Chapter 77 Chapter 77
Silence
A deep silence followed my words.
I wanted time to expose him, to find his weakness, so that I could escape with my daughter. That's why I asked Aurora to do the drama, to give me some time. But what I found just shook my world.
I was in such shock that I couldn't move from the place. Adrian has been hiding a lot of things from me but I never expected it to be this. I wanted to know the truth about him but I was not ready for this.
The yellow sheet in my hand was nothing but Adrian's birth certificate where he was named as Adrian Vaughn, son of Alister Vaughn and Elena White.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat as I watched Adrian turn to a statue. He wasn't expecting me to be here and find this hidden truth of his.
"You… you lied to me, Adrian," I whispered, my throat bobbing as I struggled to draw enough air into my lungs. "All those stories about the orphanage… the struggle… the self-made man. It was all a lie. You were never an orphan. You… you…"
Before I could say anything else, he stomped towards me and snatched the sheet from me.
"How dare you!" he roared with his face inches from mine and his breath hot against my skin. "How dare you enter my study and touch my things!"
I stood straight in front of him, glaring at him with equal intensity.
"And how dare you to lie to us, Adrian!" I shouted back at him "to my father..." My sob caught up in my throat "Do you even know how much he trusted you. How could you do this, Adrian!" I grabbed his collar. "Why did you lie about your identity?"
I sniffed and swallowed down the lump in my throat.
"I knew you could never stop Lucien until you didn't have a strong backing. I... I thought you were working for Alister but you turned out to be his son?"
"An illegitimate son!" He snapped, holding my wrists "that he refused to accept"
His jaw was dead set as he stared down at me.
"I don't consider him my father because he left me and my mother dying to marry a wealthy woman, Lucien's mother"
When he mentioned Lucien's mother I could only see hatred and loathing in his eyes.
"He is nothing to me!"
"Still you went to him for money, to claim your assets and win the custody of Aurora. Didn't you?"
My eyes narrowed at him.
"For you, yes!" He spat "It was just for you"
I shook my head.
"It was to break Lucien!" I told him the truth "to make him feel that you have something that he wants. Isn't it?"
He inhaled and exhaled sharply. His nostrils flared as his eyes darkened.
"He snatched everything that was mine, I was just taking it back"
I blinked my eyes multiple times to keep my tears in control.
"But I am not a thing Adrian" A small son escaped my throat no matter how much I tried to control it "I am a person with feelings. Why did you ruin my life?"
"Ruin your life?" He asked me back "Don't forget that after your father's death, it was I who gave you shelter"
My eyes closed for a second, before I let go of his collar and took my steps back.
"It was for your own selfish motive. You wanted to separate me from Lucien so he could be punished"
He smirked.
"Yes, I wanted to but I wasn't as cruel as him" The smirk suddenly vanished and his eyes darkened "He snatched away my father, my name, and my mother, leaving me crying in the orphanage" he stated.
"Alister promised my mother a marriage when she had me. He visited us often, pretended to be a good father only to marry Lucien's mother on my fifth birthday"
A flash of pain passed his eyes.
"You can't even imagine what I went through when I watched my own father marry a woman who's not my mother. My mom..." He smiled bitterly "She loved him deeply and after his marriage, she drifted into depression and eventually died when I was eight"
He swallowed hard.
"And even then, instead of adopting me and accepting me as his son in front of the world, Alister admitted me to an orphanage. He came to visit the orphanage with his wife and "perfect heir", Lucien." He blinked and looked at the wall "Lucien had everything that was mine, only mine."
His jaw clenched and fist tightened.
"This empire, that name, the blood, it was all supposed to be mine. Every time I saw him, I only felt jealous and the urge to kill him just grew more and more"
He sighed.
"I built myself on my own and if I wanted I would have killed him easily when he was still young but then I got to know about you..."
He chuckled
"... And how much he loved him. That was the moment I decided to make you mine"
"... Forgetting that I am also a human with feelings" I wiped the traitorous tears that fell from my eyes "... That I also loved him"
"But I never intend to hurt you"
His hand reached out to wipe my tears but I stepped back. He took a deep breath to stop himself from snapping.
I know he was still pretending.
"Back then, I thought of letting you go after some time but I just couldn't" he smiled and took a small step forward "I didn't come to know when I fell for you so bad that I just couldn't turn back, and now..." He held my shoulder "...now I just want you"
I tried to pull back from him but this time he kept his hold tight enough not to let me move.
"Now come on, guests are waiting for us"
"I am not marrying you, Adrian Vaughn!" I snapped, with my eyes filled with tears and fire
He chuckled darkly.
"As if you have options, darling"
He smiled.
"And no one is going to come to save you. Your lover boy Lucien is already busy getting married to Sophia" he chuckled "Just like his father he chose money over his love. So forget about him!"
I swallowed down the words that were on the tip of my tongue; instead, I repeated what I said earlier, "I am not marrying..."
"Ahhhh"
My words were cut short as my hands flew to my hair when all of a sudden, Adrian held my hair in his fist and forced my head back. He held my jaw with his other hand and squeezed it so tightly that I almost cried out of pain.
My scalp was burning and my teeth were digging into my cheeks sharply.
"Don't force me to show you my real face, Cynthia" he spat.
My eyes burned with tears. I am not afraid of his real face. I am just feeling so pathetic about myself that I can't identify him after all these years.
"Just put on your veil and take the vows. I am done with your tantrums!"
I shook my head.
"Kill me, Adrian but I will not marry you" I said through my teeth.
He let go of my jaw and nodded his head like a maniac.
"Stop me if you can!"
And just like that he started dragging me to the altar with my hair...