"The hell is your problem, Luke?!" I asked, giving him a punch after he told us what his problem was. The brothers just laughed as we threw punches at each other.
"I'm serious! Now that my problem's done, I wanna ask Arabella to marry me. For real," he explained.
"I don't see the problem there," Owen replied.
"No! There's a BIIIG problem there!" Luke insisted.
"What?!" we grunted in unison.
"I... I don't know how to propose," he admitted. We chuckled.
"You've been living together for almost a year now. You still don't know what she likes?" Shane said.
"That's another problem. We are living together, making it more difficult to surprise her," Luke answered.
"Maybe, you could ask Regina. They're sisters after all," I suggested. Luke thought for a minute. He sighed as he nodded then thanked me after.
It turned out that Regina, one of Luke's flings, and Arabella were sisters after a vicious fight between the two. Now, Arabella's trying her best to patch things up with her sister.
"I also wanna thank Helena for supporting my wife despite her current problem," Luke said.
"She's one hell of a warrior!" Shane added. His brother agreed. I smiled proudly at their praises.
"Anyway, the ladies will be shutting the garden for a night and left us to babysit. What's the plan?" Owen exclaimed.
"They're so unfair! They let us shop for their needs and shut us out. What an attitude!" Luke added.
"Hey, I am still thankful they're here to cheer my Helena," I commented. They looked at me teasingly.
"MY Helena?" Shane blurted. As soon as he said that, Helena emerged from the garden.
What nice timing!
The three idiots looked at her mischievously, suppressing their smiles, so she turned to me, confused.
Then Owen turned to me, "Oh! Here's your~,"
"Shut the fuck up!" I yelled. They laughed. Helena glared before leaving me to die in my friends' nonstop teasing.
The following days were harrowing for us, especially for Helena. She had to put up with Amanda's constant mockery in court during her trial, accusing Helena of being a bitch, dirty and manipulative.
On the last day of Amanda's trial for kidnapping and attempted murder, we decided to attend. Helena wore a poker face during the entire trial.
Then the receptionist came in as a star witness, telling everyone and the jury how Amanda manipulated and threatened her.
"Amanda, she asked me to get the box from her car and put it under her bed. She told me that if I report whatever I saw to the police, she will kill my son," the young lady retold in tears. She was shaking and downright frightened of Amanda who was chuckling at her story.
"Your honor, that lady is lying!" Amanda blurted. "Hey, I didn't say kill! I said..., I. Am. Not. Gonna. Be. Nice. To. Your. Son!" she yelled, flicking her fingers in every word.
"You took my son to a stroll without my permission! You were...," the receptionist screamed in anger. "You were pointing a knife at his back when you asked me to do what you want!"
"But I didn't stab him! That makes a difference! That makes me kind, does that not?" Amanda said, rolling her eyes.
"You are such a cruel woman!" the receptionist called. "I will help in every way I can to make sure that you will rot in prison!"
"Order in the court!" the judge yelled, hitting his hammer thrice. The commotion grew then subsided when the judge shouted and banged even louder.
Throughout the trial, Amanda sat confidently, making me wonder what must have turned a meek lamb into a vicious monster. It took the jury only 10 minutes to deliberate and found her guilty of her crimes.
Amanda looked at Helena straight to her eyes and smirked. Despite the pile of damning evidence against her that even her lawyer advised her to plead guilty, she pleaded not guilty.
There was an uproar but Helena just stared at Amanda as two police officers escorted her out.
"Wait," Helena told the two policemen. People gossiped when Helena stood up and went in front of Amanda.
"Wolfe!" Det. Romanov said as he came rushing to us. I held Helena's arm.
"Wolfe, not here," the detective casually whispered.
Amanda smiled from ear to ear then she puckered her lips. Her manic laughter, more like a cackle, resonated in the room.
"You may be a wolf, Helena, but just like a wolf, you need a pack to attack bigger predators like me. Alone, you're nothing but a lowly puppy!" Amanda mocked. I saw Helena's chest rose and fell as she tried to stay sane.
We gasped when Helena took something from her pocket and gave it to Amanda. Then there was a sigh of relief, realizing that it was just an envelope. Amanda was dumbfounded when Helena opened it and showed photos of our aborted child. Amanda closed her eyes.
"Open your eyes!" Helena said in a cold commanding voice. Amanda looked away when Helena slammed the photo on her face. "Look! Are you happy now? This child is innocent! But because of your selfishness and greed, this child never saw the light of day! Because of your pathetic love, this child will never experience the beautiful life we planned to give! Does that make you a bigger predator? Does that make you a happier person? Look at me...," Helena held Amanda's face and forcefully turned it to meet her cold eyes. Amanda seemed so little in front of Helena.
"You are nothing but a narcissist piece of shit! You're not a bigger predator. In fact, you're not scary at all. Do you know why? Because you're just a puppy pretending to be a lion. Puppy or not, I... will always be a wolf!" Helena hissed. The judge came and asked Helena to stop so she did.
Amanda raised her chin up as they took her away. I embraced Helena while the judge and detective Romanov gave me a nod.
"Let's go home," I whispered.
It felt like a heavyweight had been lifted from my shoulder the moment we stepped out of the court. Helena and I could be free at last. Now, we could finally see a brighter sunrise and more colorful sunsets.
Instead of going straight home, Helena asked me to go to the Bachelor's Den.
"Hmmm... what are you planning to do?" I asked when we arrived. Shane was surprised to see us but gave a warm welcome.
"I wanna get wasted. The trial's a success and for months, I've been sober," she replied. It was my delight to see her happy once more, slowly bouncing back.