Chapter 210

Miles being here isn’t likely to make things better for Daphne, but he’s no longer answering my calls and texts. He’s probably already in his car, driving over here at top speed.

With a sigh, I return to the living room, where Daphne is wrapped up in several blankets.

“Miles is coming here, isn’t he,” she says, not a question.

“How did you know?” I ask.

“Because he’s a good man. And a good man would be concerned about his girlfriend, after she fought off a potential assassin.”

That’s a good point, but still… “I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I know his being here might make things awkward.”

“I don’t have any problem with Miles,” Daphne says. She looks away from the blank television to look at my face. There’s fear in her eyes still but they still soften somewhat. “I’m glad you have someone looking out for you. I always worried about you, when you escaped. Yeah, you were free from Edward, but who was keeping you out of your own trouble?”

Sitting beside Daphne on the couch, I lean into her a little. She leans back. For a moment, we sit just like we used to, two girls against the world, depending on no one but each other.

“I still got into plenty of trouble,” I tell her, and then share some of the stories of my youth. I leave out some of the darker moments, like how my parents pined after the disappearance of their birth daughter. Instead, I include happier times, like when I tried to make a cake and covered the entire kitchen in flower.

Daphne laughs. Where before, she might have exuded bitterness and anger toward me for having a childhood she herself was denied, now she delights in my mischief, almost as if she can claim a piece of it for herself. As far as I’m concerned, she can.

My childhood only existed because she kept me sane long enough to be adopted.

How I still wish that I could have taken her with me, and saved her from that terrible place.

We can’t move backwards, as much as I want to. But we can push forwards.

Maybe I can’t save her from her horrible past, but I can help save her from her present. I want to give her the kind of future that she’d never thought possible – one where she would finally be free of Edward Zimmer.

As our laughter dies down and the quiet returns between us, Daphne admits, “I don’t know if I’m ready yet, to tell the world about what happened to us.” She breaths in a shaky breath. “He’s already tried to kill me. Esther, he’ll kills us both before he lets the chance to be president get away from him.”

“Miles has security guards. They will keep us safe.”

“How can you be so sure?” Daphne asks, glancing at me.

“I trust Miles,” I say. Maybe that sounds too simple, but it’s the truth.

Daphne blinks. “You must really love him.”

There’s no use denying it, especially to a friend. “I do.”

“Does he love you too?”

“I think so,” I say, though pause, thinking about how the conversation whether or not Miles and I are temporary has yet to be resolved. “I don’t know.”

“I bet he does,” Daphne says. “You can see it, in the way he looks at you.”

My cheeks blush slightly, so I look away.

At that moment, the front door opens. “Esther?” Miles calls out.

“We’re in the living room!” Daphne calls in my stead.

Miles walks into the living room and looks at us both from the doorway. “Are you alright?” He’s asking us both, but Daphne nudges for me to answer.

“Yes,” I tell him.

He nods, though he seems no less stressed. “Esther, may I talk to you privately for a moment?”

I glance at Daphne, uncertain if I should leave her alone.

“I’m okay,” she says. “Go on.”

With her permission, I stand and follow Miles into the kitchen. The moment we are out of sight, Miles turns and pulls me into his warm embrace. He kisses my hairline, then my cheek, across my nose, over my closed eyelids, and then finally on my lips.

“What’s this?” I ask him, smiling a little. He has a way of pushing all my worries away, just with his closeness and his affections.

“You could have been hurt.”

“I wasn’t,” I remind him, hoping to assuage his own fears, as he has done with mine.

“Still.” He kisses me again. “I’ll pay for security for Daphne, as well as a hotel for her.”

“A hotel?” I ask, leaning back. “She’s going to stay here with me for a few days.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Miles asks her. “I know she shares the same past as you, Esther, but she’s made different decisions since then. She is still Edward Zimmer’s wife.”

“And his victim,” I say.

“I’m not disputing that. But abuse does terrible things to the mind. She might be brainwashed, or she suffers from Stockholm syndrome. Are you certain that we can trust her? Are you so sure that you would stake your life on it? Or your kids’ lives?”

I trust Daphne to be around me, but the kids…?

Can I afford to take that chance? No. Not with the kids involved. “I’ll call Garnar, and see if he can watch the kids for the next few days.”

“Esther, you are missing my point –”

“I see your point fine, Miles, but Daphne is my friend. She is in a state of crisis, and she needs me. I failed her before, but I won’t fail her again.”

“You didn’t fail her, Esther. You were adopted.”

I look away from him. I adore him, but he can’t possibly understand what I’m going through right now. The only one who could understand is that woman in my living room.

“Whether or not she decides to join me in coming forward with the truth, I will be here for her,” I say, willing him to understand. “You don’t have to like it, Miles, but I want you to support me.”

“I do, Esther. I swear I do.”

“Thank you, Esther,” says Daphne, suddenly standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

Miles and I both startle, not having seen her there.

“This whole time I’ve been questioning our friendship, but I see now that was… unfair of me,” Daphne says. “The truth is, I am a risk. I’ve been tied to Edward for so long that I don’t know who I am without him.”

“Daphne…” I turn to her. She shakes her head, keeping me from going closer.

“But I want to find out,” she says.

Hope rises in my heart.

“You mean?”

“Yes,” she says. “I’ve sat quietly on the sidelines for long enough, watching Edward commit atrocious acts and escape any consequences. I won’t let that continue to happen, especially not to the extent it could if he was given all that power as president. I have to stop him. Not just for the people of this nation, but for myself.”

Tears well up in her eyes. “I want to be free.”

“Oh, Daphne…”

“Let’s do it, Esther. Let’s tell everyone the truth about Edward Zimmer.”