Chapter 4. Mending Bridges

“How do you feel, darling?” Her mother asked sympathetically.

“What do you think?” She snapped.

Her mother flinched and Emilia felt sorry instantly.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“It’s ok. Do you remember what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

There was a knock on the door. Her mother responded and a doctor stepped in.

“Hi, Mrs Beaumont. I’m Doctor Roshan. How are you feeling?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She replied nastily, then bit her lip. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok. I understand,” said the pretty doctor. “Where’s your husband?”

“He had to be somewhere urgently, but he’ll be back,” said Lara with a bright smile.

Her mother’s lie pissed her off. Why was she covering up for Kane? He was just as evil as his girlfriend and he didn’t deserve any sort of cover-up to make him look like a good person.

“Oh, I see. There’s actually something I wanted to discuss with him and Mrs Beaumont.”

“Please, call me Emilia,” she said impatiently. She was tired of that stupid title.

“Of course, Emilia.”

“What is it? What did you want to discuss with us?”

“Firstly, I wanted to let you know the nature of your injuries. You suffered a fractured rib and a dislocated knee in the fall.”

Lara gasped. Emilia balled her fists.

“You suffered a few scrapes and bruises as well. However, I’m convinced that in a matter of weeks, you’ll be fine.”

“Is that all?”

“Well… no. The other thing is that… unfortunately, the baby didn’t make it.”

Emilia’s eyes widened. “What baby?”

Dr Roshan stared at her. “Oh, I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“You were five weeks pregnant, Emilia. The fetus didn’t survive the fall. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t call it a fetus. It was a baby!” Lara snapped and began to sob.

“Sorry,” said the doctor with an apologetic smile.

Emilia was speechless. She felt numb. She’d been pregnant and that devil called Kendra had killed her baby!

“Are you ok, honey?” Her mother asked softly. “Say something.”

“Leave me alone,” she replied quietly. “Both of you.”

Lara recognized that tone in her daughter’s voice and she knew this wasn’t the right time to argue. She stood up slowly and walked out of the room with the doctor.

*********************

“Didn’t I tell you not to come back here?”

“I am so sorry, Emilia,” Kane said sympathetically. “The doctor just told me what happened now. I had no idea that you were pregnant.”

“Neither did I. Now, get out!”

“I know you’re angry and you have every right to be. I shouldn’t have left you last night.”

“But you did and I don’t want you here anymore. Go away!”

There was a soft knock on the door before a nurse opened it and poked her head in.

“Is everything all right in here?” She asked with a smile.

“No!”

“Yes.”

They’d spoken at the same time and the nurse was now confused.

“He was just leaving,” said Emilia.

“Please, give us a moment,” said Kane.

The nurse nodded and disappeared quickly.

Kane sat on the edge of the bed and took Emilia’s hand. She snatched it away from him and turned her face to the wall.

“I am truly sorry, Emilia. I had no idea that our only moment of intimacy turned into a baby.”

“Would you have been nicer to me if you knew I was pregnant? Was that all it was going to take for you to take me seriously?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying that. Go back to your beloved Kendra. It’s her fault I'm here.”

“I asked her again about the fall and she insisted that she didn’t push you.”

“And you still believe her, of course.”

He sighed. “I’m so – I apologise,” he corrected himself quickly. “Emilia, look at me.”

“No.”

“Please.”

She turned around to face him. “What?”

“Let’s start over,” he said softly. “You’re not my enemy and I apologize for treating you as if you were.”

Emilia was surprised. Was this the same Kane Beaumont she married or was he being impersonated by an actor?

“I’m going to get you discharged from here and take you home. I’ll take some time off from work and care for you by myself.”

“Why? Because you feel guilty?”

“No. Because it’s what a husband is supposed to do. A husband is supposed to take care of his wife.”

Emilia smiled. She couldn’t help it. Kane was finally acknowledging her as his wife.

It took that tragic accident for him to finally see her as his wife and not another piece of property that he owned.

“Ok,” she said quietly. “What about Kendra?”

“I’m going to stay away from her, I promise.”

“No, don’t just stay away from her. I want you to break up with her. If you’re not going to get her arrested for trying to kill me, the least you could do is end things with her permanently.”

He nodded. “Fine. Is that all?”

She nodded.

Getting her out of the hospital wasn’t an easy task. There were paparazzi everywhere trying to take pictures of them as they left.

When they got to the mansion, Elsie and Lillian welcomed them and told Emilia how worried they were about her. Her mother-in-law wept when she heard the news of the miscarriage.

“Home sweet home, huh?” Said Kane when she was finally settled in her room.

“Yes,” she replied with a grin. It felt good to be dotted on by her husband.

True to his words, Kane spent the next six weeks at home with Emilia while she recovered from her injuries. It marked a turning point in their relationship and brought them closer.

They made love tenderly and it was a completely different experience from their first time together. Kane’s phone rang while they were cozied up together in bed one evening.

“Excuse me,” he said and got out of bed to answer the call.

Emilia was curious, so she tiptoed towards the adjoining door to eavesdrop on Kane’s phone call.

“What?” She heard him say. The call volume was high enough for her to hear the person on the other end of the line.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” Kendra asked on the other end.

“Because as I told you before, I want to give my marriage a chance.”

“Are you freaking kidding me? You told me that wasn’t a real thing and that you married her just to get your mother to stop bothering you about getting a wife!”

“I know but things have changed. I’m starting to like her. I think I might be falling in love with her.”

Kendra gasped. “Is that a joke? Because if it is, it’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking, Kendra, I mean it.”

“You can’t fall in love with that Plain-Jane-Nobody! You said marrying her wasn’t going to affect our relationship!”

“That was then. Things have changed.”

“The hell they have! Don’t mess with me, Kane. You can’t just toss me aside as if I don’t mean anything to you.”

“Please, stop calling me. If you need anything, speak to my assistant and he’ll let me know.”

He hung up. Emilia raced back to the bed and dove under the covers just as Kane came into the room.

“I hope you didn’t miss me too much,” he said when he came to join her in bed.

“I did, but I’m glad you’re back. Come here.”

She embraced him tightly and whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you,” he replied and kissed her.

“I can’t believe you just said that. Do you mean it?”

“I do.”

Emilia squealed with delight and kissed him again.

“You know what? I think we should start planning our honeymoon. We never did that after the wedding.”

“Oh, you mean that boring wedding we had?”

He laughed. “Do you want another one? We could have a lavish one and invite one thousand people that we don’t know.”

“No, let’s not do that. Let’s have a big wedding but with our friends and families as guests.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Kane resumed work again once Emilia was fully recovered. Everyone noticed that their relationship had changed for the better and was happy for them.

Emilia felt like she was walking on clouds. She was happier than she’d ever thought possible.

She was lounging in the outdoor garden alone one afternoon when her phone rang. When she saw who was calling, her heart skipped.

“Chad!”

“Hello, Emilia. How are you?”

“I’m good, Chad. Are you back in the U.S.?”

“Yes. In fact, I’m in California. Wanna meet up?”

She hesitated. “Well, the thing is… I’m married now.”

“So I heard. Want to talk about it? We never broke up, you know? I think I deserve an explanation.”

“Yes, you do. Where are you right now?”

“Let’s meet at Vanity Café. Can you come right away?”

“Yes. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”