"I have to go" Ellise said to Elvis who sighed.
"Alright, don't be hard on yourself, okay? Sara's in a better place now" she said and he nodded.
"Thank you" he whispered, kissing the back of her hand before walking away.
She heaved a sigh and turned to walk away. Then, she found herself staring at a familiar face. She groaned inwardly. She was sure he'd seen her with Elvis. She could tell just by the look on his face.
"I don't know if you're actually doing this because you want to punish me or because you think I deserve this. Haven't you punished me enough already? I don't understand, make me understand" he said, hurt replacing the cold look in his eyes.
Ellise's gaze wandered around the parking lot. She couldn't bear to look into his eyes and see the pain she'd caused him. But, she didn't want to feel guilty.
"Are you just going to ignore me?" He asked.
"I don't know what you think I did, I don't care. You think I'm cheating on you? Everything that has been happening recently is your fault. That man you saw just lost his wife. She didn't die a natural death. Nadine must have seen me with him and set his wife up in an accident. My mum is in the hospital, fighting for her life. Val was poisoned, the doctors are not certain if he's going to be okay! If you didn't go ahead to roll around the sheets with a mad woman, then all these things would have been avoided! Don't you dare talk about me punishing you! You punished yourself, so deal with it" Ellise said and stormed off. She had never felt so angry before. As she started to drive home, she recalled her angry words. She couldn't believe she'd said those things to him.
'Oh God, What do I do now? I have to apologise.
What if he does something stupid?' Ellise thought.
She turned back, heading towards the hospital. Then, she parked her car and rushed into the entrance. She found Xanthis talking to Adelynn but there was no sign of her husband. She hurriedly walked towards Xanthis. "Hey, Ellise" he said.
"Have you seen Dre?" She asked.
He raised a brow.
"I thought he was with you" He said and she placed a hand on her forehead, mortified.
"I can't find him" she breathed.
"He might've gone home" Xanthis said and her eyes went wide. "Oh.... okay" she mumbled and walked away.
She pulled out her phone and dialled Dre's number. It went straight to voicemail.
"Dre, come on...pick up" she muttered, picking up her pace as she dialled the number again. She brought the phone to her ear, letting her gaze wander around the hospital premises. She noticed Dre who was walking towards his car. She hurried across the driveway to get to him.
"Dre!" She called out but he ignored her. Her heart ached in her chest. She knew she deserved the cold shoulder he was giving her.
"Dre!" She called out again and he turned slowly, a slight frown on his face. Her stomach sank at the sight of how defeated and drained he looked.
Just as she was about to get to him, a car swerved from the opposite direction. It was heading towards her. She let out a silent scream because every muscle in her body had suddenly become as heavy as lead. She was rooted to the spot as a result of terror. Time seemed to have come to a standstill.
Dre's wide eyes met hers as he moved towards her. He quickly pushed her aside, the both of them falling to the ground with her lying in his arms.
It happened so fast.
She squeezed her eyes shut, listening to Dre's steady heartbeat.
"Oh my God, that was so close"
"Are they okay?"
"Someone should alert the medics"
"He's bleeding"
"Are they a couple?"
Ellise blocked out the voices. The realization that Dre had just saved her from what would have been a terrible tragedy sank in.
Tears filled her eyes as she raised her head to look at him. Blood was trickling from a cut close to his eyebrow. She frowned.
"Ma'am? Are you okay? We need you to get up so that we can attend to your husband" a medical official said to her.
She stood up slowly and Dre stood up, wincing as he did so. Only then did she realize that something was wrong with his leg. She reached out to help him but he quietly refused her help.
"Dre-" she said, worried.
"I'm fine" he said through gritted teeth.
The medical officials attended to him and they gave him a pair of crutches. Apparently, he'd twisted his ankle. He was in pain but was doing a great job at masking it.
He insisted that he was fine and they let him leave.
"Dre, I'm sorry" she said as she followed him to his car.
He silently limped towards his car, his hands gripping the crutches tensely.
"I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it-"
He shook his head.
"Ellie, you don't have to apologise. You were right. It's actually my fault. Don't worry, my mind keeps reminding me that it is my fault. It's fine" he said, opening the door to his car. "Dre, you can't drive, let me help" she said.
He clenched his jaw, exhaling sharply.
"Fine " he muttered and she let out a sigh of relief.
The tension in the car was intense. As she drove, she kept sneaking glances at her husband. He remained silent, his brows creased. She sighed, trying to concentrate on the driving.
"Are you mad at me?" She asked, breaking the silence.
"No" came his blunt reply.
"You are mad at me"
"I'm not. Don't push it" he said and she grimaced. He was frustrated. She was frustrated.
Together they were a huge mess. As soon as they got home, Dre went right into his study while Ellise took a shower.
.....
Two days later, Ellise was feeling remarkably ill. Nadine didn't show up at all at the house and Dre didn't know that his wife was ill.
She'd just had a severe bout of nausea and had laid down on the bed when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in" she croaked, covering herself with a blanket.
"Oh, dear. You look like crap" Jade said as she walked in. Ellise sighed softly, closing her eyes.
"Does Alex know that you're this sick?" She asked, placing a hand on her burning forehead.
"He doesn't know that" Ellise muttered.
"How the hell does he not know? I'm going to knock some sense in his head" she said.
"No, no. Please don't. He has enough on his plate presently. I'll be fine. It's just a flu" she coughed.
"Have you gone to see the doctor?" She asked.
She shook her head slowly.
"Have you been active lately?" Jade asked.
Ellise frowned, obviously confused.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, wincing slightly.
"Have you and Dre-"
"No, not recently" she replied
"Are you sure? How about your cycle?"
Ellise closed her eyes, her heart thudding madly when she realized that she'd actually missed her cycle.
Could it be true that she was carrying Dre's child?
Ellise didn't realize that she was crying until she felt Amelia patting her back to comfort her.
"You shouldn't jump into conclusions just yet. You should get a home pregnancy test" She nodded.
....
Ellise was nervous. The home pregnancy test showed positive for the two times she'd tested it. She took a deep breath, trying to memorize how she was going to tell her husband that he was going to be a dad. She smoothened her dress for the fifth time, trying to calm her racing nerves. She slowly descended the stairs.
Dre was sitting on the couch, his head buried in his hands. His crutches were lying beside him. "Dre" Ellise said, shakily.
He looked up, his emerald orbs boring into hers.
"We need to talk" she said and his eyes widened.
The door opened and Ellise nearly swore aloud.
Of course it was the bitch, Nadine. Dre lost his cool. He stood up, his fists clenched.
"Why are you here? Haven't you done enough damage?!" He yelled at her.
She flinched, tears making their way down her cheeks.
It made Ellise sick to the stomach.
"Alex. I know you won't believe me but I didn't do anything. I swear, it wasn't me" she sobbed.
Ellise felt disgusted by her, she was such a brilliant actress.
"You're a liar" Dre said.
"It wasn't me. I was in the hospital for three days, Alex. The pregnancy was having a bit of complication. I tried to call you. You wouldn't pick my calls. I'm going to be due in three days. Do you know how hurt I felt when you didn't even come to see me? You all label me as the enemy but I'm not" she sniffed.
"Why should we believe you? You're sick in the head" Dre said.
"It wasn't me. Ellise did all that. She set everything up to make me seem like the bad person here" she lied
Dre looked shellshocked.
"She can't do that. She's not like you" he said.
Ellise swallowed hard.
'Why is she doing this? She's trying to turn my own husband against me!' she thought.
"I can prove it. She's just jealous because I'm carrying your first child, Alex" Nadine said and Ellise felt her heart ache.
"You can't prove anything" Dre said through gritted teeth.
He was livid now.
She brought out a recorder and began to play an audio.
'I want it to look like an accident. Make it look like my mum is in a coma. He hurt me, I want him to feel the pain he caused me.'
Ellise's face went pale and she felt like she could collapse.
The voice was her own voice but she'd never uttered those words.
Dre looked like he was going to have a heart attack.
"I didn't..... that's not me" Ellise croaked, tears filling her eyes.
Dre didn't say anything.
"You believe me, don't you? I would never do that to us" Ellise said.
'I poisoned Valentino just like you asked me to do, Ellise' a female voice said.
Ellise gasped, tears blurring her vision.
'Good. You'll poison Xanthis when I ask you to'
Ellise couldn't believe that this was happening.
Dre stared at her like he actually believed what he'd heard.
His eyes looked dead.
The way he stared at her made shivers to run down her spine. She wanted to scream because she couldn't stand it.
How was this possible?