Page 99 of The Heart of a Villain

Pouring rain cascades over me, soaking me to the bone. I walk barefoot to my house as if in a trance, barely focusing on anything while my uncles follow behind me.

The massive oak double doors open up wide, and my mom shouts, “Aileen!” She runs toward me, not caring about the rain destroying her white suit and dirt smearing her high heels. They move over the concrete, sending pebbles from under her feet flying.

And each step stabs into my soul harder and harder because with each one, she comes closer to me and the truth that will change her life.

My lungs squeeze inside my chest, cutting off my oxygen supply, and I stop midway, wrapping my hand around my throat and gulping for breath that doesn’t come no matter how much I try.

My mother reaches me in four more strides and hugs me tight, her vanilla and lavender scent penetrating my nostrils and easing the panic consuming me, letting me finally take a deep breath.

Only to exhale it heavily while she murmurs, “Thank God!” She leans back and palms my head, kissing me on the forehead and my cheeks. “My baby is back. Are you all right?” She looks me over, touching my shoulders and arms. “Thank God, you’re home!” she exclaims again, embracing me hard once more and rocking me in her arms, inviting me to find the peace I always associate only with her.

For the first time in my life, though, her arms hurt me because the pain shaking me from the inside out threatens to destroy me.

How does a child tell her mother that her father is…?

I scrunch my eyes, my hands fisting on her back, while tears stream down my cheeks and a sob slips past my throat, which makes Mom freeze. “It’s okay, baby girl. No one will hurt you now. You’re home.” The tears continue, and through my blurry vision, I see Aunt Callista and Aunt Giselle slowly walking to us. By the expressions on their faces, it’s clear they know the truth and came here to support my mother. “My baby girl!” Mom murmurs, kissing my hair and rubbing my back. “I was so worried. Oh, I never want to experience this feeling again.” She rubs her palm over my arm. “You’re cold. We need to get you inside.” She steps back and says, “Why aren’t you wearing a jacket?”

Instead of answering her, I move farther away while she looks behind me, her brows furrowing, and she removes the wet hair from her face. The lightning flashes in the sky, brightening everything around us for a second before darkness takes its place again. “Lachlan?” She calls my father’s name, and the now-familiar feeling of someone grabbing me by the throat envelops me, my heartbeat speeding up. “Where is Lachlan?”

“Mom,” I whisper, gulping for air once again and swallowing back my sob while more tears fall. “Mommy.”

“Lachlan! She’s freezing. Where the hell are—”

“Mom!”

She finally focuses on me, studying my expression for several seconds, and stills, shaking her head as if she refuses to believe it. “Lachlan!” she shouts again, this time panic and confusion lacing her tone while she slips off her heels. “Lachlan!”

I start crying in this moment, sobs shaking my entire system. “Uncle Arson?” Even though I begged them all to give me a chance to break the news to her, I can’t.

He hears the plea in my voice and comes toward us. “Valencia,” he addresses my mom. “Valencia.”

“Where is Lachlan, Arson? It’s raining.” She extends her hand to me as if wanting to give me her comfort, but then she takes it back, looking at Uncle Arson again. “Where is Lachlan?”

They hold each other’s stare, and he splays his palm open, where my father’s platinum wedding ring glistens in the night.

Mom steps back, wrapping her fingers around a sapphire neckless with three hearts that Dad gifted her when they adopted Levi. It was always a representation of our love for her. “I don’t understand,” she says, although by the notes ringing in her tone, I know she does. “He told me he’d be back. He’s always back.”

“Valencia.”

She shakes her head. “No. He always comes home. He promised me he’d be back. Is this a joke?” she asks and inhales deeply. “Oh God.”

“Valencia.”

“Stop repeating my name!” she screams at Uncle Arson, tears filling her eyes while she takes another step backward, her body trembling. “Stop it.” She clenches and unclenches her fists. “Where is Lachlan?”

Silence greets her question as we all stare at her, sobs suffocating me, and I fall to my knees, crying so hard my throat and lungs hurt.

Although any physical pain is just an echo of the one tearing me open on the inside, burying my soul under grief and guilt so heavy I wonder if it’s possible to die from it.

Only, my death wouldn’t change a thing, would it?

Sometimes, we cannot atone for our mistakes, as some consequences are irreversible.

“Aileen!” Mom yells, and I cover my ears with my hands, avoiding looking at her because it means putting an end to the hope she still harbors in her soul.

Even though she must know what happened, my father would have never allowed her such distress if he was here.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, jerking when thunder echoes louder than the previous few, and the rain intensifies, my knees dipping into the ground while fresh water mixes with my salty tears. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”

---