Chapter 7. Ghost from the Past
The room became silent after the argument with Raymond. Their last words sharap and commanding were still hung in the air like a shadow that would not leave. Vera was standing through the window, her hands were trembling, her chest was heavy with the weight of the options that were not her.
Outside, the world went away as if nothing had changed. The trees were swept away, clouds floated in the past, the wind still carried forward its soft evening heat. But inside him, there was a storm uproar. He pressed his palm against cool glass, wishing that he could step out, run away, and leave the series of contracts, heritage and obligations behind.
Nevertheless, his heart reminded him something else. He had buried something. Some she thought she was lost.
A familiar voice broke through his thoughts, a voice that he had not heard in years, but could never forget.
"Vera ..."
His body froze. His breath got stuck in his neck. She turned slowly, her heart became so fast.
He was there.
Francis.
The man who once caught his heart, the man he had trusted with every secret, every dream, every delicate hope. The man she believed that she would spend her life until she disappeared without any word, broke it, left, and scared in ways she never wanted to face again.
The nap, thinking that his brain was playing cruel tricks. But no he was real. In the dim light of the room, standing there, looking old, hard, but still taking the same eyes, who once assured him that love could win anything.
"Francis?" She whispered, her voice was shaking.
He took one step closer, his face was a line with regrets. "This is for me. I am here, Vera."
She spontaneously retreated, her chest tightened. The years of silence between them pressed like a weight. She wanted to shout, ask for an answer, to push her away, but whatever she was managed was a broken, "Why?"
"I had no choice," he quickly said, as if he rehearsed this moment. "I never wanted to leave you. I never stopped loving you. But I had to go for your safety."
Vera left a bitter laughter, although her eyes were burnt with unwanted tears. "For my safety? Do you know what you did with me? You left without a word, Francis. You disappeared as if I had nothing.
Francis's eyes became blind by pain. He reached out, but stopped himself, his hand was trembling in the air. "I know. I destroy you. And I live with that crime every day. But I came back because I can't stay away at any time. Especially now. You can't marry him, Vera."
His breath stopped. "What?"
"Raymond," he fielded the name as if it tastes poison. "That is not what he feels. He is ruthless. He will crush you. Whatever you think, you are doing whatever the reason he has given to you don't go with it."
Vera's body was shaken with confusion. She wanted to shout to be courageous to show her now, to tell her what to do or not. And yet, his words pierced the delicate rescue around him. Because a part of it, no matter how much he hates him, still remembered the way he caught him, the way he once felt that he was enough.
"You don't know anything," he said, his voice is loud.
"I know enough," Francis shot back. "I know what kind of man Raymond is. Do you really think that he will care you? You are just another pawn for him. He will use you until you are empty, and when he does not do it, he will throw you. He will not take him from you."
His words were claws on him, doubting he tried to bury. He closed his eyes, grabbed the edge of the table for balance. "And what about you, Francis? What were you? You promised me forever and then disappeared in nothing. You left me with nothing, but with broken promises. How do you dare to come back and tell me what I should do?"
Francis as if he had killed him. His voice was low, soft, almost argued. "Because I still love you. I never stopped. And I can't see you walking in a life that will destroy you."
Vera's throat was tightened. The word he once dreamed of listening to him, now it seemed like a cruel turn of luck. She wanted to believe her, but the wound she left was very deep. And yet his presence still shook him. She hated how her heart still reacted, how her body remembered the heat of her touch, the comfort of her embrace.
"Francis ..." his voice shook. "You are not able to understand. It's not so easy. There is a contract. There is a legacy. Everything can not go away. My choice is no longer mine."
"Then make them your own again," Francis firmly said, close step. "Run with me. Leave it behind. You are not in the world of Raymond. You are with me."
His eyes widened. "Run with you? After everything? You think I can only trust you again?"
"I will not prove it," he said strict. "I will spend every day to prove it. Just don't marry her. Please, Vera. Don't give yourself to a person who is not worth you."
The room rotates. Her heart was torn between anger and craving, she was tortured amidst security and the fire was burnt whenever Francis saw her. He still knew how to reach his deepest parts, he wanted to hide the parts.
His lips participated, but no words came. She was trapped in a storm of her feelings.
then suddenly
the door opened.
The wind moved.
Raymond was standing in the door.
Her eyes, dark and uplifted, swept into the room and descended to the vision in front of her: Vera, Pale and Shumping, and Francis, stood very close, her currency was filled with frustration.
For heartbeat, silence ruled. The kind of silence was in danger.
Vera's stomach fell. She could see it in Raymond's eyes flicker of fury, sharp edge of betrayal.
His heart collided with his chest.
The storm was broken.