CHAPTER FIVE
1181 Words
Aria's eyes are swollen as a result of tears. She felt so sorry for Damian. She felt the pain that had been hiding in the mansion for years.
The mood she saw Evelyn in earlier wasn't the mood she had seen her in since she came time the mansion.
Everyone seems to miss Lila, and they mourned her to the extent that they didn't want her memory to fade away.
“She died inside this room”. The words still echoed inside her head. What could have been the cause of the fire? Why is Damain leaving in guilt as if he were the one responsible for her death? Why did he refuse to move on with his life? Why the one-year contract marriage as well?”
All those are the questions Aria was asking herself. She managed to watch her face and sat back.
The sound of her door pulled her back from her thought. She looked and asked: “Who is there?”. Her voice was soft and half gone.
Damain responded with a soft tone,” Can I come in?”. Aria said softly, “Yes”. She looked down as Damain walked in calmly with one of his hands in his pocket.
He closed the door and then stared at Aria for a while. Aria was not looking up because she didn't want him to see her swollen eyes.
“You finally went to the east wing”. He said in a soft tone.
Aria answered after a short pause,” Yes! I went there”. She looked up and continued: “I went there and I saw the photo,” tears started dropping down from her eyes again.
“Damain, I saw the beauty of your smile that you hide under the guilt of losing your fiancée.”
“I saw her name: Lila, her beautiful smile, you both were happy together”.
“I don't know why you kept the memory so hard that you make yourself a living but dead person”.
“Because I died immediately, the fire took her away from me”. Damain said and quickly turned his back on Aria. This time, he was crying. He couldn't control it.
“Her name was Lila,”…he cried heavily like a baby. She died in the fire and in that same room- the east wing.”
“I blamed myself because if I had come home earlier that day, I wouldn't have lost her”.
Aria was very surprised that the man he used to know as being mean had a soft heart that was buried under the guilt of what he couldn't control.
She moved closer to Damian and, for the first time, she placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Why do you bury your real self inside the guilt of what you didn't do?” “You didn't use the fire, did you?”?.She asked.
Damain turned to face Aria. “I caused the fire because if I didn't leave the candle near her art desk, she would have still been alive now”.
Aria shifts back a bit. She didn't understand why someone would have to torture himself over a mistake he made.
“That is why I want that place to be my memory and the one I will carry till I depart from this world.
I built the building, but left the room the way it was when it got burnt.” That is my memory.”
“But, if we don't want to ruin our present and future, we let some memories fade away,” Aria said.
“Enough!” Damain shouted at her.” I warned you not to go there in the first place”.
“You are not my wife, and stop acting like one because this marriage is a contract marriage that only lasts for a year.”
Why are you acting like a real wife?”
Aria walked a bit closer to him and said calmly, “I know why I am here, and I am not doing otherwise”. But, you are weak and you need to be strong, strong enough for another woman who will come into your life”.
If I didn't do my best to help you out, you will punish any woman you eventually take in”.
Maybe you want to have a contract marriage every year with a different woman.”
“Do you think you can fix what has spoiled already?” Damain replied.
“I was here because faith brought us together. Aria responded. “ I am a Hitler from a poor background. You could have chosen a billion girls who are doing well in all facets of life.
“But fate…
Damain interupted; “fate?
“Yes, Fate! Aria replied.
“We are connected by fate, and fate alone can determine what will happen next.”
Damain looked at her for a while. He then turned to leave. He got to the door and opened it halfway. Lila believed in me when no one did. She was not my fiancée, but she was everything I had.
That day that I lost her, I lost everything, even my heart to love.
Aria couldn't control the tears again. “You hate me because I bring back the memory you don't want to remember.”
That statement hit him like a hard rock. He closed the door, then turned towards her and said calmly, “You are a brave young lady.”
“But to talk of hate, I didn't hate anyone. I hate myself”.
“You are a coward who thinks being in a cold mood as a result of his past mistake could set him free”. Aria said in a mid tone as he looked at Damain's eyes.
Damain looked at her, and she looked back. They both shared direct eye contact, but this time, it was a feeling they both could define.
Damain turned to leave. “I am sorry for Lila; she deserved better than the earlier death. But God knows best!” Aria said in a soft tone.
“But, I am not sorry for knowing the truth. If the death is still left to see what we do behind them, she will be happy that I made you realise that God doesn't punish us for a mistake we regret.”
“He punished us only when we couldn't forgive ourselves for the mistake that he, the most high, had already forgiven us already”
Damain was standing there like a stick. Another very powerful line of statement had hit him again. He didn't know what to do or say.
“Good night, Damain,” Aria said softly. Damain opened the door and closed it softly without saying a word.
Aria sat down close to the edge of her bed and thought there was a connection between Damian's past and hers but she didn't know what or how.
- Writer
