CAN I ESCAPE?

PART 8

"Now I am almost sure that she does not know anything about me. If she knew, she would have either confronted me. Maybe she did and told me that it was a prank, but she would have told Daxton and asked him for help. But Helena did not do anything. Their conversation seemed normal and had their past secrets", said Edwin to himself.

In the evening, Edwin called Daxton.

Daxton: "Hi Edwin."

Edwin: "Hi Dax! I hope you two had a good time today."

Daxton: "We did. She wanted to draw with me like we used to. We drew snow globe sketches. But she seemed quieter than usual. You need to make her go to work again. This was the only way that helped her out of it earlier."

Edwin: "What? What did you just say?"

Daxton: "Uhh- nothing. My tongue just slipped, you know *laughs*."

Edwin: "Daxton, I have been observing that you and Helena have been hiding something from me. That day, she talked about a guy and then she acted like she did not speak anything. And you have spoken about her behaving like this again. Do you think I'm dumb?"

Daxton: "Ed, it is not like that. Well, I think I should tell you then, but promise me that you will not behave strangely with her after knowing this. When she was twenty years old, she was in a serious relationship. The guy was her classmate and they had mutual feelings. They loved each other a lot. But then, he got into a deadly car accident and died on the spot. Helena could not recover and she behaved exactly the way she is behaving right now. The day you told me about her strange behavior, I immediately knew that she would have had a similar memory. You started to behave coldly to her because of anger, but she thought that you would leave her, just like Sam did. She was very cheerful and optimistic but this incident made her the complete opposite, She started believing that happiness does not last for long. It took her whole five years to get back to life and you did this! She did not want you to know about him because she believes that talking about past lovers brings distance to the present one."

Edwin was shocked upon hearing about her tragedy. He never thought that Helena would have such a big secret.

Edwin: "Daxton, I am very sorry. But what can I do now?"

Daxton: "I noted that she stopped to go to the firm, and this is not a good sign. She is avoiding people again. That time, she stopped going to the University. We finally started to force her. She took 2 months to go to the University. You need to force her a bit. Try to get her back to work."

Edwin: "Okay. I will try my best. But can you give her more time? She does not talk to me. If I talk to her, she becomes aggressive."

Daxton: "Don't worry. I will go to meet her at the firm for half an hour daily. I'll keep giving you updates. I am with you."

Edwin: "Thank you so much, Dax."

Daxton: "It's all right. I am hanging up. Take care."

Edwin: "You too."

The call ended. Edwin sat on his chair. His palms covered his face. He thought deeply about everything. He felt very bad for his behavior.

'I hurt my love. She would have been broken. I need to go to her right now. I need to apologize to her ', he thought as he rushed out of his office.

"Ms. Annie, I will be leaving for home right now. Please ensure that the company is locked well", he instructed his secretary and went to a gift shop. Getting there, he bought a chocolate box, a rose, and a beautiful bonsai plant. Helena loved nature, so he thought that this gift would make her feel happy. He drove home. He opened the door. Greeted by a maid, he asked her about the dinner and gave them leave. He went upstairs where Helena was sitting on the couch. He went to her and hugged her.

"Hi baby", he greeted her. He kept the gifts on the bed. She looked confused looking at those.

"What are those", she asked while pointing at the gift-wrapped boxes.

"These are some gifts for you", he said while showing her his boxy smile. Helena smiled looking at the gifts. But then she remembered, 'This man is a killer. This is all fake.' Her smile vanished and Edwin frowned.

"You didn't like those?"

"Why did you get these for me", she asked.

"Because I wanted to apologize to you", he said as he held her hand.

"Apologize for what?"

"Daxton told me everything about your past. About Sam. About the tragedy, I felt very sad. If you had told me about it, I would have been extra careful-", he was cut off by her. She pushed his hand badly. He held her by her shoulders.

"Helena, what happened", he said as she pushed him away.

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HIM! WHO THE F*CK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? F*CKING GET LOST BEFORE I LOSE MY TEMPER COMPLETELY", she shouted as her eyes got red. She acted like that to show him that she did not want him to know that.

"Helena, what happened?"

"Fine, I am going out", she said as she stormed out of the room but Edwin was fast enough to grip her wrist. He pulled her inside and locked the door.

"Leave me", she said as she tried to free herself from his grip.

"Here you go", he said as he left her wrist. She tried to go out but the door was locked.

"The door's going to be locked till you talk to me", he said as he picked her up and made her sit on the bed.

"Now, tell me. Why did you not want me to know about him", he asked her, but she remained quiet.

"Helena, look at me. Sweetheart, how will I help you if you don't tell me about it?"

"I did not want to lose you", she replied.

"Daxton told me everything about this matter. And he told me because he was concerned for you. I would never leave you for this reason. You have faced so much pain in the past. If you had told me about him earlier, I would have been extra careful to not hurt you", he said as he cupped her face. "And trust me, I will never leave you."

The last sentence sent shivers down her spine. She thought of it as a warning.

"You will never leave me, right", she asked while looking into his eyes, which were full of love for her.

"Never", he said as he smiled.

She hugged him as he hugged him back. They stayed like that for some time. Then he took her to the gifts.

"I felt so bad so I thought of giving you all these presents so that you would feel better. Here, open them", he said as he handed the gifts to her. She opened them all and was very happy.

"Aww, these are so cute. Especially this cute bonsai. Thank you", she said while adoring it.

"I got that so that you can keep it in your cabin at the law firm", he said.

"I will surely keep this cutie there", she said.

"Helena I know you will take some time to heal again, but please don't stop trying. You will move on. If you ever feel like talking about him, you can talk to me. I won't mind", he said.

"Thank you for everything, Ed", she said and they went to sleep.