," I retorted.

"Rose," he sighed.

"I don't want to be hurt Olivier. I'm fine with not knowing anything," I admitted.

"Except you're not, and neither am I. Also, you're not going to get hurt. I did nothing wrong," he argued.

"That's a strong matter of opinion. Disappearing without communicating with your fiancée and then having her find you half naked in your ex-wife's apartment isn't the definition of nothing wrong," I countered.

He sat up straight. "Ok, fair point, but the only thing I truly did wrong was disappear without saying anything. That is my only crime."

"I can just see us going in circles, so let me just let you start from the beginning," I suggested.

He nodded. "Do you know who Calista is?"

"The artist from the exhibit? I don't know who she is but I remember the name," I replied.

"Calista is Daisy. Calista is her pseudonym," he informed.

He let me process the new information as I put some pieces together in my head. "That night, Grace was upset that Calista hadn't showed. She wanted to see Daisy?"

"As you know, it was Grace's birthday on that day. The exhibit was for her, even if Daisy would never admit that out loud. Grace fell in love with art from watching Daisy work, and it's probably the only thing the two of them truly bonded over. However, while Grace still loves art, a part of her still wanted to be close to Daisy, hence the disappointment at Daisy's no show," he explained.

"What do you mean wanted? Doesn't she want to be close to her anymore?" I asked.

"She told me that she's done with Daisy. Even if she wasn't, there's no way I'd ever let Daisy near her again," he replied.

"I don't understand," I commented.

He rubbed his face, heaving a heavy sigh, before standing. "I got a call in the middle of the night telling me that I had to pay some money or Daisy would die. With it being four in the morning, I didn't think the person calling me was serious, until they video called me and showed me a tied-up Daisy. The woman's always been unstable, but she's gone too far this time."