《Indelible Affairs》🏷️Chapter 113🏷️
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Narrator.....
Elisabeth held her beating heart against her chest as she walked back to James' mansion. She had to tell Enos everything an hour ago. There wasn't room for lies and there was not an option. She knew that every step she'd take would either balance everything or jeopardize their futures. In the end of the day, just like Enos had said, it was up to her. And for that, the fact that Enos didn't push Elisabeth to making a decision on whether to be with him or not, that it was her choice for whom she chose to love was what made Betty grateful.
She didn't want to crush his hopes. Betty told Enos the truth. That she was with James, that he took her out of prison. And even when she saw how broken Enos was, she still explained everything and asked him to bare with her. That all she needed to do was find her state of grace. And he let her do as she chose.
"I'll wait," he said to her. "I'll be right here waiting for your final decision."
And that was all Betty needed to her before going back to James.
She would tell James everything. That very same night.
On her way back, she could still feel the touch of Enos' lips against hers. It was just like how she remembered the feeling. Enos has always been the safe hold. And in his arms she always found her strength. And even in their dark times, he never left her side. Not once. If there's one thing Betty was ever sure of, was that Enos would always stay. Something that gave her confidence, because in the end, Enos did not abandon their son. That beautiful boy was the love of their lives. He meant everything to her and to him. He gave the both of them a new hope, a gift, and one that won't ever be replaced. In the lives of two broken people like Enos and Betty, Hayes came to nurture the broken hearted. To be the hope in a hopeless place.
Betty wasn't going to be the reason that they both would lose this Ray of hope. She would never take Hayes away from Enos. That boy was all that Enos has at that point in his life as a reason to push forward.
And that boy needed them.
And she was going to deliver.
Betty found her way to James' house and walked to the living room where James' wasn't there. She didn't bother to talk to any of the servants there, her mind was clouded with other thoughts and couldn't even hear the greetings any of them would provide. She didn't mean to be rude, but she simply wasn't listening .
Once she got to the room, James was sited on the bed as if waiting for her. She noticed the distress on his face.
"Is everything alright?" She slowly walked to him and James who was still sited on the edge of the bed pulled her gently by her waist and sat her on his lap.
She looked at his face, "What happened?" There was weariness in his features and this made her confused.
James Locked his eyes with her. "I'm just tired. How was your walk?"
Betty couldn't help the pounding of heart. The kind that hurt her chest whenever she was about to tell James everything but couldn't find the words. Betty wasn't ready then and she isn't ready now. But James didn't deserve to be left in the dark.
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"What's on your mind?" He asked her because she seemed distort.
Her lips quivered and then she took a Deep breathe. It was hard for her do this, harder than she thought. "Betty... Why are you crying?" She felt his fingers gently wipe her falling tears as he worried to death. James knew he shouldn't have let her go out alone, he feared something happened.
James hated to see Betty so distressed , it bothered him so much and all he wanted was to see those tears wash away. Her sad eyes. Her weary face.
"James .... I have_" god! She was being compressed by the panic of it all. She kept her eyes locked with his green ones. She needed to see his reaction when she poured her heart out. If she had the ability to see even five seconds into the future, she would brace herself for his reaction. For the finality of the truth. "I have a son."
For those brief seconds Betty didn't breath as she stared at him with desolation and yet openness.
"I know." James confirmed.
He knew Betty had a son, found out the truth when he woke up from the coma. The detective he hired three years ago, also his friend, Patrick Watertown, kept a close eye on Betty over the years. He knew how much Betty meant to James. So Patrick always watched in the shadows. Infact he was the person observing this pitiful love story on the sidelines. The treachery of it. The sadness in it. And when James opened his eyes, Patrick was there to reveal the truth.
"Y-you've known." Her wide eyed gaze was directed to his honest one. Failing to believe that James knew all this time. She didn't know what else to say.
"And I know Enos is the father."
She looked away from him, tears form.
"I'm sorry," James kissed Elisabeth's shoulder, "Everyday I blame myself that you had to give birth in jail. It's my biggest guilt and the worst consequence of all my mistakes. If I could change it Betty.....I would. I'm sorry. That you had to be separated from your son. I can imagine......"
"You can't possibly imagine." Betty choked.
James sensed a raw pain vibrate in her as if all this happened yesterday. And he hated himself for it.
"I need to be with my son."
"I know."
Betty searched for ways to tell James what she truly wanted. She loved him for the hell of it. She loved him so much. But the odds were never in their favour. And they probably won't ever be.
"I can arrange for your son to be returned to you. I was actually talking to some lawyers and..."
Betty stared at him. "Lawyers?"
James wasn't sure why Betty seemed slightly upset. "I assumed you'd want custody over your son."
"By taking him away from his father? James ...thats not what I want. I could never want that for my child."
James wasn't even sure anymore where to place his thoughts. "Then what do you want?"
Betty looked away from him again.
"Betty....." He called. "Look at me."
"I can't." She was slowly losing her baring. She wiped her own tears.
"Betty please." He pleaded. "I need you to tell me what you want. I can't give it to you if you don't make me understand."
She was at war with her conscious. Betty could not look at him so she prompted herself out of his lap and stood aside. James looked up at her in confusion. "I can't let my son grow up without his father."
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"I didn't say Enos had to be erased from the scene. He can have rights to his son as how you please. "
"You don't understand me James."
"What don't I understand? What are you saying? Make me understand?"
"Hayes deserves a complete family." Betty voiced.
James' heart shuttered before he got up from the bed. He stared at the ceiling, dreading in his soul. "You don't love that man Elisabeth."
"This isn't about who I love or not."
"You can't build a family with just the claims of responsibility." James articulated with his own soul crushing. "You'll be miserable together. That's not good for that baby."
"But atleast he'll have his parents and that's not misery. There's no guarantee that I can't learn to love..."
"You're lying to yourself again Betty. Why must we always find ourselves in this situation when there's a better road to happiness?"
"It is not my fault that we are like this James." Betty was facing her own pain. She could barely breathe. "I want to be with you, trust me, I want that."
"Then be with me." He begged as he turned to face her and their eyes locked again.
"I don't think I can." She cried. "I know exactly how it feels to have a separated family. The trauma of it all has ruined me and I can't let that happen to my son."
"You are making a huge mistake getting back to him."
"He isn't a bad man James. Please understand me. He loves my son and he had loved me. And maybe that's all we need to make this family happy."
Every word she spoke tore James down little by little.
"Betty, there is always a way to make things work."
"There isn't any other way."
James was getting frustrated. His heart had never broken that hard. And if Betty left him, he felt like he wouldn't survive this.
"James you need to think about this baby. You can't possibly convince me to take him away from Enos. You are being selfish." Betty's voice was shaking. She wasn't calm anymore. She was in pain, but she was also in pressure.
And James felt betrayed.
"I'm not thinking about myself. You couldn't be more wrong."
"You have no idea how it feels like to be in a broken home James. Let me make this right."
Those words hit James like an arrow to the heart. The tears of a loveless marriage. He knew the pain of a shuttered family. The emptiness and the hell the kids could go through. He saw it while growing up. He lost his mother because of it. And his father is bitter and heartless now because of it. James was fucked up because of the wreckage and he has never recovered. He knew the pain all too well.
"What you are about to do will not end well." James said to her. "Could you please just listen to me. Enos will always be part of Hayes' life but there's no need for you to marry him for that."
"And who will take my son to school when I ain't around everyday? When Enos isn't close? Who will be there to listen to all the issues I couldn't possibly understand? He needs his father with him everyday. A man to look up to. It's what he deserves."
"Hayes will have me." James spoke with all his heart. "If you need a man to love your son , Betty, I'll be there. I will be with you every step of the way in raising the baby. You won't have to worry about anything. Allow me to do this for us. We can make a family. We can be so happy together."
"It wouldn't be the same. There'll be too much dark history surrounding the three of us. I want a clean slate for my son. Look at what we've become. James , my life is ruined. I have nothing left but the hope of giving my son a family. We've been through so much pain and together there's always pain. It never ends well with you."
"Please don't break my heart this way." James felt like his world was falling apart all over again. This conversation was happening and it was riping him open.
And Betty looked worse. She was dying inside and James could see it. "We can be happy. It doesn't have to be this complicated anymore. If you stay, we can build a better home. We have been given another chance to make things right."
Betty was now fully on tears. She wasn't sure where to even turn. This was about her son now. She didn't care much about herself. Her life was over along time ago. But her son's was just beginning. He should be with his biological father.
Something deep down inside her wanted to believe every single word James was saying. She wanted to agree with him. To build a home with him. But the certainty that they would be intact. The assurance that James wouldn't remain consistent. That assurance wasn't present. She couldn't risk it. James has always let her down. Enos on the other hand always showed. They were walking on a thin line. Dancing on thin ice and one wrong move could send everything to shit.
"I can see you running your mind. Betty , just this once, please trust me."
"I don't know how to."
And his heart broke again when she said that.
"Try." He urged. "I promised to fix things. And I wouldn't break a promise."
He walked closer to her and she felt more vulnerable near him. The force of his existence was stronger than her, it has always been. James cupped her red cheeks and looked into her eyes. "When I said I belonged to you, I meant it. You have my heart, my soul, my mind, you have me Betty. I wouldn't hurt you again, not as before. And not in any other way. I'll keep us safe. Choose us. And you'd never regret it, this I promise you. You said you belonged to me..... Was none of it real."
"You know it was real but..."
"But?"
She was conflicted. "I can't put myself first in this. Not when I have a son. I have been dreaming about being with you again. So many nights of aching for you but in each night I mourned for you, I mourned my son more. I can't let him down. It's not just me and you anymore."
James was in agony. He thought to himself. Why did the universe hate him so much? Was he truly that terrible of a person than he wasn't meant to be happy? He felt robbed. This wasn't justice. This was torture. Hell on earth. Losing Betty again was his misfortune. And may be he was suppose to live with that fact for the rest of his life.
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