His Ruthless Revenge (A Dark Bully Romance)

Chapter Fifty-Six

We both face each other in silence as my words reverberate between us. It's eerily quiet and the only sound I can hear is the sound of my own breath. Chase doesn't appear to be breathing at all as his mouth is wide open in horror at what I just said
"You pushed him?" He asks hesitantly, keeping his voice low. "How do you know that? Do you remember what happened?"
"I don't remember anything leading up to it." I clarify quickly. "At least not yet I don't but I do remember pushing him."
"Fuck!" Chase exclaims fiercely, covering his face with his hands as he turns his back on me.
"The police won't be able to tell, will they?" I demand helplessly. "I mean, they won't be able to tell that he was pushed instead of him falling, right?"
"Of course they will. There's bound to be a post-mortem and they'll examine the body." Chase replies sombrely, rubbing the centre of his forehead.
"So... what do we do?" I whisper faintly, wringing my hands together.
He slowly turns to face me once again and places both hands on my shoulders.
"You tell the truth." He concludes firmly. "You tell the police how you woke up in the middle of the night to find I wasn't there beside you so you got out of bed and heard a loud noise; the sound of someone falling and when you got to the top of the stairs you found your father lying at the bottom."
I try and digest everything he just said and nod my head, biting on my lower lip to keep it from trembling.
"Do you think they'll believe that he fell accidentally?"
"No, Sweetheart." He answers calmly, shaking his head. "You tell the police that you found him at the bottom of the stairs and me at the top of them."
"W-what do you mean? Why would I say that when it's not true?"
"It is true." He repeats decidedly, tightening his grip on my shoulders. "You keep on saying that it's true until you actually believe it, ok? I was at home when he broke in and I'm the one who pushed him."
"Chase, no!" I cry desperately, pushing him away from me in frustration.
"Yes." He insists boldly. "You were already asleep before I got home and the first thing you knew about any intrusion was when you heard him fall and found me at the top of the stairs. I told you I'd pushed him and we phone the police together."
He waits for me to process it all but I just can't. How the hell can I go along with what he's saying when it means Chase will take the blame for something I did?
"No! I'm not saying any of that. It's not true!"
"It is true." He persists relentlessly, almost trying to convince me that it really did happen. "I did this. I pushed him and he died because I killed him."
"Why can't we just be honest?" I argue fiercely, refusing to give in. "He broke in! He could have attacked me but I didn't mean to kill him. I didn't!"
"Shh... I know. I know that." He soothes me, pulling me close to him as he strokes my hair.
"So, let's just tell the truth. Please, Chase, please." I beg him, clinging onto him for dear life.
"April, I'm not willing to take the risk of anything happening to you. I'm not having you spend a single second in prison and this is the only way I can make sure that doesn't happen."
"But you can't go anywhere either." I mumble quietly, burying my face against his chest. "I won't let you do this!"
"April, look at me." He commands assertively, tilting my face up towards his. "You're the strongest person I know and you can survive anything in life but the one thing I know you won't be able to handle is prison."
"But that might not even happen! If we tell the truth. The police will understand what sort of person he was when we tell them everything. Kerry can come forward and maybe even Louise as well. No one will believe that I attacked him and they'll understand that it was self-defence."
"Yes, in an ideal world all of that would happen but we have to think of the worst case scenario right now and that might mean you spending some time in prison. Even if we tell them what he did to Kerry all those years ago; they might still think you pushed him on purpose and as fucked up as that is... it's still punishable by law." He reasons strongly, trying to persuade me.
"Oh, God. Oh, God, oh God, oh God." I gasp breathlessly, repeating my mantra over and over again as I cross over into blind terror and panic.
"April, stop it." Chase directs me, forcing me to stand still and look at him. "Take deep breaths baby. Come on, I need you to look at me and breathe slowly."
He consoles me for a few minutes, waiting for me to catch my breath and my body to gradually calm down. It eventually happens and we remain standing there in silence, our arms wrapped around one another and our hearts beating rapidly.
"What's going to happen next?" I ask him quietly;  dreading his answer.
"We call the police like we were going to before. Except this time we tell them that I'm the one who pushed him. I'm the one who caused him to fall and I'm the one who killed him." Chase responds gravely, squeezing me tightly.

My eyes timidly glance up at the man who has been the centre of my universe for so long. The man I once feared so intensely and tried to avoid on a daily basis when we were at school. He's also the same man who broke my heart all those years ago and the man I've been trying so hard to forgive.
Finally, he's the man who has always loved me. The man who hid it so well and who saved me before I even knew I needed saving. He's the man now willing to sacrifice himself to make sure I'll be ok and as I watch him make the phone call that will change both our lives forever; I realise how this chapter in our life is really over.
After all of the pain, heartache, lies and suffering we've inflicted upon one another for so long... it's finally all over. The author of our twisted love story finally put down her pen.

I guess it's my turn to pick up where she left off...