The head of the research team walked closer to him and said, “Last night, we couldn't reach out to you. So, we called Mrs. Beckham. She told her she would handle the situation.”
“But, we didn't expect she would handle it this way. She insisted on taking the girl’s place. We tried to reach you so that you could stop her. But, you didn't pick up our call.”
“This is the letter Mrs. Beckham left for you, Mr. Beckham.” He added.
Denver immediately picked up the letter. He softly brushed his hands over my handwriting before he began reading in a desperate voice.
[Denver, I remember how you saved my life once and motivated me to keep living. It's your motivation that kept me alive for these years. This is one of the reasons I always feel I owe you one.
But, I’m going to be the lab rat for your experiment. I don't know how I’ll be fine or not when the experiment finishes. But, one thing is sure. After this experiment, I’ll not owe anything to you. We will be even.]
Denver’s company was making a freezing machine where you could lie and freeze for years or better to say sleep for years.
But, the twist was when you wake up, your body wouldn't have aged no matter how many years you slept in that machine.
Many investors had invested their money on his project and Denver badly wanted it to be successful. However, who would risk their life to be the first person to check it, freezing their body in an untrusted machine?
Never in his worst nightmares did he think that Mia, his wife, would take that risk for him after what he had been doing to her for all these years.
But why? Why did she suddenly decide to sacrifice herself? Why did she not show up in the hotel that night?
Denver turned to his assistant as he commanded, his voice cold, “I want to know what Mia was thinking before taking such a bold step. I want to know where she was, with whom she met for the past two weeks. I want to know everything about her.”
The guilt and regret in his eyes for his wife, Mia, was undeniable. Cindy couldn't help noticing it and feeling insecure.
She immediately stepped forward and wrapped her hands around Denver, saying, “Maybe she is a mental psycho. She has once tried to take her own life. What's so unique in doing it twice?”
“She might just have wanted to end her life. But it's so selfish of her to choose to end her life this way. What did she want? She did this to make you feel entitled towards her, didn't she?”
Denver clenched his fists. He turned to Cindy, brushed her hands off her arms as he said, his voice cold, “Mia is not that kind of woman.”
“Maybe Cindy is right, you shouldn't care about your wife, Denver.” A man stepped forward, his voice laced with sarcasm.
He was Denver's friend, Harry, who had come here to witness Denver's freezing machine doing miracles.
“All you cared about was the books she wrote. After she handed over her last work, she had no use for you.”
“Now, she is done with what you wanted and she is not even here to fight for her copyrights. Isn't it good for you and your… lover?” He added, his voice sarcastic.
Denver’s face turned pale. He knew Harry wasn't lying. This was what he wanted from Mia, hand over her book and then disappear from his life so that he and Cindy could live in peace.
Now that it actually happened, why could he not feel pleased? Why was he feeling devastated? Why was he feeling as if he suddenly lost all the very reasons to live?
Just then, the reporters who were waiting for Denver in the press conference barged inside his research department. They could not wait any longer and assumed something was wrong.
They began asking questions in Denver.
“Mr. Beckham, why did you not launch your machine in public yet?”
“Mr. Beckham, why is your wife lying coldly in the machine?”
“Don't tell me she is… dead?”
Just then someone shouted from the media, “Everybody check the internet. Little Fox’s recent book is making a hot sensation. The FL in the book is an author whose books were stolen by her own husband and in the end she ends her life by her husband's experiment.”
“Why does the story seem similar to Mrs. Beckham?”
“Yes, didn't she once claim Cindy's book as hers?”
“Cindy and Mrs. Beckham were sworn enemies, yet Mr. Beckham partnered with the company who publishes Cindy's books. What does that mean?”
“It means the story written by Little Fox’s is not just a story but an autobiography of Mrs. Beckham. She is the Little Fox, not Cindy. Cindy is a plagiarized author who has been stealing her books for years.”
“And her husband, Mr. Denver Beckham, was the one who has been stealing her work all these years for Cindy?”
Denver's research centre erupted with whispers and snickers from all around. The world now knew the truth that Cindy had stolen my book and my identity, and Denver had helped her.
Just then Denver's assistant arrived.
“Sir, I have collected the CCTV footage of all those areas Mrs. Beckham visited in past few days, including your study room.” He reported.
Denver immediately commanded, his tone desperate, “Play it now! I want to see what she had gone through in the past few days that forced her to take such a step.”
Denver’s assistant moved his eyes around him, staring at the crowd of the media reporters. He then asked hesitantly, his voice low, “Are you sure, Mr. Beckham? You want to play the footage in front of everyone?”
Denver, as if possessed, couldn't think anything other than me leaving him for eternity, snapped back as he yelled, “What are you waiting for? I said PLAY IT NOW!”
Denver's assistant followed his command and played the video on the projector. There were many videos, capturing me busy in my work- writing, cooking and handling Denver's company’s several issues that he couldn't.
Then came the video in which I came out of my study room, holding my books’ manuscript but my legs got paused on the door for some reason.
There was a moment when I couldn't even stand properly, my legs gave up and I almost fell to the floor if there wasn't a chair to support me, and then emerged Denver along with his friend, reaching his hands out to my manuscript.
“She heard me!” Denver murmured, “She knew I had been deceiving her through years yet she remained silent. She endured the pain of betrayal and kept playing along.”
