"Rose was raped?" Arthur asked as tears formed in his eyes.
He was shocked when he heard what Ralph was saying.
"Yes, when you see her now you wouldn't believe it. She's changed now since she met you. Maybe she turns soft when with you but she wasn't like that. After that incident her world lost color, She was able to get over it but thee doctors said her brain deleted the face of the person who did it since it brought pain and fear in her so she couldn't remember him. Her best friend who was found at the scene was arrested for it but Rose claimed he wasn't the one. Sometimes I wonder how she faced the mockery at school and the neighbors maybe she just ignored it and cried silently at night in her bed. So please treat her well " Ralph said.
Arthur couldn't stop his tears from flowing, his brain was telling him something but he pushed it back.
Ralph saw Arthur silent and continued to say.
"I am not telling you this to feel pity for her but I want you to try her well and protect her. Love her too much that she doesn't have time to think about her past, then only then will I feel contend"
Ralph finished his beer and stood up, he looked at the shocked Arthur and tapped his shoulder then left.
"Alex I think we should let my sister rest. She just returned from the hospital " Ralph told Alex who was still having fun with Rose.
"It's still early brother," Rose said but Alex was already up.
"One thing I know about your brother is that he hates the word early," Alex said.
Rose laughed but saw them out. She had asked Ralph were Arthur was who told her that he was still at the terrace.
She headed there after she saw them out and found Arthur still seating in the cold.
"What are you still doing out here? , come in its cold outside " she said.
Arthur watched her as she pulled him into the house. He dried his tears so she could not find out he was crying.
He stayed beside her side until she fell asleep and later left. He went to his study and called Sean who picked up after the fifth ring.
"Can't this wait till tomorrow? " Sean mumbled
"No it can't, meet me at the usual place," Arthur said and hung up.
Sean almost screamed but didn't want to make up Irene who was sleeping beside him.
He kissed her lips and jumped out of bed. After he had a shower and changed he left to meet Arthur.
Arthur was already there when Sean arrived. It was their favorite bar, they always went there to drink and talk about there problems.
"What's wrong now? " Sean asked.
"It's Rose...I think she's the girl from that night " Arthur almost whispered.
Sean took a sip from his bottle.
"What do you mean by she's the girl from that night? " Sean asked.
"The night when Archie gave us those pills and I did something terrible to a girl but her friend took the fault for it " Arthur explained.
Sean spat out what he was drinking and stared at his depressed friend.
"WHAT? that's impossible she can't be. How did you find out, your source might be wrong " Sean said
"The source was her brother when he told me about her best friend taking the fault I knew it was her " Arthur started to cry.
"Did you find out who her friend was? " Sean asked.
"I did and it was him. He was Archie's friend before their family filed for bankruptcy. I remember he was there that night too "
"But Arthur how could you not remember the face of the girl? " Sean asked.
"I tried to forget to g everything about that night and when it happened it was too dark to make out her features " Arthur told his friend.
Sean was shocked but asked his friend how Rose couldn't remember his face, Arthur told him about her condition.
"That why Archie was able to manipulate her into being silent. He tortured her with this he knew she couldn't remember your face and the trauma she suffered " Sean said.
Arthur cried that night like a baby and drunk like a fish until he couldn't even stand up himself.
Sean couldn't take him to either of there homes so he booked a hotel room and took him there.
The next morning Arthur woke up to a painful headache that he could not open his eyes wide.
"I told you to stop drinking but you refused, now look at you now " Sean scolded him.
Sean gave him painkillers and water and let him take a shower.
"So what are you going to do about your issue, you have to face it like a man " Sean told his friend.
Arthur sat on the bed as he dried his hair.
"I don't know what to do anymore, if I tell her won't she leave me. She suffered for almost half of her life because of what I did. And if I don't tell her it means am being selfish "
"Then be selfish. If you tell her it will break her again and you both will suffer. But if you don't tell her, Rose will continue her life peacefully with you as her brother wanted " Sean advised.
"But her friend also suffered because of me? " Arthur said.
"If I remember correctly your parents paid a lot of money so he could keep his mouth shut which he did and decided to go to prison in your place so it was his choice. Let your guilt as you see Rose's face everyday be your punishment " said Sean.
Arthur listened to his friend and decided to keep it to himself so he could protect Rose from her painful past she had tried to forget.
"My men found Archie, what are you going to do about him? " Sean asked
"I had warned him about what would happen if he appeared again, but he didn't stop on appearing and even hurt Rose again. Call his boss and tell him where he's hiding right now. Also, release all the illegal information we have we have on him to the media " Arthur instructed
"Won't it hurt your family reputation ?" Sean asked
"The media knows how to handle such situations and they can't even dare do anything to harm my family since they know the consequences of that". Arthur told Sean.