Busted

The cousins were locked in an aggressive fight. The scene before me included blood and some nasty words. That was the last thing I remembered before everything went pitch black. There is one thing that only a very few people knew about me. I suffered from a condition where I fainted at the sight of blood produced from violence. It wasn’t exactly a disease but was a scar from a traumatic event in the past. The memories were faded as I was too young. All I remembered was that one day, upon returning home from my grandma’s house, I found my house covered in blood. My parents were bleeding to death and screaming for help. It was all I saw as someone hit me in the head from behind and knocked me unconscious. 
It’s hard enough to live with that haunting memory which had wounded me so deeply for life. What made it worse was that I never received an explanation from anyone. My parents were extremely secretive people. They never refused to answer, but they always had an apparent false story to go along with it. They said that a gory incident never happened and was only a child’s nightmare.  
Do dreams have such haunting effects on a person’s brain? I suppose not.  
“Amelia!” Nathan’s angry voice startled me awake.  
I sat up, gasping for air. After calming my breathing issue, I looked around, expecting my environment to be different. However, I was in the same bed Elijah had left me to relax. Something had changed. I could feel it in the air. When my eyes met with Nathan’s, I realized it was him. His narrowed eyes carried more anger than before. 
“Nathan, how did you find me?” I grabbed a sheet and hid my body with it. “Where is Elijah?” 
“You shouldn’t have done this,” Nathan spoke.  
It seemed like Nathan hadn’t bought our fake mafia kidnapping video and had figured out our plan. Did he hate me for lying to him? He was the one who had unnecessarily pushed me to take such an action. 
I tucked my hair behind my ear, exhaling loudly. “Done what? You asked me for proof. I had to do something before you forever kicked me out of your life. It’s not like I had a choice.” 
Nathan mounted the bed and put a hand on my knee. “You could have talked to me before leaving. I asked you to bring proof, not...” 
“You asked me to do the impossible, Nathan,” I said, moving away to escape his touch. “You could have talked to me before saying all that in front of your father. All I wanted was for you to have a good relationship with him. How does that make me a bad person? You only think about yourself.” Though I knew my harsh words would aggravate the situation, I didn’t refrain from speaking my mind. “You promised to protect me regardless of what happened, yet you pushed me towards the same threat. I have felt unsafe during many situations in life, but this made me feel like everything is over...” 
Nathan’s finger fell on my lips, hushing me. “I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. His voice was a whisper. The anger in his eyes had wholly dissipated. ” An apology from Nathan Sinclair? I was flabbergasted. I thought he had busted us, and I could swear I had witnessed violence before I fainted. “No matter what I said.” Nathan cupped my cheek. The comforting warmth of his touch was exactly what I wanted.
“No matter what I had done, you should have talked to me. Amelia, you shouldn’t have attempted to take your life.” 
“Take my what?” I asked. What made him think I was suicidal? All I did was agree to a pathetic fake kidnapping.  
Nathan sighed, shaking his head empathetically. “You don’t have to hide. Elijah told me all about it. He told me how he found you in the art room in tears. You had a knife in your hand, and you were about to slit your wrist with that. I am thankful to him for being there and stopping you from making an irrevocable mistake.” 
“Is that all he said? Did you receive_?” 
“Did I receive the ransom call?” Nathan finished my sentence. “Well, yes. To his ill luck, he used someone I am familiar with in the video. My cousin didn’t know, so I called that person and forced your plan and location out of that acquaintance.” 
Elijah had told a big lie about my failed suicide attempt. I could see he had done that to save us from the rage-filled volcano in Nathan’s head from erupting on us and burning us alive. However, I couldn’t let Nathan believe I was so weak.  
“Nathan. I have something to tell you. Your cousin...” I began. 
“Is a wonderful man who has brought us close to each other again. Isn’t that what you were about to say?” said Elijah, making an unexpected entrance into the room. Rather than innocent, his overly stretched mouth seemed evil to me. “Another couple successfully saved. Now, why don’t you put the engagement ring back on her finger, which you had forcefully removed? It’s a sin to break a beautiful girl's heart.” 
Nathan smiled coyly as his gaze fell to the floor. “I wouldn’t mind being engaged to Amelia again. It’s a good thing I put the ring in my pocket and didn’t leave it at home.” He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out the flashy diamond to show us.  
“Don’t just show it to her. Get down on one knee and ask her. She deserves a second proposal after all the pain you have put her through,” Elijah urged. 
Right when I thought Elijah was an idiot to expect that from Nathan, he quickly moved to the floor and got down on one knee.  
“Amelia Walter, will you marry me?” Nathan asked. 
His action was astonishing and exactly what I needed in my helpless situation. I wanted to say yes. I should have said yes, but something kept me from saying anything.  
“No!” I pushed the ring away. “I will not marry you. Nathan, I can’t imagine being engaged to you anymore. You can have me as your caretaker again, but I don’t wish to be your partner ever again.”