24

##Chapter 23

Hugh Mikhail - Two years later...



My flesh was trembling, but I couldn't stop. It was my only way of forgetting everything, of trying not to suffer. I finished my hundredth push-up and fell to the ground, breathing hard, feeling all my muscles ache.

"You're going to end up hurting yourself badly that way." Rick, who shared the same cell with me, spoke.

“That's the intention. — I replied turning myself from my back down, starting the sequences of sit-ups.

"Are you trying to hurt yourself?" You've been pushing yourself too hard over the last year. Is all this so you don't have to deal with her memories? His question made my head spin.

- What are you talking about? Shut the fuck up.

“You know, Mikhail. You know.

I immediately stopped the sit-ups and ran my hands through my hair in frustration. Why did he have to keep reminding me of her?

“This has nothing to do with her. — lied .

- Oh no? - he laughed.

“No, I already told you. I'm just in the mood for exercise.

“This looks more like self-mutilation. - he said - You can talk to me about her again, you don't have to run away from even the memories that according to you, were great.

“Are you crazy? It's been two years! Two damn years! She's definitely moved on, must be happy with someone else. I'm not going to keep talking about her, I don't even deserve her name to pass my lips. She definitely hates me. — even if it broke my heart to think so. “Now that's self-harm, having those happy memories with her, and it'll never happen again. For that reason, my friend, I want to keep running away from memories.

I had to tell Rick about Diana because he never left me alone after I woke him up one night having dreams about her. It was recurring the nights that I woke up screaming for her, so I was compelled to tell him everything.

“Don't be an idiot, man. How can you guess that she's moved on? What if she 's still waiting for you?

“To this day, that was the stupidest thing you've ever said, and that wasn't a few.

“Why would that be stupid?

- You do not understand. I wanted that, I wanted her to hate me forever when I didn't go to say goodbye to her that day. My wish was exactly that, that she would not wait for me, that she would move on. I would never want my princess to be waiting for a condemned man inside a jail. If it weren't for that, do you really think I wouldn't have stayed with her? I wanted her with all the strength of my soul!

"I see..." he said after some time in silence. — And if you went out today, would you tell me that you wouldn't be curious enough to go see her? Know how she is?

Fuck, but of course. It was what I wanted most, but I couldn't.

I let out a deep breath making my head throb. I lay back on the floor but couldn't muster the strength to go back to the exercises, I just stared at the white ceiling.

“I hope she's happy, because she deserves to be very, very happy. And as much as it hurts, I also hope that she's over me, that she's with a nice guy and not a jerk like Jeremy, or…me.

And I did not want to witness this at all. Knowing or imagining it was much better than seeing with my own eyes her being happy with another man.

"Be careful not to regret it." Because even if she wants to stab you, in time you might end up winning her back.

"Now you're a love counselor, Rick?" I mocked.

— Fuck you! I'm just saying your princess could understand what made you do what you did. Come to think of it, it was kind of you to think exclusively of her happiness. As much as letting her go without saying goodbye must have hurt her as hell.

“You're not helping by reminding me of that.

“Seriously, man. What if she's single? Isn't it worth fighting for it?

Even though Rick's question had stirred me, I wasn't able to answer once the cell's grate was thrown open.

"Hugh Mikhail, follow me." said the policeman, accompanied by the jailer.

I looked at Rick, confused, and followed them through the dark corridors. Two minutes later, we were inside a room full of boxes with what he considered to be the prisoners' belongings.

“You're free. Your lawyer brought proof that you didn't kill Freddie Walter. My heart skipped a beat.

- What?! What lawyer? I asked with sweaty hands.

“He said he was hired by Zarah Leirner. He can explain everything to you later, they are waiting for you outside, go ahead, get your things.

I did as they said, not knowing whether to smile or remain confused. I couldn't believe that after two years I was finally free, it both excited and scared me. I changed clothes, took my belongings and before leaving, I asked the jailer for something.

"Could I say goodbye to Rick before I go?"

“No more than a minute. I nodded and was escorted to the cell.

“Rick, my godmother got a lawyer and they managed to prove that I didn't kill Freddie. They just released me.

“Damn, this is great. I would give anything to be in your shoes right now. Be sensible, okay ? Forget revenge, look what it did to you. He got up and hugged me .

— Thanks for always wanting to show me the bright side of things, even when my thick head didn't want to hear your litany.

- Go there. Don't forget what we were talking about just now. I nodded and turned to go .

Incredible as it may seem, I had made friends with all the guys precisely because of my closed nature. As I walked through the halls, everyone applauded and wished me well, even those who were imprisoned for the most horrendous crimes.

After that I was taken to a room where I signed several recurring papers to my freedom. It seemed like a joke, I expected to be locked up for at least twenty years before being released for good behavior. And then suddenly I was being released.

Soon a guard brought my bag with my things, including my cell phone. When I saw the light of day and the face of my godmother accompanied by a man in a suit, I breathed in the air of freedom with pleasure.

- Son! Zarah screamed when she saw me and came running to hug me.

- Godmother. How are you ms? I stroked her tear-stained face.

- Now I'm fine. You worried me so much. Why did you call me like that? You were so desperate, saying you had done something stupid.

“I thought I killed him, Zarah. When he stabbed my father right in front of me, I was blinded. So I went after him and only left after he was passed out and his face was disfigured. Fuck, I had gone there to pay off the debt.

— But now it's over... This here is Gregório Durval, the lawyer I got with some finances I had saved. I greeted the short , fat man with a handshake.

— Zarah, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I promise I'll give you back the money you spent, how much was it?

“It doesn't matter now, lad. Let's get out of this place, don't you think you've been here too long? I smiled and then we left through the big rusty gates of the damn jail.

Me, for the first time in two years, seeing daylight outside of my sunbathing schedule.

"But how did you manage to prove my innocence?" They had witnesses that I had beaten up Freddie and even though I didn't shoot him, they found a gun in my stuff. Everything points to me.

— Son... Your father, he woke up from the coma and confessed.

- Cum! No!

"Yes, Hugh, yes!" As much as you love him, this is all his fault. If you didn't have to get involved with dangerous people to pay off a debt he owed, none of this would be happening. You beat up Freddie because he tried to kill your father, but someone shot the bastard and did the act and then blamed it on you, who already had their hands dirty. You are innocent!

She was right. I had submitted myself to clandestine struggles and even taken out loans from loan sharks, in addition to the money from my house to pay off my father's debt. It was a promise I made to my mother. This was my purpose from the beginning, to see the only person in my family by my side, free from those bullshit exploiters.

I always heard my father say that people with a compromised future shouldn't have a weakness or a target for bargaining or blackmail, that was the main reason I renounced Diana. I wanted to save her from an uncertain future, from a mess, from danger, while I tried to rescue my father from the hands of a wicked man.

And wasn't I right? Besides him trying to kill my father, he set me up the day I went to settle everything. Deep down I think I made the right decision about her , she shouldn't be waiting for me, she shouldn't love a man in prison and with dirty hands, since I was determined to do anything for my parent.

— But... My father is innocent.

"So are you, and he owes you that." Just accept.

I swallowed hard and nodded in agreement. The lawyer said he would give us a ride to an airport.

"Have you decided what you're going to do yet?" Zarah asked me.

“Back to Australia. I said with false conviction.

I was almost sure of it, almost... Because the moment I picked up my cell phone, I opened it to the Google page in order to update myself on recent events while I was trapped, the first news that appeared made my heart jump inside my chest.



Oh my God. My heart felt like it had come back to life.

Princess. How beautiful she was.

I was suddenly no longer strong enough to try to block out my memories of her. Strong emotions overwhelmed me, my body shook.

Soon the memories of our night together hit me full force. I've never had anything so real in my life as it was that day. Fuck, I had lost her, had broken her beautiful heart.

The news brought: DM, the newest designer clothing brand, is already successful all over the country.

She did it!

And that made me happy and more certain that I chose well to push her away. She had already suffered enough and deserved a new life, she didn't deserve to be waiting sadly for a man in prison. She always deserved someone better.

Having sex with her was not part of my plans, but on the day of that massage, I was overwhelmed by the overwhelming desire that Diana made me feel. He had never made love like that before and knowing that she was a virgin only made it even more special. It meant a lot to me. I would never forget those times we spent together.

I went on the website and started seeing pictures of her, smiling, apparently happy and accomplished in her big fancy store. I suddenly started to feel sad, angry, stupid. Had he really made the right choice? Rick's words began to echo in my mind.

I chose it for both of us, but I swear it was thinking about her good. Am I wrong about this? Would it be too late if I considered what Rick said? I couldn't be a coward again for fear of even trying to win her back.

Of one thing I was sure, Diana was worth it, she was worth everything.

"Could you drop me off at some hotel in central California?" I asked the lawyer.

- Clear. — days he.

Zarah looked at me smiling. Deep down, she already knew.

“Good luck, son.

- Thanks. I'm going to need it.