Chapter 58 The only person I have
Getting to the living room, Anita slowly settled on the couch as she could still feel mild discomfort in her body.
“How are you feeling now?” Arthur asked, sitting on the couch adjacent to the one she sat on.
“I’m much better. All thanks to you.” She answered with a wide smile.
Arthur bobbed, letting out a soft smile too. “I’m glad you are feeling better.” He responded.
Nodding to his response, she stared at him speechlessly, her smile slowly fading off as every second passed by.
“Are you going to at least tell me what happened?” Arthur asked.
Anita let out a loud sigh and lowered her head. She began to fiddle her fingers as she nodded slowly.
“Last night, we had a fight…”
“We? You and who? The man that came to threaten me in my office?” Arthur asked with great enthusiasm. He couldn’t wait to bring him down.
“Yes. We had an argument about you, actually. The other night you dropped me at the house, he saw you from the window. He had warned me to stop seeing you, but I didn’t listen. I couldn’t bring myself to stop coming to you. This made him angry.
“And when we talked about it yesterday night, he pounced on me like he had always done.”
“What? Why? Who is he to you and why does his opinion matter?” Arthur asked in confusion.
“He…” Anita muttered, shutting her eyes as she felt tears heat up the back of her eyes. “He is my helper.”
“What? Why would your helper do this to you? You’re not making any sense Anita. Make me understand.”
She nodded, letting out another deep sigh before she spoke again. “When I divorced Daniel, I lost all my money trying to move on from him. I could hardly pay my bills because I had nothing left.
“I tried to find a job to sort out my bills, but they weren't enough. That’s when I met him, Alec. He was so sweet, loving, everything I could ever want in a man. He promised me the whole world…” She chuckled, shaking her head at how stupid she had been.
“He proposed to me, said he was going to marry me. He paid my bills with ease, and I was happy. I thought I found the man I wanted to settle down with. Until, I got pregnant with him a few weeks after he proposed to me.
“He was so happy, he bought baby clothing, gave me money, took care of me in a way no one else did. But one unfortunate night, I lost the child, and that was when everything changed.
“He hated me, blamed me for not taking care of his baby, he’d slap me just to feel better. I gathered some money and ran away from his house to this apartment I am in, but then he followed me down here. Everytime he showed up at my door, I’d wish I had died with that baby.”
Tears streamed out of Anita’s eyes uncontrollably. She pursed her lips, making sure she didn’t burst out into tears in front of Arthur.
She hated that he had to see her in such a way. But she couldn’t keep it to herself anymore, not when she needed his help.
“And did you report any of these?” Arthur further asked, feeling great pity for her.
She shook her head and covered her mouth with her hand, weeping silently. “I… I wanted to, but then I remembered I was alone and wouldn’t win against him alone. He’s powerful and has influence. I had to keep it to myself.”
“What?! This is insane! You can’t just let him do whatever he wants because you had a miscarriage! That is none of your fault! We have to report him.”
“No… no, Arthur. Please don’t! It’s not going to solve the problem! He has influence…”
“I have influence too, remember?!”
“Reporting will only make things worse. He’ll come for me with full force.”
“So you’re just going to sit back and do nothing?? You’re going to let him keep maltreating you?” Arthur asked in anger, and she shook her head.
“No. That’s why I’m here. You’re the only person I have, Arthur. I have no one else to run to. Please help me.”
“But how?! How am I supposed to do that?”
“I need you to protect him from me. I can’t go back to that house. I bet he knows I came to you. If I go back, I’ll never come out alive. He’ll kill me.” She uttered in fear, moving from the couch she sat to the one Arthur was on.
“I know you hate me and don’t want to have anything to do with me, but please, Arthur. I’m begging. Please let me stay here for the meantime. I promise I’ll sort out this problem and I’ll be out of your life for good, if that’s what you want.”
Looking away from her, Arthur let out a deep breath and shook his head in disagreement. “Anita, I can’t…”
“Arthur, look at me.” She reached for his face and gradually moved it back to her, so he would be staring back at her.
“If I had someone else, I wouldn’t have come here. I know you can protect me from that evil man. Please, Arthur. I promise not to act stupid. I can help you clean if that’s what you want. I just don’t want to go back to that place.” Her eyes searched his eyes as she spoke.
“Why can’t you just move out and get another apartment?”
“I have tried that several times, but he keeps catching up with me. It’s so scary. I know he’d think twice before coming to your house because of the power you hold too. Please, Arthur, don’t let him kill me.”
Arthur clenched his jaws as he stared at her. Tears rolled down her already swollen eyes and dropped on her clothes.
He wasn’t sure what to do, but one thing he was sure of was that he didn’t want to see her in such a horrible situation again.
“One month… that’s all I can spare. You need to sort all this out in a month.”
“Really?! A month?! That’s more than enough! Thank you so much. You’re so kind.”
In excitement, she threw her hands around him and embraced him. “Thank you so much.”
Just then, the door opened and Aurora’s gaze fell on them. Her eyes popped wide open in awe.
“Arthur?”