Santiago had no words to say to her question. He stared blankly into her expecting ones, racking his brain for the right words to say without hurting her again.
It’s been a pretty rough couple of weeks for them all. She finding out about his involvement in taking over her father’s company and the pain it caused her family.
Lisa, coming out of nowhere to pin a pregnancy on him.
Him trying to find out what Darken and his parents were planning before he took over the companies from them.
This accident.
A lot of things just keep brewing in his mind, and he thinks it will drive him nuts.
He slipped his hands under her shirt so they stuck to her skin like a leech. His fingers held her waist firmly and squeezed a bit, then released it slowly.
“I don’t know how to say this to you without you getting hurt,” he whispered, still maintaining eye contact with her.
Joan gulped, “Just tell me,” her hands flattened on his chest.
He broke eye contact and let out a huff of breath. Santiago shook his head and leaned back on the bed. He was thinking of the right words to say.
“Is it that bad?” Joan’s soft voice broke him out of his reverie.
“I am really sorry for the pain this decision caused you and your family; it was never our intention to hurt you or anyone. We just did what we thought was the best thing to do,” he explained to her.
Joan scoffed, “What you thought was the best?” She rolled her eyes and pulled away from him. She was about to get off him, but he held her waist in place, locking eyes with her.
“Can we just stay this way as we resolve this?” He asked in a low tone.
"No,” she frowned and tried to move again, but he didn’t let go of her.
“Please, I just need... let’s just stay this way.” He adjusted himself on the bed and brought her closer to himself. “We are not in love; I understand if you already have feelings for me, but we are friends and we shouldn't—I don’t know what the hell I’m saying,” he let out a tired sigh.
Joan tried not to let her heart melt at the gibberish he spurted and just maintained a firm look. No smiles, no emotions. She could notice the dark circles under his eyes and his dropping eyes.
He still needs more sleep; he hasn't recovered fully.
“Let’s talk about this when you are in perfect health.” She tried getting off him again, but he stopped her.
“I want us to resolve this now. I don’t want us carrying this burden out of this hospital.”
Joan watched him closely and could see how genuine he looked. Like he wasn’t trying to hide anything.
“Tell me why you would plant a mole in our company to snatch our company coldly from us. Why Santiago? Then proposing to marry me like you never wanted this? It has been your plan all along,” she accused.
“Okay, slow down with the accusations. I agree that we know Robbie, and we talked to him about your company, but that wasn’t the case. We never wanted to just snatch it from you guys. Taking over the company was the easiest thing to do at the time. We had no choice.”
“Coming to us with an offer that will keep us from going bankrupt looks like an option to me." Joan crossed her arms, her eyes glaring at him.
Santiago sighed, “You wouldn’t understand Joan,” he tried to tell her.
“Then make me understand,” she released her arms and placed her palm on his shoulder. “Santiago, I want us to at least try to start something new, and this,” she drew a box in the air, “will not help us move forward. Just tell me why you guys went ahead to take our company from us.
“My dad knows already, and I can try to tell him not to be mad at you. Depends on how bad it is,” she explained.
Santiago released a huff of air and closed his eyes. His brows furrowed, and he groaned.
“Just don’t be mad.”
“Don’t tell me how I will react; just tell me why y-”
“Your dad wanted to sell the company to a competitor." Joan’s lips parted at the words that rolled out of his mouth. “Those competitors are rivals of ours, and if you are not aware, Anderson Co. has some really precious jewels in them. If those guys get a hold of it, we are done for,” he told her.
“What?” Joan had a look of unbelief on her face. “Dad will never do that,” she defends.
Santiago rubbed his palm against her smooth skin, as if providing some sort of support.
“I shouldn’t have said anything about it. Your dad has his reasons for taking such decisions, but when we saw it was in our power to handle, we just couldn’t let it slide and suffer the consequences later. That’s another reason why I offered this marriage of convenience, to support you guys.”
Joan felt her chest tightening, preventing smooth flow of air in and out of her nostrils. The tip of her fingers was cold, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. If she wasn’t sitting, she would have stumbled.
Santiago noticed, so he held her shoulders, a frown on his face.
“Are you okay? Do you need water?”
Joan shook her head and closed her eyes. She tried to stop the feeling of dizziness and prevent the bile that was threatening to spill from her mouth.
“I need some air,” she moved to get off him, and he didn’t stop her. “I need some air,” she repeated, and she walked slowly to the chair to sit.
Santiago sits up on the bed, watching her try to compose herself.
“Joan…”
“I’ll be back soon.” She stood to her feet and grabbed her bag from the chair.
“Joan, let’s talk this through,” he tried to say to her, but she didn’t listen, nor did she look at him. She walked towards the door and stopped for a beat. "Joan,” he called out to her.
She opened the door and walked out of his room, slightly banging the door right behind her.
“Shit,” he slapped his palms together and hissed, “What the hell have I done?”