My mind was blown by the news. When I looked at the driver, my hands began to shake, and my heart began to beat faster. While he was looking at me with a mixture of shame and sadness, he turned his head to face me in its entirety, and there he was: Damian, still alive and sitting in the front seat.
It’s Damian! This can’t possibly be true! The tears were already flowing down my face as I let out a scream. Your life is over! You have been buried for three days now! What is going on out there?
In a tone that was composed but tinged with remorse, he spoke the words, “Clara.” Let me clarify, if you would please.
PLEASE EXPLAIN! I yelled, my fury and incredulity surging to the surface of my being. “How are you even in this place? Why would you give me the impression that you didn’t exist? What was the point of putting me through this torment?
He heaved a long sigh and clenched his fists around the driving wheel as if it were his support system. “I had no intention of it turning out this way. To hurt you was never my intention. You see, Clara, I had no other option.”
“No other option?” I yelled, my voice breaking as I did so. On the day of our wedding, you had no other option but to act as if you had passed away. Will you be able to hear yourself, Damian?
He gave a slight nod, his eyes strongly urging me to pay attention. “Clara, my family… they are a cause for concern. Both the wealth and the power come with a cost attached to them. Immediately after I informed them that I was going to marry you, they threatened to destroy everything. We are you, me, and we. They would not give up until we were completely annihilated.
As I attempted to comprehend what he had said, I shook my head. You believed that the best way to solve the problem was to make me believe that you had disappeared? In order to subject me to the most excruciating torture imaginable?
“It was the only way to keep you safe!” he exclaimed in a panicked tone. If they was under the impression that I had passed away, they would have no incentive to pursue you. Because of this, they would no longer have any influence over me.
My mind was flooded with a million different feelings as I glanced at him. It was possible for you to tell me, Damian. It was possible for us to tackle it together. Instead, you lied to me about something. You just left me behind.”
“I know,” he whispered without making a sound, his voice cracking. It is a fact that I have let you down, and I despise myself for it. However, I could not put your life in danger, Clara. My entire world revolves around you.
When we were sitting in the center of the street, the only sound that could be heard was the buzz of the motor of the taxi. Both my emotions and my perplexity continued to flow without interruption. Despite the fact that I loved Damian more than anything else, this betrayal hurt me more than anything else I had ever experienced.
At long last, I made my voice heard. What should we do now, Damian? “What are we going to do,”
Before responding, he contemplated the question for a moment, his eyes revealing a mixture of fear and optimism. “I have a strategy to just vanish without a trace. Everything, including my family and the money, will be left behind by me: everything. It might be possible for us to begin again if you join me. We were the only two of us.”
Although I was crying, I managed to laugh bitterly. “Should we begin again? When it comes to my life, Damian, you have already ruined it once. I don’t understand how I’m meant to trust you again.
I’ll prove myself worthy,” he pledged. I will demonstrate to you that I am worth the effort, regardless of how long it takes.
I turned my gaze to him, the man whom I had both loved and lost, and who I had now unexpectedly discovered again. As a result of my indecision, my heart hurt. May I be able to forgive him? If we had the opportunity to start a new life together, would I be able to let go of the hurt and the lies?
While I was sitting in that taxi and looking into Damian’s eyes, which were so familiar and filled with guilt, I came to the realization that despite the fact that I detested what he had done, I still loved him. It is possible that love alone will not be sufficient to repair the wounds that he had left behind.
“Drive,” I murmured at last, maintaining a steady but icy tone in my voice. “Just get behind the wheel.”
When the car drove away, I realized that this was just the beginning of a long and unknown journey ahead of me.