Believe me (RHEKKER)

Chapter 19

"I thought we could go somewhere?" as she finished her hot, crunchy toast, Ava suddenly suggested. They were both silent throughout Breakfast, and Connor looked rather thoughtful. "You didn't get enough sleep?"

Looking up from the table as if he were looking at bread crumbs, Connor shook his head: "Good idea, Ava. I have a home for such purposes".

Coughing involuntarily, Ava stared at him: " You didn't tell me". There was a hint of resentment in her voice, as if a great secret had been hidden from her and she had accidentally found out about it. Ava stood up from the table and crossed her arms over her chest, keeping her eyes on Rhodes, still seeing that something was wrong with him.

"Just a house I've been to a few times, and not having to meet my father on family holidays" he said indifferently, clearing away the dirty dishes, standing there drinking the last of his coffee, his back to Ava in front of the sink.

"Connor, what's going on?" when he turned away from her, Ava knew something was definitely wrong. She came right up to him and touched his elbow.

Without a word, Connor was face to face with Ava, scooping her up quickly, setting her down on a high chair, leaning close, his nose touching Her neck, holding her hips tightly. For a few seconds in one position, he held on to her, breathing on her skin, and then abruptly pulled away, without changing his impenetrable expression.

"And... And what was that?" Ava was taken aback when Connor returned to the sink, turning on the tap but doing nothing.

"Your perfume. Lilac" he replied monosyllabically.

"Yeah, a long time ago" Ava chuckled, but she don't know what Rhodes means by that.

"Have you always been honest with me?" he continued suddenly, as if he was deliberately waiting for a pause between the fact about the perfume and this poignant question.

"What? Of course, Connor" Ava stammered, clutching the edge of her t-shirt as Connor shifted his burning gaze, looking her straight in the eye. "Connor, you didn't answer what happened, why are you asking?"

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter now" he said indifferently, squeezing the bridge of his nose, leaning wearily on the edge of the countertop. "I've been thinking all night. I thought about all the versions. Only they all didn't add up. My father wouldn't give generously to a project that concerned me without getting something in return. He definitely wouldn't have invested a large amount of money after your verbal conversation with him".

"Connor, what do you mean?" defeated, Ava breathed out. The cold spread uncomfortably through his body.

"He said you had a nice perfume. Lilac, and so it is" Connor said in a monotone, delaying the conclusion.

"Yes, and you know it. Half the hospital knows about it!" Ava exclaimed in amazement, throwing up her hands, nervously pushing a fallen lock of hair behind her ear, giving herself away by this - her fingers were trembling. She didn't want to remember that day, but as luck would have it, she was forced to do it, and forced to do it by someone she loved.

"You said that the end justifies the means, and it worked. I stayed in Chicago, next to you" Connor continued, hitting Ava harder with the words.

"Connor, I never slept with your father," she snapped, voicing the disgusting accusation first, swallowing her saliva, fighting the nausea.

Connor pulled a shiny object out of his pocket and slammed it down on the table: "I wish I could believe you".

This item was a brooch in the shape of a butterfly, which has lost Ava, not knowing how it happened. Opening her mouth to speak, she only gasped. She took one step toward the sink and threw up. Through a hazy haze, she could see the moment when she'd put the brooch on as she walked toward Connor's father, holding the hybrid operating room project tightly in her hands, and she was no longer wearing it.

Ava was vomiting, and she held on to the edge of the hard surface as best she could with shaking hands, not feeling her legs, which felt like cotton wool. Leaning closer over the sink, she didn't care if her hair fell over her shoulders. But a cool hand carefully gathered them into a tail, holding them, and the other-wrapped around the waist, not letting them fall. Connor.

The vomiting stopped when Ava lost count, going limp in Connor's arms, unconsciously leaning forward as he helped her to the bathroom. Helping her wash and rinse her mouth, Connor picked her up and carried her to bed, doing it carefully, as if he hadn't just calmly poured out another accusation on her.

One thought of Cornelius and Ava felt sick. Curled up in bed, pulling the covers up to her face, she began to cry. She didn't care that Connor could be around, seeing her so pathetic. Although the assumption that he would probably leave - did not leave Ava.

A brooch. Ava's mind went back to her, replaying the moment Cornelius had attacked her, trying to rape her. He could definitely tear the brooch off when she resisted.

Connor was saying something, but Ava didn't hear him, just stared blankly at nothing. Touching the blanket with his hand, he pulled it off her.

"What...What are you doing?!" when Ava recovered, She jerked violently, pushing Connor away, clutching the edge of the blanket, looking scared. 

"Ava, I wanted to check for any bleeding..." Connor said guiltily, never having seen her so overcome with fear. He, too, recovered, realizing what a blunder he had made in making Ava worry when she was on the verge of a pregnancy breakdown. "Hush, I won't do anything wrong". 

With his hands outstretched, moving slowly back to her, Connor froze. Ava looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"No, there's no bleeding" she breathed, expecting Connor to turn away and walk away, but he didn't move, just kept waiting. It was as if he sensed that she had something to say.

"Connor, I haven't been honest with you" Ava whispered softly, feeling like she was being cornered. Connor was silent, throughout his stomach clenched. He didn't want to know that he was right after all, but not this time.  

"That day... He tried to rape me".