28

“Shut up about him. He is not important between us,” Darren murmured.

Ingrid was already internally screaming in frustration, but she wanted her plans to work out, and she could not achieve it without Darren’s help. She needed a good alibi, an ally to achieve her dark goals.

“No, listen to me, Darren. The Montville, especially Louis Montville himself, might be hiding something else. He is now the fiancé of my sister, and I am just worried, you know. Now that the Montville is close to the Asher, isn’t it more convenient for both of us to investigate and to know about his weakness? Don’t you want to be the top in Emerald Ville? Hmm.”

With Darren’s silence, Ingrid knew so well that he was now contemplating her words. She smirked wickedly as everything was slowly favoring her.

“What do you want then?” he asked.

“Well…” She cleared her throat. “I want to call off the wedding.”

“Fuck, Ingrid. Are you fucking kidding me? After everything we have done? Are you kidding me?!”

“Calm down, okay! It’s just part of our plan, Darren! I needed you to cooperate!”

“And what is your plan after calling off the wedding?”

“Well…I will use that opportunity to get his trust and his attention. Let’s say…I would seduce him, but I am only going to get his trust and to find out his dark secrets. That’s all.”

Darren grunted. “Seduce him? No fucking way, Ingrid. I don’t trust him. Not at all.”

Ingrid wanted to laugh because if there was someone he should not trust, it should be her. Because she knows that she could betray everyone just to get the title she wanted for herself. She has always been ahead of everyone, and she doesn’t depend on anyone else, and she is willing to use someone just to get on top.

“Oh, Darren. You know how much I wanted to see you being at the top, not just the second best…” She made a fake sad voice.

“After what we’ve been through, you think there is anything that could separate us? I am doing this to help you out. This is our chance now. Don’t you want to impress your father by putting your bloodline at the top?”

Remembering what they did, Darren knew so well that nothing could separate them. They had already done the dirtiest and most evil thing just to remain clean, and he knew that nothing could ever ruin their bond anymore.

But that’s what Darren thinks. He didn’t even know how dangerous and cunning Ingrid is.

“You know how much I love you. I chose you over my best friend because I am willing to sacrifice anyone just to have you, Darren. I am willing to taint my hands just for you. I am willing to go with you even in hell just to support you in everything you do, and I know you are like that to me as well.” She talked softly, making her voice so sexy that it could blur out all of Darren’s rational thoughts.

“And I could burn the entire world for you, Ingrid. I could even kill for you,” he said with a certain diction.

“Of course, and you know I could do that for you as well?” she countered.

When Darren sighed defeatedly, Ingrid knew that it was now over. She would get what she wanted again with the help of Darren.

“Will your parents be fine with this? Calling off the engagement?”

“Yeah. Let’s just say we needed some space for a while, and we had an extreme fight. But if we are both okay, we would continue it. For sure, our parents would understand. My parents would understand, knowing that their main priority now is my sister’s wedding. They would not care if I call off mine right now as long as Helena’s own wedding with the Montville would work out.”

“Then, that means the Montville would soon be the ally of the Ashers. The clan would merge, which means they would soon enough become a family,” Darren said.

“But I wanted the Adams to be on top, Darren. Don’t you understand it? I want you to be on top,” she clarified.

“Alright, alright… Now, come over here. I missed you so much,” he pleaded. “Since we are going to call the wedding off, I want to spend the night with you.”

Ingrid rolled her eyes because it was just too easy for her. And of course, now that Darren has approved her plan, she is willing to do anything to please him in the meantime.

Poor Helena… You lost your memories, and now you will lose another part of you. But that’s okay. Your sister always got you. I will always place you where you deserve—just the second best of me.

Meanwhile, Helena was now given a phone by Louis himself. She has her own phone, but she doesn’t really use it since she can’t remember her memories that the passwords to her phones were locked. Her parents didn’t give her one because it is also part of her healing process to not engage in anything yet that might trigger her.

And to hold the phone that is similar to Louis, it seems like they were both matching, since the only saved number there was just Louis himself.

She was setting the lock screen and the wallpaper of the phone when a text popped out of the screen.

Louis:

Do you like the color of your phone?

Helena smiled with his question because it was so random, and it shouldn’t be a big deal knowing that the phone itself was already expensive.

Helena:

Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it so much.

Louis:

What are you doing with it now? It wasn’t accessed on the internet since I know you are still recovering. Just use it for communicating with me.

Helena:

I know. I don’t want to see anything that might trigger me too. I am setting up its lock screen and wallpaper…

Louis:

Really? Show it to me tomorrow once I come over, then.

Helena’s heart fluttered for a reason, as she couldn’t stop but smile while reading the text.

Helena: What time? I have my class tomorrow.

Louis: After your class. Do you want something to eat?

Helena suddenly thinks of something that is her favorite.

Helena: I love chicken Alfredo pasta.

And just seconds later, Louis called her. She was shocked that his face flashed through the screen, but she immediately composed herself, even getting up from lying on the bed just to sit properly as she answered the call.

“That’s your favorite?” he asked.

“Uh…yeah… Why?”

“It’s my favorite too.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yes. I will bring chicken Alfredo pasta tomorrow, then.”

Helena couldn’t stop smiling, and if only she could curl up in her bed, she would do it. But she wanted to stop herself despite the fast beating of her heart.

“You aren’t sleepy yet?” he asked in his bedroom voice.

She slowly lay on her bed. “Not yet. It was hard for me to sleep at night.”

“Bad dreams?” he pointed out.

Helena was quite shocked that he knew, but she already had an idea that it might be because of her continuous breakdown.

“Yeah…” she whispered.

“Can you…tell me about it? Are you comfortable talking about it?” he asked gently.

Her breath suddenly hitched because she knew that it was the first time someone asked about her bad dreams. Someone genuinely wants to listen to how dark her mind is.

“It’s quite creepy,” she chuckled weakly.

“Well, I turn into a wolf. What’s more creepy then?” he emphasized.

Helena’s lips stretched into a big smile as she couldn’t control herself from chuckling. “Alright…”

When she noticed that he became silent, she sighed a bit and started talking about it.

“It always happens in the woods…in the middle of the night while the moon is full, and the rustling of the wind was aggressive…as I ran into the woods.”

“Someone is chasing after you?” he asked.

“Yeah… someone is behind me. It was monstrous, and it was the reason why I feel so scared. I was running continuously, and every time it was about to catch me, I would suddenly wake up while panting.”

Helena knew that Louis would never understand the word scary because he was the one who was feared in Emerald Ville. But still, she was in awe that Louis still managed to listen to her story.

“You must be very terrified,” he emphasized.

“Yes. I am. It was the scariest part of my life. It was like I was always running for my own life so death would not reach me and let me live for a moment… Because I am really afraid I would die without even trying to experience how to really live.” Her voice cracked a bit because she knew that she was saying it on behalf of her past self, who was chased by death itself but just given a chance by the moon goddess.

“I am…actually. And every time I dream about it, I am afraid that it would catch me…and I would not be able to wake up anymore. Because I still have a lot of things to do, I still want to live my life the way I want. I still have a lot of things to chase on my own,” she admitted.

“And I don’t want to die yet. I don’t want to die…again,” she whispered as she tried to chuckle about it.

“You’ve been in a coma for almost five years. Have you thought you would not be able to survive that?”

“I think yes. Because for me, I really died. And whatever the reason why I woke up, I wanted to get this chance to do what I should do…before death would get a hold of me again.”