Chapter 167: If I Had Known
Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion
"Itâs ironic, isnât it? Hayden went looking for Jack and because of that my father found out exactly where he was hiding and who he was hiding as," Ethan revealed with a look of pure disgust on his face.
"Thatâs not trueâ¦" I said in a shocked whisper.
"Itâs true enough, trust me. Hayden found Jack and soon after your parents had that unfortunate accident. My stupid father arranged it all. I had to beat him up until he was spurting out blood for him to confess everythingâ¦" Ethan said emotionlessly like it was nothing.
"What?" I gasped in shock.
I wasnât sure if I was more shocked that my father somehow died because of Hayden or the fact that Ethan beat up his own dad for him to confess. Suddenly, these two men just seemed to come from a different dimension from where I was accustomed to living. Is this how the real mafia world works?
"He didnât tell you? How do you think I became the Head of Silva so soon?" Ethan hissed close to my ear.
"Noâ¦you didnâtâ¦" I said as I shook my head in denial.
"Yes, I killed them both. My father and my mother on that exact same night that I left youâ¦" Ethan said and I felt the heat from his fingertips as it stroked a line down the side of my face.
"Noâ¦" I whimpered.
"Succession wars inside a gang is quite normal for the mafia. The men wanted me to lead more than my father so there wasnât much of a fuss when I got rid of them both," Ethan said with a shrug.
I couldnât believe that the sweet Ethan that I knew could do something so heartless without feeling bothered by it. He killed his own parents and heâs laughing about it? What is wrong with him?
Instead of getting scared of him, I felt anger boiling up inside of me.
"How can you say that?! Donât say it like itâs nothing!" I screamed at him as I stood up from my seat.
Ethan probably doesnât realize it, but I did. Heâs hurting himself and I just couldnât stand by and watch in silence.
"That bastard killed Jack! He killed your father! He killed my father!" Ethan yelled at the top of his lungs as he also got up from his seat.
Ohâ¦thatâs right. Ethan hated his parents. Jack, my father, was probably like a father to Ethan.
"Ethanâ¦" I whispered his name as I felt and shared his pain and suffering.
Unlike me, who had been blissfully ignorant of everything for so long, Ethan had been suffering all along and perhaps he was still suffering.
"Malissaâ¦Lisaâ¦it was all for youâ¦" Ethan said as slowly lifted a hand and cupped my cheek.
Tears automatically feel from my eyes. I watched through my tears as he smiled gently yet sadly at me before the pad of his thumb wiped my tears away.
"Ethan, please stopâ¦" I whispered pleadingly.
Slowly, I raised my arms up and pulled him into a tight hug. I felt his body stiffen in surprise at my forward action before he relaxed completely in my arms. His arms circled my body before I felt the force of his embrace as he hugged me back.
"Please donât say anymoreâ¦" I pleaded for him to stop.
As I held him in my arms, I wondered if thing would have ended up differently between us if I knew the truth before this. I wondered and blamed myself for not seeing the various signs even when I lived with him. Back then, I could tell sometimes that Ethan was visibly upset or frustrated. Why didnât I try to help him or understand him more before?
Even on that rainy night that he left me, I was too worried about myself, and my happiness and I never fully understood the truth behind his parting words. If I knew the truth, perhaps there was a chance that we would still be together todayâ¦
â¦
**That night**
The sound of thunder was so loud that I felt the ground shake beneath my feet. Were rainstorms supposed to be common this time of the year? I shuddered from the sound of thunder again. Flashes of light leaked in from the outside through the slit between the curtains from the lightning. It was pouring outside and had been that way for hours now.
At this rate, itâs going to rain all night until morning came.
It was very late at night, but I couldnât go to sleep. One reason was the heavy and noisy rainstorm outside while the other reason was the fact that Ethan hasnât made it back home yet. To make matters worse, I called him multiple times, but he never picked up. It was just very unusual. Without any logical reason, I started to have a bad feeling about tonight.
Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open and there was Ethan in the doorway. I gasped in shock at the sight of him all drenched from the rain with his wet black shirt plastered to his skin. His dark hair was all wet as well and it made him look so wild.
"Ethan! What happened? Why are you back so late?" I asked as I ran to him.
He closed the door behind him and walked straight into the room without bothering to reply to my questions.
"Youâre drenched. How did you get so wet? What were you doing out there in the rain?" I asked in confusion as I followed him into the room.
He was wet all over and the rain dripped onto the floor. Ethan had not said anything since he got back, and I found that strange. He seemed lost in a daze, and I wasnât sure if he could see or hear me at all.
"Ethanâ¦" I called his name again.
Ethan didnât reply to me, but his hands began rapidly stripping off his wet clothes, starting from his black shirt and his pants, and the rest of his clothing quickly followed in succession. It must have been very cold and wet outside. I prayed silently that he wouldnât catch a cold. Just as I turned away to grab him a towel for his shower, I felt a firm grip around my wrist.
--To be continuedâ¦