Husband With Benefits
Chapter 631: Arabelle

Chapter 631: Arabelle

Autumn stared at the small usb stick as if it were a time bomb. When she’d taken the box out to return it to Mrs Wintrhrope, she had not imagined that it would contain a note and this small thing.

The woman had blessed their marriage indeed. Autumn shook her head. Good thing that Gabe had not seen the note. He would have gone ballistic.

May the chains of your love bind you forever to the ghosts of the past. May your days be filled with shadows and your nights with whispers of the lies you have told. You are undeserving of happiness, and this union is nothing but a farce. I curse you to never find peace, as you have brought none to those around you.As for your wife... she will rue the day she tangled her fate with yours.

Autumn’s heart pounded in her chest as she re-read the spiteful words. She felt a chill run down her spine. She could actually feel the venom dripping out if the note. And now, on one hand she wanted to take a look at the contents of the USB but on the other, she was totally scared.

With trembling hands, she plugged the USB stick into her laptop. As the screen lit up, she cursed herself under her breath. Curiosity always killed the cat and yet she could not curb it.. A video file automatically began to play, making her stare at the screen intently.

A young couple appeared on the screen, laughing and carefree. In fact it was not even a couple but young kids, at most ten years old. The boy had a mischievuous smile and beside him was a girl, her dark hair cascading down her back as they danced, hands holding each other. Despite the laughter, the girl seemed to hold herself aloof, while the young Gabe seemed to be intent on letting her look at him. It took Autumn a moment, but then she realized that the girl in the picture was probably Arabelle Winthrope, Gabe’s first and only love.

She paused the video, staring intently at the frozen girl. She was beautiful. So beautiful that Autumn could even understand why Gabe fell for her even as a young boy.

She pressed play again and the scene shifted to a sunny picnic, where Gabe’s voice rang out, "I love you, Arabelle!" The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, her expression cool and indifferent. Yet, Gabe was undeterred, running to hold her hand, his love evident in every gesture.

Autumn paused. She knew he loved her. And yet, she felt herself tear up. He declared that love so freely to this woman who was undeserving of him. While on the other hand, she would never hear those words from him. Slowly, she rewinded the video, playing it once again as she heard him shout,"I love you..."

Blaming herself to be all kinds of foolish that she was crying over someone else’s past, she wiped her tears and hurriedly played the video again. This time, she was determined to not stop until the end.

And that is how she tortured herself. As more and more videos started to play, from their engagement party to a small wedding ceremony in some kind of a farm and then other pictures. As they went on, Autumn also saw the change in the girl... reminding her of what Gabe had said, that Arabelle had been sick in the head. She saw the strain then, in her eyes. Sometimes she would be looking at Gabe as if the sun set and rose on him but at others, there would be a vindictiveness there...

However, her attention was repeatedly stuck to Gabe... He seemed to be an empty shell of a person. The origianally bright and shining eyes had dulled and were constantly reflecting sadness. It made her ache for him even as her resolve firmed. She would love him forever. Until he would forget this time of pain... Already she knew there was a difference in him.

In the past, he would usually only smile when he was interacting with her little sister. But now, he was laughing more and was more at ease. She’d bring the old Gabe back.

As the last video ended,however, a message appeared on the screen, that shook her to the very core:

"You promised to stay with Arabelle forever, and you broke that promise. She never left."

Autumn’s breath caught in her throat as the next video began. It was footage of a hospital room. There, lying in a bed with her eyes closed, was Arabelle. Her head and arms covered in bandages.

Autumn’s hand flew to her mouth as the implication hit her like a tidal wave. The wife Gabe believed to be dead was alive.

She replayed the video, hoping she had misinterpreted something, but there was no mistake. The final frame zoomed in on Arabelle’s face, her chest rising and falling with each breath.

Autumn’s mind raced. How could this be? Why didn’t Gabe know? And what did this mean for their future? She stared at the screen, her thoughts a whirl of confusion and fear.

Should she tell Gabe the truth, knowing it would reopen old wounds and possibly destroy their relationship? Or should she keep this secret, protecting him from the pain of the past but living with the guilt of her silence? She could do that. She could pretend she’d never seen this USB.

She had no idea what to do. She loved Gabe deeply and wanted to see him happy, but this revelation threatened to unravel everything. He had a right to know everything. To know that the woman he’d loved so deeply had not left this world.. But wouldn’t that mean pushing him back into those muddy waters that harmed him in the past.

Autumn leaned back in her chair. Trembling, she hugged herself, trying to think of what to do...

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l