Chapter 2: You owe me

ABIGAIL

Abigail rested head on the wall as she sat at the waiting area. There was a plaster on her forehead, and she had her eyes closed. Not too long ago, a nurse had treated her wound, and they had told her she was good to go after some checkups. 

She sighed, the events of the day rushing through her head. Her grandmother… She was gone. She was never going to see her again. Her loving smile, her words of encouragement, even her smart come backs. She would miss the touch of her soft fingers in her hair, and the scent of lavender as she laid her head on her lap.

Felicia had lived a healthy life, and she seemed like someone who still had more years to live. Abigail could not fathom how someone could be so evil. Felicia had a lot of competitors, but she had not made enemies that would want to kill her. None that she knew of.

When Abigail opened her eyes, they were glossy with unshed tears. When she blinked, they fell and she wiped them off her cheeks. 

“Miss Rivera?”

Abigail looked up to see the nurse. 

“Are you alright?” She asked with concern, and she nodded. 

“Mr. Alvarez is awake and he wants to see you”, said the nurse.

“Alright”, Abigail replied with another nod. 

Although Abigail had seen Alistair a lot of times at events, she had only spoken to him once where they exchanged few words of greeting and a handshake. As she walked towards his hospital room, she thought about how he would react to it. 

Abigail knew it was not entirely her fault. Alistair’s car had come out of nowhere and crashed into hers. However, a part of her knew that if she had been driving carefully, she would have also been able to avoid the accident.

Inside the hospital room, Alistair was lying on the bed, dressed in a hospital gown. There was a bandage wrapped around his head and he seemed to be sleeping. That was until he opened his eyes. She walked towards the bed. 

Alistair smiled at the nurse, before his eyes landed on Abigail. The soft smile on his face fell.

Abigail noticed the change of countenance, which took her off guard even though she did not show it. Nevertheless, she asked, “How are you feeling, Mr. Alvarez?” 

Alistair stared at Abigail with a look she could not decipher. It made her question whether he was upset about what happened. Would he make a big deal out of it? After all it was an accident that both of them were responsible for.

Alistair Alvarez was not just popular in the business world, but even the media. She had heard he was an easy going and friendly man.

“Better”, he finally replied and she let out a sigh of relief.

“That is good to hear, Mr. Alvarez. If you need anything just ring the bell and I will be here”, said the nurse, before she took her leave.

Alistair sat up, using the pillow to support himself. 

“I’m sorry about the accident, Mr. Alvarez, my sincere apologies”, Abigail said, genuinely sorry for what happened to him. As much as the both of them were victims, Alistair was the one most affected. 

Alistair tilted his head slightly, watching her with a blank expression. It was the same look he had given her the first time they met. She suddenly recalled the moment his friendly smile that seemed to be permanently etched on his face fell, the moment he laid eyes on her. 

They did nothing but shake hands, and at that time, she had not thought anything of it. And she hoped she was not reading too much into it now.

“Do you think an apology can fix this damage, Miss Rivera?” Alistair asked coldly.

“Pardon?” If not an apology, then what else could she do? It was not like she could somehow magically heal him.

“Look at my face. This injury will definitely leave a scar. There is no amount of apologies that can compensate for that”.

Abigail paused, waiting for him to laugh or smile in amusement. There was no way he could be serious with what he just said. But after a moment, his expression remained stoic. 

“Are you being serious, Mr. Alvarez?” Abigail asked with a slight furrow of her brows, just to confirm. 

“Do I look like I’m joking?” He countered.

One of the things that made Alistair Alvarez popular apart from his net worth and connections, were his looks. Every curve of his face looked like it had been carved to perfection. Ruffled dark mane, reaching the base of his neck framed his face. His sultry gray eyes which were currently pinned on her was the highlight of his beautiful face.

Alistair had a lot of fans fawning over him for a reason.

Abigail took a step closer to Alistair, and he used the moment to eye her body which made her narrow her eyes at him. 

“What are you getting at?” She asked, folding her arms.

“I need to be compensated”, he said. 

Abigail’s body went rigid. There was no expression on her face, apart from her left eye twitching. On a normal day she would have tried to negotiate with him. Alistair Alvarez was not someone she wanted to mess with. However, at that moment, she was exhausted. Sad, angry and in pain.

Her composure and patience felt like an elastic that had been stretched to its limit. One which could break at any moment.

Abigail never expected him to start being ridiculous. She thought she would just check his condition, apologize and go back home to lie down because that was all she wanted to do. If her nightmares allow her. Then perhaps the next day, she would be able to face her new reality with a clearer head. 

“I do not owe you any kind of compensation Mr. Alvarez. If I remember clearly, you were the one who was driving like a maniac”, she challenged. 

Alistair relaxed, resting further into the pillows. And then his lips pulled into a wide grin. 

Abigail’s brows drew together. He was smiling! 

What was so funny? She thought with aggravation.

“And I’m the one lying on the hospital bed”, he replied. His expression turned pitiful, and he bat his long lashes at her. “All I have to do is tell the media that you ran your car into mine. Tell me Abigail, between you and me, who will they believe?”

Abigail felt the urge to slap his face with her purse. It was so strong that her grip on it tightened. Since when were they on first name basis? 

“Is that a threat?” She asked with a dangerous calm.

“If that is how you see it. But look at it this way, Abigail. You owe me”.

With the small smile on his face, Abigail could clearly see the crazed look in his eyes. And then it was gone. 

“It is Miss Rivera to you”, she corrected firmly. But his eyes lightened up in amusement, which only annoyed her further.

“And I owe you nothing”.

What could he possibly want from her?

Alistair Alvarez had everything. There was nothing she could give him that would be of value, so why would he want to tie her down with a debt she did not owe? Alistair had proven to her that he was not the easy going person the media had painted him to be. But why take off his golden mask in front of her?

“You do”, he insisted and she clenched her jaws.

“What do you want?” She asked, out of curiosity. There was no way she was going to give him anything. Paying for his treatments and his stay at the expensive hospital was already enough. 

She wondered what a man like Alistair, who had everything, wanted from her. 

His smile fell once again. His jaws ticked, as though he was contemplating on something serious while he looked at her intensely. 

“I don’t know yet”.

Abigail’s left eye twitched again.

Perhaps she should add another injury to further damage that face of his that he cherished so much. She had a lot of problems looming over her head and no time for whatever game he was trying to play with her. 

Abigail let out a deep sigh.

“Goodbye Mr. Alistair. I hope you get better soon”. He raised a brow at her, but she quickly turned around to leave, shutting the door behind her.

Fate seemed to be plotting against her. 

Abigail walked inside her house, stopping at the sight of Caleb sitting on her couch. He stood up the moment she walked in. To her right was Karina, whose shoulders sagged in relief. Them being in her house was surprising, but not a shock. Caleb and Karina both had access to her house. 

Karina was her secretary, and Abigail knew she came to her house because she had been trying to call her. Their presence made her wonder whether the news of her grandmother’s death had reached everyone already. 

Even so, Caleb had no right to be in her house, something she was about to rectify.

Abigail turned to Caleb. His shirt was wrinkled and not tucked in. Dark brown hair ruffled, and blood shot eyes. He looked disheveled, a sight which was rare on a man like him. He gulped, getting up to walk towards him but she took a step towards Karina and he stopped on his tracks.

“Ma’am, I’ve been trying to call you but your line is not going through”, said Karina. 

Unlike Caleb, Karina looked quite put together in her cooperate dress and pin straight black hair. It was obvious she had gone to her house straight from work.

“Since when have you been here?” Abigail asked.

“I arrived thirty minutes ago. Conveniently at the same time as Mr. Cooper”, Karina replied, turning her head to him. 

“I have been trying to call you too, Abigail. What happened to your phone? I was so worried. And what is that on your forehead? Did you get into an accident?”

Abigail acted as though she had not heard him and focused on Karina, whose brows drew together. She looked from Caleb to Abigail in question, but her cold gaze did not give away anything. She knew Karina had questions but she was not ready to delve into that yet.

“How did you get injured?” Karina asked, looking at the plastered wound on her forehead. 

“I had a small accident”, she replied. At least for her it was. Not to the demanding man who was lying on the hospital bed and threatening to tell the media about it. The mere thought of it added to the intensity of her headache.

“Are you doing alright ma’am?” Karina asked with concern, her green eyes anxiously searching her face. 

Abigail felt a sharp tug in her chest, and she quickly blinked away the incoming tears. She had cried enough. However, for the first time since the incident, someone was actually asking her if she was alright. Though her relationship with Karina stood on the line between formal and casual, for a moment, it made her feel like she was not alone. That there was someone who cared. 

“I’m fine”, she replied. 

“That is good to hear”. Karina nodded though there was no sign of relief on her face.

Abigail looked at the thin, gold watch on her wrist. It was past six pm. 

“It is getting late, you should go home and rest. Thanks for checking up on me”, Abigail said with a small tug of her lips.

There was a small pause, before Karina said “Alright” with a nod. 

“Bye”, she added, turning to look at Caleb one more time, before she took her leave. 

Abigail let out a deep sigh, before walking towards a near couch to sink down in it. She took of her heels, stretching her aching feet. She shut her eyes, cranking her neck with a small moan of relief.

“I heard about what happened”.

Abigail finally turned to look at him with tired eyes.

“You’ve proven to me that you have no dignity but have you no shame, Mr. Cooper? Or are you just audacious?” The effrontery to show up in her house after what he did, acting like nothing had happened made Abigail question why she agreed to marry him. Even more on why her grandmother chose him because she knew she was a woman of great taste. 

Caleb licked his dry lips and gulped.

“I was worried about you. I… I could not stop myself from coming to see you”. 

“The same way you could not stop yourself from fucking my cousin. Seems like you are not a man of self-control”. Even though he had made himself to be one. She could understand why Selena chose to approach Caleb, but he had surprised her. The betrayal hurt her more than she wanted to admit.

Caleb’s jaws ticked. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry about your grandmother too. I was surprised when I heard the news. Do you have any idea about who might have done this?” 

Abigail felt her chest burn with anger when the memory of the knife in Felicia’s chest resurfaced. To murder an old, harmless woman in cold blood. And she had no idea who it was. Neither did the police. Nothing was making sense. 

And there was Caleb, trying to use the situation to cover up what he did. Did he think she was stupid? Was her situation a joke to him?

“Get out”. Her voice held a deadly chill. 

“I did not know what I was doing. It was my birthday, you were not there and Selena made me drink…”

“There were two bottles on the dining table and you are not a light weight. Are you insinuating that Selena drugged you?”

Caleb trying to pin the blame on anyone except himself made Abigail lose any bit of respect she had for him. 

“It would not have happened if you were there for me like you should have been”. 

Abigail clenched and unclenched her fist. She was a terrible fiancée and partner, a fact she agreed to. Something she had told Caleb before he still agreed to get engaged to her. She had asked him to give her time and he told her he was alright with the little she had to give. 

A part of her wanted to think he was right, but the bigger part knew he was just trying to gaslight her. Perhaps if she had actually taken her time to know him better, she would have known what kind of man he truly was.

“Whatever happened is in the past. Let’s forget about it and focus on the problem we have now. Mrs. Rivera is gone and the rest of your family will not hesitate to show their claws. You have no one Abigail. No one but me”. He took a step close to her.

Caleb knew. He knew that she did not have the support of her family apart from her grandmother, who was now late. Yet he had taken her cousin of all people to bed. 

Abigail tried to steady her breathing, as she began to feel dizzy with the pounding in her head. 

“Say something please. Anything, but do not ignore me like this”. He sounded pained, reaching out to her. 

Abigail blinked the dizziness away, before reaching for her purse to bring out her phone. 

“There is an intruder in my house and he is refusing to leave”, she said into the phone. 

“On my way, ma’am”, the security man replied from the other side. 

“Are you calling security on me, Abigail?”

She looked up at him. His dark brown eyes were wide, the caring, regretful look on his face, gone.

“Please come in quickly”, she added. 

“Is everything alright there?” Asked the security, but she did not reply. Rather, she continued to look at Caleb. He had never looked at her with such anger before, with malicious intent. It shocked and scared her at the same time but she looked back at him with the same intensity. 

Caleb gave her one last scathing look and a nod before he stormed out, slamming the door behind him. 

“Escort him outside and ensure he never comes back here”. 

Abigail dropped the phone without waiting for a reply, letting out a shaky breath.