Husband With Benefits
Chapter 689: The Past

Chapter 689: The Past

Just as Ava closed her eyes, as if it could shield her from everything, she felt something thrown onto her lap. She opened her eyes and looked at the file in confusion before looking up at Erasmi in confusion.

"I won’t read this. My entire reason for doing everything was to make sure that you were alright. These last few weeks, you’d been a mess. This file... I am leaving it here now, Ava. Don’t let it hang over your head like a dark cloud, Ava. It doesn’t define who you are now." He reached out, brushing a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "I don’t need to know what’s in that file to decide. I’ve already decided. I’m not going anywhere."

Ava stared at him, stunned by his words. "But... how can you just ignore it? What if it changes everything?"

Ava stared at him, stunned by his words. "But... how can you just ignore it? What if it changes everything?"

He shook his head, sitting down beside her again. "Because I trust you, Ava. Whatever’s in that file, it’s part of your past. But it’s not who you are now."

"You really don’t want to know?"

Erasmi shook his headm,"Not unless you want me to know or need me to know."

It was the words that finally gave her the courage to accept the truth. Maybe just maybe, he would be forgiving of her. And even if he chose not to forgive her, she would hold onto this moment...

"Read it, Erasmi."

Erasmi sighed and shook his head," Ava..."

"Read it, Erasmi. I think I’d like to get it off my chest."

Erasmi looked at her, searching her eyes for any sign of hesitation, but all he saw was a quiet determination. With a resigned sigh, he finally reached for the file, opening it slowly. His gaze skimmed over the first few lines, and his expression shifted as he read further before closing the file decisively.

Ava watched him closely, her heart pounding in her chest. He continued to look down and she continued to stare at him.

"Say something, Erasmi..." Ava called out in a small voice, her fear palpable.

"What do you want me to say, Ava?" Erasmi asnwered back as he placed the file aside and walked outside.

Ava felt her world come crashing down as she watched him walk away. This was it. The end of them. She wanted to call out to him. Hadn’t he just said that he would be with her. Why then was he walking away?

She slid down to the floor, bringing her knees close to her. She wanted to scream, to call him back, to beg him not to go, but her voice seemed to be trapped in her throat. The silence that followed was unbearable, each passing second stretching out like an eternity to her.

But then, just as she felt herself spiraling into despair, she heard the door creak open. Her head snapped up, and she saw Erasmi standing there, holding something in his hand. As she watched, he came back and then before she could even process everything, he brought out a lighter and set the file on fire.

Ava’s eyes widened in shock, and she scrambled to her feet, pointing at the burning file wordlessly as she looked at him and then at the file. As the file continued to burn, Erasmi threw it into the water sink nearby, continuing to watch it until the entire thing had turned into ashes.

Only when everything was reduced to nothing, did he look at her," There. Now you know that the past doesn’t matter."

Ava opened her mouth and then closed it before opening it again. "But, doesn’t it bother you that a man was crippled because of me? If I had not done what I did... It was unforgivable, Erasmi. His life was ruined because of me..."

Ava tried to explain as if Erasmi had failed to grasp the details in her file. She’d been part of a bigger scam then. They’d usually go out to supermarkets and pick things up while the others created a scene and then escape from there. She’d been a part of lots of such burglaries since she was sixteen years. But then, that fateful night, they’d encountered the man...

He’d been prepared for their scam and the moment the others had started to create a disturbance, he’d pulled out a gun... The leader of their group had been her then boyfriend and he had been drinking and fought the man...causing the gun to go off...

"I tried Erasmi.. I... when I saw the man pull out the gun, I tried to pull him away, but he pushed me off...I know you must feel the hatred for me... you don’t have to pretend..."

How could Erasmi not hate her. Hadn’t he too been paralysed because of those people? And he’d been so angered by that feeling of helplessness that he’d even killed them. He came to her then and gently cupped her face, " Ava..."

She blinked, not even able to see his face clearly through her tears. What did he intend to do? "Ava," he said, moving closer to her as he wiped her tears, "I understand that what happened in your past weighs heavily on you. But there’s a difference between what was done to me and what happened to you. Isn’t that what you are scared of?"

"Yes, maybe you moved in the wrong groups in the past and paid the price for it. But even that man didn’t blame you. It wasn’t you who pulled the trigger. It wasn’t you who decided to hurt the man. In fact, if not for your testimony and calling the ambulance he might not even have survived that. So, don’t blame yourself... Lara and the others... they planned meticulously to hurt people to satisfy their selfish desires. But you were trying to survive and do that right thing... Everything that happened was tragic, yes. It shouldn’t have happened. But it is not your blame to carry."

This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦

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