They saw a white sedan drive up the long driveway and it stopped by the footpath. Chris basically leapt out of the car and ran towards them.
He looked worried and his eyes immediately surveyed Abi.
Kelly couldn’t blame him for being worried about Abi. Chris had been spending a lot of time with Abi since Abi went home from the hospital. She knew that the boy was smitten and she had actually been rooting for them to get together. That was of course because she had forgotten about Alex at that time. Chris had been the epitome of a good friend, always trying to cheer Abi up and take her out of the house. He even obviously got them into Country V because he knew how much Abigail wanted to come here. He wanted Abigail to be happy and he did everything he could to help her with that. He knew that Abigail was a little fragile and he was very considerate in that he didn’t push his feelings on her.
However, looking back on it now that she had her memories back, the poor guy really never stood a chance. Even if Abigail had forgotten about Alex, there might still be no way that Chris would have been able to dislodge Alex from Abi’s heart. Even in the years to come, she felt that Abigail would have chosen to die alone if she didn’t find Alex again. That was how deep her love was for that stupid man!
“Abi, Kelly, let’s go back to the hotel,” Chris immediately said, not wasting any more time. This was why he was here after all. He started walking back to the car expecting the girls to follow him.
Kelly stood up but Abi remained on her seat. Chris frowned, thinking that Abi might not be feeling too well.
He walked back with the intention of helping her but Abi stopped him with her next words. “Chris, I-I have decided to stay here for a while. I won’t be going back with you two.”
Chris felt his world spin. What was she saying? Why did she want to stay here? What about his plan of confessing to her when they got back?
“But, Abigail… why?”
“Because I found a job here that I really like. I think this will be good for me. I want to stay here for a while to heal myself. I hope you guys understand.”
Chris couldn’t say anything. He knew that Abigail had been looking for something since she had her surgery. He had not seen her smile once since then and it had broken his heart. He had tried so hard to make her smile a real smile, but he hadn’t succeeded. And when she said she wanted to come here, she saw something liven up within her. There was a small spark in her eye when she mentioned coming to this place. So he tried his very best to do that, because he thought it would make her happy. But he never thought that she would end up wanting to stay!
“But Abigail, what about your family?” What about me?
“I’m sure they will understand and be happy for me,” she said. “I will call dad later and explain everything to him. I’m sorry guys. Please understand my decision. If I go back home, I don’t think I will ever be able to smile again. That’s why I want to stay here. I just know this is the place that will heal me. That will make me smile again.”
ChapterMid();
…
Alex and Zeke were standing from afar watching the three of them. Kai was also leaning by the pillar, staring at Kelly.
“What are they talking about?” Alex asked and Zeke was glad that he couldn’t hear a thing.
“Nothing important,” Zeke nonchalantly replied.
But Alex was obviously doubtful. His eyes zoomed onto the man standing in front of his little lamb and he didn’t know why but red flags immediately raised inside his head. Okay, it seemed this guy was a threat.
He zoomed in on his lips and he started to read them.
“Abi… wait…” Chris suddenly looked like he was in a dilemma.
“Chris, I’m sorry. Please go home without me. I’ll be fine here, I promise. I’ll call you guys and keep you up to date on what I am up to,” she assured him when suddenly, Chris held her hands.
“Abi, uhm… listen to me first. I… I was planning to tell you this once we go back but now that you’re refusing to go home, I have no choice but to say it here.” He took a deep breath.
“Abi, I…” for some reason, Chris suddenly felt chills run down his spine before he could even say the words he had been practising to say to her for a long time now. He immediately looked around and his eyes caught two men from afar looking at them. He didn’t recognize them as they were too far away for him to distinguish their features.
He took another deep breath and ignored the chills, thinking that it was just his imagination running wild. Maybe it was because of the nerves.
Facing Abi again, Chris squeezed her hands and stared into her eyes. “Abi… I…”
“Stop it, Alex. Don’t worry, I don’t think Abi will go with him.” Zeke tried his best to convince the man to stop whatever it was that he was up to. He already knew that Kelly had broken the spell. If this Chris person was to do the same thing, it would be damn troublesome, especially when this Chris was a celebrity. If things got worse, they might be forced to bring another private jet down to fake accidents.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just know, trust me.”
Despite Zeke’s assurance, Alex couldn’t stop his demons from surfacing. Watching her being touched by some man made him want to kill. His bloodlust intensified to its limit and the only thing stopping him was the thought that the little lamb would hate him if he attacked that man.
He clenched his fists tight and zeroed his eyes on his lips again.
“I love you, Abigail,” were the words he read from his lips and his world seemed to have halted.
