Page 63 of Second Chances
Beth felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach, her body going cold all over. Distantly, she heard her phone buzz, probably from Darcy, but even the distant reminder of him wasn’t enough to prevent the quick spread of dread crawling through her limbs. With shaky hands, she tore open the flap and pulled out the black paper insert; the note was handwritten in white, setting the message in stark contrast to the dark background of the paper:
Beth,
Have you missed me? You haven’t seen me in a few days, I hope you weren’t getting worried. I watched your little reunion the other night; I guess I wasn’t clear when I said that Darcy is mine. I can understand if you are hesitant to believe me, however, he will end up with me, that much is inevitable. Whether your separation from him is of your own doing or of mine, is your choice. Mark my words, if you make this difficult for me, not only will I destroy your relationship with him, I will destroy you, and then I will destroy the people that you care about, like Jane. Could you just imagine how she would feel if Charles broke off their engagement?
It’s simple, Beth. You will never understand what Darcy and I had, and you will never be able to give that to make him happy. You keep trying to change him but you cannot change who he is, which is why he and I belong together, because I never needed to change him. This is an easy choice, Beth. Why draw it out and make so many innocent people suffer when you know what I’m saying is true?
Mrs. Darcy
Beth felt her lungs gasping for air, yet she couldn’t seem to find the strength to take it in. Somehow, she had ended up on the ground, unable to stay standing as the floor seemed unsteady under her feet.
She hadn’t given up.
Worse than that, the CB still had been watching her, watching them and it was like she knew Beth’s insecurities, knew her thoughts, knew what had happened that she could say the exact things to unleash the doubt that Beth had just managed to cage.
Numb to her surroundings, Beth stood slowly, feeling liable to break down at any moment. She made her way to her desk chair and sat down.
At least if anyone knocked or came it, she would have the semblance of being normal.
Beth took a deep breath as she faced the words on the card again. All of the hope that had built over the past two days, thinking that the CB had finally decided to leave her alone, to give up, came crumbling down. The glaring thought that returned to her was,what if he still loves this woman?Beth grasped her temples in frustration. No, she knew that Darcy loved her, but for how long?
The CB was right, Beth was trying to change him, but for the better, and it was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Her mind latched on to the restraining order discussion; he’d agreed to get one, but reluctantly. It had been obvious that he wanted to do it to make her happy, not because it was what he wanted to do though. Was this what she was talking about? That Beth could never make him happy if she was constantly forcing him to make decisions that he really didn’t want to make? What could that possibly mean for them long-term?
Nothing good.
No, just because he was frustrated with the situation and maybe not thinking clearly didn’t mean that he didn’t want to do it, right? Beth was drowning in her thoughts, not even allowing herself to think about what the CB would do to Jane or anyone else in her family. When she read the words, suddenly, in spite of everything that they had made it though, her relationship with Darcy seemed so fragile, something that could easily be shattered by so formidable a force from his past.
Don’t cry.
She needed to figure out what to do; she needed to act. Slamming the note face down on her desk, refusing to torture herself by staring at the words that were crushing her heart, she picked up her cell and texted Jane.
-Are you busy? I need to talk.
A minute later her phone began to ring.
“Hey.”
“Hey, what’s up? Is everything ok?” Jane asked, worriedly.
“No, not really. Something has happened or has been happening, and I don’t know what to do about it and it’s kind of started to freak me out but I just…I just don't know what to do,” Beth rambled on quickly, beginning to stutter near the end as her emotions got the best of her.
“Oh, my gosh, what’s the matter? You’re scaring me, Beth, what’s going on? Is this about what happened over the weekend? I got your text that everything was good a few days ago; I assumed your talk went well…”
“Yeah, it did. That’s not the problem; Darcy isn’t the problem. Well, not directly anyway,” Beth began, “it’s his ex.”
“Yes, you said she was back in town.”
“She’s back; she wants him back and she’s started stalking and threatening me to make it happen.” Beth’s admission gushed out of her, affording her a moment of relief having finally confided in someone. “I don’t know what to do. I haven’t told Darcy. I don’t know if I should or if I want to. I hate feeling like I can’t handle this on my own but, she’s threatened to not only ruin our relationship but my life and people in my family.”
“Woah, Beth, slow down. So, Darcy’s ex-girlfriend approached you and threatened you?” Jane asked, trying to work through the jumble of details that Beth had revealed.
“No. Well, yes. Sort of. After she approached Darcy at Renée’s party, he was concerned that she might approach me. So, he gave me two bodyguards that escort me to and from work each day. On Monday, I guess, she was going to approach me but because of them, she didn’t. Instead, she emailed me letting me know that she had been watching me and telling me that I needed to end it with Darcy.”
“Ok, so she hasn’t come up to you in person,” Jane clarified.
“No, she just emailed me on Monday and then today a messenger delivered a huge vase of black roses with a handwritten card from her.”
“What did it say?”
