Chapter 378 - 378: His Parents' Confession

After leaving the Hospital where Erick was admitted, Elle just continued walking without a clear destination in her mind. She had a blank expression on her face.

She was thinking that she brought these upon herself. Erick didn't want to see her now. She just realized that she was hurting him more whenever she was in front of him. Both of them were in pain.

'What I have done?'

She wanted to let it out but there's no one whom she could talk to now. She had been walking non-stop for half an hour now. The sun was shining brightly in the sky. It was already 7:00 am.

She was still walking on the busy streets of City Z when someone called her.

"Elle."

She stopped on her track the moment she heard her name. Someone was calling her 'Elle'. She frowned, wondering who's that person. His voice was not familiar to her.

She turned around to face the person who had just called her. Then she saw the middle-aged man waving at her just a few steps away from here.

She was at a loss for words when she recognized the man.

'Mr. Carter? Did he just call me, Elle? Did he know me?'

She just stood there in her spot, unmoving. Mr. Carter was the one who approached her.

"Oh, I'm glad to accidentally meet you here. Where are you going? Where's your husband?" Mr. Carter greeted her gleefully.

"My husband?" Elle mumbled in confusion.

Mr. Carter bobbed his head and said, "Yes, your husband. The Chief Detective… my savior."

Elle was rendered speechless once again. She had no idea that Erick told Mr. Carter that they were husband and wife. Mr. Carter was also calling her Elle because Erick told him that her name was Aliyah Elle Ross.

Mr. Carter erupted into a peal of laughter after seeing the surprised and confused expression of Elle.

"Oh, sorry. I think… Erick didn't tell you that he told me before that you are his wife and you are in some kind of situation wherein you are both temporarily living separately in the meantime."

Elle: "..."

"I guess he hadn't succeeded in convincing you yet to return to his side, am I right?" Mr. Carter just continued talking spontaneously.

Then he shook his head and said, "I didn't understand young couples nowadays. If you love each other then why are you both living separately? Especially you are both husband and wife. Both of you should be together. How can you stand being separated from each other?" Mr. Carter was voicing out his opinion. 

He was like a councilor who was giving advice to the troubled ones.

Elle had no words to say. She was just staring at him with amus.e.m.e.nt. Every word he said were like stones hitting Elle's heart one after another.

Though he was clueless about what was going on between Erick and Elle, his words really made sense at that moment.

"Hey, dear. Don't misunderstand. I am not scolding you. I am just stating my opinion." Mr. Carter promptly said upon noticing Elle's wordless reaction.

After a while, Elle's lips stretched out into a faint smile.

"Mr. Carter. Thank you. My mind was very chaotic a while ago but after I heard your words, everything became clear to me now." Elle said while staring at Mr. Carter with her grateful look.

Soon, Mr. Carter invited Elle to have breakfast with him.

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Do you believe that our parents were our greatest heroes in this world? Their love for us….for their children was unconditional. 

They could give us strength and comfort in our darkest moments. Just like how they taught us to stand up on our own. Just like how they offered us a hand every time we fell, helping us to rise back once again.

We could always depend on them. Their love and concern for us could be our greatest back up in the saddest moments of our lives. They would willing to sacrifice and do everything just to protect us… their beloved children.

If we felt like giving up because our life messed up, our parents were always there to redeem us, cheering us up and encouraging us to fight back. They could make us feel that everything would be fine soon.

And Erick's parents were no exception. Their love and care for Erick would help him survive this hurdle.

Erick was about to get discharged when his parents arrived in the hospital. They came right away after hearing the news about what happened to him. Sarah and Raymond felt relieved knowing that Erick was not badly hurt.

Upon entering his ward, they saw Erick sitting quietly on his sickbed. He seemed like he was lost in his thoughts. They could tell that something was bothering him by just looking at his troubled expression.

Raymond and Sarah would always feel their son's pain even if Erick would try to hide it from them. Maybe it was because of the parent and child's special bond. They could sense it… Erick was not doing fine… he was suffering… he was hurting.

Now, it was time to help their son and comfort him. They had something important to tell him. They hoped that what they had discovered today would be able to ease Erick's pain.

Raymond and Sarah slowly walked toward his sickbed. Erick gazed up when he noticed their presence.

"Mom… Dad…" There was a hint of helplessness in his voice when he called them.

Sarah and Raymond smiled at him, looking tenderly at their son. When they reached his bed, Sarah sat down beside him while Raymond remained standing on the side of the bed, facing Erick.

Sarah immediately hugged Erick. He badly needed his mother's warmth right now. He somehow felt comforted with his mother's loving touch.

"Son… We love you so much." Sarah mumbled with her hoarse voice.

Erick stroked her hair and said, "I know, Mom. I love you too, both you and Dad."

Raymond patted Erick's shoulder. "Erick, listen to us, my dear son. We have something to confess to you."

Sarah released Erick from that warm embrace. She nodded to support her husband. Erick darted his gaze back and forth between his mother and father. He was puzzled and confused but he listened to them.

"Alright, Mom… and Dad… just tell me. Seeing you looking at me like that, now I am very curious." Erick let out a soft chuckle to lighten the mood.

"Son, please forgive us. We did something against your will." Sarah said to him apologetically. Then she turned to her husband, giving him a signal to continue.

"Two years ago, we knew how much you were greatly affected by Elle's death. It was so hard for you. You were in so much sorrow. We witnessed the changes in you." Raymond paused for a moment, assessing his son's reaction before he continued.

"Our son who was full of life before suddenly disappeared. We thought you would not be able to handle the pain of losing her. We were so worried about you. Your mother became paranoid. She thought of negative things, afraid that you might think of killing yourself one day."

Erick was dumbfounded after hearing his father's remarks.

"You were pretending that you were doing fine in front of us but we knew that once you were alone, you were still mourning for her. So we came up with a decision to secretly monitor you for the past two years. You are our only son, we can't afford to lose you too." Raymond said to him truthfully.

Erick looked down, "I am sorry, Dad. I am sorry, Mom. I made you worry about me too much. I didn't mean to do that. I thought I was hiding it from you very well."

"Was that the reason why every time I felt so miserable you were always paying me a surprise visit? How did you know that I was feeling down? How are you able to monitor me without my knowledge? Did you buy a house here at City Z... and follow me every day?" Erick asked them with his teasing smile.

Raymond and Sarah exchanged meaningful glances with each other before they burst out laughing.

"Of course not, we didn't buy a house. We did something more than that. Something illegal… something against your right to privacy." Sarah told her son, looking so guilty.

Erick looked at his Mom with disbelief.

"Something illegal? Against my right to privacy?"

Raymond chuckled as he nodded his head. "Yes son, that's why we are asking for your forgiveness."

"What have you done, Mom? Dad?" Erick somehow felt anxious when he heard the word illegal.

Sarah could only pout while Raymond took a deep sigh.

"Erick, did you remember when we visited you just recently? We learned that you were having a hard time that night. You scared us when we saw you crying in your room and said something like this { I am tired now. I am missing you more each day. Can I just go with you now, wifey? } "

Erick's eyes widened in both shock and embarrassment. His mom and dad saw that? But how?

Erick gave them a questioning gaze. Raymond continued explaining to Erick.

"We thought you were thinking about committing suicide. So on the same night, after watching that video, your Mom and I immediately left the province to visit you. Son, we secretly planted a hidden camera in your room so that we could monitor you every day."

Erick was tongue-tied as of this moment. His parents did that?!

"And it was only today that we also found something in that recording. We didn't finish watching what happened in your room that whole night because we left in a hurry. It just so happened that your Mom reviewed the video that day and she saw something."

"Here, I transferred the file on my phone. You can watch it and see it for yourself. I know you will be surprised also once you see it." Raymond handed his phone over to Erick.