Revenge on My Dead Husband

Her Lucas

EVELYN

It was almost 7 when Evelyn could finally wrap up the workload conveniently placed on her desk. She couldn’t even say no because of the consequences, and her boss wouldn’t see it as unfair towards her. She feared him with her life.

She carefully walked into Dominic’s cabin and immediately let out a sigh of relief when he wasn’t inside. She placed the files on his desk, debating if she could call and let him know. Her fingers trembled as she held up her phone. She just couldn’t face him even if her life depended on it.

“H-hello? Sir, I’m done with the proofreading work,” she spoke, straight to the point.

“Do you know what time it is?” he said in his cold tone.

“It’s 7, sir,” she said, a little worried.

“I don’t recall giving you permission to disturb me after hours.” His tone made her stomach feel hollow; she could never get through to him.

“I’m sorry, sir. But I just wanted to ask if—”

“Stop talking.” He hung up on her face. Evelyn hung her head and pulled out a pen to leave a note on top of the files, just like he had done.

~

Evelyn took the bus that would take her to the nearest stop, from which she would walk through a shady lane to reach her dingy one-bedroom apartment. Alone.

She felt guilty how she not only missed Lucas but also everything that made up her life—the huge and comfortable house she had, the car he bought her, the clothes she got as a gift. Evelyn never had the courage to go back after Lucas died because she knew his family hated her. She sighed at how many times she still thought of him even after three years.

Evelyn stared out of the window of the bus, watching the cars pass by. She was staring at the bougie part of the city, the one that always screamed money and luxury. She sighed again and started looking away when her heart thumped.

Suddenly, she felt like she couldn’t breathe anymore. She craned her neck quickly at what she thought she saw as the bus stopped at the traffic light. Her eyes started widening until she could feel the stretch as if her eyes would bulge out. Her hands trembled violently. Her knees buckled. She couldn’t breathe. Her lips parted, but not a word slipped out. This wasn’t possible.

“S-stop the bus! Please! Stop! I need to get down!” She shouted as the bus started picking up speed. Her eyes were wet, and she could feel the hollowness spreading inside her. The bus pulled over, and the driver mumbled at her to get out. Stumbling and almost falling over, ignoring the annoyance of the other passengers, she got down. And once she did, she bolted across the sidewalk in a daze.

Evelyn almost ran out of breath by the time she stopped at Deccans, where she thought she had caught a glimpse of him. She looked around, but he was nowhere to be found. But the strong feeling that lingered didn’t leave, and that made her anxious.

Evelyn’s heart dropped at a strange feeling. And suddenly, her entire world caved in.

At a distance, she saw a painfully familiar face walking down the sidewalk toward the Deccans restaurant. The time seemed to pause as the blur from her eyes started clearing up like she was waking up from a dream. Even if she half expected him to be gone when she looked properly, he didn’t. There he was. The love of her life. The moment she had dreamed about for the past three years.

Lucas. Her Lucas.

He walked up with someone trailing behind him, his brown eyes still the same, a little distracted. His perfect dusky brown hair carefully styled and parted on the side like he used to. He was wearing a navy blue suit with his sharp features and smiling lips. He was just as beautiful as the last time Evelyn saw him. She felt frantic; she wanted to fall on her knees and cry her eyes out just at the sight of him. He was alive. She wasn’t dreaming.

And just then, his eyes met the dazed and unnerved eyes of Evelyn, making her heartbeat catch. He blinked a few times in confusion, no sign of surprise or familiarity, before he looked away and started walking into Deccans. Evelyn’s words caught in her throat before she could call out to him.

That’s when she noticed the woman who had trailed behind him all this while, entering too. And when Evelyn looked properly, she had her hands hooked with him. With Lucas. Evelyn’s Lucas.

“Lucas,” she called out instinctively. He stopped in his tracks, slowly turning to face her with confused eyes that made her heart swell up. “Lucas… y-you’re alive… oh my god…”

“I-” he said as the woman with him eyed Evelyn strangely.

“I’ve waited for you for three years. You don’t know how I’ve lived without you. I’ve missed you every passing moment,” Evelyn was breaking down, and his confused and taken-aback expression was only hurting her more. Evelyn wasn’t mistaking him for a different man; she knew Lucas more than she knew herself. “Say something, Lucas. Please.”

“Lucas, who is this woman?” the girl said, a hint of disgust in her tone.

She moved closer to him and placed her hands on his chest. She felt him tense up at her touch like he was a complete stranger, but the warmth of his body was just the same. He was her Lucas Harrison, her husband.

“I don’t understand… who the hell are you?” Lucas said, cold and distant, making Evelyn’s lips part, but no word came out. She couldn’t believe he could say something like that to her face. That’s when he shoved her hands away from him and said the next words in his condescending tone. “You have the wrong person. Leave me alone.”

That’s when it dawned on her. Lucas Harrison, her husband, who had supposedly passed away three years ago, had been alive all this while. He had lived through the three years Evelyn had spent wallowing in her darkness because she had lost the one person she loved the most in the entire world.

And the questions just kept piling up as she tried to enter Deccans to follow him further, but the guards pushed her out of the front door, and she stood there, frozen, staring in the direction where he disappeared. How was he alive? Where was he all these years? Why… did he do this?

~

Evelyn walked toward a corner of the street, knowing she hadn’t fooled herself this time. Once she couldn’t take it anymore, she fell to her knees and finally let out a guttural cry. Everything came crashing down in front of her, except his face. The relief in her heart was greater than the utter devastation. He was here; maybe things wouldn’t be the same anymore.

That’s when tires screeched to a stop right in front of the sidewalk she was on. Evelyn looked up with her tear-soaked face. The matte black car’s window rolled down, and it was him. The devil himself, Dominic Beaumont. He stepped out of the car, clearly stopping after he had spotted her. He moved to her and towered over her.

“Take off your employee ID if you want to continue embarrassing yourself in the middle of the road. I don’t want anyone knowing my company hires such losers,” he said in a gritted voice, looking sideways because he didn’t want to be seen with her. No matter what Evelyn was mentally going through, her habitual instinct to listen to his orders kicked in.

“Yes, sir,” she remarked through her sobs and took off her ID, clutching it in her hand so it wasn’t visible. But Dominic didn’t leave; he continued watching her, and her sobs only grew fainter.

“Get up and go home,” he ordered again, and even if she felt reluctant, she somehow stumbled to her feet, her eyes downcast. He was just about to walk away when something kicked in Evelyn’s mind.

“Sir,” she called out, but he didn’t stop, so she ran up and grabbed his arm. He immediately yanked away his hand, repelled.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I’m sorry, I just have one question,” she said, staring at him desperately. He just frowned at her and waited. “Are you meeting… Lucas Harrison?”

She struggled to say his name properly, but the doubt on Dominic’s face only grew along with his frown when she said that.

“I don’t see how that’s your business,” Dominic started leaving again, but Evelyn ran up and blocked his way.

“Can I come with you? Please, I know you hate me, and you would never let this happen. I am a disgrace and a dark spot on your company, but I promise… I promise I’ll shut my mouth. Please… please help me… for the first and last time,” she scrambled her words, but it didn’t seem to catch him off guard. Rather, he was more skeptical about her behavior.

“You must be joking,” he brushed her off, but she blocked him again, tears streaming down her face with a maddening look in her eyes.

“Sir, you don’t understand. If I don’t go inside, I’ll lose everything. I’m willing to do anything, just please let me come with you,” she said, the desperation dripping off her, too strong to ignore. Dominic’s eyes shot back to her because he saw a leeway there. He looked like he wanted to test her desperation to see how far she was ready to go.

“Anything, you say?” He crossed his arms against his chest.

“Anything, please,” she nodded fast because she knew she was running out of time. But that’s when she saw his face contort into a more sinister form, and she knew she was doomed. Nothing good ever came from whenever he looked like that.

“Resign. I can’t throw you out of my company unless I have a good reason, but you can quit. You’ll do exactly that. Only then will I let you come with me.”