Chapter 38: Breaking Point

ALICE

Waiting in the hospital was agony. Not only were depression and joy at constant war with each other within the confines of those sterile walls, but patience was tested with every tick and tock of the clock.

With every minute that passed, it became more difficult to remain in place and not dash toward the OR, but we had no choice but to stay and desperately pray that joy would win the war.

Because the victory of depression brought nothing but a reign of sorrow and despair, which had an unpredictable ruling time.

When Gideon had told me his father had had a heart attack, panic had filled me instantly.

I knew Gideon’s father hated me, but I wasn’t desperate for his approval either. However, my heart started pounding with anxiety because he was important to Gideon.

And I had lost my parents, so I knew what Gideon was going through. And despite wanting to stay at home, I accompanied him to the hospital. Now, all the Maslows, with their loved ones, were here, waiting for the OR doors to open.

“It’s all that bitch’s fault,” Brenton seethed, throwing a menacing glare at Helga.

The moment we arrived at the hospital, Brenton had looked at Helga and charged toward her. He’d grabbed her by the neck and tried to strangle her and would’ve succeeded if Gideon and Kieran hadn’t pulled him away.

“It’s her fault! This bitch is the reason my dad is in the fucking hospital! We trusted this fucking whore, and she stabbed us in the back! Let me go. I want to kill her!” Brenton growled loud enough for the whole hospital to hear.

It took a while for Gideon and Kieran to calm Brenton down, but even then, he didn’t stop glaring at Helga, who was now sitting in the corner, her face ashen. She had her eyes downcast, afraid to look at the Maslows.

“Why are you blaming her for your father’s condition?” It was Jenny who voiced out the question.

“Because she is the reason he is here,” Brenton muttered.

“What do you mean? Tell me what happened,” Elizabeth demanded.

Brenton sighed, and suddenly all of us were eager to hear just how Helga was responsible for Mr. Maslow’s heart attack. After a few seconds, he started speaking.

“I’d just come home from work when I decided to visit Dad in his study. Since he kicked Gideon out, he has been holed up in his study. I’m sure he was regretting what he did, but he didn’t voice his thoughts out to me.

“Whenever I asked him what was bothering him, he just told me that ‘it’s just business.’ But I didn’t believe him. His eyes told a different story, but I didn’t say anything.

“But this morning, I went to father’s study and found the door slightly ajar. I heard Father speaking to someone, and I had no idea what in God’s name came over me but I decided to eavesdrop on him. And I found him talking to that witch.” He shot a glare at Helga.

“He told her how he regretted kicking Gideon out, and this disgusting whore told him that he’d done the right thing.” Elizabeth, Jenny, and I gasped when we heard this.

I couldn’t believe it. I thought Helga was loyal to the Maslows, but apparently all of us had been deceived.

“When I heard this, I decided to peek through the small opening, and there I saw this bitch, unbuttoning my father’s shirt, telling him how he deserved better children who obeyed him.

“And then she told him that she—this fucking maid—would give him children who would never choose their brides over him!” Brenton raised his voice at the end.

“That conniving bitch!” Elizabeth shot Helga a menacing look before eyeing her brother once again. “What happened then?”

“Dad pushed her away, told her she would never be the mother of his children, and this tart couldn’t handle the rejection. She began spewing all kinds of nonsense about how Dad wasn’t a good man and how his children were right in leaving him, and this fucked-up bitch told him he was the reason why Mum died.

“As soon as she said that, Dad couldn’t handle the allegation, and it was at that moment his heart gave up and he had a heart attack, all because this piece of filth couldn’t handle rejection. This gold-digging tramp wanted to be a Maslow!

“She wanted to be the fucking queen of the family! Just because Father showed her respect she thought she was fit to take my mum’s place, that she could replace my mum!” Brenton growled before throwing his head back in fury.

Elizabeth whirled to face Helga with a murderous look. “You bitch!” She charged over to where the maid stood, enraged. “How fucking dare you stay here. Get your filthy being out of here!” Elizabeth yelled.

Helga trembled under Elizabeth’s glare but shook her head. “Please, Ms. Maslow, I can’t leave him. I…I love him,” Helga whimpered.

Elizabeth raised her hand and slapped Helga across the cheek so hard I was afraid her neck would break. “How dare you?” Elizabeth shook with rage.

“How dare you think that you can ever be a Maslow, one of us?! You are the reason my father is in the goddamn hospital, and you have the audacity to tell me that you love him?”

“I love him,” Helga said firmly. “I’ve loved him since the moment he first smiled at me. And your mother was nothing but a wall that separated me and Brian. And your father hasn’t told you this, but after your mum died, he came to me.

“He came to me for comfort, and we even had sex. So you don’t get to tell me that I am not supposed to be here, because, for your information, I was there for your father when you were too busy whoring around with that stupid husband of yours,” Helga spat, her eyes shining with madness.

Gideon, who had been silent throughout all this, finally released my hand and stormed over to Helga, and before any one of us could process what was happening, Gideon grabbed Helga by the neck and began squeezing.

“You don’t get to talk shit about my family from your filthy mouth.” He squeezed harder.

“You want to know why my father rejected you? Because he knows exactly how filthy you are, how worthless your blood really is. And no matter what you do, you’ll never be a Maslow, because women like you only belong on their knees, sucking a man off. You belong on the floor, so forget dreaming about a throne.”

By now, Gideon was squeezing so hard that Helga’s eyes had begun to roll back in her head. He only released her when Elizabeth gently pulled his hand away, which resulted in Helga dropping to the floor, coughing for air.

“Come on, Gideon. She’s not worth it. Her blood is too filthy. Don’t taint your hands with her blood,” Elizabeth said soothingly, rubbing her brother’s back in an attempt to calm him down.

Seeing Gideon like this shook me to the core. I realized exactly how much Gideon loved his family, how he would rather die than let anyone talk shit about his family.

The respect I had for my husband grew tenfold at the realization.

However, seeing how he was capable of murder kind of scared me, but it also brought a sense of security, because now I was sure that, no matter what happened, Gideon would do everything in his power to protect his child.

“Get this bitch out of here. I don’t want to see her face,” Gideon spat, eyeing Helga with hatred.

“I’ll gladly get rid of her for you. Security!” Kieran bellowed. In a few seconds, a couple of men in uniforms walked over to where Helga was sprawled. “Take her away.” Kieran pointed at Helga.

The guards grabbed her by the biceps and tugged her to a standing position before dragging her away, ignoring her threats and shrieks of protest.

“How come the security guard did not question Kieran?” I asked Jenny.

“The Maslows own the hospital, that’s why,” she answered, looking as anxious and bewildered as I felt.

“They do? Gideon never told me,” I said.

“Kieran told me when I visited Nico after his surgery. He said they were planning to buy the hospital where Nico got his surgery and they owned this one,” Jenny told me.

“Wow, these people are filthy rich,” I commented.

“Seriously. They are so filthy rich Helga’s blood seems cleaner than them,” Jenny remarked.

I nearly burst out laughing at her comment but controlled myself just in time because I didn’t want to be rude in front of a bunch of people. Instead, I snickered, biting my lip to stop myself from bursting into giggles.

When Jenny saw me stifling my laughter, she snickered, which made it even more difficult for me to control my laughter, but I managed to succeed.

“You are terrible,” I joked.

“I’m sorry,” Jenny apologized before bursting into giggles.

She clamped a hand over her mouth to control herself. I swear I was a terrible wife; my husband was angry and worried about his sick father, and here I was laughing at Jenny’s comment.

When I saw Gideon striding over to me, I did my best to control myself. He grabbed my hand and, without a word, led me away from Jenny.

Gideon dragged me off to a corner before sitting down on a chair and pulling me onto his lap. He placed my head on his shoulder before kissing my forehead.

“I love you so much,” he said softly.

“I love you, too,” I replied truthfully.

“Do you want me to tell you what really happened to my mum?” Gideon queried, stroking my cheek.

“All of a sudden? Where is this coming from?” Normally, I was the one begging Gideon to tell me about his family, but right now, he was the one offering, which seemed strange to me.

Gideon sighed. “I love you, little bird. And I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, so I want to tell you everything that you want to know—that you should know,” he replied.

“But why all of a sudden?” I questioned.

“Because I want to talk about something and not think about Helga’s betrayal or worry about my father for some time,” he responded.

“Oh. Okay, yes. I want to know what really happened to your mum,” I stated.

“Well. After Elizabeth ran away, you know it was a difficult time for my family. My father was angry and hurt, and my mother was scared and begged my father to bring Lizzy back, but he didn’t listen to her.

“He kept on saying, if someone leaves the Maslows, the Maslows leave him or her. You have no idea how much my mother cried and begged, but Father paid no heed.

“It was one of those days when my father was ignoring my mum’s tears. Mother was standing on the stairs and pleading with my father to bring their only daughter back, to accept her marriage and forgive her. My father snapped and tried to pry her hands off his arm.

“He—he used a bit more force than necessary, which caused my mum to lose her balance and fall down the flight of stairs. She died of a severe head wound that day.”

I gasped. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Gideon. You told me your mum died in an accident.” This tale was so sad. Gideon’s mum died in a tragic way.

“In a way, this was an accident. My father didn’t mean to do it, and he regrets his actions even to this day. He has never forgiven himself over what happened, and me being the terrible son that I am, I kept blaming him for my mother’s death.” Gideon tightened his grip on me.

“We all tend to blame someone. It’s all right.” I tried to make him realize that what he’d done wasn’t wrong.

“No, it’s not. My father is in the OR fighting for his life, and if, God forbid, something happens to him, my father’s last memory will be of his son leaving him and blaming him for his wife’s death,” he said bitterly.

“Gideon, please don’t think like that. Your father loves you, and he is not upset with you. Brenton just told you how your father was regretting kicking you out. This proves he loves you, and parents always forgive their children, no matter what,” I said with conviction.

“My father is never going to forgive me,” Gideon muttered, his eyes shimmering with regret.

“Your father loves you, and he has already forgiven you. But, Gideon, I stand by what I said before. If you ever want to leave me and be with your family, you can do that. I won’t force you to stay with me. I know your family is more important.”

“Don’t say that! You are mine, and I am never going to leave you. No matter what happens, you are mine and will always be mine. Don’t you dare say anything like this ever again.” His tone told me he meant every word that he said.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I love you so much, Gideon.” I kissed his cheek.

“I’m sorry, Alice. I’m so sorry,” Gideon said.

I frowned in confusion. “Why are you apologizing?”

“I defended Helga when you first told me to fire her. I’m sorry I did that. Please forgive me, little peach,” Gideon said.

“Gideon, no. Don’t apologize. You were right to defend her. I had no right to tell you to kick her out. I was out of line. If there is anyone who should apologize, it should be me. Because of me, you had a fight with your father.

“You had to change your lifestyle for me. You had to endure my curious nature because you got such a nosy wife. I’m sorry.” I placed my head back on Gideon’s shoulder.

“You are perfect. I’m so glad that my mum told me to marry you,” Gideon uttered.

“What? Your mum told you to marry me? How? And is that why you married me?” I fired off all my questions at once.

Gideon nodded. “My mum sort of sent me a sign telling me to marry you when I went to her grave and asked her. And she is partly the reason why I married you. The other half of the reason is I found you intriguing and so adorable, plus Kieran liked you a lot.”

“So you married me for me?” I questioned.

“Yes. And I’m fucking glad that the people who are the most important in my life supported my decision.” With those words, Gideon captured my lips in a tender, loving kiss.

“Uh, I hate to break you guys apart, but Dad’s out of surgery and we can visit him in a little while.” I turned my head to see Kieran standing a few feet away, looking relieved.

“How long has it been since he’s been out of surgery?” Gideon asked, relief evident in his eyes.

“A little while. Let’s go.” Kieran turned and strode away, leaving Gideon and me to follow.

And now, I had to deal with another confrontation. God help me.