Chapter 75: Chapter 75
Dashtan followed Rakia to their room and found her sitting in front of the dressing table smearing her face with skincare. Rakia who saw the man’s arrival immediately put on a sardonic face and finished her activity in front of the mirror. She got up and intended to leave the room, but when she passed Dashtan she was surprised by the man’s action of kneeling in front of her.
“Please, don’t leave me, Rakia... You are everything to me, our marriage means so much to me. I promise I will let Dalilah go.” Dashtan spoke with his face lowered deeply. Rakia sighed harshly, she just stared at the man with all her thoughts raging. She thought about finding out the truth about Dalilah herself, but for now she didn’t want to see Dashtan around.
“If I matter to you, please, just for once let go of all that ego, but if you can’t, it’s better to let go of me.” Rakia said that with her eyes starting to tear up, before she actually cried she quickly walked away from the man. Going to the kitchen to occupy herself, but when she arrived at the kitchen she found Dalilah doing something. Rakia sighed loudly then continued what she wanted to do. As she stood in front of a cabinet not far from her.
“Do you think you can remove me completely from Dashtan’s life?” Dalilah faced her body towards Rakia who did not respond at all. Dalilah smiled sarcastically in response to Rakia’s indifference to her.
“In the end, you’re the one Dashtan has to let go of because soon my status as Dashtan’s mistress will be completely mine.”
“Is that so?” said Rakia quickly which made Dalilah surprised for a moment. But she managed to control herself to maintain her confidence and dignity. Now, it was Rakia’s turn to strike back.
“You think I’m going to let that happen? Did you forget my threat? Because you’ve added to my situation with Dashtan, so it’s not just me and Dashtan who will bear the risk, but you too.” Rakia picked up the cereal box and bowl and turned to leave Dalilah who instantly turned flustered. The sound of the cereal grains hitting the tiles could be heard as Rakia poured half of it into her bowl. She then poured full cream milk into the bowl as she wanted then climbed up onto the high chair and enjoyed her afternoon snack. Dalilah, who was already uncomfortable with the atmosphere Rakia had given her in the previous minute, soon left after she turned on the microwave and took out the sandwich.
Rakia smiled sarcastically as Dalilah passed by her quickly. She thought about moving into the apartment she had bought, but then she could no longer be watched Dalilah with the camera she had installed in her room. Rakia immediately stopped her eating and rushed to get the tablet she used to monitor the camera she put in Dalilah’s room, after which she returned to the kitchen to eat her cereal. Opening the application connected to the camera and starting the action as a spy. Dalilah was seen sitting on the edge of the bed then the next second the woman threw all the pillows on the bed in any direction angrily. Then after that Dalilah is seen kneeling on the floor and crying by covering both faces using both hands. She would find out the truth about the woman’s pregnancy, but she had to know where the woman had gotten her doctor’s certificate. She wouldn’t have a chance to get into the woman’s room and check her belongings. Rakia let out a long sigh, she didn’t expect it to be this complicated. After this morning she heard Dashtan declare his love for her, this afternoon they fought over the news from Dalilah which instantly shattered her expectations. In fact, the vacation she wanted was in danger of failing.
Rakia looked down at her cereal which was partially softened from absorbing the milk.
“What if that woman is just lying? Maybe, I can forgive Dahstan, but if she really is pregnant?” The last question made her instantly frustrated.
“I’ll figure this out myself,” Rakia decided in her mind. She turned her attention back to the tablet screen showing Dalilah’s room. The woman rose from her kneeling position and headed towards the door. Someone came to meet her, and the figure immediately appeared on her tablet screen. Rakia pulled up the image of Dalilah and Dashtan standing facing each other for clarity. She immediately activated the voice feature to capture the voices of the two people.
“I know you’re lying, Dalilah, just admit this because I can prove it and embarrass you in front of my family as well as many people.” That was Dashtan speaking. Rakia seemed to be watching a television drama.
“Ash, I am pregnant, this is your child.”
“Liar!” snapped Dashtan loudly. Dalilah left Dashtan’s presence for a few moments then returned with something. A folded paper, Dalilah held up the paper and Dashtan immediately took it and read it.
“If you lie, I will make sure your life suffers.” Threatened Dashtan then left Dalilah with the paper he had just read. Rakia finished her cereal after the short drama ended. She heard the sound of the door closing quite loudly, out of curiosity she got off the chair to check who had slammed the door. But she no longer found anyone anywhere. Mrs. Hunt had gone home an hour ago, when she returned to the room with her tablet in hand, she was relieved not to find Dashtan there. She quickly approached the bed and sat on its edge. A message notification popped up on her phone,shegrabbed it and opened the message from an unfamiliar number.
[Hi, it’s me, Ben. I hope you didn’t forget to give me reassurance about what I told you two days ago.”]
Rakia let out a rough sigh. She had forgotten about Benjamin. Biting her lower lip for a moment, she finally decided to help the man because of her humanity. Rakia also replied to Benjamin’s message to immediately send the hospital where the man’s daughter was being treated. She hurriedly changed her clothes and went to the hospital address Benjamin sent her.
“Hi,” Rakia greeted a man who was currently sitting on a visitor’s bench in the hospital corridor. The man was downcast with his fingers intertwined. The man raised his face when he heard Rakia’s greeting.
“You came,” said the man who was Benjamin, the man smiled weakly but his face had a twinkle of hope.
“Let’s go straight to the administration,” said Rakia who was then nodded by Benjamin. After completing the entire payment, Ben and Rakia chose to sit on one of the hospital benches in the corridor, near the man’s daughter’s ward.
“How are you?” Benjamin asked, starting the conversation. Rakia smiled wistfully.
“What are you asking me that for? You should be asking whether or not I forgive you for what you have done to me.” Rakia’s words managed to hit Benjamin right on target. The man swallowed nervously and then looked down.
“You will definitely not forgive me.” Ben said with his blank gaze staring at the hospital floor.
“Maybe,” Rakia said quickly. They were silent for a while before Rakia decided to speak.
“Honestly, I wanted to ask you why you did that to me, but I guess... I don’t need the answer anymore. You must not regret it, right?” Rakia turned to Benjamin who was still staring at the floor with a half-blank stare.
“If I said I regret it, you wouldn’t believe me. I hurt you too much that’s why I let you go, but I was too cowardly to tell you directly. Perhaps, you don’t want to hear and accept this, but I have to say it. I’m sorry for hurting you too deeply.”
Somehow Rakia could no longer cry when she heard that apology. Perhaps it was because her heart had received so much pain that it had become numb and perhaps now it was slowly petrified. Rakia just let out a long sigh, at least she heard the apology directly from Benjamin.
“I will come back later after your daughter’s surgery,” Rakia said as she stood up from her seat and left leaving Benjamin who was overwhelmed with guilt and shame over Rakia. Without her realizing it, Dashtan followed her to the hospital where she met Benjamin. He relied on the tracking device that he had previously installed in Rakia’s car before he gave it as a gift to her. He deliberately arrived home first so that Rakia would not suspect that he had been stalking her. But Dashtan didn’t know what Rakia was going to the hospital for. When Rakia walked into the room, Dashtan was already on the bed, doing the office work he hadn’t finished.
“Where did you come from?” asked Dashtan just to make small talk.
“None of your business,” replied Rakia who was crossing their room to the wardrobe room. Dashtan was silent as his gaze did not leave the woman. Rakia returned from the wardrobe a few minutes later, climbed onto the bed and took a position lying on his side with her back to Dashtan.
“How about we play a guessing game. About where you went earlier.” Dashtan’s words instantly made Rakia’s eyes that were closed earlier now open. However, Rakia only stood still waiting for the man’s next sentence.
“You must have gone to meet someone,” Dashtan said, starting the game that made Rakia anxious. Dashtan pretended to think hard before speaking again.
“Someone important,” he said again. Rakia was still on the edge of her seat as she waited for all the man’s guesses, she also had the assumption that he was stalking her, again.
“Eemm... The location is where people usually gather for one purpose.” Dashtan deliberately stalled his guess.
“A place commonly visited by people. It provides facilities for treatment.”
Rakia was wide-eyed as she immediately drew a conclusion to her assumption.
“Hospital.” Dashtan’s guess made Rakia change her current lying position to face the man.
“I don’t like you meddling in my personal affairs.” Rakia said in a threatening tone, but Dashtan responded as if the woman was just gently reprimanding.
“Why? I’m your husband, shouldn’t you ask my permission before you leave the house?” Dashtan turned toward Rakia after throwing that question. Rakia chuckled as she rolled her eyes.
“You should reflect that you’ve failed to be a good husband to your wives. So, I guess... that’s the main reason we got divorced.”
“I won’t let you go until Dalilah’s confession is proven true,” Dashtan said quickly. Rakia rolled her eyes and grinned. She quickly assumed her original position and closed her eyes to sleep. She was not in the mood to argue with the man tonight.