Chapter 22 Letter from Lester

(Lena's POV)
I felt my consciousness draining away and the only person I knew was Rafael. He held me in his arms and tears flowed down my face.
I just wanted to question him so badly.
Why did you leave in the first place, and why do you refuse to let me go now.
Rafael gently stroked my head, I felt his breath close and heard him whisper in my ear, "I'm sorry, Lena, I'm late."
"Don't be afraid."
But I'm not afraid anymore. The only thing I'm afraid of is the moment just now when the person approached me and I was afraid of the other person's touch.
These days, I've just been through too much of this.
However, even so, I still want to resist flirting with a few words.
Being the woman of a man like Raphael would probably be a terrible death if you weren't lucky enough.
That would probably be the only thought I had before I passed out.
This sleep, I just felt a little tired and slept a little too long. When I opened my eyes, Rafael was sitting next to me - again.
When I thought about it, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Raphael turned his head to me, "How's the body?"
I paused for a moment, "To be honest, it hurts a little."
"Indeed, I've never seen a dumber woman than you."
After Rafael said this, I had the surprising urge to laugh even more, but if I did, I would probably still be laughed at myself by him.
I simply stopped talking and he watched me try to sit up and thoughtfully helped me to hold up the pillow, which I in turn was a little uncomfortable.
"Rachel and the others will go back tomorrow," Rafael said, looking at me.
This, in turn, confused me a bit.
"What about us?"
"When you're healed."
"Are you done talking about your job?"
"It didn't work out, that doesn't matter."
"What?"
It seems like the first time I've seen that Raphael would have a project that he couldn't take, and to be honest, that in turn made me a little curious.
"Why?"
If a person has always been competent, I would rather not be curious about his achievements, on the contrary, if there is one failure, it is a different story.
Rafael may have heard some excitement in my tone, he looked narrowed his eyes, such a gaze in turn made me a little uneasy.
"Am I not supposed to ask?"
"Did you know that he once complimented you on your great body in front of me?"
Hearing this, I was instantly alerted.
Rafael wouldn't say anything nice, I could be sure of that. He got the second half of the sentence out before I interrupted him with a red face.
"I told him that you were my fiancée."
This guy!
I took a breath backward, then closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I saw Rafael looking at me with that teasing look.
"What else?"
"That's the main reason, Lena."
"I want to hear the secondary."
"Because there isn't much use for his partnership, I'd probably lose money, and if I didn't want to bring you out, his partnership I would have just turned down."
I let out a laugh and looked at him with suspicion, "That's not quite what you said before."
Obviously, in what Raphael said earlier, I was the one who seemed like the accident.
However, he continued to look at me with a very serious gaze: "I promise, Lena, this is my truest thought."
I looked into his eyes, trying to find some trace of a lie, but I failed.
I couldn't keep gazing into Raphael's eyes.
"I'll take your word for it for now."
Raphael seemed to want to say something else to me, but, at that moment, a knock on the door interrupted our conversation.
The nurse stood at the door, "Excuse me, Mr. Hill, for the interruption, there's a lady here who wants to see Miss Lester."
My heart wondered and couldn't figure out who on earth would be visiting me at this time.
"Who is it?"
"She said she was here to apologize."
I don't know what was going through my mind when I heard that. Raphael didn't seem to have much of a reaction as he looked over at me as if asking my opinion.
I already knew who the person who came to visit me was.
I turned my head to look at the nurse and nodded.
I didn't mind Raphael's presence, but, instead, he deliberately found a reason to leave space for us.
Ava didn't look very bad, but I felt a little tired instead when she smiled at me after she sat down.
"I'm so sorry, Lena." Ava's voice was a little hoarse as if she had just cried, and she looked over at me with a very sincere tone.
"You came here and just wanted to talk to me about this?"
"There's more." Ava looked at me and she took a deep breath before continuing, "I also want to thank you, Lena, for giving me a chance."
I looked at Ava and didn't understand what she meant.
I don't think anyone would be very forgiving of someone who had hurt them, let alone, I have absolutely no way to completely forgive Ava for her actions.
If she never approached me purposefully from the beginning and didn't hurt me after becoming friends with me, I don't think I would be as upset as I am now.
"Ava, I won't forgive you, but why thank me?"
"I don't know, Lena, if you've had the same experience as me, having a friend who is as beautiful and powerful as Rachel, if, that is, I can call Rachel my friend."
I narrowed my eyes gently, and as I looked at Ava, I seemed to understand somewhat what she was trying to say to me.
"Ava, at first I didn't believe you."
I'll be honest, after hearing my answer, Ava's look seemed a little surprised.
"You know, people subconsciously avoid people and things that are harmful to them. I'm not refusing to forgive you, it's just that, by saying forgiveness so easily, I don't know how I'm going to face myself."
Ava opened her mouth, but, she didn't say anything.
Silence gradually engulfed us, and after a considerable period, she replied softly, "I was just trying to protect myself, too."
"If all you get in return is a moment of comfort, Ava, are you sure you're protecting yourself?"
Bowing down to the strong is a sign of self-preservation for the weak, but submission is not an exchange for eternal security.
Ava looked up as she looked over at me, "Lena, I wanted to thank you because you showed me what a real friend is like, but now, there's probably another reason."
Ava stood up, "Lena, there are some things that I still want to tell you, but there is probably no need for that. I'll be leaving this afternoon, and I think this will probably be the last time we see each other."
I watched her turn to leave, and the moment Ava reached the door, the impulse made me call out to her, "Ava."
She turned her head to look at me.
I smiled at her, "Good luck."
(Rafael's POV)
I watched the girl walk out before I went back to Lena's ward. She seemed to be in a good mood, and at first, I was worried that the girl might do something more to Lena, but that thought soon disappeared.
"You look like you're having a good time."
"I'm very happy indeed, Raphael."
"If I remember correctly, you wouldn't have had an accident that day if it wasn't for her."
"But if she hadn't sent you the message, you wouldn't have rushed over to save me." Lena's expression looked smug, and arguing on such a worthless topic again seemed to make her look happy.
But I don't see anything wrong with that.
After a fairly long period of silence, I asked her, "Lena, would you forgive someone who had hurt you?"
"No, at least not easily forgiven." I was surprised that she thought this way, and it made me curious about her.
"Why?"
"At least the other side has hurt me, I can not be sure if the other side will not hurt me a second time," she turned her head to look at me, her eyes very serious, "but if, with their actions, the other side told me that they are willing to change, why I am not brave again? After all, the people who can hurt me are the ones I loved so much."
I looked at Lena and didn't know how I should answer her, so I simply stopped talking.
Lena didn't seem to be expecting an answer from me either.
The "honeymoon" ended abruptly because the collaboration was not completed, and because of Lena's accident, I decided to end it early.
The first time I got back, I went to see someone I didn't want to see - my father.
Everything in the house was antiquated and old-fashioned, and the faces of the servants were flushed with death. I was received like an outsider, and he sat in front of me.
"Lena Lester."
I looked at him, without any expression.
"I thought you had broken cleanly with this woman."
I didn't have any fear I didn't know what kind of face I should put on him.
Or, he was expecting something from me.
"What do you want to say, Father?"
"Hill has too much of a reputation, Raphael, if you just want to have a little fun, it doesn't matter, I won't mind you too much, as long as you know the score." He always had this look on his face, like he was doing me a favor, when in reality, I knew full well he was just trying to take control of everything I did.
Just like it was done to my mother back then.
"What would you like to say if I told you that Lena is my playmate of choice?"
"I'm reminding you, Raphael, that there are many people who have their eyes on you, and that smart people know to stay out of the wind, and that you're a little too flamboyant, and that this has all been brought to my attention."
I averted my gaze that was resting on him, "I never meant to hide it deliberately, Father."
"Don't you want to know how I heard about this?"
"If you will tell me."
I saw him stand up and looked up to meet his gaze.
My father, like me, didn't like people going against his wishes and liked people who knew what they were doing, but that didn't mean I was happy to be his shadow.
"I received a letter from the man named Jobe Lester asking you to return your daughter to him, Raphael, if she is your pet, she should be completely yours."