can go back to sleep. ”
“When you were sick, back in February, and needed that bone marrow transplant, d id you know who the donor was?”
“Dilvan, wh y on earth is this an urgent matter to you?”
“I want to know.”
“Why, son?”
“Because I need to know. Was it Gabrielle?”
“Dilvan...”
“Just tell me. Was it?”
Colin blew an agitated breath.
“Dad, I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t need to know, now please just—”
“Yes! Yes, Dilvan. It was Gabrielle.”
Dilvan’s lips trembled and for a moment, he could feel his heartbeats pounding against his chest with fierce thumps. “I don’t believe this. Mother told me it was an anonymous donor!”
“Dilvan, you need to calm down.”
“Calm down! And y’all have been lying to me?”
“L isten, son...your Mother told me not to tell you that Gabrielle was the donor.”
“Why?”
“You’re going to have to take that up with her. Now I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, so I’m going to get off this phone. If you decide to call your Mother, do me a favor...wait to call her at a decent hour. Goodnight, son.”
Colin hung up the phone and Dilvan immediately dropped to his knees and covered his face. It was true. For the last six and a half months, he’d been torturing the woman who had saved his Father’s life. He wondered if Heshan and Prasad were aware that Gabrielle had done this for their Father. Was he the only one left in the dark? The one terrorizing Gabrielle?
He hadn’t realized, until this moment, how innocent she was and how incredibly bad he’d been to her. He was trying to teach his Mother a lesson, but Padma had ended up exposing him for the selfish man he was – the man she constantly complained about.
Dilvan held his head in agony. How could he be so cruel to Gabrielle? He hadn’t tried to get to know anything about her or her family. He degraded her, told her she was ugly, that she was a waste of space. He hadn’t truly realized her worth, that she had a heart of gold. That she was truly a gem. He hated to admit it but his Mother chose the perfect woman for him. He just didn’t want to see Gabrielle for her value.
CHAPTER 10
Gabrielle
- - -
“So Padma should be here any minute now,” Tyson says, sitting directly across from me at the dining room table.
I don’t bot her looking up at him but the pheromones floating across the table, which I attribute to testosterone, Zest body wash, aftershave and some luxurious cologne, blends deliciously with the aroma of bacon, ham and pancake syrup. Beatrice had cooked another mouth-watering breakfast, with waffles this time.
Tyson was just finishing up his last waffle, then he wipes his mouth and asks, “Are you okay?” when he notice I hadn’t eaten much of anything.
I nod, my head still down . I was worried about telling Padma all the things her son had done to me. If Dilvan ever found out, I’m certain he’d find me and strangle me to death, especially if Padma cut him out of the family inheritance.
“Gabrielle?”
“Yes.”
“Can you look at me? Please?”
I look at him, maintaining eye contact this time. The feeling of sitting at this table and looking people in the eyes is overwhelming for me. That’s just something Dilvan didn’t tolerate, something I’ve become accustomed to.
“There you are,” he says, flashing a heart-stopping smiling. “When Padma leaves, we’re going to pack. Okay.”
I nod again.
“How’d you sleep last night?”
“Good...better than I’ve slept in a long time.”
“ Good, now why aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“Why? Are you worried?”
Is this guy reading me that well , I think to myself. That’s when I realize I don’t know him that well – that he’s here, he said, because Padma sent him here purposely to find out about my life with Dilvan. So just to clarify and to see if he still has the same story as yesterday, I ask, “Why’d Padma
“When you were sick, back in February, and needed that bone marrow transplant, d id you know who the donor was?”
“Dilvan, wh y on earth is this an urgent matter to you?”
“I want to know.”
“Why, son?”
“Because I need to know. Was it Gabrielle?”
“Dilvan...”
“Just tell me. Was it?”
Colin blew an agitated breath.
“Dad, I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t need to know, now please just—”
“Yes! Yes, Dilvan. It was Gabrielle.”
Dilvan’s lips trembled and for a moment, he could feel his heartbeats pounding against his chest with fierce thumps. “I don’t believe this. Mother told me it was an anonymous donor!”
“Dilvan, you need to calm down.”
“Calm down! And y’all have been lying to me?”
“L isten, son...your Mother told me not to tell you that Gabrielle was the donor.”
“Why?”
“You’re going to have to take that up with her. Now I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, so I’m going to get off this phone. If you decide to call your Mother, do me a favor...wait to call her at a decent hour. Goodnight, son.”
Colin hung up the phone and Dilvan immediately dropped to his knees and covered his face. It was true. For the last six and a half months, he’d been torturing the woman who had saved his Father’s life. He wondered if Heshan and Prasad were aware that Gabrielle had done this for their Father. Was he the only one left in the dark? The one terrorizing Gabrielle?
He hadn’t realized, until this moment, how innocent she was and how incredibly bad he’d been to her. He was trying to teach his Mother a lesson, but Padma had ended up exposing him for the selfish man he was – the man she constantly complained about.
Dilvan held his head in agony. How could he be so cruel to Gabrielle? He hadn’t tried to get to know anything about her or her family. He degraded her, told her she was ugly, that she was a waste of space. He hadn’t truly realized her worth, that she had a heart of gold. That she was truly a gem. He hated to admit it but his Mother chose the perfect woman for him. He just didn’t want to see Gabrielle for her value.
CHAPTER 10
Gabrielle
- - -
“So Padma should be here any minute now,” Tyson says, sitting directly across from me at the dining room table.
I don’t bot her looking up at him but the pheromones floating across the table, which I attribute to testosterone, Zest body wash, aftershave and some luxurious cologne, blends deliciously with the aroma of bacon, ham and pancake syrup. Beatrice had cooked another mouth-watering breakfast, with waffles this time.
Tyson was just finishing up his last waffle, then he wipes his mouth and asks, “Are you okay?” when he notice I hadn’t eaten much of anything.
I nod, my head still down . I was worried about telling Padma all the things her son had done to me. If Dilvan ever found out, I’m certain he’d find me and strangle me to death, especially if Padma cut him out of the family inheritance.
“Gabrielle?”
“Yes.”
“Can you look at me? Please?”
I look at him, maintaining eye contact this time. The feeling of sitting at this table and looking people in the eyes is overwhelming for me. That’s just something Dilvan didn’t tolerate, something I’ve become accustomed to.
“There you are,” he says, flashing a heart-stopping smiling. “When Padma leaves, we’re going to pack. Okay.”
I nod again.
“How’d you sleep last night?”
“Good...better than I’ve slept in a long time.”
“ Good, now why aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“Why? Are you worried?”
Is this guy reading me that well , I think to myself. That’s when I realize I don’t know him that well – that he’s here, he said, because Padma sent him here purposely to find out about my life with Dilvan. So just to clarify and to see if he still has the same story as yesterday, I ask, “Why’d Padma
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