9

Helena felt a little bit of acknowledgment that Louis somehow told her things, and they had some deep conversation like that. She wasn’t forcing anything on him, even friendship, if he didn’t want to associate himself with her.

But talking about things was the reason why she was scarred, and hungry for revenge; it was slowly making her feel a little bit at ease that someone had seen through what she was trying to bury underneath those smiles of hers.

Louis had only toured him around the place, much more the land, showing her how wide the hectare Louis owned, and she even had some glimpse of the other territories that she couldn’t believe were entirely owned by Louis himself.

She wasn’t sure what kind of arrangement Helena’s parents and the Montvilles set up, but as her mother told her, the Montvilles were very important, and they wanted her to at least get to know him better.

They were now planning to go back to the mansion when Louis was already riding the horse at a fast pace and Helena was struggling to even keep up. She couldn’t even join him on the side because Louis was already far away.

God, that brute. I thought there was already a little consideration in him because of our talk, but I didn’t know it was just spur-of-the-moment. It was what was roaring in her mind until the horse suddenly made a hysterical sound as it almost stood up.

“Calm down, oh my!” She panicked and tried to control the rope, but it wasn’t even working because the horse just made a hysterical move even more.

She cursed under her breath when she could barely control the horse anymore, and worse, it was now going the other way, which she had no idea as it ran faster while making an aggressive sound like it was so hurt.

“Help!” she shouted in her panicky voice, and she didn’t know what to do anymore. She failed to just control it.

She lost hope. She had always been ignorant of horses since she was a kid, and she didn’t really know how to ride them. She was already expecting something worse as she closed her eyes, leaned closer to the horse, and hugged its neck so she would stop herself from falling down.

“Easy!” Louis’ voice suddenly roared beside her, and she could also hear the footsteps of the other horse, not just from the horse she was riding. And as soon as she opened her eyes, Louis was now beside her, looking at her as if he were trying to stop the horse.

“Give me the rope,” he demanded while reaching for Helena’s hand.

Helena shook her head with a fear that was now plastered on her face. “I can’t. I’m scared I might fall.”

“That’s why give it to me so I could help you make it stop,” he insisted in a thick accent.

Helena’s chest was banging loudly, and she felt so scared. She could barely move and was reaching for the rope because she was afraid she would fall and something bad might happen to her. The sides of her eyes were now brimming with tears, and she felt like that was her last chance.

She was so afraid that the night when she was killed flashed through her mind, making her shake in fear that she would not be able to do what she wanted, which was to avenge herself. She was so scared while shaking as she lamented, deeply praying that someone would save her despite how she was now losing hope.

“Damn it! Just jump! Don’t just get frozen and do something!” Louis said aggressively, which made Helena open her eyes, and what shocked her was the cliff at the front waiting for her.

She could already feel it. She was already anticipating it while the voices from the past clouded herself and she could barely feel herself. She was now losing consciousness because of the anxiety taking over, and the voices in her head were just so loud that she couldn’t overcome them.

Louis cursed when he saw how she was slowly losing her consciousness; her eyes were now slowly closing, and her body seemed to fall any minute. He maneuvered the horse skillfully, pulled the rope so fast, and as soon as the horse stood up, Helena fell from it; he was able to catch her weight while his arm was now wrapped around her waist.

The horse then shouted hysterically and ran to the other side while Helena was like a lifeless vegetable hanging on his arm unconsciously as he quickly put her slantly on his own horse at the front.

Louis wanted to just shake her and tell her how stupid she was to faint in the middle of danger and that she should have jumped off the horse, but to see the sides of her eyes with the sparkling tears and her long lashes laced with tears, his brows furrowed on why she seemed so scared earlier.

He put her on his lap, Helena lying against her stomach and still unconscious, while he controlled the horse and made it run slowly.

He doesn’t really care about Helena. He doesn’t feel anything for her, and she shows zero interest in whatever she is up to. The only thing that was important to him was the fact that he needed to grant his grandfather’s wish because it was meaningful to him.

But there was something about Helena that he couldn’t ignore, and he kept on seeing it in her, which he hated.

As soon as they reached the mansion, the maids were so worried when Louis went down while carrying Helena like a princess who would be sacrificed because of how she hung on his hands. Anna immediately followed Louis, as he was now taking her to her own room after collapsing, and he told her to call the family doctor to make sure she was okay after she fainted.

And while Helena was in her deep sleep, she dreamed of that night when someone was chasing her from behind while the voices in her head were ringing continuously, just like on that day. She was mocked and ridiculed, and their laughs echoed like they were looking down on her and they were only waiting for her to fall down.

When she stumbled on the ground, the whole place turned into darkness, and their images were now spinning all over her as she curled like a baby, covering both of her ears, but she could still hear their voices, not just Ingrid’s laugh but including her ex’s painful words mingling with the mocking of her family and friends.

No… please…stop… Don’t kill me… What have I done to deserve this? What did I do to all of you?

It was her begging as she cried for those voices to stop coming from her, but she could not even do anything about it. And when she was just fully consumed by them, as if she were about to be swallowed whole, a sudden force pulled her out of the darkness that she had woken up from fainting earlier, and she even took a seat like a corpse suddenly coming back to life as she panted for her life.

The first thing she saw was Louis, who unfolded his arms; his lips parted a bit while he was in the room with Helena, looking at her confusingly. Anna, who’s the personal maid of Helena, poured water for her and handed it to her worriedly.

“I think you are having a nightmare, Miss Helena,” she pointed out because of the way Helena was shaking her head and whispering inaudible words that they couldn’t understand. Helena even checked herself to make sure she was okay, which made her a bit at ease when she realized all of it was just a dream.

But it wouldn’t even erase the fact that she was still traumatized by what happened to her in the past. She was still haunted by it, and she felt like they were just around her, watching her every movement and plotting to kill her again. The tears in her eyes loomed, and Louis looked at her silently as he didn’t know what to do or what to say to her.

Louis isn’t an affectionate person, nor does he give encouraging words so easily. He was known for his cold personality for a reason because he is really that heartless. But the way he could see the pain reflecting on Helena’s eyes, he could tell that she had been through a lot of things that made her act like she was badly scarred and traumatized.

“You are in my territory. Whatever you are afraid of, think of the possibility that no one could lay a finger on you while you’re on my watch,” Louis said, reminding her that she should not be worried.

He knew that it wasn’t enough to erase all of her doubts and her fears, but Louis had seen how Helena’s eyes turned glassy until she slowly sobbed and closed her eyes.

The words were just so comforting to her that it was the first time someone made her feel safe and secure. Someone cared for her welfare, and someone had told her something that could ease her mind.

It was the first time that she felt being seen after living in the shadow for too long as Alana…

“Thank you… I appreciate it so much,” she lamented in the middle of her sobs.