Destined Hearts Ch. 12

"Take that cursed engagement ring and leave this house and leave us alone to live in peace just like before."

Praveen shook his head. "Andrea..."

"Don't ever call my name." She growled, her jaws shaking. "People like always carry bad luck wherever you go. I am even sure that your mother died because of you. You were such a curse to her life that I am sure she's thanking the almighty for taking her from a curse. How am I not even sure you killed father?"

"W-what?" Praveen stammered, his mouth shaking.

"People like you are only born to kill, steal and destroy." She added, making sure that she rubbed it sweet and nicely in his wounds. "But I know exactly how to deal with people like you." She snapped her fingers severally. "I have dealt with the likes of you and by the time I am done, you'll wish you had died with your mother."

She groaned, furiously turned and rushed up the stairs with Bruce following right behind her.

Praveen felt like he had died. He moved his eyes and saw Ethan leaned to a wall, crying. He rushed to him and then stood in front of him, cupping his cheeks. At least, Ethan was gonna believe him, right? The guy had always supported him.

"Ethan, remember that you had always told me that I could count on you for anything, right?" He asked, his voice sounding really low. "Remember how you had believed in me and always helped me, right?"

Ethan slightly closed his eyes, feeling hot tears fall to his face. He was in so much pain and shock such that he hadn't uttered a word since he had seen the pictures at the party. He felt really betrayed and stabbed.

"Please, believe me, I...." He paused and just cried. "...I am innocent."

But Ethan's silence broke him. No one was gonna believe him and he had no idea what he was gonna do. Things were turning out for the worst. Before he could utter another word, Emilia gripped his arm painfully and pulled him closer to her.

"Stop your drama because we know what you are." She said in between clenched teeth. "You're not so innocent after all. I am glad my Ryan isn't gonna be around someone like you because you're a bad omen to this house. And you know, we'll surely need cleansing after this. Thank God to that person that showed us the truth, we'll be saved from you."

"Aunt..."

"You always speak about values, traditions and religion." She raged, dragging away from Ethan. "Where did those values go? Guess even gold-diggers use the almighty's name to disguise themselves. Get out of this house!"

She started dragging him towards the door but he quickly loosened himself from her grip, rushed to Antonio and threw himself at his feet like a beggar. He held Antonio's feet and just cried his heart out. He couldn't afford to lose him.

"Antonio, my love, please, believe me." He wept, holding those legs tightly. "All I need is you to trust me. You said you love me so much and you know I am telling the truth. Whoever is doing this is trying to separate the two of us, please, don't let them succeed."

Antonio felt like something disgusting was crawling up his skin. He grimaced, clenching his fists while feeling anger filling him up. Veins had shot up in his eyes and he was just a few seconds away from snapping and probably making a grave mistake.

"You know that love is strong and can stand against anything. They just made this up to defame me." He mewled, wetting Antonio's trouser with his tears. "You're my husband and my greatest strength right now. All I need is for you to believe me and we overcome this together. I have never slept with Santiago and you know I am telling the truth. I lost my virginity to you that night."

Antonio angrily shook his head, angrily leaning down. In rage, he gripped Praveen's arms and rose him up, staring at him like he was a criminal. He didn't even feel sorry for him because the pain that he felt was too much and the anger wasn't helping him at all.

"I am not your husband. I don't love you and I don't care about you." His voice sounded like a dangerous wild animal. "Do you understand?"

Those words cut through Praveen's skin like a knife through butter. He felt really cold. Suddenly, the pain intensified to the point where he couldn't even feel it. He stopped crying, staring at his husband nonstop.

"I only have one love and that's Bruce." He hissed, applying pressure to Praveen's already bruised arms. "I don't know you and I don't even care to. You're dead to me and this family. You're not important to us."

Praveen tried to open his mouth to speak but all that came out were painful loud cries.

"My love..."

"I am not your husband. This relationship is over." He yelled in Praveen's face, letting go of his arms. His eyes were blood red and the veins in them were scary. He looked really dangerous. "It's dead. There's nothing between us."

Praveen felt something cold hit his heart, instantly freezing it. Everything went quiet including his cries. His mouth was open but nothing came out of it. The only thing he was able to hear was his heart beating weakly, almost giving up. His chest tightened badly that he felt like something heavy was placed on it. He couldn't breathe and as if that wasn't enough, he couldn't even feel anything either.

Antonio's breaths came out harshly. "Is this the only thing connecting me to you?" He raised his hand, showing the wedding ring to Praveen. Praveen weakly looked at it, tears flooding his face. "Well..." He took the ring off and threw it angrily to the floor. Praveen slightly closed his eyes to the sound of the ring bouncing on the floor. "...I don't want it. It can go to hell together with you."

Antonio felt a lump developing in his throat. He had no idea why he felt like shit when he removed his ring after six months of wearing it. He felt his pain intensify as painful tears built up in his eyes. His heart pounded so hard that he felt like he was gonna have a heart attack.

Antonio tried to look away but his eyes landed on Praveen's neck, seeing that sacred wedding necklace. He remembered the time he had put it around there and his anger started overflowing. He groaned, furiously thrust his hand forward and gripped that necklace. Before Praveen could even realize what was going on, Antonio pulled hard on the necklace, breaking it. He then threw it to the floor.

Praveen robotically moved his eyes to the floor and once he saw that broken wedding chain on the floor, his heart died. He couldn't feel it anymore. His strength left and he knew it was all over for him. He was dead. After fighting and getting what he deserved, it was all destroyed in just one night.

"And this...." He took Praveen's hand and took the ring off him, throwing it to the floor once again.

Praveen was just staring at him without uttering a word or doing anything to him. He was already defeated and couldn't do anything.

"A married person's greatest defeat is when he loses his husband." The priest's words rang through his head.

He had finally accepted it. He didn't even have any word to say to Antonio or plead with him anymore. It was done.

"There's nothing connecting us anymore so get out of my life and get out of my house." Antonio said in a low but really harsh voice. But it didn't hurt Praveen. He was hurt to the point of no return.

As he was standing there, he heard some noise on the floor and looked there. It was his bags, five of them and they were already parked.

"Those are your bags." Andrea said angrily, pointing towards them. "I don't care how you'll carry them but get out right now."

"Get out. You're dead." Antonio yelled.

Praveen looked at his husband one last time and then down to the floor. He slowly leaned down, took one bag, just one bag, an old and ordinary bag that he had come to the house with after marriage. That was all he needed.

He slowly opened it, took out an old black jean and blue t-shirt and then did what everyone hadn't expected. He first took off his expensive shoes and then his shirt. He wore his old blue t-shirt and then took off his trouser and wore an old jean. He closed his bag without even putting anything on his feet and then picked it up.

With a final look at Antonio, he took a few steps back and slowly turned and started walking slowly towards the exit. He was now disorientated, looking like a zombie. He was in a terrible state and was unconscious of his environment. He didn't even feel it when he stepped on broken glasses and hurt his feet.

Each step he took left a blood foot print in the house. Images of him entering the house the first time started forming in his mind... the rituals they had performed... his first kiss with Antonio... the intense love making the night Antonio had taken his virginity.... Granny and Emilia taking care of him and making him happy. The images couldn't go away. They were causing him anguish.

Antonio on the other hand felt his life going away, following Praveen as he went. Images of the kiss, the love making and all the moments he had spent with Praveen started forming in his head but also the betrayal. He wanted to stop him, hug him and kiss him but he couldn't. Pain and anger had already +taken control of his life, filling him up each second. He just quickly turned and rushed upstairs angrily, feeling warm tears flooding his face.

Everyone watched as Praveen went away from the house disappearing at the door. But none saw the bloody footprints that he had left in the house, reaching the door except for Katy. Seeing those footprints, she quickly covered her mouth as her eyes widened.

"Almighty, no!"

She was so much into religion that she knew a lot about such things. Those footprints clearly meant that the almighty had left the Gonzalez house together with Praveen according to what she knew or what she had been told. She had never believed in it because it was just a story that her mother had told her when she was a kid. According to her mother, that only happened when the almighty's devotees and chosen ones had been wronged. Could it have been right?

***

"Cheers, darling!" Andrea smile, raising the glass of wine to her friend.

"Cheers!" Bruce raised his glass up too.

Both of them chuckled happily, putting the glasses on the small table. They were in Andrea's room enjoying their victory.

"I can't believe our plan worked." Bruce gasped, holding his cheeks. "Please, wake me up. I must be dreaming."

"No, baby boy..." She sighed, licking her lips. "You're not dreaming. We've won the war. I told you that it was a full proof plan. Nothing could have ruined it for us. We're victors. No more Praveen. He's gone forever and no more Santiago too. That what we call..." She held her chin, looking like she was thinking of a word to use. "...killing two birds with one stone. Now Praveen is gone and I can finally keep my eyes on the love of my life, Ethan!"

Bruce's mouth gaped, his eyes widening. "Shut the..." He paused, really surprised. "...front door. So you've been in love with Ethan the entire time and you never told me about it."

"Since I was in high school." She blushed, rubbing on her temple. "The fact that he's bisexual actually gives me a greater chance. All I have to do now is use my seduction skills and I'll have him just like..." She snapped her fingers. "...that. Praveen's gone and all the thorns in our flesh have been taken with him. Antonio is now a free man and he's all yours."

Bruce smiled, blushing when he thought about Antonio. But then again...

"I was a virgin until that night." Praveen's words rang through his head. "You took my virginity, Antonio!"

Bruce felt a cold shiver ran down his spine and he felt his heart begin to race. "But Andrea..." He sighed, losing the smile on his face. "...Antonio already consummated his marriage to Praveen. They already had sex and..." He felt really hurt. "...it happened while he was here and all this time we actually thought..."

"And now he feels bad about it." Andrea said without even caring. "That was a prize he had to take from that whore. He's all yours. No one else knows the truth except for you and I. And it shall remain so. We still have a lot of work to do. We're not done yet. Now, why don't you..." She paused and breathed in audibly. "...go and be there for your man?"

Bruce nodded, gracefully got up and then went to Antonio's room to show him how much he loved him.

'I told you Praveen that no one messes with me and goes scot-free. You thought you had already won but you underestimated me. It just unfortunate that I had to do what I did in order to get you out of here."

Andrea visited the past to the time when her plan with Bruce had started. She had come up with a plan to spy on Praveen and Santiago, the unfortunate moments and take pictures of everything that they did. When she couldn't make it, she had hired someone to do it for her. She had been really lucky and once she thought she had enough, she compiled everything and set a bomb to go off on her engagement. She had sent envelope containing everything to the party, paid a waiter to give it directly to Emma because she knew Emma was the only one apart from herself and Bruce that hated Praveen. Her plan had worked perfectly.

The fake pictures of Praveen and Santiago fucking had been provided by Bruce and they had worked perfectly. She had also written a letter to Emma disguising as a well-wisher and explained a fake story which Emma had used to hurt the boy. Now everything was the way it was supposed to be.

"Goodbye Praveen and good riddance...." She raised the glass. "...to bad rubbish. Next time, you'll know better. That is if you'll be able to show your face to anyone else."

An evil grin appeared on her face as she took a sip of the wine celebrating her victory.

***

Lightning split the dark sky continuously as a strong wind blew... the smell of the storm could not be missed... the wind was blowing violently, blowing everything on its way. It was dark but it felt like it was already day due to the continuous splitting of lightning. Thunder roared furiously like the heavens were angry as lightning again split the sky.

And here he was, completely disorientated and in the worst state. He was walking barefoot, unable to feel the sores on his feet. The wind that was blowing furiously was blowing his hair backwards, revealing his once happy face and the blood red swollen eyes. Tears were still coming out, flooding his face. It was like they had a mind of their own.

Praveen still couldn't feel anything. He was beyond pain and his mind was elsewhere. He was walking on a lonely road just a few miles away from Antonio's house, near a railway. There were abandoned buildings, scraps of paper, wood and even glass. But Praveen was too lost to even care. He didn't even realize where he was going. All his mind told him was just to walk. He just wanted to go back to where everything started, his aunt's house.

"I love you." He remembered Antonio's words that same night. "I have been fighting my feelings for a long time. Guess I just never knew they were always there."

Vivid images of his traditional marriage, entering the Gonzalez house, the first kiss, the night he lost his virginity, his pride, his fights with Antonio and being kissed and hugged by granny and Emilia were all playing continuously in his mind. They were making him weak, taking his will to live away.

"Even a witch doesn't attack her own home."

"You were my husband's last wish, my husband's last memory. I don't ever want to see your face again."

Praveen kept on walking, going down the painful memory lane that seemed to kill a part of him each second. He was like a walking corpse, unable to feel anything or hear anything. All that was left was just for his legs to take him to wherever they were gonna land him.

"Your mother must be turning in her grave right now."

"I am sure your mother considers herself very lucky because she's dead and doesn't have to put up with a curse like you. Who knows if you didn't kill our father?"

The voices that were inside Praveen's head were deafening. They all kept on talking at the same time and he had no idea how to remove them and just move on with his life.

He kept on walking until suddenly someone gripped his arm, stopping him. He was just staring in front without even bothering or caring who it was. Then all of a sudden about four gang members came in front of him, staring at him lustfully.

"What have we got here?" One of them laughed in a deep manly voice. "Hmm, babe, you're hot. Where are you going at such a time? A storm's coming and you don't wanna be out here when it starts."

But Praveen wasn't moving or even reacting to anything. He wasn't even aware of his environment.

"What?" Another said, rubbing his own crotch. He got closer to Praveen and caressed his cheek. "You don't speak? Well, don't worry baby, we're gonna accommodate and protect you tonight. We can even make you happy if you make us happy." He got closer to Praveen.

They all laughed together.

"Looks like it's our lucky night!" Another, a tall black guy spoke in a scary voice. "He doesn't speak, he's not even resisting and to top it all, he's a beauty."

A guy held his shoulder and leaned forward, smelling Praveen's neck sensually. "You don't have to be so quiet when you smell so nice. Anyway, it doesn't matter as long as you're able to moan for us."

They all began laughing as two guys took hold of Praveen's hand and started leading him to an abandoned building nearby. They were happy because the entire night, they were gonna be happy or so they thought but...

"Leave him alone!" A deep manly voice spoke angrily from behind them.

All the men quickly turned and found about two men looking at them angrily.

"Who are you?" The mean asked. "This doesn't concern you. Leave from here and we promise not to hurt you."

"The fuck!" One of the men raged, clenching his fists. "I am your worst nightmare."

With those words, the men charged and started fighting or rather beating the four gang members. Praveen wasn't even aware that he had just been about to be raped or that a fight was happening. He just stood still with his eyes forward like he was frozen.

The fight continued for almost a minute and Santiago and his brother won. Santiago's entire anger was vented on the men. He made sure that each of them he touched went away with something broken. He had been so mad that the filthy men had just wanted to rape Praveen. He was really, really mad. By the time he was getting done, his hand was bloody.

"Praveen!" He rushed to Praveen. Seeing him looking disorientated, Santiago couldn't help but shed few tears. "Why aren't you saying anything?" He slowly patted him on the cheeks. "What did they do to you?"

But Santiago didn't get any answer from Praveen. Before he could do anything, Praveen collapsed in his arms. Santiago held Praveen tightly, crying softly. He wasn't used to seeing him like that. He was really mad, hurt and didn't know what to do.

"I think he's in so much pain." His brother said in a weak voice, hiding his own tears. He had just known the boy but loved him so much. "That's why he was looking so disorientated. Let's take him home. It won't be good to leave him alone in such a state."

Santiago quickly nodded and then took Praveen to his car. He thanked the almighty for bringing him to the boy he loved when he needed him the most. They drove home and Santiago took Praveen to his bedroom so that he could rest. He was really worried about him and he was gonna be until he actually finds out what had happened and why it had happened.

Once he was sure that Praveen was okay, he took a shower before he went to see his brother because he knew that he was really worried.

"Bro, I don't know what's going on but I can assure you that a scandal is on its way." Logan said, rubbing his face. "Do you have any idea who could have done this?"