June visited Clarence in prison the next day.
“What? Have you gotten back together with Rafael now that he knows it’s not his child? Have you come here to gloat?” Clarence gritted as soon as she sat down.
June pretended like she was not shocked by her words. “You weren’t pregnant for him. Why would you pin him with a child that isn’t his?”
“What right do you have to sit there and judge me?!” She roared. “Don’t act like you are a saint! You only got with Rafael for money!”
“I loved him. I loved my late sister’s husband enough to kill her!” Clarence was a mad woman. “And yet, he couldn’t see me. He looked at you like you were his world and what? You couldn’t even wait one second to know why he was divorcing you!”
“You left him and hopped onto the next man’s bed! Don’t think I didn’t see you coming out of that room, June. I saw you clearly with another man! What right do you have to come here and gloat when you were fucking another man while Rafael was struggling with cancer?!”
June felt her heart stop. “C-Cancer?”
Clarence scoffed. “You don’t know, do you?” She laughed but it filtered to a frown, “You are the worst wife on earth. You do not deserve Rafael. You do not deserve to bear his children.” She tutted, “Oh yeah, you can’t.”
June struggled to put herself together. Rafael had cancer? How? When? What in the world happened? Did he not sleep with her? June came to Clarence, hoping to get answers regarding April but she found herself with more questions.
“You are despicable. Pinning another man’s child on Rafael and killing your sister for a man who does not care about you.” June had it. “You will rot in jail.”
Clarence laughed out loud. “You think I don’t know that? You think I am stupid.” She leaned over the table. “Listen and listen well. I know Rafael sent you here and you all are having that big reunion.”
“Take this message to him. If I go down, his mother does.” She wore a crooked smile. “His sweet old mother does not have her hand clean. You can tell him this. I promise to make sure she spends the remains of her old life in prison with me.”
“He can either come for a peaceful negotiation with me, or I will leave no stone unturned on how his mother killed and covered up her tracks.” She said with glee in her eyes. “Since everyone is growing wings, let’s all fly and see who last long in the sky.”
Clarence didn’t allow June to speak. She raised her hand and signalled her officer. “Take me out of here! I’m done with her.”
June watched her get dragged out of the visitor’s area. She was lost in thought as she tried to assimilate the meaning behind her words. She heard the voice of the detective who spoke through the mic attached to her body.
“Are you alright, Ma’am?” June jolted at the sound of his voice.
“I’ll be right out. Did you get everything?” She asked with a shaky voice.
“Yes we did, you did a great job.”
June left the prison and returned home to them. Lucy sat in the living room with her mother and the detective. They all had sober expressions on their face. June took one look at them and asked the question she had been dreading since she heard Rafael had cancer.
“Did you know?” June asked her mother who bowed her head. Lucy looked everywhere before her. “Did you know he had a c-cancer?”
No answer.
“Talk to me!” June lost it. Since she returned, she noticed how complacent and flat-out supportive they seemed to be towards Rafael. Her mother also brought up the topic of them more than she originally would.
June spent her drive home in thought. Everything, including Rafael’s mysteriously showing up to North City couldn’t have been coincidental. There was no way he’d known where she was except they told him.
Ultimately, there was no way they could be so liberal with her information except they knew. They knew the reason he broke up with her. They knew he hid such a big secret and watched her mourn and hate him all the while.
June felt betrayed by the ones dear to her heart as she asked. “How long? How long did you know he was suffering from cancer? Was it before or after the marriage crashed?”
“June..” Evelyn tried to speak but she shook her head.
“Tell me the truth, mother.” June said with tears brimming her eyes, “Tell me you didn’t know. Tell me you didn’t watch me walk away from my marriage knowing he was sick.” She turned to Lucy. “Tell me there is an explanation for this.”
“There is an explanation.” She heard a masculine voice say and her heart stiffened. June turned around and sure enough, Rafael stood at the door with one of the Fernando security in tow.
“There is an explanation, and I am in the right position to give that explanation.” He spoke with clear eyes.
“What are you doing here?” June asked with a forlorn expression. “Who gave you my address? How did you know where I live?” She turned to Lucy and her mother. “It’s not his first time here, is it?”
A new level of hurt built in her heart when she saw the guilty looks on their faces. They were best friends with her ex-husband while she was away. What else had they purposefully kept from her?
“I need you to listen to me,” Rafael called back her attention but she was not having it.
“No, hunny. You don’t get to come here and dictate my life. We are divorced. You have no right to be here, Rafael!” She roared.
“Let me explain.” He begged but she stood firm.
“Let me guess, you heard I was over at your fake baby mama’s prison and think if you come here crying wolf, I’ll crawl on my knees and beg or take you back?” She spoke incredulously. “I made myself clear in North City, Rafael. No one wants you here! Maybe them, but definitely not me!”
She walked briskly to the door and threw it open. “Leave my house, Rafael. You are not welcome here.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Rafael stood his ground. “I didn’t want you to see me in that state. I didn’t want to have you watch me go through that pain.” He explained. “You are everything I ever-”
“Mission accomplished!” June stated with a wry smile. “You got what you want. I didn’t get to see you during your downtime, making me not care about whatever you’ve been through. Case closed.”
“June…”
“What do you want from me, Rafael?” June seemed upset. “Why can’t you leave me alone? We had a marriage, but the marriage failed. Whatever the reason, it’s too late to do anything about it. Let it go!”
“I can’t!” Rafael roared, stepping closer to her. “I refuse! I will not! I will never let you go! You belong to me! The thought of returning to you and having you by my side was the only thing that kept me sane during the dark moments, June.”
His voice broke, “Please… please don’t give up on us.”
June laughed out loud. She looked maniacal. “I belong to no one, Rafael.” She spat. “When I signed that divorce papers, I moved on. I will not be hounded by you or any other man who thinks they are the central of my world, so get out of my house.”
He stood there, watching her with a daring look.
“You think you are so buff huh?” She looked around and spotted Liam in the sitting room. He came out after hearing the ruckus. “I will have you know I belong to someone else.”
“Someone who can trust me enough to let me stay during his hard times. Someone beautiful, strong and ten times man enough than you will ever be.”
Rafael wore a grotesque look as she spoke.
“Since you are so desperate for the truth, I’ll let you have it.” She walked towards Liam with definite steps. Liam watched her with interest as she dragged him by the collar, and planted a hot kiss on his lips.
Rafael looked like he would explode at any moment. June stepped back after a long five-second kiss. “Hey there, sweetie.”
Liam played his role perfectly. “Hi, Little Rivera.”