“That’s right. My old man paid for all the ransom and waved it off as your father borrowing from him. The debt contract that my old man showed you was drafted and signed then. I don’t know this for sure, but my father probably didn’t want any of the money back. To him, he was just helping out a friend. Back then the Torex business isn’t the size that it is today so that money was a significant amount,” Hayden explained before grinning at me. “I never knew this. Your father showed me a clause in the contract that I had to marry a member of the gang of his choice…” I said as I recalled the day that the boss showed me the debt contract. “My father wanted us to get married. He still does. However, he was the only one who supported and understood your father’s decision to cut all ties with the mafia. The contract was signed in your parent’s new name too because of that. My father was probably the only one who knew of Jack’s new identity,” Hayden continued to explain. One thing for sure
“Hayden…is it really true?” I asked through my sobs. Somehow, I knew that Hayden wouldn’t be lying about something like this. Ethan’s father killed my parents and if I had been in that car that day just like I usually would have been, then he would have succeeded in killing me too. “Let’s stop for today. I don’t think you can take anymore…” Hayden said decisively as he reached out and started stroking my head comfortingly.That tender and loving action only made my tears fall faster than before as it reminded me of the gentle touch of my mother and the kind words of my father. Hayden pulled me softly against his chest and wrapped his arms around my body. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried into the crook of his neck. Hayden stroked my back comfortingly as he whispered sweet words of comfort to me. At that moment, I could understand a little why Hayden thought that perhaps it would have been better to keep me forever in the dark. Knowing the truth hurts so muc
Despite my belief that Hayden would be gone the following day, Hayden spent the next couple of days living together at my place. I liked having him around and I was getting used to spending my days with him; however, after a couple of days I realized that this wasn’t normal. He stuck to me like glue and followed me wherever I went. I didn’t want to tell him this, but he was getting in the way of my daily life. “Hayden…when are you heading back to your place?” I asked one evening while we were having dinner together in my small apartment. “You don’t like having me around?” He asked as he placed down the fork that he had been holding. I sighed, knowing that he would say something like that. “It’s not like that. It’s just…you’ve been around me all the time and…I guess it affects my work…” I told him hesitantly. Hayden was silent for a while as he took my words in. I used that time to silently pray that he would not completely flip out. The issue was that I got a call from work earli
A week went by without any noteworthy events. Hayden and I had adjusted a little to our new pace in life. What that basically meant was that he no longer stuck to my side all the time. We met up when I got off work and when he was free. He would spend some nights at my apartment and the others back at his place. Hayden didn’t tell me about it, but I was sure that some of his men were probably watching me at places that I frequented such as the art school and my apartment building. After wrapping up a busy day of teaching at the school, I was tidying up. Carrying a bunch of artbooks in my arms, I headed back towards my classroom where I needed to arrange them back into place. Teaching was hard work, but it was also so fun and felt so fulfilling. I loved my students, my colleagues, and my job. “The girl who painted this has got some crazy talent, don’t you think?” a man’s voice spoke up the moment that I entered the classroom. “Ethan…” I whispered his name before the thudding sound o
“It’s ironic, isn’t 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. “That’s not true…” I said in a shocked whisper. “It’s 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 everything…” Ethan said emotionlessly like it was nothing. “What?” I gasped in shock. I wasn’t 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 didn’t tell you? How do you think I became the Head of Silva so soon?” Ethan hissed close to my ear. “No…you didn’t…” I said as I shook my head i
“Ethan? You should take a warm shower,” I said as I turned back to face him. I quickly found out that Ethan had other things in mind that had nothing to do with taking a shower when he lifted me into his arms and started carrying me towards our bed. He threw me onto the bed before he got on top of me. I let a cry when my back hit the mattress of the bed. Before I could do anything, Ethan was on top of me, and his hands started tearing my thin satin nightgown off my body. “Ethan…wait…” I protested more in confusion than in refusal. His demanding hands groped and squeezed my breasts roughly and I let out a cry. Quickly, he completely removed my nightgown from my body and threw it on the floor. Ethan buried his face in the crook of my neck and his lips began sucking hard on the sensitive skin on the side of my neck. I let out a loud moan at the slightly stinging sensation as he continued to suck on the side of my neck while his hands started to caress and play with my breasts roughly.
“It doesn’t matter what you want. From now on, we’re no longer a couple,” Ethan said without a care. “Wait! Why are you breaking up with me so suddenly? What happened? What is going on?” I cried out in my desperation. I couldn’t understand him at all. What brought this on so suddenly? Yesterday, everything was still normal. Ethan didn’t reply. It was like he didn’t have anything more to say. However, I had a lot more to say. “Did I do something wrong?” I asked in confusion. Ethan looked at me with blank eyes as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. No words escaped his lips, and the room was dead silent save for the sound of the storm raging outside. This wasn’t the time for me to laze around in bed any longer, so I stood up and approached him. “Ethan, please don’t break up with me…” I pleaded as I burst into tears. I clutched at his forearm with my hands tightly, afraid that he would turn and leave. I’ll die if he leaves. I can’t imagine a life without him. Whenever
“I found what I wanted to do with my life that night. After dealing with my father, I found Jack’s diary that my father had kept hidden for years. That was when I realized that I wanted to continue what Jack couldn’t finish,” Ethan explained. “My father’s diary?” I asked curiously. “Yup. Up until then, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life but reading what Jack wrote gave me the answers that I was looking for. I want to fulfill Jack’s wishes,” Ethan stated with determination. “What did my father wish for?” I asked. “Uniting Torex and Silva and your happy marriage to Hayden Torex,” Ethan stated. “I don’t think my father wanted me to marry Hayden anymore because he didn’t want me to associate myself with the mafia,” I interjected. “Why do you think Hayden became a doctor?” Ethan asked in response. “That’s…” I mumbled. Was it because of my father? “Maybe it wasn’t all because of Jack but he surely played a part in it. Usually, doctors don’t associate themselves with gan