Chapter 65: Chapter 65

"We're leaving?" I asked him when I saw that he was dressed.

I just finished bathing the now-sleeping Amari in her room and when I entered our room he was the one I found. He was wearing a simple button-down and denim pants but was still shouting about how handsome he was. I looked up at his broad chest and his huge biceps. I approached him and looked up at him.

"Where are you going looking handsome like this, huh?" I asked him again. Hector laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist. His lips touched my nose for a moment.

"You're going with me," he said. His eyes lit up while examining my whole face.

I frowned. "Where will we go?"

"We're going to see mom."

When he said that, my smile automatically disappeared. Something heavy seemed to hit my chest and I immediately looked for the sadness in his eyes. But he's hiding it thoroughly. Just like he always does, he doesn't want me to see his pain.

"Hector..." I uttered.

I cupped his whole face. I can feel his stubbles that are slowly growing there even though he just shaved them. His face was smooth if it wasn't for the scars he had there. I also noticed the black under his eyes. I feel his sadness and tiredness there.

“Hmmm?” He moaned while staring at me intently.

"You can be weak with me. You can be vulnerable with me anytime and I don't mind it. You can cry on me or rant everything you want to me. You always have me, Hector, so please, stop hiding what you really feel about your life. About everything. I will accept it and understand it for you. If you can't, tell me. I will carry it all for you without hesitation. I just want you to know that I'll always be here, not only to listen but to understand it and accept it for you.” My voice trembled. The weight I feel in my chest only gets heavier.

In an instant, his smile disappeared—his fake smile that hides what he really feels. In an instant, I saw all his fear, anger, pain, grief, and hatred. I can see that and it feels like I'm being stabbed again and again because of that.

But he didn't say a thing. His silence made me understand his sorrow and grief. His silence made me understand his anger and agony. His silence made me understand his pain.

I smiled bitterly, trying to strengthen myself in front of him even though I felt like I was slowly melting away.

"I know everything that happened. Even if you don't tell me, I will know and know everything. And I hate you for hiding it from me just because you don't want me to worry about you. You can't take that away from me because I love you. I love you so much and it hurts me because I can't even help you to make you feel better because I don't know anything. But I understand your ways. I will always understand your ways. Please, it's okay not to be okay. We're not always strong." The pain I feel has completely engulfed me.

Just like him. His eyes flashed as his tears fell one after the other. But he remained silent and looked at me. After a while, he completely sat on the bed and covered his face. Next, his shoulders moved up and down, but I didn't hear anything from him crying except for his heavy breathing. He seems to be holding back his crying.

I knelt in front of him and looked up at him. I gently held his arm and let him cry quietly. I even let him lay down in our bed and hold him there. He just fell on my neck and I could feel his tears there.

Hector burst out crying for almost an hour. I didn't say anything. I just listened to him. I waited for him. And when he finished, he suddenly hugged me tightly.

"You don't have any idea how much I love you," he whispered to me. "I am every day thankful you came back to my life even if I made you doubt many times. I love you so much, Solei.”

I smiled. I turned to face him and stared at him. His eyes were wide and he was crying. I approached him and kissed both of his eyes. I feel like my heart will explode because I love him so much.

"I fell for you. . . And I am still falling, Hector," I uttered.

We stared at each other for a moment before our lips finally touched. It's passionate but light. Deep but gentle. I feel like I'm drowning in the way he kisses me. It's like an ocean that is deep and made me drown. It's like a fiery fire that is wild and making me feel burning.

The moon taught me there is beauty in darkness too. That even when I don't feel whole, I am enough. Hector made me feel it. He made me feel that I am more than enough.

We rode for half an hour to the main office warehouse of Black Lotus which is Anton's secret place. Because Hans, Hector's assistant, said that Hector's real mother's remains were straightened thereafter the investigation. That's all I heard from their conversation the other day.

When we got there, Rusty immediately greeted us. It seemed surprised to see me.

"I thought you wouldn't be able to come here," he said, making my forehead frown.

"Who said?"

"Vera. She said you can’t see her. Or she just doesn't want to let you out because of what happened last time in the hospital. We also know that you are not well yet," he answered me seriously, making me laugh.

"I'm fine, Rusty."

“She's not fine but I'm here. Stop bugging her," Hector said rudely to him so I was even more surprised and looked at him.

I heard Rusty's laughter as if he was still being teased.

“I'm not going to snatch Solei from you—”

"Don't call her as that or I will fucking punch your face, dumbass," Hector cut off what he was about to say so my eyes rolled.

Rusty chuckled again and marched back inside.

"Alright, madman. What a freaking jealous asshole," Rusty said and raised his middle finger so that my jaw dropped.

When I turned to Hector, his face was wrinkled so I patted him. "What's wrong?"

"That fucking idiot likes you. Don't ever go near that old man," he said sternly and led me inside.

I don't know if I should laugh because of his expression or be scared. It was obvious that Rusty was just teasing him and he punched him.

When we finally entered the warehouse, I was exposed to a lot of storage that I'm sure contained different guns. I expected that because of the organization they have but I'm still not really used to it. I still couldn't believe that I could use one of those guns and that I had killed countless Black Guerrilla men.

I saw Sir Anton approaching us.

"Are you feeling okay? How's your condition?" I heard this question from Hector who was referring to his momentary loss of memory. I just looked at the two of them while he held my hand.

"It's fine. Fortunately, it didn't last long. I don't even remember what I did during that damn memory loss, but the doctor said that I've been recovering," Hector answered. I just nodded.

"That's good to hear," he said and turned his gaze to me. "How about you, Ana? How are you? Your gunshot wounds, are they healed already?”

I automatically felt the gunshot wounds that I had sustained from the shooting that occurred that day. I can't still remember the whole happenings that day but I can clearly recall who shot me that day. It was Ares. When he shot me three times, he really intended to kill me—which I still can't accept.

I smiled bitterly. "Still a bit fresh but I'm feeling fine, Sir Anton—"

"Stop calling me sir, Anastacia. I'm not your boss anymore. This husband of yours will punch me," he laughed and said, making me wince.

I just scratched my head before deviating from the topic of why we came here.

"Are you sure you can now see her? You know, you have a lot of time now," said Anton as we walked.

Hector shrugged it off. That's what I'm worried about—that he might not be able to see his mother's remains because it's just a corpse. But from what I can see, it seems that he really wants to see it so I just let him.

"It's fine, Anton. I've been looking for her for a long time. That damn old man took everything from me and even included mom's dead body," he said firmly.

“The last update I received from the police was that they were conducting a massive search to find and capture Uncle Damien. I also learned that he had only a few men with him so it was impossible for him to go any further. He's old and he's getting tired. That will give up sooner or later, especially since even Aunt Valeria can no longer catch him with all the devilry he has done," Anton explained at length.

I just kept listening to the two of them until we reached a door. When Anton opened it, the dark room was revealed to us. The light was dim but a large object in the middle of the room was shining.

"You're not going to believe this," said Anton and led us towards that shining light.

As we got closer and closer, my chest pounded more and more. When I finally saw what that bright thing was, my whole system started to rumble and in an instant, I felt better. But the shock still remained in my whole being.

A glass showcase was there and inside it came a bright light. Inside that glass, the showcase was a very beautiful woman who seemed to be just sleeping. It seems that it is still alive and just sleeping. Is this his mom?

“What's the meaning of this? Why is it like this?" I heard Hector say. I saw him bending over the glass showcase as if he was looking carefully at what was inside.

"We recently found out that after Tita Carmella died, Uncle Damien ordered someone to freeze her body in order to keep her from decomposition. What your mom looked like when you last saw her when you were young, she still looks like that today. We don't know the reason why Uncle Damien did this but here she is...” Anton explained to Hector.

I looked at Hector's reaction. I can't explain his expression but I can tell he's slowly crashing from inside. He stared at Aunt Carmella. When I looked at the latter, I saw the similarity between the two of them. His mother is very beautiful. Its skin is white. The face is gentle and peaceful. I can tell she was a kind person. Especially maybe as a mother. I can tell she was warm, calm, and gentle. I can tell her holds made Hector feel safer. And I can feel how much he misses her holds. I can feel how much he wishes to bring her back to his life—something I also wished for when dad died.

I'm not sure what reason Don Damien has for keeping Aunt Carmella in this condition but I want to think he has a good reason. I like to think that his reason is for Hector. I hope his reason is for Hector because I know that's the only thing that can calm his heart from the war he was involved in.

"What's your plan? Do you want to bury her or stay like this?” Anton asked him. I kept looking at the glass showcase.

"I'm not really sure. I don't know," answered Hector lowly. I glanced at him. His eyes were filled with sadness so I took his hand and held it tightly.

"We can keep her in our house if you want," I suggested making them both look at me.

"I mean, while you are thinking about what to do with her, we can take her home and that will make you feel at ease. There's an empty room on the 3rd floor. He can be there, Hector,” I continued.

I could feel his grip tightening on my hand so I smiled. This is what he was thinking all along.

"Are you sure?" He reassured me so I nodded.

"I'm sure Amari will be happy when he sees how beautiful his grandmother is. She's smart. She'll understand it," I was sure to answer him.

"I will ask everyone to transfer her to your house immediately," Anton said so my smile grew even wider.

"Let's renovate first the room on the 3rd floor, hmm?" I asked him. But instead of answering me, he suddenly kissed me so strongly and deeply that I could hardly breathe.

“Damn. Get a room, guys. You're an eyesore.” I heard Anton say and left. When Hector and I parted, we both just laughed.