182: I couldn’t LUKE’S POV Ariel kept on talking, and I did nothing but watch her. Yes, she was in so much pain, but now she was talking absolute nonsense. I had no idea what had entered her mind, but believe me, this was absolutely not to my liking. Yes, I felt sorry for her. But this needed to stop. I was just as hurt as she was. Well, not actually; the pain inside her was really intense, and I totally understood that. I had been in such a situation before. “Okay, Ariel, can you please calm down? I might be quiet right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you keep on accusing me.” “Oh, I’m just talking nonsense right now, huh? You’re going to deny this, won’t you?” “Deny? Why would I even do that when I wasn’t the one responsible for your son’s death?” “Shut up! I was told everything, including how you shot him. How you mercilessly took his life.” “And you believed that?” I vocalized clamorously. “Where’s the evidence? Someone just told you sh 1, and you believed that?” “Do I have a choice? It’s not actually surprising. I know how brutal you can be. And honestly, I didn’t even want to believe that, thinking Lukel was alive and safe. I’m in your arms. But now that you came out, he was dead–a bullet right in his head. What do you want me to believe?” Ariel cried, shaking her head. I felt so sorry for her. “Look, Ariel. You’re getting things all wrong.” I spoke softly as I was about to touch her shoulder. Well, she shoved my fingers away. It hurt, and trust me, I didn’t like that. But what could I do? “Don’t you dare try to touch me. I’m not wrong around here.” “Can you please let me speak?” “What do you want to say?” I tried really hard to put up with this. “Just let me speak, please?” “You’re just going to start coming up with lies?” “Wow, Ariel. I can’t believe you’re actually saying this. Your son died. My condolences. But I can’t still. believe that you’re telling me all this nonsense. Blaming me for your son’s death and accusing me of shooting him. You weren’t even in the building with us. You didn’t see the things that happened. You didn’t see the things I did, nor did you hear the words I said. You just met a stranger, and you’re following the words of that person? Come on, Ariel, you’re bigger than that. You shouldn’t be thinking like a fool.” “You’re insulting me now?” “No, I’m not. I’m just trying to make things clear to you,” I defended. “You need to listen to my side I couldn’t of the story. I tried saving your son; I wasn’t the one who killed him.” 2/3 “No murderer will ever admit that he or she is a murderer. No one would want to admit that they had done wrong. They’d always want to come up with different lies, just to get themselves out of the situation.” “What are you saying now? That I’m lying?” “Isn’t it obvious?” Her glare aggrandized. “After what I told you, you went ahead to kill my son, my wonderful and lovely son.” Ariel shook her head in tears. She sniffled, and then she cleaned her eyes. Why did you do it, Luke?” She questioned me underneath her breath. “I did nothing, Ariel Of all the things I’ve been through, arguments and all that, this is the most foolish.” Ariel caught me off guard, giving me a hard slap. Second time she was doing this. It was painful. “Why don’t you go ahead? Hit me again. Will that take away your pain? If so, then go on; keep hitting me. I genuinely have no idea what has gotten into your head. But trust me, I didn’t do anything. I’m not the one responsible for your son’s death. Believe me when I say this; I didn’t do anything.” Ariel looked me in the eyes, both of us not saying anything, and it was as if we were the only people present at the moment, like we were the only souls in the world. We were both silent; I didn’t know if Ariel had gotten a change of mind or if the negative thinking was still there. All I could do was just stare into her eyes, hoping for her to come back to her senses, “Why should I believe you?” She asked me in a soft tone, not taking her eyes off mine. “Because you love me. Remember, you told me that?” “When?” “Well, you did tell me something like that. But if you don’t love me, then why did you refuse to go on with your plan?” “It’s useless talking to you. But you just need to know, and I’ll make you pay.” Ariel’s words cut through me like a knife. I couldn’t believe that she still didn’t believe me. I watched. as she began to walk away, her head held high with determination. I wanted to go after her to try and make her understand, but I knew it would be useless. She had made up her mind, and nothing I said or did would change that. As she walked away, I couldn’t help but feel sorry this pain was washing over me. She was really serious about her words, but I didn’t want her to follow through with anything terrible. I wanted things to be great between us; I didn’t want hatred or any kind of bad stuff. And still looking at Ariel as she walked away to get Luke with tears in her eyes, a group of policemen showed up, asking me if everything Ariel had said was true. Their sudden appearance surprised me, but I knew I had to remain calm. “No, it’s not true,” I replied firmly. “I didn’t kill her son. I would never do something like that.” 182 troub 3/3 The policemen exchanged looks before one of them spoke up. “Are you sure? We heard the conversation the both of you had just now.“! “Of course you did, so let me tell you, I was with her son, trying to save him from that fire. But all of a sudden, someone shot him. I had no idea who it was, because when I turned around, I saw no one.” The policemen looked skeptical, but I could see a hint of belief in their eyes, I knew I had to convince. them that I was telling the truth. “Please, you have to believe me,” I pleaded. “There is no way I’ll do something terrible like that. I love little kids; there is no way I would wish any one of them dead.” The policemen exchanged looks again before one of them spoke up. “We’ll have to take you in for questioning. We need to get to the bottom of this.” “Is that really necessary? Can’t you see my building burned down? D child?” you think I’ll kill an innocent “Yeah, I think he’s telling the truth. Let’s just leave him,” one of the policemen said. Surprisingly, they all agreed and left. I scanned the whole place, looking for Ariel. I spotted her holding Lukel; she drowned in tears. I wanted to walk to her, but for some reason, I decided not to.
