Devastating Secret™

Return of Old Friends

A week later Eva stood addressing a women's empowerment symposium funded by the UN.

"This is my first speech since the shooting and I'm betting everyone here wants me to wax poetic

about my heroic exploits..." Eva told the assembled guests. "but that's not what I'm going to do. 

It's not that I regret my actions that day, though Noah certainly does! It is because I believe 

women's empowerment does not come from the battles we fight on the outside – though my 

sisters from the protective forces might disagree - but from the ones, we fight on the inside."Eva 

said, gesturing to her heart.

"I...well...died, according to my doctors and I was never afraid. My children and my husband

were safe, so I had no fear. That may make me a hero to some, but what I really am is a coward

because it's true what they say – death is easy, living is very hard. Death would have been the

easy way out. I would have taken all my doubts and fears with me. The façade I built intact. On

the day of the shooting, I was not afraid because I had my will and I could act on it, but you know

when I was afraid? The day I got engaged.

Strange one of the happiest days of my life would be the day I was truly afraid. It doesn't

compare to the day Noah was shot but, in a way, it did more damage. That day a man attacked

me... a rich and powerful man. He's dead now, but in my mind, he still lives. Smiling at me, while

he fractures my wrist. I got punched in the face because I fought him. Who was I to fight such a

man? A man whose only thought was to gift me with his magnificent self?" Eva chuckled darkly.

"I had no right to refuse him and you know, he blamed me for making him hit me. I shouldn't

have fought, he said and for a moment...I did stop fighting. I told him he could do as he wanted

and in the back of my mind, I knew I couldn't let that happen. I would never be able to look my 

fiancé in the eye again, far less let him touch me."

Eva cried. "This is what they do. It's not just the physical damage they inflict but the

psychological trauma you carry with you after. It wasn't just that attack that night, but it was the 

constant assault I faced over the years because some guy thought I would make a pretty trophy 

so by the time I met Noah I had built walls so thick it would've taken Noah a couple of rocket 

launchers and a whole lot of C4 to get through." Eva joked sadly. "I was damaging our

relationship because I frankly didn't trust any man. Sometimes, we have to realize when we

build those walls to protect ourselves, we end up doing more harm than good. Sometimes,

ladies, you got to let the knight rescue you." Eva pointed out tearfully. "It's not about being