The “Deceased” Donna Chapter 07
That day, I was arranging sunflowers in a vase.
The wind chime above the door rang.
I looked up and saw John standing in the sunlight.
He had lost a great deal of weight. His black overcoat made him look colder still, and his eyes were shockingly red.
He walked forward, step by step, as though afraid of disturbing a dream.
“Mona?”
I lowered my head and kept trimming stems. “Sir, you have the wrong person.”
He suddenly seized my hand, his voice trembling.
“I couldn’t mistake you. We grew up together. I could mistake every soul on earth, but never you.”
I shook him off.
“John, doesn’t it shame you to say something like that?”
His face went pale.
I looked at him. “When you tricked me into marriage, when you got me pregnant, when you planned to use our child’s cord blood to save Riva—did you think about the years we grew up together?”
“When you held me down and drew my blood, when you shoved me and knocked me over—did you remember once telling me you’d protect me?”
“When you said on that call that I’d just have to pull through on my own—did it occur to you that I’m a fragile woman too?”
My voice began to shake, but I didn’t stop.
“I’m not your tool for winning Riva’s affection.”
“I feel pain. I feel fear. I grieve. I don’t deserve to be sacrificed over and over just because you think I’m strong enough to survive it.”
John stood there for a long time, unable to speak.
Finally, tears slid down his face.
He said, “I know I was wrong.”
I laughed. “Now you know?”
“When I got the news that you were dead, I went mad. It was only then that I understood—what I felt for Riva was obsession. What I felt for you was love.”
“For the past six months, I’ve walked every place you’ve ever been. And I ended up here.”
John looked up at me, a fragile, almost desperate hope in his eyes.
“Mona, reuniting here—it’s fate giving me a chance.”
“Let’s start over. Please.”
“This time I won’t lie. I’ll love you with everything I have. With my life.”
I looked at him.
That sincerity in his eyes—I had once believed it so completely.
When he’d found me in the middle of gunfire, his gaze had been just as certain.
But Riva had said something to me.
*If a woman is deceived once, she’s foolish. What is she when she’s deceived twice?*
I didn’t know the answer.
I only knew I would never give anyone a second chance to deceive me.
I picked up the vase and threw the water straight into his face.
“Get out.”
John closed his eyes. Water dripped from his jaw.
He didn’t get angry.
He only said, hoarsely, “I’ll wait.”
I looked at him coldly.
“No one cares.”