Chapter 84: Tale of the Past

After the heartfelt reunion, everyone was sitting around the table in the meeting room. Stacy took the seat to Chad’s left. Hank sat opposite her, all calm and collected, as if none of those ever happened.

She folded her arms in front of her. “You are saying that he’s my father?” Her question was directed at Chad but her eyes scanned the man sitting opposite her.

Hank held her gaze at first but as soon as she asked the question, he lowered his gaze, settling it on the table. It was rare to see the gang leader lack confidence.

She cocked her head to the side. “Based on what happened earlier, I don’t doubt it,” she said before narrowing her eyes at Hank. “Judging from it all,” she waited for his gaze to settle on her before continuing, “you did something, didn’t you?”

A scoff sounded at the other end of the table. Will had his arms folded as he leaned back in his chair, openly showing his dissatisfaction of the man’s ways.

Hank took a deep breath. “Yes, I did. You have the right to hate me,” he said with a sense of finality, his gaze meeting hers with the usual confidence he had.

“I can’t hate you if I don’t remember any of it,” she said.

“I didn’t protect you well, both you and your mother,” Hank started, “I was born in a family with messy connections. There are relatives involved with the mafia. Some are professional robbers and killers. Our family was reputable. Everyone respected us out of fear. Nobody was brave enough to cross even the dog in our family.”

The room fell silent as he told the story of the past. “There were two other families with the same power back then. The Vale family was a business family. They had lots of businesses around town. Everything in the family screamed old money and their reputation was based on their generations of businesses.

Little did anyone know, under their businessmen facades, they were involved with something darker. Both our families have had beef for generations, we don’t even remember when it all started or who started it.

They planned my grandfather’s demise. It all happened before I was born but our family was adamant in getting revenge. It wasn’t easy as their connections ran deep. My father was the head of the family back then. He decided to end it once and for all.

Finally, the time came when we made our move. The plan was flawless. The whole family was slaughtered in their home. All except one.”

“Mariana,” Chad echoed.

“Yes, Mariana,” Hank confirmed, “she escaped because she wasn’t home. My uncle then plotted against the other family, blaming the Vale’s family annihilation on them.”

His eyes drifted to Will. Will wasn’t sure of the meaning of it. He simply glared back with the same dissatisfaction he had been displaying since the beginning of time.

“That’s the Sterling family,” his eyes lingered on Will a little longer before finding their way back to Stacy. “Your mother’s family.”

Her face showed no emotion as she listened to the story. Her attentiveness, however, betrayed her focus on the matter.

“I was twenty. The age where one’s young enough to make dumb decisions. I met her at the edge of the forest one day when I went hunting. It was love at first sight. I fell helplessly for her. We were stupid enough to believe that love can overcome everything. Despite knowing the disputes between our families, we gravitated towards each other.

Soon, she was pregnant. Our families were furious when they found out about us. She was kicked out of the family. I was drugged and forced to spend a night with someone my family arranged. After the incident, I left my family.

Lucy and I stayed hidden since she was too weak to leave on a long journey during her pregnancy. One day, I received news that something happened in my family. There was a war and the whole place was in chaos. I ran back to my family house, leaving a heavily pregnant Lucy at home.”

“That’s not very bright,” Zalen commented.

“True,” Hank agreed readily, “that’s the decision I’ll spend my whole life regretting.”

“Lucy,” Stacy said the name slowly, “is that the name of my mother?”

“Yes. Her name is Luciana Heather Sterling,” a small smile was on his face as memories of his lover came to his mind.

“What happened that day?” Stacy cued him back to the story.

“There’s a war. Many of my family members died in the war. Some decided that it wasn’t worth it to stay in such a small place so they left during the chaos. Family matters kept me occupied. When I rushed home, Lucy was nowhere to be found.

While I was away, someone sent word to her that something happened in her family and her mother would want to see her. I hurried to the Sterling’s family house only to see the whole family wiped out.”

He stared into the distance, hurt flashing in his eyes. “She’s not in the house. I was worried something might happen to her in the chaos. I looked for her everywhere, killing everyone in my way.

I lived that way for months. Corpses piled up higher and there was more blood on my hands but there’s still no news on her.

When I finally found her, she lay lifeless in a hut. The nannies said something about hard labor.”

Stacy closed her eyes and took a soundless deep breath.

“In a fit, I killed all of them,” his voice carried no emotion as he described killing like he was talking about the weather.

“And I found Marianna in a corner. She was hugging three babies, crying and pleading for me to spare the children, all of those she claimed to be mine.”

“How?” Chad’s brows furrowed as he tried to process the information.

“She showed me an item the lady took from me the night I was drugged. I wasn’t sure who it was. She claimed it was her,” and he looked at Stacy.

“She held you tight in her arms, making me believe that you are hers.”