Chapter 45: REUNITED

"Little pitchers have big ears. Our child is a living, breathing, feeling human being. He can wake up and hear us arguing !" Leo said softly as Rachel told him to leave Alex and her alone in the hospital ward and not to come back again. "Can we discuss the matter outside the ward ?" he added.
"With all due respect, I"d rather not discuss it. There's nothing left to discuss with you since we know each other quite well now," Rachel replied as they both moved out of Alex's ward where he was sleeping under the spell of medicines.
"I need to discuss Alex, after all he's my son too," Leo said as they both sat in the waiting area.
"That"s not up for discussion !" Rachel retorted.
"I want to know why you hid such big news from me and left the city without informing me four years back ?" Leo questioned.
"I'm the mother and I know what's best for my child," Rachel countered.
"Who can argue with that ?!" Leo exclaimed. "But, I just want to know how could you betray me, when I love you so much ?" he asked.
"I don"t know how to respond to that," Rachel said.
"Don't you love me anymore ? Or are you in love with someone else ?" Leo asked.
"Pardon me ! That"s a personal question and I don't want to answer it to a stranger," answered Rachel.
"For heaven's sake ! Don't call me a stranger. I'm your child's father. So please answer my questions," Leo said with a frustrated tug on his hair.
"Well, I"m so tired of your questions. Let"s talk about you instead!" Or something else ! Or our careers ! Or about your mom, Valerie or maybe your kids ! Or horrific world news ! Or how we're going to change this world !" Rachel replied.
"I don't want to discuss any of these. I just want to talk about us, you, me and our son," Leo replied in agitation.
"I could answer that, but I"d so much rather enjoy being in the moment right now." I"m really tired of "fielding personal questions" from previous years. That"s my child"s story, and I respect his privacy. And that is really what it all boils down to for me," Rachel answered as she was just not interested in talking to Leo who had cheated on her.
"Ok then. Let me ask something solely related to myself then. Just let me know why did you ask about my mom, Valerie and kids ?" a vexed Leo questioned in surprise.
"Because they are the ones who opened my eyes and saved me from getting fooled by you any further, " Rachel replied.
"You're being really rude right now ! I"ve always loved you and only you. I can never ever think of fooling you !" Leo indignantly responded. "If you don"t remember, I had proposed to you too !!"
"I"ve had enough of all these lies from you, so you don't need to react defensively. I'm not interested in discussing anything," Rachel retorted.
"Why do you have so much bitterness towards me ? Rather I should be the one complaining because you left me alone to pursue your career aspirations," Leo said as Rachel's every word pierced through his heart.
"Stop shifting the blame ! Now I quite understand you," Rachel asserted.
"There are a lot of things you don't understand," Leo addressed as he smoldered his gaze at her.
"Fine then make me understand," Rachel countered.
"Once I came back from my meeting in the headquarters, I searched for you everywhere four years back and since then I've been searching for you relentlessly," Leo shared his anguish.
"I wish instead of searching for me, you would have searched for the reason of my leaving," Rachel replied.
"My Mom and Valerie informed me that you came to the Emerson mansion that day in my absence to ask for money for your masters admission in a university. But the moment you came to know about the Emerson Group being bankrupt you left without informing anything in spite of them pleading to you to stay for the sake of my love," Leo explained.
"And you believed all these lies ?" Rachel incredulously asked.
"No ! I had faith in you, I had faith in my love and I had faith in our love, and that is why I searched for you to get the answers," Leo admitted his true feelings.
"Behold yourself because the truth is that I came looking for you that day with my pregnancy report in one hand and a letter confirming my scholarship for masters degree in the other," Rachel replied.
"Then why did you leave the city without meeting me ? You should have waited for me to come back to the city," Leo said.
"Your mom informed me that you were getting married to Valerie, who was pregnant with your child. She further told me that to save your company from bankruptcy you've accepted the matrimonial alliance. Suddenly it didn't seem worth it to wait for you any further so I left the city and your life for good," Rachel responded.
"I agree that Valerie's parents proposed this marriage proposal to save our business and my parents pressured me to accept it," Leo confessed.
"So you gave in to that pressure, married your childhood friend, saved your business and lived happily ever after with her and your kids," Rachel said.
"No, it's not true !" Leo argued.
"You've taken everything from me. What more will you take from me, Leo ? I've nothing now except for Alex. Please leave us and go from our life," Rachel whispered, her vulnerability dripping with every word.
"No," Leo carefully caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers as she gazed at her with utmost gentleness.
"You're everything to me. And I'll never take anything from you ever again. I'll only give," Leo vowed.
"Then," Rachel swallowed. "Give me the answer to what you were doing in the intimate photographs clicked inside Valerie's bedroom. Your mom and Valerie showed me all the pictures."
"I came to meet you with dreams, joys and everything beautiful but left with nothing but a broken heart that day," Rachel added in dismay.
"Most of what you saw and heard was one-sided and a lie. You should have believed in our love," a misty eyed Leo asserted.
"I had a long day, when I visited Valerie's home with my parents to discuss the partnership in our loss making business and also to check on Valerie's health, who wasn't keeping well as my parents informed me," Leo explained the truth.
"I went upstairs to visit Valerie in her room who was lying on the bed. Her mom served me some juice, when she came to check on Valerie after a while," Leo continued.
"I dozed off for a while after drinking the juice and once I regained consciousness, I thought it might be because of tiredness, tension or a hectic schedule," Leo recollected the events of that day.
"It's now apparent to me that those photos were secretly taken at that point. I can't believe it that my own parents and my childhood friend tricked me into all this," he added in shock as he understood that he was just a pawn in that staged drama.
"I knew it didn"t go over well with them when I introduced you and you left crying from the hospital," he continued. "I knew my parents and Valerie would turn on you. They have always been manipulative, that is why I didn't believe what they said and searched for you," Leo woefully said .
"When my parents tried to force me into the matrimonial alliance with Valerie, I respectfully told them that while I understand their concern for uplifting the business, I didn't intend to marry Valerie as I had promised all my love to you in this lifetime," Leo explained.
"But being their son and heir to the family business, I promised them that I'll bring Emerson Group back to its lost glory with my hardwork and acumen but will never marry anyone else except Rachel," Leo narrated his true side of the story to her.
Rachel was by now bitterly crying because she was the one who chose to end things. There was a guilt swirling into her sadness.
Like a bullet ricocheting down a long set of narrow alley walls, Rachel was trying to make sense of it. She understood how intelligently Laura Emerson and Valerie had tricked her.
"I'm so sorry I made you cry all those years ago," Rachel said as they took a long walk in the hospital park hand in hand.
It was a triumphant story about tenacious love which won over daunting obstacles. It was "lost-and-found love."
"Why didn't you marry in these four years ?" Rachel asked.
"Because I couldn't find you.Your imprint became more and more powerful over the years. I measured everyone who came across with you but then you're only one of a kind who the creator created for me. I only intensified my search for you and the universe rewarded me with a reward, 'you' and bonus 'Alex'," Leo replied as Rachel blushed.
It took Rachel a few minutes to really grasp what he"d just said. To think of someone thinking about her, every day, holding her as his ideal—when it seemed to her that the whole world was just as happy to throw her away ? It boggled her mind.
"Now it dawned on me: Maybe I did know. Maybe that invisible force that binds us all in love, whatever we might choose to call it, has surrounded me all these years with your love. Maybe that"s why I'm still alive," Rachel said as she reshuffled all her memories, upgrading each one.
"And why did you stay single ? You too had ample opportunities in college and then at your job," Leo questioned.
"For me, there was only you," Rachel revealed. "I had decided to go to therapy to get rid of your love ghost, but you always managed to walk in through my heart's door and I knew that I never had been out of your love in these four years."
"So what if I had come back into your life decades later ?" questioned Leo as he held Rachel's hand in his.
"A beautiful love story would have ruined because of my lack of trust in you," Rachel apologized for the time and love they lost for four long years because of her mistrust.
"Life and circumstances can make us give up on someone when we shouldn"t have," Leo remarked.
"Someone loved me, and I didn"t know" Rachel said with a shake of her head, chiding herself. She regretted it.
Rekindled love is potent. An old longing adds intensity to the relationship in a positive way.
"While time spent apart has seasoned us, the lost years have only intensified our appreciation for each other," Leo assured. "Not to forget, it must have been difficult for you after what all you went through in the Emerson mansion that day," Leo being so considerate, commented.
"I thought about you constantly after leaving the city. For months it was daily. Then, because it was ruining my peace of mind and life, I forced myself into academics, work and motherhood. I didn't want to ruin the present of Alex by thinking of the past," Rachel replied.
"I'm going to call my parents and tell them I'll not forgive them for ruining our lives and cheating on me with their dirty tricks," Leo said in anguish.
"I think you should forgive them," Rachel requested.
"Forgive them ! They ruined our lives. What if we had never met ? They did not care to inform me about your truth even after knowing that the business profits had picked up and my personal life was in ruins," Leo said in disgust. "I only want to remain loyal to you as I've committed myself to spending the rest of my life with you," he assured.
"Leo now the circumstances are quite different from what they were four years back when your family business was failing and the quickest way to save was your marriage with Valerie. I had no standing at that time compared to your family background and academic abilities. But today the things are quite different," Rachel said.
"How ? My parents are the same and love cannot be measured with accomplishments," Leo retorted.
"But circumstances are different. You have revived your business. I've a standing of my own and now they have a grandson too. So be patient with them while discussing this fragile topic," Rachel counseled.
"This conversation with my parents isn't going to be easy so I'm ready to cut all ties with them, if they don't accept you and our son," Leo explained.
"While the conversation might be difficult, it"s important to approach your family members as calmly and respectfully as possible. You could suggest that we all can try spending more time together so they can get to know me better and have fun with their grandson, Alex," Rachel advised.
In the beginning, Leo's family was defensive of what they did four years back, when he broached the subject.
But soon he made them confess about how they designed that evil plan to get rid of Rachel from his life to save their frailing business and then concocted another false version to poison his mind against Rachel.
"I've decided to give our relationship another chance in spite of knowing the truth. I wish to communicate what sort of support I'll need from you so please listen with a nonjudgmental ear and focus on being there for us rather than tearing down my partner and the mother of my son down," Leo said.
"What do you mean by your son ? Do we have a grandchild ?" Mr. Emerson asked in amazement.
"Yes, mom and dad ! You have a grandson, Alex who is three years old now," Leo revealed.
"We would like to personally come and apologize to you both and would love to spend time with our grandchild. Please forgive us," Mr. and Mrs. Emerson said as they realized their mistake.