EPILOGUE

“I’m sorry.” I said, bowing my head to Erika’s parents.

It’s the day after the incident, and her parents had come to my apartment to check on Erika. As soon as I met them on the basement entrance, I immediately apologized.

“It’s all my fault. I couldn’t protect her last night. And I know this is too much for me to ask, but, if possible, I would like to have another chance. I swear from now on, I will always keep Erika safe.”

“Hey, hey. Take it easy.” Erika’s father responded.

“Yeah, it’s fine, Oliver. It’s not your fault. Erika said as much didn’t she?” Erika’s mother added.

“She.. did. But this incident is definitely my fault.”

“Alright then.” Erika’s father said as he put a hand on my shoulder. “Make sure to keep her safe from now on, okay?”

I lifted my face to look at him and resolved myself to the next words I would say. “I will!”

I then led them up the elevator towards the floor my room is in, and we made our way towards my room. I unlocked the door and went inside with Erika’s parents.

Inside, Erika was reading my book on the couch when she noticed us come in. She waved at us, and put a bookmark where she was last reading, and put the book down.

“Erika, how are you feeling?” her mother asked while she made her way to the couch along with her husband.

Erika responded by signing something to them.

“That’s good.” Erika’s mother responded to Erika. “Come to think of it, what happens after that?”

“Oh, the police said that Mari and the other guy would be given trial for kidnapping, assault, and battery. There’s also one more person involved, but since he was captured earlier, he might be charged differently.”

“Is that so? What will their punishment be?”

“The officer said that at the very least, Mari and the other guy that kidnapped me would be charged with 5 years in prison, up to 30 years. They don’t know about the other guy.”

“5 years, huh? That’s not long.”

“I agree. It’s somewhat frustrating that they get charged so little and get to walk away free after some time.” I said as I thought back to how my father was sentenced.

At least they would still get time in prison, whereas my father didn’t.

Afterwards, Erika’s parents stayed for a while, talking about what we would like to do going forward.

We need to be present in the trial, and we would need to prepare a lawyer ahead of time.

Then, Erika would also be moving back to her parent’s place.

She moved to my place to avoid Mari and her goons, but now that the cops had apprehended them, she can move back to her parent’s place just fine.

But just as we were talking about the plan to move her stuff back to her parent’s place, Erika then signed to her parents that she would like to stay in my apartment instead, which her parents translated for me.

That had come out of nowhere and surprised her parents and me.

After talking about it between the four of us, her parents accepted Erika moving into my place permanently.

I didn’t object to it, since the room she’s using is pretty much an unused room anyway. And to be honest, I actually really do want her to move in with me.

We then decided to get some furniture at Erika’s dad’s place after Erika recovered on our day off, and we would then move the rest of Erika’s stuff from her parents' place.

After a while, Erika’s parents then got up to leave, and Erika and I went to see her out of my apartment door.

I had offered to walk them all the way to their car, but they forced me to stay back since I am currently injured. So, like before, we ended up just seeing them out the door as they walked towards the elevator.

Once they went inside the elevator, Erika and I went back inside, and we sat downside by side on the couch, and Erika went to pick her book back up again.

“Since you’re staying here, I guess I really need to pick up sign language seriously.”

Erika then turned her attention away from the book to me.

She looked at me quizzically and turned her head sideways a little.

I felt somewhat embarrassed with her staring at me like that, so I turned to look away from her. “You know.. Since you’re staying here, it’d be hard for us to communicate if you need to use your phone all the time.”

While looking away, I heard her chuckle a little and immediately turned to look at Erika.

“You don’t have to.” She said softly with a smile.

I smiled in response and held her free hand in mine. “Thank you.”

She giggled audibly in response, and we looked each other in the eyes, with our hands intertwined.

Hearing her soft, beautiful voice fills me with warmth, and I started feeling giddy upon hearing it. Knowing that I get to hear it every day from now on really gives me incomparable joy.

“I love you, Erika.”

“I love you too, Oliver.”