Chapter 64: Chapter 64

Chapter 64 Nightmare

In a small, windowless room, Bella lay on the cold floor. When she regained consciousness, she found two men on top of her, raining kisses all over her face and tearing her clothes.

Bella tried to push them away, but she could not speak nor move her hands as if she had sleep paralysis. She then pressed her eyes shut again, hoping the nightmare would be over.

In the next second, a strong tremor came violently through the room. A deafening howl resounded, followed by the terrified screams of men.

Bella tried to open her eyes, but the intense, blinding white light from the incandescent lamp on the ceiling blinded her. Her vision became blurry. Just as she was about to lose consciousness again, she vaguely felt a pair of hands picking her up and bringing her to safety.

Feeling the warmth emitting from the man's body who carried her, Bella could not help but relax despite the danger she was in a few seconds ago. She even snuggled closer and buried her face in his collar bone, losing her guard completely.

However, after a few minutes, Bella felt a strong force that brought her to the subconscious. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Edward's face in a haze.

Seeing him bring Bella was a huge relief. She was so happy that she wanted to reach out and touch his face, but before she could touch him, a familiar dragon mask suddenly covered his face.

Bella felt uneasy as she felt the cold surface of the mask in her fingers. The warm and comforting feeling left her. She was scared that it was a premonition of Edward leaving her life.

"Edward, don't go! Please don't leave me!" Bella yelled at the top of her lungs.

Bella's desperate screams woke herself up. She jolted from the bed and put a hand on her chest. She was breathing heavily with beads of sweat on her forehead.

Bella wandered her eyes around the room in wariness. Once she realized that she was inside their bedroom, she breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, a knock on the door made her freeze for a second, but Edward's voice followed. "Bella, are you awake already? What happened?"

Hearing her husband's voice, Bella hurriedly got out of bed and opened the door for Edward. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Edward was slightly caught off guard, but knowing what his wife had been through, he knew it was only a natural reaction. So, with a gentle smile, he said, "Honey, why don't you let me sit down first?"

Bella bit her lower lip. She did not want to let go of Edward, but she eventually pulled herself away. "I'm sorry... I was so excited to see you."

Edward tried not to get emotional while staring at his wife. He let the smile linger on his lips while she led him to the bed.

"Did you have a nightmare? I heard you scream, so I came to check on you," he asked with a concerned look and set his cane aside.

While nibbling on her lip, Bella quietly nodded. She shuddered at the thought of the nightmare.

She remembered going to the bar last night with Jenny and Kelvin when two strange men forced her to drink her wine. She also recalled seeing the brunet drugging her drink.

Unfortunately, Bella had no recollection of what happened after that. The only memories surfacing in her mind were the ones from her nightmare.

"Edward..." Bella turned to Edward, putting her hand on his lap. "How did I get home last night? What time did I get home? D-did something happen to me? Where's Jenny and Kelvin?"

Edward's pulse raced as Bella fired questions at him. He could sense her fear and anxiousness. Fortunately, he had already thought carefully about how to feed her curiosity.

Trying to calm her nerves, Edward pulled her into his arms and started combing her hair with his fingers. "Last night, you had not been answering my calls and messages after telling me you were going to the bar with your colleagues. I was worried, so I called the police. They told me they just had a rescue operation at the Queen's Bar. It happened that the woman they saved was you."

Bella's eyes widened at that. Her hands trembled, scared of finding out what truly happened to her.

Edward watched her expression. His chest tightened to see her traumatized, despite only having hazy memories from last night.

"The police said they caught two suspicious men carrying you out of the bar. You were unconscious, so they asked a few questions and discovered that those men didn't know you. They found out that you were also drugged." Edward tightened his embrace on his wife and kissed her forehead when he remembered the faces of the men he killed, trying to suppress his anger. "You don't know how worried I was when I heard that. But now, I'm just grateful that you weren't hurt and nothing bad happened to you."

"Yeah...Thanks to the police...." Bella said and forced a smile, pretending she was okay.

Even though Bella trusted Edward, she was doubtful of the facts presented to her. There were still a lot of unanswered questions in her head. However, she did not want Edward to worry more about her.

"I need to call Jenny and Kelvin. They must be worried about me, too." Bella got up and rummaged for her phone in her bag, but she could not find it. "Edward, have you seen my phone?"

"I was about to say that you lost your phone last night. " Edward said, then took a new phone out from his pocket. "You can use this one instead if you want to call them."

Edward was lying.

The truth was he disposed of Bella's phone last night. In fear that Jenny and Kelvin would tell Bella the truth, he immediately notified Anna to fire the two.

It was the least he could do after they put Bella at risk. Although he wanted them to experience the same hell as Bella, he still acknowledged that they were her friends and gave them the lightest punishment he could think of.

"Oh, thanks..." Bella reluctantly received the phone. "But I don't know their phone numbers."

"That's okay. You'll see them at the office this Monday, right?" he lied through his teeth.

Bella's eyes widened when something struck her. She checked the phone and confirmed it was Friday. "Wait! I'm screwed!" She stood up, panicking. "I'm supposed to go to work today, but it's already noon."

"Don't worry. I've asked for leave for you." Edward saw her sulking and tried to find a way to divert her attention. "You must be hungry now. Come. I cooked your favorite."

With that, Bella's face brightened up, and she immediately helped Edward out of the room.

Bella's carefree smile put Edward's heart at ease. However, in a split second, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

'I'm sorry for lying to you again, Bella... It is for the best,' he thought after the gravity of the situation had dawned upon him.