Chapter 104: Chapter 104

- I'm sorry too - your voice comes out low.

I don't know if she's talking about my father, or all those hellish years at Donneli Manor. But anyway, the way her voice breaks, and the fragility it demonstrates, tells me that Margot is talking about everything. She is sorry for everything.

It's too bad I don't give a fuck.

- Angel? - the voice on the other end of the line calls, and this time, it's not Margot.

- Lived?

I feel my eyes fill with tears. Suddenly I'm a kid again, and she's the kind lady who bakes the best cakes in the world.

- Oh, my child. How are you?

"I wish I felt worse," I answer honestly.

- Don't make yourself feel bad, Ange. Elliot wasn't the best person in the world,” Genevieve says, and I can see her brows furrowing and a slight smile on her face.

- But he was my father - I repeat what my mother always said - He deserved to live longer. For my mother, at least, it wasn't so bad.

My few memories of the three of us aren't the best, but I remember my mom saying he was financially present, and that was enough for her. I wish it was enough for me too.

Genevieve smiles.

- If he hadn't been mean, your mother would have left the diamonds for him, not for you, girl.

ANGELIC...

I feel my thoughts stall for a second, like I'm not able to process all the information.

Diamonds?

What did she mean?

Vaguely, I begin to try to reason. My mother's family had a mine in Russia, but that went bankrupt many years ago. She didn't even have a decent inheritance to receive.

Either Genevieve has the information seriously wrong...or I do.

- The... diamonds? What are you talking about? I ask. The only sound coming from the other side is the click of high heels approaching – Genevieve?

- Holy crap! What did you say? I hear Margot murmur.

- Genevieve! – I call again, but the call is ended – Holy shit – I repeat.

I pull the phone away from my ear and bring it in front of my eyes, staring at the screen in such disbelief. I see that the call has indeed ended, but I can't stop looking at my phone, remembering the conversation and creating theories.

Diamonds. What the fuck does that mean?

I can't choose this moment to be stupid. I know Genevieve was talking about an alleged inheritance, and the way Margot cut the call off and hung up on me, not even trying to give me an excuse, tells me it wasn't a mistake. That heritage exists, and someone doesn't want me to know about it.

Maybe my maternal family's diamond mine never went bankrupt, or it just got back up and running. I don't know, or maybe I just don't want to believe it. Because if that's true, and if Aaron really knew everything about my life from the first day we met, then he knew about the inheritance.

He knew...

In the first attack, when he approached my father in the ballroom. The way he had access to the president, even though he was an unknown. The way he saved me and was the hero. That day, Margot was not present.

And when I went to confession, I knew it wasn't Father Bee on the other side of the confessional. He was the one listening to me. That same night, he was at Margot's birthday celebration, even though he had never been close to our family.

He continued to do business with Elliot, sponsoring his campaigns and putting his money into something he knew would never return. Margot defended him as if he were our savior.

I was always in danger, and he always saved me. He was in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. And when he thought he didn't have enough control over me, he took his checkbook out of his pocket and bought me. For God's sake, he brought me to a desert island!

My mind is spinning, and I have to sit up in bed so I don't collapse on the floor.

I think of every damn moment I was being lied to, and allowed myself to be lied to. I wanted to be tricked because I was with Aaron. He was with Margot all this time, making me believe we were living a fairy tale together.

And... why?

Because of the money? Power? Status?

What could he have of me that he didn't already have on his own?

I get back to my feet when I hear the bathroom door open. I want to look at Aaron and make sure I'm overreacting, that he would never be that short. However, when I look around me, I can't see more than a castle of lies.

It hurts.

Really hurts.

It hurts in my heart, then in my entire core. It hurts in my bones, under my skin, in every muscle and vein. It hurts my head, my limbs and my joints. It hurts physically and emotionally.

I see myself shatter and crumble into pieces so small that the wind would carry it away, but it refuses to carry away such an insignificant pile of dust.

It hurts because the betrayal is sharp, and when it hits the balloon of trust I used to have, it's like everything stops making sense.

I'm paralyzed. The pain is so great that crying would be too little to express, so the tears take a long time to form in my eyes. I watch, in slow motion, the phone slip between my fingers and fall to the floor, and I don't even feel like stopping it. I want to stay still long enough for this to become a dream.

And when the first drop slides down my face, Aaron walks out the bathroom door. His eyes search the room for me, but I suspect I'm too small to even be seen.

He takes a step towards me, and I flinch automatically, as if his proximity is painful. Aaron stops mid-stride. And then I can't look at him anymore. It is very cruel that my heart is in such pain when it was so pounding just a few minutes ago. And besides, it's really cruel that Aaron doesn't even ask me what happened, because he already knows.

- The diamonds - I mumble lower than I planned. He remains silent, waiting for me to pour out all my hurt and tears. “I have an inheritance,” I say. I look up at her face, searching for the slightest hint of surprise – Did you know that? I ask. My voice drops to a barely audible whisper – Did you know that – This time I say it.

Please deny.

Please prove to me that I wasn't wrong about you.

Aaron sighs, and his shoulders sag in a way I've never seen a man so big and confident. His silence breaks me into a thousand pieces, but I think his words would do the same thing.

So it is true. He had a purpose at the top, and I was part of the steps.

- Elliot sold me like a dog, and you let me believe I had nothing - I murmur - You were willing to take care of me as if I had no other option. You... - my voice breaks, because a lump the size of a golf ball settles in my throat - What was your objective? – I question.

And even though our eyes are locked on each other, it's like we're in different worlds. Aaron doesn't even blink, and all I get from him is the disturbing silence.

I take a few steps towards you. He can keep omitting it, but he'll do it by staring me in the face and knowing he's an asshole.

- If you knew about the diamonds and never told me, what did you plan? I ask.

It's a genuine question.

Did he want money? He has.

Did he want power? He has.

Did he want some status? He does not need.

So my God, what did he want from me? Dominating my life while Margot wasted my money?

- Don't suggest that - and as if reading my mind, he says.

My heart squeezes in a way I can swear it will bleed. Oh my God!

His few words hurt more than a speech, because they allow me to think of many possibilities. But in the end, they all point to the same place: he made sure I was busy falling in love while allowing Margot to get her hands on my mother's inheritance. And I didn't even know about the damn diamonds. They didn't have to go to such lengths to trick me.

- It's so nice to be a god in people's lives, isn't it? Decide what they do, what they know, where they go, what they eat... - I wish I was screaming, however, my voice is low and squeaky. Destroyed.

- I didn't do this to you – Aaron guarantees.

In fact, he didn't. Who did this to me with Elliot Donneli. What Aaron did was much, much worse.

- So what do you think you did? Did you protect me? - shout.

Tears flow down like waterfalls, but I only realize I'm crying so hard when I start to taste salt in my mouth.

The pain is still overwhelming, but anger starts to boil in me. Aaron is static and expressionless, as if being here is just another part of his day. The only person devastated by what he's heard in the last few minutes is me.

- I'll tell you what I would have done - I say, wiping the tears roughly with my fingers - I would have lifted my life, because I never would have needed you. I would never be here. I never...

"No," he cuts me off, shaking his head for emphasis. For the first time since the conversation began, Aaron expresses something other than boredom – Don't say that.

'I would never be with you,' I say anyway.

Your pupils immediately dilate. Aaron furrows his brows. Confusion and disappointment mix on her face. And although it breaks my heart to tell him this, when, on the same day, I thought of telling him I loved him, it also broke my heart to be deceived.

I take a step back, perhaps in the foolish hope that he will stop me from pulling away. But when it doesn't, I take another step back. Our end, little by little, becomes a heavier reality. And then, feeling my heart shatter in sadness, I run out of the room.

- Angelic! – I hear him calling.

I'm sobbing as I walk down the stairs, and all I see is the door. It doesn't matter what I'm wearing or wearing. I just want to get out of here and realize that there's something out there that isn't a lie, that wasn't specially designed to trick me.

And when I reach the door and put my hand to the handle, I hear Aaron's heavy footsteps on the stairs.

"Don't you dare leave this house," he says.

I freeze in place. I thought I couldn't go any deeper into the deep end, but as it turns out, a shovel came up. I slowly turn to him.

- Why? – I ask – Why am I yours? Why did you buy me? Why do I have nowhere to go?

- I never lied to you - claims.

- You omitted – I'm so mentally tired that I can't scream anymore.

- Yes, and I'm sorry about that. I messed up. I'm guilty – he slides his hands through his wet hair – I'm sorry.

The words are spoken with such trepidation that they lead me to believe this is the first time he's apologizing for something.

I found out, so he's sorry. However, if we were still living the pretend life he forged, I wouldn't feel it. So I move closer to him and press my finger into the middle of his chest.

- You! – disdain – Are you sorry?

It would be comical if it weren't so miserable. And if I weren't red and puffy from crying, I might have laughed. His dubious humor was one of the things that charmed me, now... yeah, I guess the charm has worn off.

Of all the things that hurt me, lying wasn't the worst. People lie every day. The worst thing was realizing that, in the end, I was a trophy. I was afraid of becoming a trophy for Vicenzo Mares. I wanted to be loved for real, not for convenience. And God knows I thought Aaron liked me, no games. I thought your soul liked mine.

Big bullshit.

- It's not enough… – I cry – Your apology isn't enough. I need you to feel this pain. I need you to feel betrayed too – I continue – I was loyal to you. I entrusted everything I had to you – although I'm saying it out loud, these words are for myself, to realize how stupid I was – Why did I do that? To be treated as if I had no value... - My voice drops - Again?

Aaron reaches out a hand, as if to touch my face. However, his hand stops midway. His eyes sparkle, but I refuse to believe he's going to cry. It would be too dramatic even for a liar like him.

I walk away again. I have to confess that it's impossible to walk out that door with my heart. He refuses to be away from Aaron. So when I leave, I'm pretty sure I'll have a hole in my chest.

I hear footsteps upstairs, and when I look up, I see Manfred at the top of the stairs. He stares at me without much surprise, then lowers his head, and that makes me even sadder. He also knew...

I shake my head. It's easy to understand that being loyal would not guarantee that I would receive loyalty, but it's hard to accept. I turn to the door before I even look at Aaron one last time, because I really need to go.

I need, I don't want.

I can't look at him, but I can't look away either. Aaron is giving me a million reasons to leave, but I find myself standing there, not having the courage to actually leave. I'm still trying to make the worst look better because none of it has made the way I feel about him go away. If he said something that might be true… I could try to decipher which parts I could believe.

I just need a reason to stay.

A damn reason.

I close my eyes tightly. The way I've been treated by the people in my life has been a cycle, and this is my only chance to break it. So I swallow all the forgiveness Aaron even asked for, but I was willing to give. I open my eyes again, and the door is right in front of me.

I accepted anything, because I had been getting nothing since forever.