The reporters start asking him questions.
" What are you saying Mr Price, did you hit her ?" .
" No never .there's a day I almost did , it was all psychological abuse".
" This whole time you two were lying to us ?".
" I was . She was forced to ".
" How can you abuse the person you love ,are you admitting that you have some sort of messed up obsessive disorder " .
" OLD To be precise, yes ".
" Did your families know?" .
He clears his throat," let's not involve them in this ".
" So that means they were all in on it? ".
" No they weren't aware . Especially Lauren's family ".
" Yours did then ?".
He speaks closely to the mic ," no comment" , he of all people know that he has already given them the answer .
" What about the wedding?" .
" It's the only part that was real . At least for me it was " he expresses ," Lauren and I were already into therapy trying to fix our relationship".
" Did you force her to it ?".
" What therapy? ,No it was her idea , that's how she found out the truth ".
" Where is she right now ?".
" Irrelevant question. I don't know, the police found her at the Price hall this morning ".
" Are we now allowed to release last night's incident since you have already told us the truth yourself " .
" By incident, you mean the pictures of me getting slapped?, Yes , you may " he says .
" Are you doing this because you want her back because from what we are hearing she has already left you ?".
"Yes ".
" by fixing your relationship you mean you were trying to sway from the fake dimension into a more realer relationship?, is that why you went into therapy"
" This is the last question I'll be taking today . Yes , I realised I couldn't hold myself back anymore than I have , to my advantage I discovered that she was already in love with me ,how ?, I myself don't know, this was before the wedding , things have been good for us the past few months we almost stood a chance but the truth always has a way of coming out" .
He looks straight at me through the screen ,"Lauren, I am sorry for everything, I know no gift , no money ,no lie can undo all that I did to you and believe me when I say I punish myself everyday for it ,I didn't want to open up to you because I knew that you'd eventually come to the knowledge of the truth , I purposely put that barrier between us so you wouldn't get the chance by avoiding to talk about the past or making you to comfortable to talk to me when we were alone , although things weren't perfect we were still trying to get there - I was at peace more than I've ever been in my life , if I could live without you then all of this would be unnecessary, I'm choosing to give up all that I obtained and worked super hard for because of you , I know you hate me but it can't be more than I do myself, I've shyed away from my own heart for so long that I can not do it anymore, all my heart yearns for is you and I understand if you choose to not come back but at least let me know that you are happy where ever you decide to go only then will I stop looking for you , what I'm hoping for the most is that you return home , so we can start afresh , you, me and the baby in our new home , I promise to try my best and be the best husband you and the baby deserve , you are permitted to do whatever you want with me , if you want revenge then you are permitted to take it . However you want . You are permitted to break my heart . You are permitted to turn me into a house help but whatever you do please don't leave me , stay " he commands in a way that makes my insides flatter ,I examine him as the camera draws close to him like in the movie -tears are ready to stream down the cheeks, he gets off the podium without saying his goodbyes to everyone watching, the reporters close in on him with their microphones attempting to get more answers .
I take my phone off flight mode to call Caitlyn so that I make sure my brain is not fooling me , every word he just spoke convinced me that he's being sincere .
Caitlyn calls immediately like she knew I was about to call her .
With a breath of relief she says" Thank goodness " .
" Hello".
" Don't hello me please tell me you are still in the country?, And why would you run from the hospital like that are you crazy ?, Please just tell me you are still in the country because there's no way you made it to your destination this fast " .
" I am " my tone restrained still suffering from the disturbing message I just heard .
" Thank goodness" she says again," how could you attempt to run away like that , you don't know anyone apart from your high society associates whom I doubt would be of any help, where would you live ? ,You are too old for the stunt you just tried to pull , I was worried sick about you , what was I going to say to dad ?, Your daughter left to a foreign country that even I don't know ?with your grandchild" She continues scolding me , I don't have the energy to defend myself. She hears my silence and redraws .
" Did you see the broadcast?"her tone is calmer.
" Yes , all of it ".
" You still at the airport?".
" Yes".
" Should I come and get you ? , I'm sure you've decided to not go ahead with your reckless decision because it no longer seems like he's after you , we just had it wrong ".
" But how Caitlyn none of this makes sense , he put moms coffee shop on the market and got dad voted out of the board ".
She clears her throat," I got a mail this morning , I didn't have time to check it out because I was too busy worrying about you , and organising my stuff so I can fit in some of my things from the coffee shop... And uh after I was done with everything I finally opened it ... Ethan gave me full ownership of the restaurant, I think he wanted to make it look like I bought it off him and as for dad I'm sure he has his reasons that we are yet to discover, we didn't lose mom's coffee shop".
" Really?" I crouch down crying . people walking by are staring at me like I've lost it ," I don't know what to do Caitlyn, all of this is weighing heavy on me and I don't know where to start unloading.what is happening " I sob .
" Please be calm. I'm coming to get you "
" No no. I'll be fine, I just need a second ".
" I'm just relief we don't have to worry about him ,this is the manliest thing I've seen him do for you in this lifetime, you were worried about exposing him but he did the job for you , he really does love you but in a dark way that no normal person could approve ... He'll be too broke to buy a loaf of bread after today like he already guess , people on the socials are already dragging him and did you check the stock market, price oils dropped by thirty percent. He knew exactly what he was doing but went ahead and did it because he wants you two to be a happy family , as relieved as I am for the coffee shop I'm not at all grateful to him ,he owes us that much for everything he has done to you , I'm looking at this as collateral damage".
Her words brings me to a life altering revelation," does Ethan know that I'm pregnant?" ,I'm asking myself that question more than I am asking Caitlyn.
She pauses ," right ,the end of his speech suggested that , I was too shocked to think much of it , Ashley had a dispute with him after the wedding, only she knows because I heard about your baby from her ".
" Do you think she told Ethan?".
" It's does sound like an Ashley thing . But either way we are grateful that he told the truth himself he deserves all the punishment that's coming his way , at least you can rest now , too bad what he hoped to gain out of all this will never be his ".
" Let me call Ashley I'll call you back " I hang up and dial Ashley's contact.
" To what pleasure do I owe the best Oscar award winner?" She chuckles.
" How did you find out I was pregnant?" I ask hastily.
She doesn't answer me but expresses the garbage on her mind," I really don't know why I always get sucked back into that portal of envying you , now that I have the full story I understand that I should pity you instead " .
" Great . Can you answer my question now ?".
" How does it feel to be loved by such a mentally disturbed man ,sure he's rich but he's still crazy ?"she scoffs ," I can't believe I tried to seduce such a psycho ".
" Ashley, I'll give you ten thousand dollars, just answer my question please I don't have that much time " I plead with her , my anxiety levels are rising by the second,her insults are flying over my head.
She chuckles," I'm sure you'll need that more than me , why are you suddenly worried about that Cuz ? , Is there another twist in the story ?" She gasps.
" Ashley!" I yell.
" Pregnant women and temper issues, okay fine , since you want to know so badly , I got curious so I went into your room to search for the test , I found it near the mirror which was the last place I checked , I didn't expect you to leave it out in the open like that , that psycho caught me just as I was about to leave your room and furiously snatched the test from my hand like your pregnancy was some sort of secret, happy?" .
I hang up immediately after I've heard all that I needed to, bursting into tears at how complicated and cruel my life is , all this time I dreaded what he'd do to me the moment he found out,all sorts of life threatening fears came to mind of what he might do when he finds out only to find out that he knew all along and .....also very much aware That it's not his .