Chapter 50: Chapter 50

Five years had passed. Many things had changed; myself and the people around me. But the city was still as busy as ever. I looked at the woman next to me and smiled. She was enjoying her favorite chocolate ice cream. I was proud of her because she managed to come out of the darkness, from the slump that had occurred. Life was never fair to her, but she managed to survive. Her name is Mabel, my wife. And I still looked at her the same way; the way little Ashton fell in love with his best friend.

In fact, we were still the same girl and boy who liked to play hide and seek together. It was just that we were separated and went through different life experiences, but in the end we got back together. I was grateful for that.

What happened five years ago was still fresh in my mind. I vividly remembered that day I was scared; I was afraid to lose Mabel forever. Everything was my fault, I should have rejected all women from the start including Rainy if it was true that I really loved Mabel. But all I did was play around, thinking the feelings I felt would fade with time. But actually not, what I felt for Mabel even deeper. It was exacerbated when Adrian came into our lives but I thanked him, because of him I stopped being such a coward and loudly said I wanted Mabel for myself.

That day I stared in horror at Rainy's crazy actions. Just when I thought she understood her mistake, she came up with an even more fatal mistake. She wanted to try to kill Mabel a second time. I felt like I failed to protect Mabel and it made my heart turn cold as ice cubes.

On the one hand, Adrian seemed to have given up. I wanted to curse at him, because I knew he had the power to stop them, but all he did was act weak and stupid like he didn't have the strength to fight back.

We were all completely helpless and it was like Rainy did it on purpose so we couldn't do anything, but watch her pull the trigger.

"You just gave up, Adrian? What a surprise," Anthonio asked, lifting Adrian's face to face him. "I never thought that even the strongest mafia couldn't do anything and instead submitted to me,"

I did hate Adrian, but Anthonio? My hatred for him was at the highest level.

Adrian was still silent, it made me confused. All this time I knew he had a clever mouth to upset his interlocutor.

"It's a shame," Rainy added with a laugh. She really had turned into a madman. "Okay then I'll press the trigger,"

I tried to get away, but my body was being held. Even though I was handcuffed, I was sure I could save Mabel at least from the ferocity of the bullet. "Stop this, Rainy! By doing this you will gain nothing. You will only have regrets!"

"Your words have no effect on me anymore, Ashton. My feelings for you have passed and I realize how stupid I was to wish for a weak man like you,"

Rainy really got to my nerves!

Adrian suddenly chuckled. He managed to get our attention. I didn't understand what was on his mind. What's so funny that makes him chuckle?

Anthonio roughly tugged Adrian's chin. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

Adrian smirked as he stared intently at Anthonio. He gave him a stare I had never seen him give anyone. The stare was deathly and terrifying. "Anthonio Blake, you think you can easily beat me? Admit it, you have always lost to me. You are no match for me, Anthonio. And now you think you have won over me, just because you managed to set a small trap like this? How trash you are,"

Annoyed by Adrian's words, Anthonio immediately threw his fists. That made Mabel scream, begging him to stop hurting Adrian. She got very hurt seeing Adrian get hurt.

The corner of Adrian's lip was bleeding on the third punch. "That's to make you stop talking!"

Unexpectedly, Adrian laughed. The laugh was clearly intentional by him. "Punch me all you want, Anthonio. But facts are facts, and the facts are that I am superior to you in every way."

Anthonio's face turned red. He was about to kick Adrian when gunshots echoed. All of his men slowly fell to the ground. At that time Daniel also came with Adrian's other men. I just realized that since we were detained, only Daniel was not there even though at first we were in the same room. Adrian must had planned all of this.

The handcuffs on our wrists were fell off, leaving Rainy still using Mabel to save herself. She kept on threatening to kill Mabel if we all took a step toward her. She was scared, really. Sarah begged her to let Mabel go, but she no longer listened to her. She only listened to what was in her head. If everything was over, I would really imprison her.

Mabel's breath started to hitch as Rainy's arm tightly wrapped around her neck. I grew even more furious. Rainy slowly took Mabel away to her car. That made Adrian take a quick step by running towards his car as well. A chase ensued. I ran to my car to catch her too.

Damn, Rainy is so sneaky!

Rainy's car suddenly stopped. It was a place that had been cordoned off by the police. A few months ago someone committed suicide by jumping into a ravine there. My mind was in a mess after guessing what Rainy was thinking. And sure enough, she led Mabel to the edge of the ravine still holding her gun to her forehead.

Adrian, Daniel, and the rest of his men were on guard. On the one hand I wanted to win over them. I was the one who had to be able to save Mabel.

"You don't want Mabel to die, do you?" Rainy asked, starting again with her threats to wear us down.

"Stop playing around, Rainy. I'm getting bored," said Adrian. At this time I could see there was a wariness behind the calm demeanor he displayed on the outside.

"And you should stop talking, Adrian. Your lover's life is on the line. You don't want to lose the life of the woman you care about for the second time, do you?" Rainy smiled broadly as Adrian's expression turned stern. She really hit him by bringing up the past.

"That's why I won't lose Mabel, Rainy." Adrian gave his response.

"Just let Mabel go, Rainy!" I snapped.

"Oh my, Ashton. Did you think I would listen to you after what you did to me? I'm not interested in you anymore, and now I realize I'm more interested in Mabel. She makes me want to do the meanest thing I thought I could never do,"

"Okay, I'm sorry about what happened. But I beg you to let Mabel go, please, she is so innocent." I slowly took a step closer. "We promise not to punish you if you do that,"

"No!" Rainy glared at me, her anger stealing all her senses. "I'd better die with her too. How about that, Mabel? You're willing to jump down this abyss with me, right?"

Mabel didn't utter a word, her breath even seemed hard for her to catch. Rainy's arm around her neck was tighter than before.

Adrian stared at me, giving me a look of sorts before I finally understood the signal he was giving. I didn't think I'd work with him, but it was fine as long as it was for Mabel. He gave signals for me to continue to make Rainy talk to me while my feet took steps to get closer to her. On the one hand Adrian was ready to run and catch both of them immediately.

"You don't understand how I feel! You all only care about Mabel! My heart is broken, I feel alone!" Rainy managed to fall into my trap. I kept making her talk, and there came a point when she started to let her guard down and lower the gun away from Mabel. At that time Adrian also ran to pull Mabel. But unfortunately, the panicked Rainy pressed the trigger of the gun.

There was the sound of two shots that could not be avoided anymore. It all happened so fast, and all I knew was Mabel screams. I thought she was injured, but what was in front of me made my mind turn blank.

Rainy screamed hysterically, but then Daniel and the other Adrian's men immediately took care of her.

Mabel sat limply beside Adrian's helpless lying body. Blood flowed profusely soaking his clothes. The two shots shot right in the chest. His breath was getting weaker, but his eyes were still on Mabel's face, who was crying incessantly. That's when I knew how much Adrian loved Mabel. I didn't feel jealous at all, but felt sorry instead.

While enduring the pain, Adrian still tried to cup Mabel's cheek. He smiled as he said. "Don't cry,"

"No, Adrian, please just hold on a little. I don't want to be alone," Mabel put Adrian's head on her lap as she continued to cry. She was so desperate. "I beg you, you can't just leave me. You came into my life without a warning, and now you're just going to leave me? This isn't fair to me! Please don't leave me, please."

Adrian was getting more and more difficult to breath, but he kept smiling and tried to say the last words. "I love you, Mabel. Thank you for accepting me, accompanying me all this time. I'm also sorry for my mistakes that made you hurt. I realize I haven't been able to be a good man for you. I'm sorry,"

"Me too! I love you too, Adrian." Mabel immediately returned her love to Adrian. It made him cry too.

"That's what I've been waiting to hear since yesterday. Thank you for fulfilling my last request," Adrian slowly lost consciousness and his eyes began to close.

At that moment Mabel's crying turned into hysterics. She kept calling out to Adrian, but fate still couldn't be changed. Adrian's men picked up the body and carried it to the car. I immediately ran to Mabel and hugged her tightly. Her body trembled and felt cold. She didn't say a single word other than hugging me back. So I kissed her head while rubbing her back.

That dark day must be passed by all of us with a heavy heart. Rainy was convicted for her actions and jailed for several years. For Anthonio, he managed to escape somewhere. And Valentino Moretti, as Adrian's grandfather, ended his reign as a mafia member of the Moretti family.

Among all of us, Mabel was the one who was hurt the most and had great trauma afterwards. She rarely spoke, even passed her meal because of the sadness that kept smothering her. Several times she was hospitalized because her condition continued to decline. It scared me so much and made me put even more effort into it so she could move on with her life after what happened.

Every Sunday, I regularly accompany Mabel to visit Adrian's grave. Adrian was buried right next to Selena's grave; It was Mabel's request.

I never stopped trying to help her get out of that sadness, until I finally decided to marry her when she slowly dared to get herself out of that darkness. I was sure behind everything that had happened, there was happiness hidden. My prayers since childhood had been answered; my best friend, Mabel eventually became my wife.

But I still thank Adrian Moretti. He came into our life to make me realize how important the time and opportunity I had. Many times I let it slip away from me, and now, I promise not to repeat the same mistake. I will continue to be with Mabel and openly show my love for her.