Flash Marriage: Slow Down Mister novel Chapter 97

"When I woke up amid the fire, I found that Laura had disappeared, so I searched the entire warehouse but failed to find her."

Horace continued to say in a low voice, "She was gone, and the rope had been untied, so I thought that she had left first or taken away after she untied my hands. So I left. Then the police told me that it's impossible."

"How did they mean?"

"Because found the scorched body of her on the scene, and she was still tied. The DNA test showed that it was her. Plus, they found a blade on the floor, which was probably used to cut off my rope, and there was a cut on my hand."

Clara was shocked.

Indeed, everything at the scene suggested that Horace had freed himself with the blade and left alone, abandoning Laura.

But that was not how Horace remembered it.

Theoretically, the biggest possibility was that he had lied to cover up his ruthless behavior.

"So, that's what happened," said Horace slowly, looking up to Clara, "Which version do you believe? Mine or theirs?"

The unexpected question had her frozen.

Looking into his mysterious eyes, from which she seemed to have seen some vague expectation.

Clara's eyes glinted with a bit sadness, when she said softly, "I believe you."

With a blink of his eyes, Horace lifted the corners of his mouth. "I'm so happy to hear you say that, whether you mean it or not."

With that he looked away when Clara got down before him and grabbed his hand, looking right into his eyes.

"I mean it," said Clara earnestly, "Just like when you chose to believe me, I believe you. However compelling was the proof, I only believe in what you say."

Every single word Clara had sincerely said was engraved in Horace heart.

His heart was slightly struck, and subconsciously, he tightened his grasp of her hand.

For all these years, even his grandfather, who had been there with him since forever, had never really believed him.

Although he never cared about how people thought of him, he did care about how she did.

If Clara, as everybody else did, had thought that he had abandoned the woman he liked, he might feel hurt.

But she said she believed him.

He felt touched inside as he watched her blight eyes. Meanwhile, he couldn't help but laugh bitterly, "But you know what, sometimes even I don't believe myself."

Clara was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Ten years ago, when they were investigating the case, I had gone through hypnosis and other therapies. All the experts said I wasn't lying, but a psychologist said it was likely that because I had been drugged in the abduction, and been so traumatized that my memory went wrong. That means I forgot cutting the rope with the blade and leaving Laura behind. It's likely that I made up the memory because of my fear of facing the mistake I had made."

Clara went blank, and blurted out, "How is that possible?"

The Horace she had known was undoubtedly strong, so how was it possible that he had deceived himself to escape from the truth?

"Yeah, I don't go with that either." Horace's smile was crooked into a bitterer way, as he reached out his hand to touch Clara's face, whispering, "But I was indeed kind of scared, and I wasn't mature enough back then."