Game of Love Ch. 14

"Mommy, what do you think you're doing?" Sergio furiously rose from the chair. "What's wrong with you?"

"If you think I am gonna let you feed poison to my son then you're sadly mistaken." Kimberly warned, raising her finger at Eric. "Do you think I don't know what you're up to."

"W-what?" His voice trailed off slowly. "Poison? What are you talking about?"

"I know you. I am pretty sure you're up to something and you've put something in my son's pudding."

Eric's eyes widened and his mouth opened but to his surprise, no word came out of it. He was dumbstruck that he just kept on staring at his mother in law. What drama was this, he thought?

"Mommy, what's wrong with you?" Sergio was pissed. "Why do you always do this for every single thing? Why do you always accuse Eric of things he wouldn't even dream of doing? Eric and I are in love with each other. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me or anyone."

"Really?" She chuckled bitterly. "And why wouldn't you think so when he's got you in his charm. This boy is not all innocent. I am very sure that he poisoned your pudding today. He wants to take you away from me."

"Can you hear yourself, mommy?" Sergio laughed. He found it funny. "Eric has been preparing my breakfast for a few days now."

"And that's proof enough to you." She roared. "This boy poisoned your food. I saw him put something in your pudding."

"Mommy..."

"Am I lying, Eric?" She asked with a stern look on her face. Deep down, she was panicking.

"Mommy, this is ridiculous. Stop being paranoid and leave my husband alone."

"You trust him, right?" She crossed her arms. "Then he wouldn't mind tasting the food, would he?"

"Mommy, please..."

"It's okay, Sergio!" Eric sighed, raising his hands like he was surrendering. "Just to prove to mother that I wouldn't hurt you and maybe to gain some trust from her, I'll taste the pudding."

"Eric, this is ridiculous." Sergio shook his head, taking Eric's hand. "There's no need for that. I trust you and that's what is important to me. I don't care what mom has to say but..."

"Sergio, she's just being a mother." He smiled sheepishly. "And to prove her wrong, I'll taste it first."

He glanced at Kimberly and smiled sheepishly. Then he took a spoon from the table and took a spoonful of the pudding. Kim watched as Eric took the spoon near his mouth and when he took it in his mouth, her heart hammered harder than before but she kept her gait casual with no hint of hesitation. She couldn't let them know what she done or even suspect there was poison in the pudding.

Eric took a spoon and another and was about to take the third one when Sergio gripped his hand and shook his head. He didn't like the way his mother was treating Eric. The boy had suffered a lot already. All he wanted him to experience was love.

Sergio turned and looked at his mother, staring into her eyes.

"Are you happy now? If you are done inspecting then please get out of here and leave us in peace. What's all this? I am sick and tired of your behaviour, mommy."

He furiously sat and took the bowl of pudding to eat. But before he did, Kim quickly pushed the bowl from him and it fell to the floor breaking into pieces. Sergio felt like he'd just been supercharged and he instantly rose. Eric sensed that he was gonna make a mistake so he gripped his arm, pulling him closer. But the man didn't even seem to notice.

"What's wrong with you, mommy? What do you want me to do to prove to you that Eric and I are in love with each other?" He barked. "I am honestly sick and tired of this. If you don't change, I swear I'll take Eric and leave this house for you. There's no way I am gonna allow you to continue disrespecting him in this house."

Tears welled in Kim's eyes and she dropped her eyes to the floor. Her hands shook in fear and she hid them behind her back.

"Mommy..."

"Sergio, please, it's fine!" Eric spoke softly, rubbing on his shoulder. "You don't have to be angry with her. She's just being..."

"Paranoid?" Sergio chimed in, his voice rising. "When will she realize that I am no longer just her son but I have other duties as well and..."

"For my sake!" Eric pleaded. "I beg you."

"But..."

"Sergio, I am not complaining, am I?"

Sergio sighed and held Eric tightly, kissing his forehead. "Alright, since you say so." He just hugged him tightly, wondering what he had done to deserve him.

But the moment didn't last long as Sergio heard his phone ringing. He knew that it was time to leave.

"Shit!" He said under his breath. "I have to go, baby. The clients are probably on their way and I don't wanna keep them waiting."

"But your breakfast."

"I'll grab something along the way, I promise."

He smiled brightly, planted a kiss on Eric's sweet lips and hurriedly left without saying anything to his mother. Eric felt terrible for the way that Sergio had spoken to his mother. He took a deep breath and walked slowly to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she literally jumped, quickly raising her face.

"Mother, I am so sorry." He apologized. "Sergio was just..."

But she furiously turned and stormed out of there. Eric sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He glanced at the broken bowl on the floor and slowly started moving there. He was about to start picking up the broken pieces when suddenly he felt a sharp pain hit his tummy so painfully that his vision blurred for a second.

He winced, balancing on a chair while holding grasping his tummy. His breaths came out harsh and he took a deep breath. As quick as the pain came, it went away and he remained standing there wondering what had just happened to him.

"What's going on?" He muttered, taking a deep breath. "Why did I suddenly... ouch!" Eric cried sharply.

He felt the pain once again hit him like someone was cutting his insides with a razor blade. He grasped his belly tighter as sweat starting forming all over his face. He cried softly as the pain intensified. It throbbed in his guts, deep and warm, but not in a nice way. It felt like someone had their hands in there and were squeezing his organs first gently and then as hard as they can.

"Uh..." He breathed as a tear started running down his cheek.

Eric knew that something was wrong. The pain he was experiencing was from out of this world. But he didn't know what was causing it. When he laid his eyes on the broken bowl on the floor, everything suddenly became clear. He had been poisoned. But why?

Eric took a harsh breath and started running outside, slowly but he made it. He met one of the drivers just as he came out and he quickly grabbed the keys from him, jumped into the car and drove off like he was going insane.

He was driving like a mad man and lucky for him, there was no traffic. When the pain waned away, he added on the speed but when it returned, he gripped the driving wheel as if he wanted to break it, held still and breathe, breathe slow and deep, waiting for it to pass. But when it returned, it was so intense that he almost lost control of the car.

Then suddenly, the mother of all pains hit him and he screamed. It was like a knife being twisted in his spine. It shot up fast, erasing every thought from his head. Blood started coming out of his mouth and nose. Things started getting blurry but he never gave up. His heart raced so much that he was scared it might just break free.

Luckily, he reached the hospital and parked carelessly, opening the door. When he got out, he found himself on his knees crying because every step that he took felt like a bail bomb exploding his inwards. He started shouting for help and saw two nurses running towards him and shouting for a wheelchair to be brought there.

"Sir... sir, what happened?" They all asked at the same time as they held his arms tightly.

"Poison!" He muttered as he tried to make himself strong but he couldn't. "Poison!"

When the nurse tried to get him up, the pain got so much that it took him out of consciousness. He had passed out before the nurses even took him inside.

***

Kimberly was moving about the room like there was a hurricane inside her. She was moving like her brain was demanding the energetic expenditure of an athlete but won't tell her limbs what to do. Her eyes were wild and whenever she sat, she started rocking, rocking, and rocking. She got faster until she exploded into motion again. She had tears in her eyes, blaming herself for what she had done. She was scared of hearing a scream, anything to tell her that her son in law was dead.

Suddenly, she felt her phone vibrate...

"You bastard!" She yelled followed by tears. "What the hell do you want from me? Haven't you done enough?"

The man gave a wry laugh. 'How does it feel, Kim? Do you think your son will ever forgive you after finding out that you killed his husband?'

Kim sobbed, gripping the phone harder.

'Anyway, you shouldn't feel bad. I gave you an option and your daughter is safe.' He gave a sinister laugh. 'Your biggest enemy will be dead. You should be thanking me.'

"I never wanted this." Kim said with tears following. "I never wanted to kill Eric."

'But you wanted him out of your son's life.'

"Yes! I wanted that but not for his death. You just made me commit a sin."

'But it's nothing compared to the chaos your secret would have brought.' He chirped. 'If you continue to do exactly what I tell you then...'

"No!" Kim yelled, breathing like death was upon her. "I am not gonna be doing any dirty works for you. Do you understand? I will not hurt people just because..."

'Kim, Kim, Kim...' He sighed. '...you poor soul. We both know that you're willing to do anything just to keep it from coming out. Now your son in law will be dead and his blood will be on your hands.'

"You made me do it, you bastard!" She screamed. "And if you have balls then show yourself to me. Let's meet up and end this nonsense once and for all."

'Somethings we wish for might be dangerous, Kim. You might just meet up with a ghost of your past and you wouldn't want that. Would you?'

"I don't give a fuck! I just wanna end this and..."

'In good time, Kim. But for now, I am having so much fun seeing you in pain.' He laughed manically. 'The game shall continue. And my condolences.'

"He... Hello!"

But the phone had already cut. She dropped to the floor with her hands covering her face while she cried. She felt terrible and her heart was torturing her. Because of her secret, she had poisoned Eric and he was probably lying in his room dead.

"I am so sorry!" She said under her breath. "Please, forgive me. I didn't have a choice."

***

Eric's eyes slowly opened and his vision blurred for a few seconds before he started seeing clearing. It was bright everywhere and he could have sworn he was dead. But he slowly moved his eyes, glancing all around. That was when he realized he was in a room in the hospital and he was put on drip.

He tried to move but was welcomed by a terrible headache that made him wince. He took a few deep breaths and gripped the sides of his bed, helping himself a little. He managed to sit on the bed but he had some pains in his abdomen. He slowly started massaging it while trying to get up. He sat like that for a number of minutes and took a glass of water from the table that made him feel a little better.

He didn't know what had happened to him but he knew he needed to get out of there and go home although he was feeling a little too weak. He took a deep breath and slowly started removing the needle that was stuck on his arm.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing, Mr. Alvarado?" He heard a voice and footsteps before someone held his hand, stopping him from what he was doing.

He took a glance and found a beautiful woman that was probably in her early forties, staring at him with a worried look on her face. She had beautiful golden-brown long hair that was tied in a bun and the face of an angel. She was wearing a coat with all weird stuff doctors have.

"You're not well." She said with a smile, shaking her head. "You still need to rest."

"No!" He groaned, trying to get off the bed but she was stronger. "I need to go home before my husband comes."

"What?" She gasped. "I can't allow you to go home right away. I still need to conduct a few more tests on you."

"No!" He shook his head. "I am absolutely fine."

"You're not okay. You've been out for almost 6 hours, Mr. Alvarado. Though you seem stable, I need to be sure."

"6 hours?" He gasped, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Oh my God." It was almost 4.pm and it meant that he'd been out for too long. His husband was probably worried sick.

"And what happened to you, Mr. Alvarado?" The doctor asked. "Do you have any idea what you had consumed."

The moment she said that, Eric's memories started coming back. He remembered the stunt that Kim had played and how she had made him eat the pudding that she had probably poisoned. That food could have been consumed by his husband.

"No!" He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I guess it was food poisoning."

"No!" The doctor shook her head. "That wasn't food poisoning. A very dangerous chemical was found in your system and you're very lucky to be alive. We had a really hard time trying to fight it. I don't know how your body managed to slow its effects but the results could have been fatal."

The thoughts began accelerating inside his head. He looked at the doctor and tried to stay calm but nothing was working.

"Did you take any food or drinks in the morning?"

'I want you to taste the food.' Kim's voice rang in his head. 'You poisoned my son's food. I saw you put something in his pudding.'

"No!" He shrugged. "I didn't take anything in the morning."

"Well, the poison got in your system somehow. It's either you were trying to commit or someone wanted you dead." The doctor said with a raised eyebrow, making Eric's heart to jump in fear. "I have ruled out the possibility of suicide because you wouldn't have driven yourself here. If the latter is true, you need to report this to the police. Your life could be in danger."

Eric felt hot all over and he knew the right thing to do was report Kim and have her arrested. But how could he? She was his husband's mother and he knew that Sergio would get hurt seeing his mother behind bars and worse, learning that she had poisoned him.

"He's not gonna tell you anything." A voice came.

Eric felt like his world had just stopped when he heard that voice. He glanced in the direction of the voice and saw her coming inside with her arms crossed, looking stern. She wore a black top with a white skinny jean and slippers. Her hair was tied in a ponytail.

Eric's heart hammered inside his chest like a rabbit running for its skin. His eyes widened and his jaw just dropped.

"Adrianna?"

"I'll leave the two of you to talk." The doctor smiled and quickly left.

"Adrianna..."

"Don't!" Adrianna warned, waving her finger. "I don't want you to say anything to me, Eric. When I first heard, I couldn't believe it. I arrived home after my morning jog. I looked for you everywhere but I couldn't see you. I called your phone only to get the news that your life was in danger, that you were here after being poisoned. Do you know how long I have been here crying and praying?"

"Adrianna, I..."

"Do you know how scared I was of losing you?" She sobbed as she got near. "I was panicking outside while they were trying to fight the poison. I had no idea if you were gonna survive or not. Eric, I was so scared of losing you. I have never been as scared as I was."

Eric felt the weight of the world on him and he slowly started panicking.

"Does... does your brother know about this?"

Adrianna shook her head. "I couldn't get through him. I tried severally but his line's been off. I tried to call Aunt Laurel but I couldn't get through either."

Eric breathed, holding his chest. "Oh, thank God! I got scared that..."

"Why?" Adrianna snapped, shaking her head. "Can you hear yourself, Eric? Sergio is your husband and he has every right to know what happened to you."

"No!" Eric shook his head, taking Adrianna's hands. "I know he's got the right but I don't want him to worry about me. You know how he is."

"Is that the truth, Eric, or you're just trying to hide the truth from him. From all of us."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you think I am stupid?" Adrianna snapped. "I know that you were poisoned. I saw the mess you left at the dining. And I also know that you're not stupid to poison yourself. I wasn't home and Sergio wouldn't poison you. So, tell me what happened."

Eric tried to stay calm as his eyes met Adrianna's. "Food poisoning. Actually, the doctor told me that the food I had taken was expired and it turned toxic, so when I..."

"Stop lying!" Adrianna snapped, stomping her foot on the floor. "I am not a kid. If you don't tell me the truth, I am gonna give Sergio a call right now and I'll tell him everything. Then he'll be the one to get the truth out of you. Should..."

"No!" He gasped, shaking his head. "Please, don't..."

"Are you gonna tell me the truth or not?" She asked, getting her phone out. "I am not joking. I am gonna everyone here and you'll tell us the truth."

"No, please!" He put his hands together. "Adrianna, listen..."

"Alright!" She started dialling his line. "I'll call him and..."

"Okay, it was mom!" He hollered without realizing he did.

Adrianna froze, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping. Everything went cold and the silence that hit the room was the kind that falls right before you get knifed in the back. It sent a shiver down her spine and she felt her blood chill in her veins. A stream of tears went down her cheeks and she got weak.

"W-what?" She stammered. "Mom?"

Eric slightly closed his eyes. "I... I didn't want you to find out like this and I didn't want you or anyone else to find out at all. I still can't believe it either. It felt like a nightmare when I realized that... that she had poisoned."

Adrianna's strength left her and she sat on the bed, feeling her heart race. "Mommy... poisoned you? Why? How?"

"I don't know, but, this morning, she accused me of poisoning Sergio's food and forced me to taste it." He slowly rubbed his tears. "I think she wanted to implicate me, pin my husband against me. But he left and I only realized that the pudding was poisoned a few minutes after he left. I don't know why she did it, Adrianna, but she's been acting strange since we returned from our honeymoon and..."

"We need to tell Sergio." Adrianna said under her breath. "We need to..."

"We can't!"

"What?" Adrianna shouted. "Are you being for real? That woman poisoned you and you only survived by a miracle. She needs to be punished. I am not gonna allow her to go scot-free after what she did."

"No!" Eric cupped her cheeks quickly, shaking his head. "No, Adrianna. This is the reason I didn't want you to know. I knew you would react like this. The last thing I want is for our family to divide. I just got married. Would you want Sergio to be hurt?"

"I don't care! All I want is to see her pay for what she had done."

"This is not right." Eric snivelled. "Mom is not herself. I have a feeling that something is wrong with her. Something might have driven her to do what she did. I want to find out the reason why she did what she did."

"But... what if..."

"I promise that nothing like this will ever happen." He gave an assuring smile. "Just trust me on this one. I know exactly what I have to do."

Adrianna sobbed, gripping him into a tight hug. "I was so scared, Eric."

"Shhh..."

He rubbed on her back, trying to make her calm down and feel better. But she just wouldn't stop crying.

'I know that something is bothering you, mother. And I am gonna find out the truth.' He thought. 'And for that, I am gonna have to do what I should have done long ago.'