Marrying my high school bully

Dexter

My fingers grazed over Lorraine’s number and I smiled. The urge to call her almost all the time, just to know how she was doing was slowly consuming me but I didn’t mind.

She was carrying my child and I had to make sure that she was safe, no matter what.

Just when I thought that fate was against us, it proved me wrong by bringing us back together again in the most unexpected manner. I could imagine her stomach growing bigger and popping through her dresses.

I could imagine her swapping the well-tailored suits that made her look chic and bossy at the same time, for nice-looking maternity dresses that she’d need to feel comfortable.

My mind gradually created pictures of how chubby she would be when her stomach got bigger. Since I returned from work, I decided to relieve myself of stress by watching pregnancy videos and I’d learned more than I did when Emilia was pregnant.

At least I’d have the opportunity to lift her stomach when it gets really big and heavy and give her a nice foot massage. I couldn’t wait to start attending to all her cravings.

Then I remembered our limitations and sighed. With Lilly’s presence, I couldn’t keep driving over to her place so I had to find a way to convince her to live with me until the baby was weaned.

Knowing how stubborn Melissa could be, I knew that I’d have to move the heavens to make her believe me, but if that was what it took, then I’d do it.

I was about to drop my phone when a message popped on my screen. My eyes squinted when I saw a number I couldn’t recall.

Filled with curiosity, I clicked on the message and then I realised who sent it. I snarled in exasperation at Liam’s request. What made him think that I’d come over to see him after all the crimes he had committed with his friend Blake?This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

I made to keep the phone aside when my eyes stopped at the last message. He said that he had a secret to share about Emilia.

This time I dropped the phone, but my mind was troubled as I found it hard to differentiate between a lie and the truth. I’d always known that Emilia had something to do with him, but what if he wanted to bait me?

There was only one way to find out and that was by going there. I quickly sent a message to Melissa telling her where I was going.

Luckily, the ride to the station was smooth since there wasn’t heavy traffic. I rolled into the parking lot and cleared myself at the receptionist’s desk, then strode towards his cell.

I’d almost gotten to his cell when I heard my name behind me. I spun around and found an office approaching me.

“Hi, I’m Inspector James.” He stretched his hand for a handshake which I received firmly.

“I’m Dexter Hemmingway,” I said and he released my hand.

“Are you here for Mr Liam Garcia?” He questioned, his countenance turning melancholic even though he tried to hide it which caused me to suspect that something had gone wrong.

“Yes, I am. Is there any problem?”

His expression was conflicted as if he was hiding something from me. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in an up-down pattern. “We lost him this morning.” He announced and my knees turned into jelly.

I froze. My heart stopped beating as I felt blood drain out of me.

“What are you talking about?” I whispered, my brain still struggling to process the painful news. How could he be dead?

“Apparently, he was poisoned. It was his cellmate that alerted us when he started writhing in pain and coughing out blood. We took him to the hospital, but it was too late because the poison had already eaten deep into his organs and nothing else could be done.”

I turned to the wall, suppressing the urge that rose within me to throw a punch at it. Melissa wouldn’t like that my hand was wounded, so I thought against it.

“Who dares to come in here and poison him without anyone knowing about it?” I growled.

“We have gone through the security cameras stationed in front of every cell, and we found out that a woman visited him before he started having the complications.” He explained.

A woman?

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, wondering who harbored any negative feelings towards him aside from me. Then I remembered the message he sent me earlier and the secret he said he wanted to share about Emilia.

He wasn’t joking about it, and I was too slow to understand that his life was on the line.

And what woman would have wanted to kill him to keep him from revealing a secret to me?

Only one name came to my mind.

Emilia.

“Inspector, can you describe her physical features and were you able to see her face?” I asked hopefully as anger surged through my veins.

It had better not be her.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t. She was smart enough to keep her face hidden with a mask. Her hair was a blowout burgundy color and she had a black jumpsuit on. She’s around 5’7 in height on the slim side.”

His description wasn’t strong enough to convince me that it was Emilia. I might have had more reasons to suspect her if her hair was blonde.

“So where’s his body? How can I see him?”

“It’s in the morgue, Sir. Do you want to visit him right away?”

I halted and had a rethink of my options. I had a deep resentment for Liam and I wasn’t sure that I’d forgiven him yet, but he used to be my friend and even though I was going to make him face the law, I didn’t wish him death.

After taking a deep breath that helped to regulate my emotions, I made a decision. “I’d like to see him right now.”

“That will be fine. We are still making investigations, and all the fingerprints found around the bars have been taken to the forensics department. Once we get the results from them, we’ll inform you.”

I thanked him profusely and he led me to the morgue where his body was. His body was still on a stretcher, covered with a plain white cloth. My fingers shivered, but I forced myself to stay strong.

My eyes became glassy as I strode towards his body which remained stiff. The reminder that one’s life could be taken away without warning was scary.

A feeling of nostalgia trooped into my memory as I remembered our last meeting together before I realized how wicked they were.

I couldn’t stand still all night so I summoned courage and lifted the cloth off his face. It fell off my hands as I blinked incessantly.

My eyes scanned the face that had slight changes on it, but what didn’t resonate with me was that his face was unrecognizable. I knew that being dead came with some mutations, but that didn’t mean his face had to change completely.

Who could be playing such a sick joke on me?

How could he get poisoned and his body go missing at the same time?

And how come the officer showed me the wrong corpse without realizing that he had been switched?