Husband With Benefits
Chapter 326: Caius

Chapter 326: Caius

It was dark but as Erasmi watched the young boy march out confidently and stand between him and the lady, he could not help but be amazed at the child. This was Caius. His son. He was so brave. Standing there. Protecting the woman he called his mother.

Even though he was taken aback at his son’s unexpected appearance, Erasmi could not help but feel proud. The boy’s defiant stance, despite the fear in his eyes, struck a chord within him. He crouched down to be at eye level with Caius, a sincere expression on his face.

"Caius, right?" Erasmi spoke gently, "My name is Erasmi Frost."

Caius squinted at him, suspicion evident in his eyes. "Why are you here? What do you want? Are you here to trouble my mother like those bad people?"

He glanced at Mrs. Mercer who stood behind the child and then back at the boy," No. I’m not here to trouble your mother. I’m here to help her. I’m a friend."

"Friend? But we were going to go to mother’s friend’s house tonight. Are you here to take us?"

"No. That plan is cancelled. Your mother was worried about you so she was running away. But now that I’ve come here to help her, there’s no need to run, right?"

Erasmi watched the little boy give him a hopeful look but instead of believing him, he looked at his mother and asked," Is that right, mother?"

Erasmi sent a challenging glance to the woman, daring her to defy what he’d told the boy.

Mrs Mercer looked between her son and Erasmi Frost before nodding slowly," Yes, baby. He’s a friend."

Caius nodded and sent Erasmi a measuring look," Then don’t hurt my mother. I’m warning you."

With that, the little boy trudged back into the house, leaving the man and woman standing there.

Erasmi crossed his arms in front of him and questioned the woman," Maybe you’d like to come clear?"

Mrs. Mercer cleared her throat and inhaled deeply," Alright. Can you give me a moment? I’ll put him back to sleep and then..."

Eramsi nodded," Sure. I’ll go and get your luggage. And Mrs Mercer? I’ve extended you a hand of friendship. I’ll advise you to not refuse it and try my enmity." He did not like the look of fear that the woman sent him but he was not above forcing her to give up Caius. He did not want to harm the child, but he was not willing to stay out of the boy’s life because of someone’s absurd fear.

As he walked back into the house, he sat down in the same place he had int he afternoon and casually looked around. His guess had been accurate. The woman had been planning to escape. He winced to think what would have happened if he’d not read the letters or come here later.

Finding his son would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack. Erasmi sighed and looked at his watch.

***

Mrs Mercer came down after almost an hour and as he looked at her expression, he could not help but shake his head. The woman looked as if she’d swallowed a few lemons. She’d probably hoped that he would be gone if she took her sweet time coming down.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"All I need is an explanation, Mrs Mercer."

The woman winced. "Please call me Ava."

Erasmi nodded but continued to maintain his silence.

The woman sighed and continued," How did you know we would be leaving tonight?"

"I’m waiting for an explanation, Mrs Mercer. But to answer your question, your tickets were on the stand there when I was about to leave."

The lady winced at her own foolishness and explained slowly," I wasn;t escaping from you. Caius has been suffering here for the past few weeks. You saw those troublemakers when you came here. But I think he has been suffering much more than he has let on. And I’ve been useless in helping him. In fact my son is not trying to protect me. A few weeks ago, another set of people had come to my door at night and they tried to come inside forcefully. I tried calling the police but they came too late. So, I got scared and planned to take Caius to yuor grandfather and ask him for help."

"However, before I could do that, my ex husband arrived here. He... was not a good man."

Erasmi watched her struggle to breathe and shudder. Quietly, he stood up and poured her a glass of water. As the woman calmed down, she continued, " Anyway, I’d been hiding from him here in this small town. But some people told him my location and he arrived here yesterday. Thankfully, we were not at home when he arrived, so I requested a kind neighbor to lie to him and say that we’d already left town."

"So you were really going to leave this place and run away?"

"Yes. I have no choice. He is not a man who can be reasoned with! He’s violent and prone to temper tantrums. I saw him yesterday from afar, banging on my door, shouting vile things about how I was a slu* for breaking off my marriage and running away. He said that he had proof that I was an unfit mother and he would take him away. I can’t fight him. He is a powerful lawyer...And I have no support."

"Mrs Mercer... Ava. I know it might be difficult for you to trust me but please try. I’ve just told my son that I am your friend and here to help you. I will keep the first promise that I have made to him."

Ava looked at him carefully, wanting to believe this man but her past experience telling her not to. However, this man was Caius’ biological father. And if her son could have a father who would be a positive male figure then she was willing to take a risk...

Hesitantly she gave him a nod, which Erasmi acknowledged with a nod of his own.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺