CAN I ESCAPE?

PART 3

*FLASHBACK*

Helena was free for the day, so she started to browse the news on the web. She was reading the news when suddenly a piece of news popped on the web page. The news intrigued her.

'Let's see what is so special about this one. The famous mafia Lucifer was spotted at a hotel. Oh, the famous ruthless mafia whose face has not been revealed. This is fun. I wanna see what he looks like.'

Thinking this, she scrolled down at the photo. She squinted her eyes to get a better view of the photo.

'The photo is not even clear and his face is covered fully with a mask and shades.'

She was about to move on to the next news when something caught her eye. She zoomed into the photo and her eyes dilated.

'Wait, his shoes? They are the ones I got Edwin for his birthday. What the heck! I asked Glory to make an exclusive pair! How could she make another one when I told her not to?'

She angrily called Glory, who was her best friend. She was a celebrity shoe designer and had a studio for the same. For Edwin's birthday gift last year, Helena went to Glory's studio and asked her to design an exclusive pair of shoes for him. She wanted to get him a pair that would be unique. She already had the whole design in her mind and Glory made that design a reality. Glory crafted a beautiful pair of black shoes with a pattern. The dotted pattern had a morse code which meant 'Helena loves Edwin'. The shoe had a golden logo in golden that was designed by Helena herself. And having a copy of the exact design would not have been possible unless Glory made a copy of it herself.

The bell rang and after a few rings, Glory picked it up.

Glory: "Hi Helena. How are you?"

Helena: "Hi. I'm good. I wanted to ask you about something so better tell the truth."

Glory: "You sound very angry. Is everything all right?"

Helena: "I especially told you to keep that pair of shoes exclusive, yet you made a copy of it."

Glory: "I never made a copy of that pair. What made you think that?"

Helena: "I was scrolling through the web and saw an influencer wearing the same pair."

Glory: "Sweety that is not possible. The design never got leaked and I did not design any similar pair. Look at the person closely. He might be your husband. And I would never think of betraying you after all the help you gave me when I had to set up this studio. It was all because of your investments that I am so successful today."

Helena: "I am sorry. I will look closely. Maybe it is just a similar-looking pair of shoes."

Glory: "Okay. I am not mad at you."

Helena: "Aww thanks. I gotta go. Talk to you later."

Glory: "Okay, bye."

The call ended and Helena got an unsettling thought.

'What if Edwin is Lucifer?! I need to check the photo once again.'

She checked the photo again and zoomed in, focusing on the shoes again. But the shoes were identical to the ones Edwin owned. Slowly, looking at the overall physique, she found the man in the photo to be similar to Edwin. Negative thoughts flooded her mind.

She started panicking but then calmed down. She knew that she had to take things very wisely.

'I need to find out about it. What if I confront him directly? But it might be too risky. If he really is Lucifer, then my confrontation could lead to me getting caged in this house forever. Maybe I won't be able to get any help. What if he forces me? No, I cannot take the risk. I will have to contact Daxton and tell him about this. But, I don't have any solid proof. Edwin never seemed like a cruel person to me, let alone Lucifer. What if I confront him and call it a prank? Yes, this will work. I will try to show him that I got to know everything and that I want a divorce. I won't be mentioning what I got to know. Pain and anger should be visible in my voice. Judging according to the cases I have seen in the court, if he is Lucifer, he will show offensive signs like tightening of fists, clenching his jaw and his eyes getting dark. If he is not Lucifer, he would try to ask me being worried about what I got to know. Remember Helena, no matter what, don't you dare show that you know everything. There is a fifty percent chance that Edwin is Lucifer, so I need to be prepared. Even a slight mistake can get me into trouble.' Thinking of this, she planned to execute the plan.

This was why she was known as the best attorney in her firm. She was quick to read people and suck out the truth from them. She had her mind working very fast to extract information from the opposite party.

She wore a bracelet that had a switch on it; pressing it would message Daxton and Edwin's parents that she was in danger. The bracelet would also send the location of her phone. Her phone was kept inside the drawer. She sat there with a serious face. She looked determined and stable from the outside, although her legs were shaking inside. Edwin came home at the usual time and entered the house with the spare key. He asked the maid to leave. He went inside the room and greeted her. She did not answer. She started acting according to her plan.

"Did the maid leave", she asked in a cold tone which was very different from the one she used with him.

"Yes. Is something bothering you, sweetheart", he asked with concern while she scoffed.

"Something? You hid something much bigger than that. I know everything that you did. And I have decided, I am filing for a divorce. I don't want to live here now that I know your truth", she said with pain and anger.

Edwin's eyes turned red and he clenched his fists. Helena was shocked internally as she did not want this to happen. By seeing his reaction, she was now 90 percent sure that he was Lucifer.

He approached her and hugged her softly. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he said," My sweet princess, forget about it. I'll never let you leave me. You will have to leave over my dead body", he said with a deep voice as his eyes darkened. She felt his grip tightening on her body. She was internally so scared listening to his words. Even when she did not tell him exactly what she knew about, he was sounding very different and cruel. But, she had to act at that moment to save herself. So she started to laugh hard while pulling out of the hug.

"Idiot! I was pranking you. You got fooled", she said while laughing loudly. "Aaaaahh, my stomach hurts hahaahaaahaaaa."

But seeing that Edwin was standing there with a serious face, she was 100 percent sure that he was Lucifer. She did not stop laughing until he went inside the washroom to change. The minute he went inside, she started to calm herself down. She planned her next move, which was to act as normal as she could. She came up with an excuse for the sudden prank. Edwin came out and sat on his side of the bed. She approached him.

"Ed, why are you so serious suddenly? I was free today so I scrolled through reels. I found this prank so I thought that it would be fun to execute. I did not know that you would get so serious. Look, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings", she said.

"It's all right. I was a little stressed today, so I was serious", he said. Helena hugged him as he hugged her back.

'No stress would have made you say that kind of a creepy obsessive sentence, Ed ', she thought while hugging him.

"So, no grudges now", she asked.

"No", he said with a light smile. They both had their dinner but Edwin was quieter than his usual self. This made Helena realize that he had not trusted her completely. He still doubted if what she did was a prank. She waited till they went to the bed. She woke once she felt him sleeping and went to the washroom. She was scared.

'What trouble you have got yourself into, Helena. What will I do now? I don't think Daxton would be able to help me either. Lucifer is much more powerful. He owns the underworld. He will do everything in his power to stop me now. Should I call Daxton tomorrow? No, Edwin might get my phone tapped. Maybe he can get attached trackers on my clothes. He is already suspicious and contacting Daxton can also put his life in danger. I need to act normal for a few days.'

She snapped out of herthoughts when she heard a knock on the door. Knowing who it was, she took deepbreaths to calm down before answering him.