The Heiress's Comeback

Chapter 188: [ Volume 1] Chaper 188-Too precious

Helga nodded slowly, her face calm, but Aron could see the storm of emotion beneath her composed exterior. "You heard me," she said quietly, almost as if she was speaking to herself, her gaze distant. "I never told Esme about you, or about anything that happened. I never mentioned the garden, or the boy I used to talk to there." She paused, her words hanging in the air between them, heavy with the weight of her confession. "I didn’t even know you were a boy at first."

Aron was silent, his mind racing to catch up with what she was saying. The garden... the boy... the memories. His heart pounded in his chest as fragments of long-buried memories began to stir, the faint echoes of conversations from a forgotten time resurfacing in his mind.

Helga glanced at him briefly, her expression a mixture of nostalgia and regret before she continued. "I went to that place to clear my mind. I didn’t go there to find anyone, least of all you. It was just... a place I could escape to when Esme wasn’t around. When she was gone, I felt lonely, like something was missing. The garden gave me peace. It became my sanctuary, and you... you were just there." Her voice wavered slightly, the vulnerability in her words striking something deep within Aron.

"When Esme came back, I stopped going," Helga went on, her voice steadier now, though it carried an undertone of something Aron couldn’t quite name—sorrow, perhaps, or regret. "I didn’t need the garden anymore because the loneliness faded. I didn’t think much about it after that, but then one day, Esme brought you home."

Aron’s breath hitched as her words began to make sense, the pieces of a puzzle he hadn’t even known existed suddenly fitting together. His eyes widened as Helga continued, her voice soft and unassuming.

"I didn’t recognize you at first," she admitted, "not by your face anyway. But then I smelled it—the herbal soap you always used, the faint scent of medicine that was always on you. That’s when I realized. It was the same scent from the garden." She looked at him then, her eyes locking onto his, and in that moment, Aron saw the depth of her emotions. "I knew it was you."

Aron’s heart raced as the full realization hit him. He had been that boy in the garden, the one Helga had spoken to, the one who had unknowingly been part of her life long before they met in any formal sense. It felt surreal, like discovering a hidden thread that had been there all along, tying them together.

"I was shocked," Helga continued, her voice softening with a wistfulness that tugged at Aron’s heart. "I couldn’t believe it at first, but then I asked Esme about it, and she said something I’ll never forget. She told me, ’We are family, and family doesn’t always need words to understand one another. Sometimes, we just know.’"

Aron stood there, the weight of her words sinking into him. Family. The word echoed in his mind, weaving through all the memories he shared with Helga and Esme, shaping the bond they had formed over the years. This revelation, this connection he had unknowingly shared with Helga, was deeper than he could have ever imagined.

It felt like something had shifted between them in that moment—not in a way that created distance, but in a way that brought them even closer. He had always known that Helga was important to him, that she was part of the small, precious family he had built around himself. But now, knowing that their connection had started long before he even understood its significance, made it all the more meaningful.

Helga turned away from the building and met Aron’s gaze, her expression soft but serious. "I’m telling you this now because... I didn’t want there to be anything left unsaid between us. We’ve shared so much already, and I didn’t want to keep something like this hidden from you anymore."

Aron’s breath hitched, his chest tightening as the weight of Helga’s words settled on him like a crushing force. He bit his lip, the tension in his jaw visible as he struggled to hold back the flood of emotions. His voice, when it came, was rough and slightly hoarse, betraying the vulnerability he was fighting to contain. "Why are you telling me about this now?"

Helga’s gaze remained steady, her tone calm and measured, as though she had prepared herself for this conversation long ago. "You know," she began, her words gentle yet filled with an unspoken sorrow, "when we needed her, she was always there. Even when we couldn’t see her, feel her, she was still watching over us." Her eyes softened with memories, her voice dipping into a reflective tone. "In all these years, after meeting Esme, I never missed my family. She became our family—she was the one who filled that space. But we never understood until it was too late... just how much of a shield she was for us."

Aron’s brow furrowed, his thoughts spinning in different directions. Esme. Her name, the memories of her laughter, her unwavering strength, all came rushing back. Helga continued, her voice quiet but firm, each word tugging at emotions he had long tried to bury.

"Esme was always haughty, always smiling," Helga continued, her lips curving slightly as if remembering some private joke. "She made everything seem like it was nothing. She never let us see her struggle, never let us worry. But when I think back, every memory I have, every important moment... she’s there. Always in the background, always part of it." Her gaze grew distant for a moment before her eyes flicked back to Aron’s face. "Remember when we left her in that office?"

A chill ran through Aron at the mention of that day. He clenched his fists, a sickening sense of guilt washing over him.

"Even though we knew it was dangerous, even though she knew there was a chance she might not make it out... the first thing she did was force us to leave." Helga’s voice cracked slightly, the memory evidently still fresh, still raw. "She made us escape. She made us live, while she stayed behind."