Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Several minutes into midnight, Amelia continued pacing up and down in her room, thinking about Cullen's offer. She doesn't want to have anything to do with men anymore.

Also, Daniel kept on calling and calling, relentlessly. She regretted declining his call earlier. Had it been she had left it to ring as usual, he would have assumed she missed her phone after calling a couple of times.

His name brought back nothing but bad memories. Sighing softly, she sat on the bed and answered the call. He had been calling for so long.

"Amelia," Daniel's voice came from the other end, raw with pure emotions of pain.

Amelia blinked in surprise when she heard how he sounded. He has never spoken to her with any emotion other than his grumpy disgusted tune.

"Amelia, are you there? Are you alright?" he continued, his voice breaking with each word he let out.

Amelia's fingers trembled. She gently pinched herself to confirm she was awake and when she felt pain as a result of the pinch, tears rolled down her cheek.

This is real! She screamed in her head.

She was shocked beyond belief, and cold washed all over her whole being. She turned paler and felt extremely sick inside.

"Amelia,"

When Daniel called her name again, hostility covered her. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and calmed herself to listen to him.

"Amelia, I'm sorry,"

Once again, Amelia was stunned beyond recovery. She started her lips, but no word escaped it, just air.

From the other end, Daniel had difficulty breathing properly. He felt so satisfied to contact her again. He can't wait to lay his eyes and hands on her once again.

"Daniel?" Amelia choked her voice barely above that of a whisper. Tears threatened to leave her eyes.

"Amelia," Daniel yelled urgently from the other end, startling Amelia, "Amelia I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. Sometimes it's hard for me to understand you. I apologize again, please know that… please know that I love you," the words left his lips like a bomb.

Hearing him, Amelia brought her other hand to her lips, her breath catching in her throat.

She could hear Daniel's trembling breath from the other end, and if she wasn't mistaken, she heard him sniff in tears.

"I never meant to hurt you and I wish I never did. I failed you, Amelia. I promise to be better for you. Maybe sometimes I make you feel like I don't love you anymore but trust me, I love you more than you'll ever know. I just realized how great my actions have hurt you," Daniel choked at his last words and allowed his tears to flow freely.

Amelia stiffened, and tears left her eyes. She never imagined Daniel would one day call her and say words like this to her. She never even imagined he would call her.

Daniel cleared his throat from the other end, "I value our marriage, Amelia. Tell me where you are, and I promise to work on myself and become better. I promise to communicate more effectively and navigate through our challenges together… please Amelia,"

A flash memory of where he choked her on the hospital bed played before her, traumatizing her. Her body trembled, and her heart turned frozen.

"You really should've figured this out earlier," she said coldly, "You will see me when I see you. You have no right to order me around anymore,"

She scoffed lightly and ended the call immediately. Her phone fell off her hand and her hand once holding her phone trembled visibly.

She stiffly fell to the bed, lay on her side, and hugged her knees to her chest. Her lips quivered terribly without holding back, accompanied by tears.

Her phone on the floor rang again, but she paid no attention to it. She knew who was calling.

Her husband has never hugged her, he has never complimented her, or done anything soft with her. He was always brutally hard and evil, even in sex.

Her no meant nothing, and he would maniacally tie her to the bed, rip her off her clothes in the most traumatizing manner, and have his way with her brutally.

Her wedding night was nothing like a wedding might. Rather than the gentle wedding nights like every other couple, she received her first domestic abuse on her wedding night.

The moment they got into their private room, he slapped her hard, sending her to the floor with a harsh slap, surprising her. It was as if he had been waiting for them to go out of the sight of the guests.

Taken aback by the sudden slap, she remained on the floor and started up at him. Right before her eyes, he produced a gun from behind his suit pants and pointed it at her face.

Her face turned pale immediately. Due to the extreme shock, she peed on herself without knowing it.

"From this moment, if you don't want to die, anything that happens here should remain between us," he warned her, pulling the trigger.

Amelia gulped painfully and nodded out of fear. Back at the aisle, he smiled sweetly at her and for the few days she had known him, he had been nice to her.

Did someone switch her husband's inner self with someone else?

That night was a very stormy one. Her first night was nothing to write home about. It was brutal in the most painful way, and she hated herself for being so pathetic.

Thinking he had the guts to call her now and spout out, well write down and organize lies, she must say that she admires his guts.

He deserves a standing ovation.

On second thought, what if he really meant it? What if he's ready to change for the better? What if he really regrets everything and what to make their marriage work for real?

What if… Just what if?

"I value our marriage, Amelia,"

Daniel's words replayed in her mind, leaving her broken, walking on an eggshell in deep thought.

She sobbed quietly, "Someone can hurt you in the worst way possible and still want you, right? Has he finally decided to accept me? Could it be that he has loved me all these while and only realized it now?" she asked herself, her mind filled with a thousand questions