The Lies I Believed

The Truth Shall Set You Free

Asher

I looked at Lexi's still body and sighed. That's all I had been doing since the hospital called. If not for a doctor who cared to recognize her, we still would have been searching for her. I don't think I could have handled that. They said she had been on the brink of death. Aaron had beat her until she was near taking her last breath. He'd thrown her out of a moving vehicle just a few miles away from the hospital.

I couldn't break the news to Lexi's family, but Brad seemed to catch on. He said he'd informed Vincent, knowing he'd find out eventually. That kid has been through a lot of trauma. If this isn't the thing that messes him up, then I pity the fool who gets in his way. He has his whole life ahead of him. The more he goes through, the harder it's going to be to deal with him. I wouldn't dare stop him from achieving whatever he wants to achieve.

The beeping of the machines filled the silent room. No one had called me in hours. I guess they knew that I needed the space. When Lexi's phone had been recovered, there had been a lot of missed calls. The one that broke me was from Sha'Kera. She was still in New York fighting for her best friends' rights. I had heard about her situation with her kids. She still hadn't found them. I pray they're all right. The last thing she wants to do is casket hunting.

The door to Lexi's room opened and closed silently. I didn't dare turn away from her. I feared something might happen, if I took my eyes off of her. There was a chair on the other side, so I assumed whoever had entered would take a seat there. Unless it was just a doctor coming in to check her vitals. They have been perfect so far.

"I brought flowers," Jenni said.

"...She doesn't do flowers," I muttered.

"Or...you haven't put aside the time to actually treat her right."

"I know my wife, Jenni. She doesn't like flowers. Especially Lavender."

"Well, I'm sorry. I thought it was a nice gesture."

"She saw us kiss."

Jenni was silent as she set down the flowers and took a seat. What gave her the right to do that after finding that out?

"Oh..."

"I don't care why you did it, but it broke her. She cried, because she couldn't trust me. I played off of her insecurities to save face. I didn't know how to explain to her that it was clearly a mistake. She would have reacted the same way." I pursed my lips. "I don't like lying to her. It makes me feel like a fool. I know the moment she finds out what she saw was true...she's going to hurt and I won't be able to do anything about it."

"Then, I'll take full responsibility. There's nothing more I can do to make her like me. I've always been in her way," Jenni said. "You should have listened to her when she told you to watch out for me. I don't deserve you. She does. I played on your emotions and lost your trust. She's always had your heart and you've had hers."

"That doesn't give me the right to trick her into thinking that she's just crazy."

"Of course, it doesn't, but it's instinct. You didn't want her to think any less of you. You love her too much to see her fall into a depression and waste her life."

"...You're right."

I've never cared for anyone else's feelings, but my own. I thought Lexi would take care of herself. As long as I occasionally showered her with meaningless gifts, she'd accept me for me. I didn't have to work hard to please her. Sometimes I wished she would take notice of my actions, but that's how she was. There was nothing that could ruin her mood. Nothing.

"I promised her countless times that I would protect her. Our wedding. The reception. Our honeymoon. When we returned from our honeymoon. I wanted her to know that nothing bad would ever happen to her. I thought my status as a future mafia don, my words alone would make her feel safe.