Chapter 228: Did I Ever Tell You That I Love You?

Crystal waited for Nathan to reply, but he did not. She could hear him breathing on the other line, but he remained silent.

What the fuck?!?! - thought Crystal. “What do you want?” she demanded for the second time. “I’m tired, and I don’t have the energy to put up with your bullshit!”

“Don’t marry him,” Nathan finally replied.

Crystal: “Why not? We are over. You had your chance, and you blew it!”

Her words struck him like a sharp knife to the heart, and there was another long silence during which all she could hear was his heavy breathing.

Once it became apparent that Nathan would not reply, Crystal said, “I am so happy that I left you. I don’t want to go back to the past. In fact, I have forgotten it. From now on, I’m Mrs. Bush. It would be best if you remembered who I am and who you are. I don’t mind you calling me your sister-in-law, but that is where our relationship ends.”

Nathan: “Did I ever tell you that I love you?”

Crystal’s heart throbbed, and it radiated pain into her bloodstream until she hurt from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “I thought you stopped loving me...” she whispered.

Nathan: “How can I stop loving you? I have loved you since I was sixteen, and now you tell me that you are going to marry someone else. What do you want me to do?” His voice began to tremble with emotion.

Crystal was confused. “You say that you’ve loved me since you were sixteen, but I don’t believe it!” she said. “I would have only been nine! And if you are telling the truth, it does not look good on you. What kind of pervert would you be to have lusted after a child like that? I don’t want to have anything to do with you!”

“Everything I’ve done is because of you,” Nathan begged. “And I would do anything to prevent you from marrying Eric!”

Crystal: “Anything? Would you die?”

Nathan: “You want me to die?”

Crystal: “I want you out of my life. If you were dead, then you would be out of my life, and I wouldn’t have to marry Eric. The only reason I’m marrying Eric is that, between the two of you, he is the lesser of two evils.”

Nathan: “I don’t believe it. If you wanted me dead, you would not have used a tranquilizer gun when you left me. You would have used a real one.”

Crystal: “I assumed that the tranquilizers would have been enough of a deterrent, and you would have left me alone once you realized that I was serious. Obviously, I was wrong. If I could go back in time and do it again, I would use a real gun!”

Nathan: “Well, we don’t have a time machine, but it’s not too late to get the job done. I will ask Vic to prepare a gun for you. You are welcome to come and kill me if you wish. My door is always open to you, as is my heart, to love or to destroy. If you are going to marry Eric, you may as well kill me. So, when will you come and shoot me? If you don’t kill me, then I will know that you can’t bear to lose me and that you are meant to be mine.”

“You are a lunatic!” Crystal said.

Nathan opened his mouth to tell her that he loved her, but it was too late. She had already ended the call. “And I didn’t even get the chance to tell her that I paid off her Mother’s debts...” he muttered. He hadn’t even had the chance to tell her how it was that he had come to love her when he was sixteen while she was still a child.

Almost ten years ago, Nathan had received a cat as a gift, and he loved it with all of his heart.

One cold winter day, while he was at school, the cat fell into the water. Everyone thought that it was dead, except for Crystal, who was nine years old at the time. She jumped into the water and saved it.

When Nathan returned from school, he learned about the little girl’s heroic deed. She was holding the cat, and they were both trembling. He was amazed that it was not dead, and he said so.

Crystal looked up at him with big eyes that sparkled like stars in the sky, and she said, “It did die, but cats have nine lives. This one has eight left.”

Nathan thought that she was very brave, and he wanted to have her for the rest of his life. He had fallen in love with her, and he desperately wanted to protect her.

Before he could say anything, he made her a picture, and when he finished it, he vowed never to paint again.

After ten years, he could not believe that it could all come to naught. For a long time, he just sat there, not moving, with his phone in his hand. It felt like the room was spinning, and if he tried to stand, he thought he might fall. Absently, he traced the scabs on his arm. The cuts were healing well, but that was not what he wanted. He wanted the pain, and he wanted the scars that spelled out her name to stand out.

Nathan dug his fingernails into the scab and slowly peeled it away, destroying the healed and healing flesh. The wound didn’t bleed much at first, so he dug his fingers into his arm. Before long, blood was oozing down his arm.

This is nice - he thought, and he began to laugh maniacally.

****

By the time Nancy arrived at the door to Paul’s bedroom, she was fuming. She could not believe that Paul had told Clark she didn’t love him, and she was ready to give him a piece of her mind. She knocked twice, and when no one answered, she tried again. When there was still no answer, she became convinced that he was ignoring her, so she turned the knob and let herself in.

Much to Nancy’s surprise, the room was empty. She went in a little further, and when she heard the water running in the adjoining bathroom, she called out Paul’s name. No one answered so she went into the bathroom to turn off the water. As she reached the doorway, though, Paul stepped into the bedroom, and he was completely naked. His hair was wet, and there was water dripping off his massive muscles.