Chapter 36 Despair
I stared dumbly at the officers who were cuffing me up. “What are you doing?”
“I’m from the vice squad. You’re now under arrest for battery. Do not resist.”
Vice squad? Battery? And then realization struck me. So Julius and Coraline set me up so I’d admit that I was the one who injured her? Just so they can call the cops on me and take my property for themselves?
I was still married to Julius, after all, so if I were to serve jail time, Julius should be able to get his hands on my money since he was my husband. I didn’t know if that was true, but I was starting to panic.
It was then I realized why Dominic wanted me to stay at home. Sh*t. I should have listened to him. The guy didn’t even know I was going to get arrested, so nobody was probably going to come to my rescue.
Before I was taken away by the police, I saw Julius grinning cruelly at me.
If you had told me this was the way I’d get taken into custody a few weeks back, I’d call you crazy, but here I was. The officers took me to the interrogation room the first chance they got, and they started questioning me.
I was terrified and panicked, but I knew I mustn’t show any fear, or else I’d incriminate myself. The only way for me to get out of this was by telling them the truth and nothing but the truth since I didn’t hurt Coraline on purpose.
But it didn’t seem to work, since the officers seemed to trust Julius and Coraline more than they trusted me. The interrogation went on for god knew how long, but eventually it came to an end.
Just then, I remembered James telling me that Dominic would come back later, so I asked the officer, “Sir, can I call my friend?”
“What? Trying to get someone to back you up, eh? Give it up. We won’t do anything to you if you’re really innocent. Just tell us the truth.”
There was only a single officer in the room, and the guy seemed nice. He didn’t say I could call anyone, but I thought I had a chance, so I continued, “I told you everything I know, officer—the truth and nothing but the truth. Please just let me call my friend. Just one call.”
I was on my best behavior since I was arrested, so the officer looked at me for a moment and actually handed me my phone. I took it over from him and thanked him profusely.
“You got five minutes, so make it fast,” he added.
I nodded then unlocked my phone, only to realize it was already seven. There weren’t any missed calls or texts, so I wondered if Dominic was still out at work. But I couldn’t wait for him any longer, so I had to call him now.
The call went through a moment later, but nobody picked it up. For the first time in my life, ten seconds felt like an eternity. Eventually, the officer rushed me again, so I ended the call in a panic and dialed his number again. Pick it up, Dominic.
But it didn’t go through up until the very end. Left with no choice, I had to text him about my arrest. When I was about to make another call, the officer took my phone away. “You had your chance. Don’t say I didn’t give you one.”
My heart sank. Is this it? Am I all on my own right now?
Soon after that, a new round of interrogation started, but I had nothing more to say, so I repeated the same thing during the first round of interrogation. Finally, seeing as I had nothing of value to contribute anymore, the officers stopped asking and left me alone in the room.
I had been in a stressful situation ever since Coraline was injured, and I was slowly getting to my wits’ end. Then someone opened the door again, and I thought it was the officer. Sh*t, I’m feeling dizzy.
“Ms. Zanetti!”
Wait, that voice… That was Calvin! I looked up at the door, and lo and behold, Calvin was there. “You’re finally here, Calvin.” The moment I saw him, my tension melted away like butter under a hot sun.
If he’s here, then Dominic must be too. That was the last thought that ran through my mind before everything went black.
When I regained consciousness, I saw nothing but white, and a faint scent of disinfectant hung in the air. I’m in a hospital, huh? How long was I out?
I looked around, but there was nobody to be found. Pushing myself up, I tried to get some water. Then, someone opened the door, and Calvin came in with Dominic.
“You’re awake, Ms. Zanetti. Oh, you want some water? Let me take it for you.” Calvin knew what I was trying to do, so he filled a glass with water and handed it to me.
“Thanks.” I gulped down the water.
“You can leave now, Calvin,” Dominic said.
Calvin gave me a look of concern, but he left us alone nonetheless. For some reason, I felt nervous when Dominic was staring at me.
“I—” I was about to say thank you, but he didn’t give me the chance.
“I told you to stay at home, didn’t I? What part of ‘staying out of trouble’ don’t you understand? I take my eyes off you one second, and you got yourself arrested. Happy now?”
I bit my lip, and I felt myself tearing up, but I held the sobs back. Here I was, thinking he’d at least comfort me after all I had gone through, but he spared me no such luxury. All he had for me was blame.
“I’m sorry.” My voice trembled.
“Apology means nothing. If you did as I told you to, none of this would have happened,” he said coldly.
Alright, I had been through too much just to get scolded by him. That was the last straw. “Yeah, it’s my fault for not listening to you. It’s my fault you had to go through all that trouble. You shouldn’t have come to my rescue, since you didn’t take my call anyway. You should have just let me rot in jail if you hate me so much. Just leave. Leave! And stay out of my business!
“You’re just my employer, and I owe you a lot, don’t I? Fine, I’ll go to jail then. Is that enough to clear my debt? I mean, my misery is the source of your happiness, ain’t it? Then I’ll give you the ultimate happiness! Are you happy now? Huh?”
I was getting hysterical near the end, and I started crying uncontrollably. Everyone’s an *ss! Including Dominic!
Despite that, Dominic didn’t say anything. He was in his wheelchair, observing me quietly as I vented at him.
