Capítulo 14: Bearing A Stranger's Child.

"Make sure that no one hears about this. Raymond should never discover that you have been deflowered. Him knowing about this must be after your marriage with him tomorrow. Do you understand me?"

"Y—yes, Dad," Joseline answered and saw him slam the door shut behind him.

Jefferson who had been standing in silence all along, released the breath he realized he was holding.

Lilian pulled Joseline gently upwards. "Come here Josie," Lilian couldn't help but wrapped Joseline in a hug and the two wiped each other's tears.

Joseline tried to get up, but the pain between her legs and her neck shot through her entire body. Her throat was so dry and her tongue soar that she tasted the bitterness of her bad health in her mouth.

"Can I get something to drink please?" She felt she needed something to quench her taste. Looking to her left, a honey-milk tea was gratefully placed on the cupboard at one corner of the room.

"Can I drink that?" Joseline asked.

"Yes, of course, I made that for you." Lilian brought out tea but it had now turned cold. Inhaling the aroma, it salivated Joseline's taste.

"Hold on, I will make a hot tea from feverfew herb, it will help reduce your pain," Jefferson suggested.

Joseline only nodded and saw Jefferson leave in a hurry.

"The honey and milk tea is cold now?" Lilian said as soon as Jefferson back disappeared from the door. "Hold on. Let me warm it. You know you don't have to take something cold."

Joseline nodded thoughtfully and watched Lilian begin to stir the honey and milk in the electric jug to warm it up again. Lilian saw the sadness in her eyes and said, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

Joseline nodded and smiled wearily. She reached for the tea after Lilian was done and held it so dearly as if the warmth of it in her palms would diffuse the thoughts in her head immediately after she takes it down her throat.

Lilian sat beside her again, patting her shoulder gently, "So tell me, did you see the face of the man who did this to you?"

"No, I didn't get the chance to. Everywhere was so dark." Joseline shook her head vehemently. She greedily gulped down the tea hoping it would subside the thought of the masculine fingers that robbed her clitoris last night; how deep he had gone into her and how she had felt about it.

"I swear, I would find whoever it is and make him pay for this." Lilian took the cup from her and placed it back on the cupboard, she held her hands again.

"I'm supposed to hate the man who did this to me right?" Joseline began to laugh bitterly, "I should have hated him when he was doing that to me when my feet and hands were tied helplessly. I feel like I'm the worst person on earth."

"W—what do you mean?" Lilian let her lean on her chest.

"I'm getting married tomorrow and I shouldn't allow myself to be pleased except it is from my husband but..." Her voice broke. She inhaled deeply and managed to get it out. "At first, I was disgusted but suddenly his masculine scent and the petting touch enveloped me.

My pain-fogged brain urged me to reject it, but his pain-filled sweet touch made my nerves clench and loosen, making it hard for me to resist and I ended up succumbing to it. He was rough but suddenly became gently that I couldn't withhold it."

"Don't be silly, Josie. You better keep your voice low. Dad shouldn't dare hear you say that." Lilian reprimanded her.

"You might think I'm joking, but I feel some strange connection about him. Like I have known him before. As if it was not the first time we had been together."

"Stop talking shit, Josie."

Joseline remained silent.

"Hold on, tell me. Were you not a virgin before last night? Have you done it with another man before?"

Joseline only stared at her for a moment as if she was recalling something, and then she finally shook her head. "No, I have never done that with any man You know how strict Dad is for me to be in a relationship. There is no way I would have done that."

"Even in the times, you fall unconscious when no one was around?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it." Joseline nodded.

Lilian stared at her for a moment before saying, "Can you remember what that place looks like? You know Dad won't tell me about the details if I asked him."

"No, I don't know." She tried to recall. "But I can remember that I was taken to an old building. At least I noticed it was an old building because it had a musky smell."

Lilian listened attentively as Joseline continued to speak.

"I was locked in a stuffy room at first before they took me to a less stuffy room but the taffeta material placed under my skin as a bed cover made the rest of my night hell for me until I fell to slumber only to wake up and saw a lady acting so strange.

I remember the lady called me Lux and queried how I survived it."

"Lux?" Lilian asked.

"Yes, Lux." She nodded in response.

Now their mind was confused as to what the woman meant by saying she survived it. Did she want her to die in the cause of the rape? Maybe she resembled Lux their enemy that she was mistaken to be her.

Joseline believed the lady meant about surviving what the man did to her, but again she recalled that feeling that enveloped her; like she had met the man before, Noah as the woman called him. "Now I remember the lady called him Noah."

"Noah? The man who did this to you is Noah?"

"I believe so," Joseline said. She remembered vividly that the woman called him Noah, that would be the spotlight to trace the man who deflowered her. Then again she remembered the strength she had emitted when she had grabbed the lady's hand last night. She wanted to talk about it too, but Jefferson's presence again made her stop.

"You two have to stop worrying now. I overheard your Dad speaking with someone on the phone. He sent the PRS agents to surround the building, and security cameras had been placed in the building. They're monitoring that place now so it won't be hard to find the culprit." Jefferson said as he placed the herb on the side stool and added,

"So Aunty, don't go to that place. I know that's why you're asking your sister about it. You know what happened to your Josie, I hope you don't want that to happen to you."

"Dad shouldn't get his PRS agents only. The state police should be involved too, it's a high criminal case."

"I guess it's because he doesn't want many people to know about this, it will destroy his reputation you know."

Lilian considered the saying and sighed. She too didn't want this information to be let out, knowing how people would react to it. She knew, at last, no matter what happened, the all-known weak Joseline would be laughed at. Having the PRS agents would be best to keep the secret. But she shouldn't stay here too without acting, "You don't expect me to sit and watch as they go scot-free?" Lilian faced Jefferson.

"Go scot-free? Do you believe that Sir Pedro will allow them to go just like that? Without finding them? I'm sure he doesn't want us to get involved. If he wanted us, he would have contacted my unit officer."

"I agree with him, Lily. You will put your life in danger if you go there yourself." Joseline supported.

"But I'm already trained to face dangers."

But the silence that followed from Joseline and Jefferson was enough to tell her she must not get involved.

"Here, take it gently." Jefferson brought the herb close to her mouth as he helped her to hold the cup and she sipped it.

Just as the tea touched her lips, she almost spit it out, "It's bitter."

"Yes, that is how it should be, the more bitter its taste, the more it relieves your pain and more importantly, I added another herb to the feverfew that will make sure you don't bear a stranger's child."

Thinking of bearing a stranger's child, Joseline peered at him and began to laugh. It was a bitter laughter that reminded her of all that had happened in her life, "I'm sterile. There's no way I can get pregnant, Jefferson."