Chapter 73: 73
Cicilia wrapped her small arms tightly around my neck as I quickened my pace toward the gate, my heart thudding as Justin tried to catch up to us.
"Carmela!" he called, his voice sharp with worry, but I didn’t respond. Instead, I picked up my pace, hurrying toward the building only to collide with someone. Strong hands caught me before I could stumble backward.
"Uncle!" Cicilia exclaimed excitedly. I looked up, my breath catching, and met Nix’s steady, unblinking gaze.
"And where are the both of you coming from?" he asked, his eyes locked on mine.
"We... we went to get ice cream," Cicilia said, holding up her cone. The ice cream had already melted, dripping down her fingers. "Oh no, it’s gone!"
"Cicilia, come with me. I’ll get you another cone," Justin said gently as he finally reached us. He lifted her from my arms, leaving me alone under Nix’s stern, disapproving stare.
"I told you not to leave the house," he said quietly, but his tone was heavy with reprimand.
"No, you didn’t tell me, you wrote it down. And imagine if I never saw the message?" I shot back, walking past him.
"But you saw it, didn’t you? So why did you?"
"Mr. Dean, I’ve been wanting to ask you a question." I turned to face him properly, searching his expression, but his face remained unreadable, calm, almost solemn.
"What flavor of ice cream is better than chocolate?" I asked with a faint smile.
That wasn’t the question I truly wanted to ask. What I really wanted to know was what comes next, what exactly is the status of our relationship now? Six months are almost up, and with no more obstacles standing in his way of becoming the heir, is there even a reason for us to continue this relationship?
He exhaled deeply before closing the distance between us. Resting his chin gently on my shoulder, he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Breathe, beloved," he murmured. And as if he held command over my body, I obeyed drawing in a long, shaky breath.
"I won’t leave you, no matter what," he whispered. "I promise. I’ll always be by your side. Once we resolve the issue with the dynasty, we’ll go far away from here and start a new life together."
Hearing those words sent a wave of warmth through my chest, a strange, fleeting comfort that momentarily loosened the tight knot of worry I’d been carrying since I woke up. For a heartbeat, I allowed myself to breathe. But then again... no one can truly control the future, can they? Hope is a fragile thing it burns bright, yet it trembles at the slightest wind of uncertainty.
"The scientist claims to know your mother’s whereabouts," he said finally, his voice calm but heavy with unspoken caution.
I froze. The air between us thickened, and my pulse drummed in my ears. My gaze lifted slowly to meet his, searching for even the faintest hint of deception. For years, I had clung to the impossible idea that my mother was still alive somewhere, maybe hidden, and waiting, or maybe even looking for me. Yet each time the topic surfaced, it tore through the fragile walls I’d built around that hope, leaving me raw with longing and fear.
"Really?" The word barely escaped my lips, thin and uncertain, as if my voice itself didn’t dare to believe.
"Yes..." He exhaled, his expression tightening before he turned and started back toward the room. His footsteps were measured, and cautious. "He insists he’ll only tell you her location and you alone. But then I find it suspicious, and possibly a trap. His supporters are still out there, scattered but dangerous. That’s why I told you not to leave the house."
His warning lingered in the air like the echo of a storm. Every instinct in me screamed to run, to find her, to see for myself , yet beneath that urgency was the unmistakable chill of dread. Because if this was a trap... I might not survive it
"You know I can protect myself, right?" I said, arching a brow at him. He nodded immediately, like a loyal puppy responding to its owner’s command obedient, but unconvinced.
"I know," he replied softly, his voice barely above a whisper. He reached out, brushing a loose strand of hair from my face with the gentleness of someone afraid I might break. "But you aren’t fully recovered yet. Everything that’s happened, the plotting, the execution, the sleepless nights and it’s taken a toll on you. You need rest, more than anything."
His fingers lingered against my temple before sliding down to my neck, his touch steady and familiar. I sighed and leaned into him, letting the tension in my shoulders melt away. He lay back, and I followed, curling into his warmth. My arms wrapped around him instinctively, and my head found its place on his chest. His heartbeat thrummed beneath my ear calm, unhurried, a steady rhythm that anchored me to the present. For a moment, it drowned out the chaos that had consumed our lives.
It was almost easy to pretend that everything was normal that the walls around us weren’t holding secrets, that danger wasn’t waiting just beyond the gate.
It’s all going to be over soon, I kept telling myself, clinging to that fragile promise like a prayer. I had already given up once, after the accident, when darkness swallowed everything and waking up felt like punishment. Even then, I thought the world I’d return to would be cruel, broken, and beyond repair.
But somehow, against all logic, things had begun to align again quietly, almost miraculously as if fate itself was tired of testing me.
Now, there was only one thing left: to find my mother. And when that was done, when the last thread of this dynasty’s curse was severed, I would disappear with him far from the noise, far from the blood, far from everything that had ever hurt us.
Just peace and us.
"Nix?" I whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Since when did Lily get involved?" I asked, tilting my head to look up at him. His gaze was steady but distant, as though he was searching for the right words before speaking.
"About that," he murmured, eyes lowering. "She came on her own after discovering that Damian was involved with her parents."
I hesitated for a moment, my thoughts swirling before a question slipped out almost on its own. "And why did you buy me?"
The air grew still. His hand froze mid-stroke, the warmth between us suddenly turning fragile. A heavy silence hung in the room thick, uncomfortable, almost suffocating. I could hear the faint ticking of the clock on the wall, the sound of our breathing out of sync. My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for him to say something..vanything.
When he finally spoke, his voice was calm, almost too calm. "I won’t say I had pure intentions when I approached you," he admitted, each word deliberate, low. "I’m not going to lie I did have my own selfish reasons for coming to you, especially since you no longer remembered anything about the dynasty."
There was no defensiveness in his tone only a quiet, painful honesty. And somehow, that made it harder to breathe. I could feel the sincerity behind his words, like an invisible thread tugging at my chest. It hurt, but it also comforted me in a strange way because at least now, I knew he wasn’t pretending.
"You always visited me at the orphanage, right?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper as I looked up at him with pleading eyes, silently hoping for a yes
"Yes."
That single word was all I needed to reassure myself a quiet confirmation that no matter what happened, he would always be there. A sense of calm washed over me, fragile but real. I parted my lips to say something maybe to tell him how much that meant but the words never made it out.
A strange warmth trickled beneath my nose. At first, I thought it was nothing, just a fleeting irritation, but then the metallic scent hit me sharp, unmistakable. My vision wavered slightly as I touched my upper lip, and when I pulled my hand away, my fingertips were smeared red.
"Nix..." I whispered, my voice trembling.
He was already moving before I could say more his calm composure shattered in an instant. "Carmela!" he called, his tone laced with panic as he reached for a handkerchief from the nightstand. The room seemed to tilt as I blinked, the edges of my sight darkening like ink spreading through water.
I tried to stay conscious, to focus on his voice calling my name, but the sounds around me began to blur the rustle of sheets, his hurried footsteps, the faint thud of something falling to the floor. My head felt unbearably heavy, and my heartbeat slowed into a muffled rhythm in my ears.
"Nix..." I tried again, weaker this time, reaching out to where I thought he was but my arm barely lifted before my strength gave out.
The world dimmed around me, the room dissolving into a haze of shadows. The last thing I felt was his hand gripping mine, firm and desperate, before everything went completely dark.