Chapter 42: Desperation at its Finest

My brain stutters for a moment and my eyes take in more light than I expected, every part of me goes on pause while my thoughts catch up. I couldn’t even process the situation, as if my brain had short-circuited and needed to be rebooted. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes until I saw nothing but sparkles. I shook my head in disbelief as I held my head with both of my hands.

This can’t be real.

I glanced to look at Arthur as my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. He seemed to be in shock as well - he was white as chalk. His eyes and mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise, and although he was staring straight at me, he appeared not to notice me at all.

“A-arthur?” I stuttered, still in shock. Around me, everything was in fast-forward while I was motionless in the middle of it all. How could Kevin do this to me? Arthur rigidly turned to look at me, his eyes were filled with betrayal and disbelief.

“Please tell me that isn’t true.” He pleaded as he held both of my hands in his.

“It isn’t! I swear.” I said as I drew a cross on my chest with my finger, swearing that I was telling the truth. “He probably edited the date.” I tried to think of a logical explanation of this as Arthur and I studied the security camera footage.

It was on the day that he took advantage of me, which was the last time he ever went to my apartment building. After he trashed my apartment, I was left alone sobbing on the floor, while he walked out completely enraged. Even though I was sure that is what happened, I was very confused to see the both of us happily walking out of the apartment building with our arms linked with each other.

I couldn’t have imagined all of that, right?

I knew that I needed more concrete evidence to confirm that I was not crazy. I quickly picked up my phone and zoomed in the video as I narrowed my eyes, examining my outfit. I was wearing a white blouse with skinny denim jeans. I frowned as I tried to look at the color of my hair. My hair was blonde for a while. Being half asian and in a predominantly white community, I desperately wanted to look more white. However, at this point in my life, I finally accepted myself for who I am and grew out my hair before dying it completely black a few days before that day. I scowled as I anxiously waited for an opportunity to see the color of the ends of my hair. My hair was tied up into a tight ponytail and so it was difficult to see the ends.

“What are you looking a--” I held up a hand, cutting him short as I watched myself finally turn my head towards Kevin, showing a bit of my blonde hair. A smile crept to my lips as I immediately paused it and took a screenshot.

“There.” I said, pointing at my hair. He tilted his head in confusion, not following with what I was trying to prove. “I dyed my hair black a few days before Kevin took advantage of me. There’s no way that I’d still have those blonde ends.” I explained seriously as Arthur looked at the screenshot that I took, nodding in understanding.

“But you know that’s not enough to prove that he’s lying, right?” Arthur said sadly as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair in frustration. I felt a pang of guilt, knowing that I am dragging him again into my mess.

“I’m sorry.” I muttered softly as my eyes fell to my hands. I played with my fingers as I nervously waited for his response by rubbing them together, cracking my knuckles and removing random dried up skin.

“Sorry for what?” He furrowed his brows in confusion.

I sighed in defeat as I slumped in the chair. “For involving you in my problems.” His eyes softened as he moved closer. He gripped my hand tightly as if to reassure me that everything will be fine.

“Don’t be sorry.” He assured me. “We’ll find a way through this okay?” I gave him a small smile as I leaned closer to rest my head on his shoulders.

How can I prove that the video is a fake one? I zoned out as I thought of a way to prove that what I’m saying is the truth. I’m pretty sure the public would be furious. They would think that I’m making up these accusations against Kevin and would turn against me. My hands started sweating as I continuously thought about their immediate response when watching the video. My frustration grew immensely as I couldn’t come up with a plan to defend myself. I stood up, pacing back and forth in the room as I became anxious with all the thoughts bombarding me at the moment.

“Aren’t you getting tired of walking? You look like a patrolling security guard, babe.” He stood up as he hugged me from behind. A thought immediately popped into my head as I heard his statement.

“That’s it!” I squealed as I freed myself from his hug and turned to face him. The dread I felt earlier was replaced with excitement. Thinking about the possible scenarios in my head made it seem like my problem is a dead end. However, thanks to Arthur’s concern, it sparked a solution to my dilemma. “You’re a genius!” I jumped up to kiss him. He just stood there awkwardly looking at me as I became excited about the plan I thought of.

“Hold on.” He held his hands up. “I don’t understand anything you’re saying.” He ran a hand through his hair with a perplexed look on his face. I chuckled a bit at his adorable appearance. I stretched my neck and stood on my tippy toes to plant another kiss on his lips.

“You just helped me realize something.” I told him after the kiss. He gestured for me to continue. “Well, you know how this video was caught in a CCTV camera...” I trailed off as I sat back down and pulled out the video again to show him. “So you know who has access to this thing?” I asked him, thinking that he already knows the answer.

“The management?” He replied, unsure of where I was going with this. I pursed my lips into a thin line as I scratched my head, showing that it was not the answer I was expecting from him but I guess he was close.

“Yeah these belong to the management but the guards have access to these.” I finally explained to him. His eyes widened as realization hit him. “Anyway, what I’m saying is let’s go back to the apartment complex and ask for the original CCTV footage of the said date. That way we can confirm the authenticity of the video.” I elaborated seriously.

He pulled me in for a huge hug. “You’re the genius one for thinking about this.” He muttered as he suddenly smothered my face with kisses. I laughed loudly at his actions. He moved away which got me thinking he was already done but then he placed one last kiss on my lips. I can feel him smiling in our kiss. “You thought I was finished with you?” He said teasingly.

“Alright enough of these kisses.” I raised my hands to stop him. “We still need to go to the apartment complex. We’ll have plenty of time for this later.” I added sternly as I stood up from my seat. My reputation is on the line. I need to show people that I am not a liar. We can always have time for silly moments like this once we are finished dealing with Kevin.

“Okay. I understand.” He sighed in defeat as he lazily stood up. I grabbed his hand as we walked upstairs.

Arthur let me use his bathroom to freshen up. Since I didn’t have any spare clothes with me, he lent me the smallest shirt and jogging pants that he could find in his closet for me to change in. I folded the sleeves so it might look like this was my size. This can do for now since I didn’t have any choice. He also let me use a spare toothbrush in his cabinet. I liked that I had this now - it was like I marked my territory at his home.

As soon as I finished preparing myself, I stepped out and let Arthur freshen up. He took less time to prepare than I did.

“Are you ready?” He asked me as he checked his appearance in the mirror. A small smile formed my lips as I couldn’t help but admire him. It was the first time that I ever saw him in casual attire and it surprisingly made him even hotter than he already was.

“Yeah.” I croaked out, shaking my head to snap myself out from the trance that I was in.

We made our way to his car. Being the gentleman that he is, he still opened the door for me. I always love that about him. It made me think that chivalry might not be dead because of Arthur. As we drove our way to the apartment complex, my heart was beating fasr in anticipation. I know the truth and what I saw isn’t it. It blew my mind as to how he came to think about that in the first place. He must have been really desperate to stoop so low as to forge a video of us. I just hope that once we get there the guards can lend us the tape. I’ll do anything just to get my hands on it.

“We’re here.” Arthur muttered as he parked the car, interrupting my thoughts. I inhaled sharply as we stepped out of the car and walked inside the entrance. A rush of memories started flooding in as I recalled the time when I still stayed here. I remembered the days where I would come home late from work, the time Ellie and I went shopping, and even the time when Kevin still treated me fairly.

“Are you okay?” Arthur turned around to ask me, realizing I stopped from my steps. I shook my head to remove these memories in my head.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I muttered as I walked up to him. Arthur let me lead the way to the security room. As we entered the room, we saw a guard seated on his desk. He looked very intimidating. His eyes were brooding as he fixated them on his cellphone. His figure was well built as if he worked out regularly. I gulped as we approached him to ask about the security footage of the day Kevin harassed me.

“I’m not allowed to release any footage to outsiders.” He deadpanned and went back to minding his own business.

I felt frustrated as this guy wouldn’t even budge. As I was about to speak again, Arthur stopped me. “I’ll handle this.” I hesitated but I know I could trust him. As he talked to the guard, I only realized Arthur’s talent.

He’s good.