Chapter 53: Chapter 53

"Each betrayal begins with trust."

-Martin Luther-

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Raphael was laying on his bed typing something on his laptop when suddenly his phone buzzed. He usually had his phone on silent mode but it seemed her had forgotten to do so, he picked up his phone on the bedside counter and looked who it was. It came from an unknown number, he usually ignored unknown numbers but he had no idea why he was so tempted to open it up and he did.

What he saw really tore him, it was a picture of Clara and Corentin kissing, he zoomed in the picture just to be sure and no matter how many times he saw it, it was still both of them. Any rational man would double check the picture, in case it was a Photoshop, but Raphael had his pride hurt before anything else. He threw his phone on the ground and it smashed, cracking it's screen.

He tried to take several deep breaths, but his fury could not be contained. His emotion got the best of him. His senses were all gone and all he wanted to do now was to vent his anger out. Clara had betrayed him, she had cheated on him. Raphael was used to betrayal from his past business associates, some from his friends, but never from a lover. Clara was his first love and the only woman he had ever had any relationship with. He thought she was faithful to him.

It was partially his fault, he had known that Corentin had feelings for her, yet he was too lenient on her. He still allowed Clara to meet the man on her own.

At first it was simply because he did not want to end up as the controlling boyfriend, but it seemed he should have been stricter on her. He rested his palm on his chest and clenched it. It hurt. His heart really hurt.

Clara had just arrived home from Corentin's house. Still tired from her tennis match, she headed straight to the bathroom to clean herself, rinsing off every dirt and tackiness in her skin, she came out feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. She wrapped her head with the towel while getting ready for bed, wearing her night gown and slippers. She dried her hair and applied some skincare, trying out the new cream Renee got her which had  been stuck in her bag since the last time she was there and laid herself on the bed, ready to sleep. It was then when she heard a loud bang on her room, she jolted from her bed and what she found was a red eyed Raphael.

"What's wrong?" she asked innocently, having no awareness of what had happened, she casually approached him.

Raphael thought Clara was messing with him, Raphael did not bother to beat around the bush. He confronted her right about.

"Did you kiss Corentin?" Clara was taken aback. How did he know?

Her silent was a yes for Raphael.

"So, you did kiss him." His voice was low and dangerous. Clara could not lie, her mind could not even think to ask him how he found out.

"It's not like what you think." She tried to grab his hand but he slapped her hand away. Clara had never seen Raphael that mad before. He had never been that mad at her no matter what she did in the past. It was the first time he had ever raised his voice like that to her.

"Don't. Even. Try." He pulled out her suitcase and threw in a bunch of her clothes inside, he closed it and handed it over to her.

"Go away, I don't want to see your face again." Clara thought he was joking. But he clearly was not. He turned his back on her, only the side of his cheek was visible to her. Feeling hurt that he did not want to listen to her explanation, Clara grabbed her suitcase and opened it up, throwing all the clothes he had put inside to the bag. Those were the clothes he bought for her.  Instead, she entered the closet, changed herself into a warm winter outfit and put in her old clothes, the ones she brought from her hometown. She also pulled out all her stuff from the handbag he bought for her, and pulled out her old handbag from the shelf. Inserting all of her necessities inside. Her phone, passport and wallet. She opened up her wallet and threw all the cards he had given her on the floor.

"I don't need any of these!" Tears was falling from her cheek. Yet she said nothing more. She stormed out of the room. While Raphael stood there. He looked down and found the things he had given her all scattered on the ground. She did not take a single thing he had bought her. Everything she carried with her was her own belongings.

He dropped on his knees and picked up her stuff. His mind was blurry. Everything was hazy, a million emotions spun around his head, he was unable to process everything with a clear head.

"Clara..."

Raphael was not the kind of man who would cry most of the times but that night he fell down on the floor of Clara's room and sobbed all night long. He could have sworn if the pain was physical his chest would have been ripped and his heart would be bleeding and there would be puddle of blood in the floor.

Such immense pain and wound he had never felt before in his life and he had been through quite a few challenges and dark times, but nothing hurt him more than the thought of Clara with another man.

The whole night he kept on shouting her name in silence, even unable to sleep. He wanted her so bad but the fact that she kissed Corentin made him unable to bear even the slightest sight of her. It was beyond painful.

"Clara...love...why did you do this to me?"