Brian frowned at Molly's upset face. It was obvious that Molly would have rather fallen into a heap than be helped up by him.
"Mol?" He gazed into Molly's eyes as he made a promise, "Whoever did this to Mark, I'm going to make sure he pays. Do you trust that I'll do that? Do you trust me?"
Molly sneered because for her these were just mere empty words. 'What do you want to do? Play a game on how much I trust you? Stupid!'
"Brian, are you actually hesitating because of her? Am I hearing this right?" Tears streamed down her face as she spoke—some even getting in her mouth. The bitter taste made her flinch. It seemed that Molly had lost all her trust on Brian. She continued, "I guess, I'm wrong again like I've always been." Brian still wanted to talk this over with Molly but as he was about to speak, Molly suddenly turned her head towards Becky.
A surge of emotions flashed across Becky's eyes—so fast that even Brian and Eric weren't able to catch it. They just both merely responded to Molly staring at Becky.
Molly glared at Becky—not saying a word. But in her silence, her anguish ate her up. Every time she finally chose to have hope and believe, reality comes swooping up to remind her that no, she was wrong to hope and believe. And this was exactly what happened today. She was drowning in despair and Brian extinguished her only ray of hope. She took a long and deep breath and spoke slowly, choosing each word carefully, "Becky, congratulations. You win." She pushed Eric away who still had his arm stretched out to help her balance. Then she turned and left without another word.
"Molly!" Eric called as he chased after her.
But Brian remained motionless. He stood in silence just watching Molly's back as she walked away until she disappeared. Fear and panic came looming in to Brian. He felt as if he was drowning as if every time he came up to gasp for air, someone would push him down again - as if they wanted him to suffer first before being killed. He really wanted to know what happened but every time he tried, he came up blank. Eventually, he just gave up and decided to let his hopelessness eat him up.
"Brian-"
"Becky," Brian interrupted Becky. He didn't want to talk anymore so he just said, "I chose to believe you but that doesn't mean we're getting back together or you can ask something from me. And this is the last time I'm trusting you. And one last thing, don't you ever do anything to anger me. I will stop at nothing. I can easily arrange for something that will make you disappear."
As soon as he finished talking, he turned around and walked away, unflinching. This was going to be the last time that he protected that little girl from years ago who had helped him before.
"So you don't know really know for sure, right?" Molly frowned - she felt a lump forming in her throat then she asked again, "Eric, do I even get my hopes up? Tell me, Eric. Am I wrong?"
"No, Mark will be fine!" Eric said, panicked - a rare sight to see.
Molly's smile grew as she fixed her gaze on Eric. There were times when Eric couldn't understand what Molly meant when she said something. But even so, he never failed in being there for her to support her and comfort her. He was always there whenever she was at a loss at what to do. Whenever she was at a crossroads, Eric never failed to show up and be there for her.
Molly wasn't the type of person to want something from Becky in return for hurting her son or making her pay for what she did. So she was angry at herself for feeling the desire to kill Becky just because she had hurt her son. All she asked for was simple: she just wanted a man to always be there for her and give her unconditional love and comfort. As Eric stood by her, she was slowly gaining the courage to go on with life and face whatever challenges may come her way no matter how bumpy the road may get. But now, it was as if she was asking for too much - she felt as she could never really have that wish, that one man.
"Little Molly..." Despite the smile that appeared on Molly's face, Eric was still worried so he said, "Mark's going to be fine. I already asked Young to come here and Elias just arrived. They're going to treat Mark, so Mark's going to be fine. Molly, don't act like that. If you're still angry, just take it out on me if it's going to make you feel better in any way." Eric started to panic when he saw Molly starting to act out of character. She was wearing this smile on her face that made Eric feel uncomfortable. He didn't know what to do to make her feel better. He knew that Mark meant the world to Molly - he was everything to her. Before, he wanted to do something for Mark to show Molly that he could be trusted, that Mark would love him, that he could be there for Mark too not just Molly.
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