Chapter 96 Chapter Ninety Six
At first, I flinched away, then I moved closer and flattened my palm on the small mound that I had thought was just a pile of sand. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I couldn’t stop them from flowing freely.
Now looking closely at it, I could see the weeds sprouting from the mound like they were mocking me. The sight felt like a dagger getting piercing into my heart.
My ch*st hurt so much it was as if my heart had been wrenched out of it, and it was groaning from the loss of what it revolved around. That was exactly how I also felt, a hollow emptiness. All these years, I had been waiting for Lucas, hoping against hope that he was alive, and then he turned out to be…gone. I had fallen in love with him, allowed myself to be consumed by those feelings, only to start hating him again because I wasn’t privy to the real truth- he had stopped existing a long time ago.
The poor boy, Lucas, had only wanted to make friends and experience the simple joys that most take for granted. He wanted to live a normal life, even if it was just once, but they robbed him of those privileges by ending his life so callously. They had not only taken his life but also stolen his identity, further selfishly ensuing chaos in the lives of his loved ones.
I could already picture Lucas so vividly, sitting in his wheelchair, his face alight with that bright, radiant smile that he always wore. The kind he’d have on even if the world was falling apart. He always had this calmness….this soothing feeling to him that could make anyone happy.
I should have noticed that there wasn’t a lot of that trademark calmness and radiance of his when the fake Lucas infiltrated my life. The imposter was always quick to anger, unlike the real Lucas. He also had a bad temper that flared up at any slight provocation.
I had stupidly overlooked it because I was blinded by my desire to reignite my childhood dreams.
I wondered if they had forced a drink down his throat to drug him or if he had willingly gulped it down. Knowing Lucas, always so trusting, he probably willingly took whatever they gave him. My heart pulled tight in my ch*st as I imagined his weak b*dy going limp in his wheelchair as he slept forever. They were so heartless that the best they could do was bury him in the small forbidden space. Lucas might have been sick, but he was not small, not in spirit or in the impact he had on those around him.
They must have folded his b*dy when they buried him here, here in this wilderness, like some stray and abandoned dog. They couldn’t even try harder and give him a tombstone. My tears poured down as I shook my head at the cruelness if it all, Lucas never deserved any of these, he didn’t.
If they had asked, Lucas would have happily given them and even took them in as his brother. My hatred for Dylan was rooted in my heart, it burnt like a raging fire and I would keep it burning until I saw Dylan burn in it. I swear with my life and my son’s! I would take revenge for Lucas. My flattened palm on the mound curled into fists and my tears stopped pouring.
Dylan would regret the day he met me, he would curse the day over and over and over again until his last breath.
But first, I must survive. I now had multiple reasons to stay alive. For my son and for Lucas. I swallowed and wiped the fury on my face. I turned to Dylan and found a smirk on his face. He moved closer to me, lowered his hand and pressed the gun to my forehead. He mocked, “You came all the way to Italy just to find your beloved Lucas, didn’t you? Well, now that you’ve found him, you should be satisfied to die. You are ready to die a happy death so you can reunite with him in hell, right?” He smiled ruefully, “I promise you, this time I’ll be a good guy and bury you two in the same pit. He laughed maniacally.
I suppressed the anger that’s rapidly growing in me. I suppressed the insane urge to throw myself at him and hit him on his ch*st because that would be stupid and it wouldn’t have any
Chapter 96 Chapter Ninety Six
effect on him.
I lifted my chin, baring my n*eck to him, he used to like it whenever I did that. As I tipped my chin up, the gun slid to the bridge of my nose and he left it there, his eyes fixated on my n*eck and the mounds in my ch*st .
I bit my l*p guiltily, my gaze falling from his face to the floor and back to his face again. “You shouldn’t have brought me here,” I said in a small voice. I shook my head, “You could have killed me anywhere else but here. How can I admit before Lucas that I fell in love with you?” My voice. quivered and I hung my head down, toying with my fingers.
There was a pause then he said, his words dripping with confusion, “What did you say?” He nudged my forehead with the gun and I looked up to find a deep frown on his plastic face. Again, I berated myself, how hadn’t I figured this out? He freaking never shaved!
His eyes narrowed his eyes and pressed the gun even harder to the point that my forehead hurt, “You’re not just saying this to survive, are you?” He said in a cold voice.
I slowly rose to my feet. He eyed me as he took a step back. “Stay right there!“.
“Is that what you want?” I drawled and took another step forward then before he could take another cowardly step back, I quickly gripped the muzzle and placed it on my ch*st .
A silent don escaped me as a tear slid down my face. I tipped my chin, “You can kill me now, but please, I beg you,” I made sure my voice trembled for the fight effect, “don’t kill me in front of Lucas’s grave. I am ashamed because I fell in love with someone else.”
His m*uth opened ajar as he let out a small an inaudible gasp.
I took another step closer and he still kept the gun pressed to my ch*st , “I won’t blame you for killing me, I deserve it, but I beg you, before I take my last breath, give me a k*ss. With this k*ss, I won’t be afraid to face death. Atleast,I git to confess my feelings to the one I loved.”
It was glaring that he was was stunned and he didn’t bother to hide it. He narrowed his gaze at my tearful eyes and barked, “You’re lying! You lying b**ch! How could you possibly love me?!” His voice got louder and louder as he yelled and I fought the urge to palm my ears and step away from him.
“You piece of shit!” He dost out, “You just want to survive, that’s why you’re saying this! I swear I’ll blow your brains out if you take one more step.”
It was a rush, someone like Mark would call it stupid bit I was taking this risk. It was the only way I knew I could get out of here alive.
I shook her head, morphing my face to look as genuine as possible, “Why can’t I love you, Dylan?” I let out a pained laugh, “Tell me,” I dared him and took another step forward which prompted him to take his too, cursing under his breath as he did, but he didn’t pull the trigger. “Dylan,” I said in a soft voice, “You are the one who walked with me under the moon not Lucas as I had thought, you helped me chase that thief that night.”
Well, technically it was Luigi who chased the thief but oh well.
I continued, “You are the one I k*ssed, made love to and enjoyed every single second of your hands on my b*dy.”
He swallowed and his gaze darkened.
“I fell in love with the man I did all of these things with. I waited for two years to meet you and I am glad I did. You can kill me, but you can’t make me deny that I love you,” I smiled sadly as I finished.
By this time, he had lowered his gun and his face wasn’t contorted in that scary way again. I took the biggest step, closed the space between us and pulled him in for a k*ss. Suppressing my disgust, I squeezed my eyes shut and deepened the k*ss.
Dylan emitted a guttural groan as his breathing became rapid, his arms wrapped around me and pressing my b*dy to his. I heard the soft thud of his gun when it hit the ground as he let down his guard then his trembling hands cupped my face and k*ssed me back, diving his tongue into my m*uth.
Chapter 96 Chapter Ninety Six
2.3
I almost gagged as we continued to k*ss and I wondered how I had managed to enjoy this before. now. Perhaps, it was the thought that I was k*ssing Lucas that made it enjoyable.
“Do..do you really love me?” He asked in a small gruff voice when we pulled apart.
I looked at him with a wide smile and sn*ked my arm around his n*eck. I placed a long peck on his l*ps and said, “My love for you can withstand any test.”
