Chapter 621: Chapter 621

621 Reaction To Trauma

They were so full they couldn’t move.

Yeah, Arianna and Marcel had eaten quite a lot and right now, laid on their back, watching the clear blue sky as they rested. They lay side to side, with their hands tightly intertwined and making quite a cute couple. At that moment, Arianna and Marcel were nothing but ordinary couples having a good time in the park.

“I heard what you did for Victor,” Marcel finally brought up the conversation the both of them had been steering clear of. It was part of the reason he had taken her out of the house, to discuss it with her privately.

Arianna turned to him, folding her arm and placed her head on it. She said, “It was nothing.”

Marcel let out a deep breath. It was obvious he didn’t think of her gesture as little.

“What is wrong with Victor?” Arianna asked him. Although she had her suspicions, she needed to be sure.

Marcel turned to her, holding her gaze as he said, “More like whose fault is it he turned out that way?”

“What do you mean?” She was curious to know the whole story.

“Remember how we met as a kid?”

.....

“Yeah?”

“That wasn’t the whole story and Victor’s somehow involved in it,” Marcel confessed, making her brows raise in interest.

“Alright, go on,” Arianna drew closer to him, pulling her legs up so her knee was touching his body.

“Victor and I, we have been inseparable since birth,” Marcel began, wetting his lips as he went on, “Even when his mother Carmine hated Daniel’s ass for causing their brother’s death, the little punk didn’t let it come between us. His mother tried everything possible to separate us because she felt I would be nothing but a bad influence on him, fat big thanks to my father. Moreover, aunt Carmine wanted out of the family business, Albine’s death had shattered something inside of her. Sadly, Victor was as resilient as a cockroach.

“So when she couldn’t stop her son from seeing me, aunty simply gave up. Instead, she remained in the organization all just to keep an eye on her only son. Not that Daniel cared, no, to him, it was a blessing. If Victor was the key to making his sister stay, why wouldn’t he approve of it? He needed someone on his side. I guess even monsters have soft spots for their sisters.” He muttered softly.

Arianna slightly frowned, she didn’t like his use of the word, “monster” because she had a feeling that he wasn’t just referring to his father – Marcel tactically included himself as one.

He continued, “I didn’t have any friends growing up nor would my relatives associate with me. They were all scared of my father and it was for a good reason. Daniel didn’t want any unnecessary attachment to weaken me. To him, all of my relatives were his enemies, competing for the throne and I was his perfect weapon, his legacy. I had only my mother, Chloe, and Victor.

“Unfortunately, Victor was not ignorant of how Daniel treated my mother, and by chance, he came to know of my plans to escape that hell hole with my mother and he wanted in on the plan too. However, I was naturally much smarter than Victor and I knew there was no way he could go with me. He had a perfect family that loved him, I could not take him with me. But then, Victor was quite annoying and headstrong as a kid. The night that I escaped from my Daniel, he knew about my plans and tailed me. Sadly, for him, while I successfully escaped, he wasn’t so lucky.” Marcel told him

The breath hung in Arianna’s throat and she was curious as hell when she asked, “What happened?”

“Victor got into the wrong hands. The great Daniel isn’t exactly loved by everyone and has a talent for attracting trouble. I was the target of the kidnap, Daniel’s son, the apple of his eye. And while I ignorantly escaped, Victor took my place. It turned out that the man who kidnapped Victor was a bit crazy in the head and had a great vendetta against Daniel. When he found out that he had the wrong boy, he decided to play around with Victor. ”

Arianna gasped,” Don’t tell me he – ”

“No, he didn’t,” Marcel cleared her fears of assault, “It was much worse.”

Marcel swallowed deeply, feeling uneasy about visiting a chapter of his life he had closed a while ago. He said, “He made Victor dress up as a clown while he tortured him. Victor was merely a kid then, however, he wasn’t allowed to express any other kind of expression aside from happiness while he was being abused. The madman claimed he was freeing him from the confines of pain and agony, but all he did was break a young kid.

“By the time my family tracked Victor down, he was a mess, bloody and haunted. He had to go through a lot of therapies, and surgeries to repair what had been broken. But then, even if the outside was fixed, what about the inside?” Marcel asked, staring her deep in the eyes.

Arianna felt uneasy about the story, however, she could imagine how hard it was for Marcel, knowing he blamed himself for what happened. She reached out and began to run her hand through his hair soothingly while he continued.

“Victor eventually recovered and everyone was happy, or so we thought until he had his first episode. It was at a party and one of the guests dressed up as a clown, unintentionally triggering him. That was when we found out.

“Hypomania,” Marcel revealed about his sickness, “That was what the doctor called it. I doubt Victor even fully understands his diagnosis or cares enough to do research. The doctors said he had some sort of ‘reaction to trauma’ that would cause unstable moods occasionally. And knowing who Victor is, he probably stopped listening when the doctor started explaining the symptoms. He knows they want him to take medication and recommended therapy. ”