Husband With Benefits
Chapter 139: The Girl In The Picture

Chapter 139: The Girl In The Picture

"Did you like meeting with everyone, Erasmi? Hmm?"

Demetri silently pushed the wheelchair as he took Erasmi back to his room, chatting on the way," They were very surprised to see you, weren’t they? Don’t worry, they did not make much of a noise because of their shock. Once they have recovered, you are going to have very little time to stare ahead blankly at those white walls you seemingly love. Knowing them, Lucy and Seb are going to be here tomorrow, latest by the afternoon."

"I’d like you to try and get rid of them. Lucy is an expert at making pitiful faces, I’ve been told. He won’t let you get rid of him. Gabe is a bit occupied so I think he will be here sometime later in the week. While Ian... he is going to be a bit apprehensive and curious. I’m going to have to handle him delicately. He is like you..."

Inside the room, Demetri moved his brother from the wheelchair to the bed and slowly walked around the room, talking about random things. It was at this moment, that Demetri realized something and paused. From the window’s glass, he casually moved to the left and realized that Erasmi’s gaze was following his movement. It meant he had improved eye movement control.

Curbing his joy, he moved back to the television and turned it on slowly before turning on something on his phone which he then played on the television.

In the video, Nora turned to stare at the camera as a voice from behind spoke," I am recording your progress. Say Hi."

Nora smiled at the camera and raised her gloved hands, waving at the camera before she moved to punch and kick the punching bag hanging in front of her. The cameraman moved away from Nora so that he could show her entire body as she trained for self-defence. Her kicks were quick and powerful while her punches were direct and strong.

Demetri had watched the video multiple times before he’d convinced himself that she could take care of herself when she offered herself as bait. But fate had shown him, no matter how prepared you were, some things were out of our control.

This time, he did not look at the video but looked at Erasmi. In fact, he had originally thought to use Nora to invoke a reaction from Erasmi but the recent discoveries had shown him a different way.

"She looks a lot like your Nellie, doesn’t she?" Demetri spoke slowly.

He was glad when Erasmi’s eyes moved towards him at that, even though it looked as if Erasmi would rather kill him. "I know you blame me for the accident. Until recently, I had blamed myself too. But I’ve found things..."

"I’ll tell you about them, Erasmi. First, let me tell you about my Nora. You are curious. Why does my wife look like your woman? Because she is... your Nellie’s younger sister."

"Are you shocked? I was too, when I first saw her. Do you remember Nellie had introduced us to an older gentleman who stood in as her family? Attorney William Doughby? I kept in touch with him all these years. He is the one who introduced me to Nora."

"William does not know that you are alive. When Nellie passed away and you were in this state, that old man helped me take care of Nellie’s burial procedures, giving her a resting place. You never knew, did you? Because you never cared to ask me..."

"Grandfather had been on my back about marriage so I asked the old man to find me a wife. Who would have thought he would bring Nora to me? At first I was against the idea of being with her, but then I thought I might bring her to you so that she could pretend to be Nellie. But the girl is very different from Nellie. Even in this state you can recognise the difference, can’t you? It is why you are only giving me some movements but not everything?"

"But what if I tell you that Nellie’s death and you being in this state are not my fault? Will you believe me then? Or are you going to continue sitting here in this safe world that you have ensconced yourself in?"

Demetri paused and continued to stare at Erasmi who looked back at him. He could see that he had his brother’s undivided attention. He almost told Erasmi everything that he had discovered. How Nora’s recounting of the events of Nellie’s grave had jolted him into looking at the accident so many years ago from a different direction.

All along, he had never thought to question whether everything that had happened had really been an accident or a premeditated plan. But as he realized the depths that Lara Anderson could go to, he had quietly started investigating. And that had uncovered something unexpected. The accident had indeed been staged.

Lara Anderson had not just desecrated and vandalized her own daughter’s grave but also been responsible for putting her daughter there. He could not control the anger that passed through him at the thought that such a woman was even now outside, free in this world. It was because of her, that his brother had been destroyed while Nora had suffered such emotional wounds.

Inhaling deeply, Demetri spoke, "Nellie was murdered, Erasmi. The girl you loved, the one you were willing to die for, the one you have been mourning for years was murdered. What happened that night was not an accident. And the person who is responsible for Nellie’s death has not been punished yet. Do you still want to continue like this? Does it not enrage you..."

Before he could say more, Erasmi’s already pale face seemed to have turned even more sallow and his eyes rolled back into his head. Quickly, Demetri pressed the bell for the doctor who had been on standby as they attached him to the many machines in the room to monitor him.

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