Chapter 84 History is repeating itself
The room changed in an instant. One second, it was full of energy and light, but then everything went quiet and dark. All the life seemed to drain out of Ezra. Just a moment ago, his face had been bright with excitement, but that look vanished completely. He stood there, frozen and dull, as he finally realized the terrible thing that was right in front of him.
The air in the room felt even heavier now. Ezra’s voice was thin and shaky, like a string about to snap. He looked at the person standing across from him, the person he had trusted, and tried to make sense of the lie.
"But you... you told me he was gone," Ezra whispered. "You said you killed the man who murdered her. You said it was over."
Ezra’s heart felt like it was slowing down to a stop. He had spent months maybe years believing a story that brought him peace. He thought the person who took his loved away was dead and gone. He thought justice had been served by the very person standing in front of him.
But now, looking at the evidence in the dark room, he realized the truth was much worse. The murderer wasn't dead. The murderer might even be closer than he ever imagined.
The words hung in the air like a thick, heavy fog. Wayne stood there, his shoulders slumped and his voice sounding like it was breaking into pieces. He had finally admitted the truth that had been rotting inside him for so long.
"I wanted to wither every part of his being," Wayne let out. His voice was rough and low. "I wanted to destroy him. I wanted to make him feel every bit of the hurt he caused us. I wanted to tear his life apart until there was nothing left."
Wayne took a ragged breath and looked at the floor, unable to meet Ezra's eyes. "But then I stopped," he whispered. "I remembered her. Your mother... she never wanted him to be hurt. Even after everything, she wouldn't have wanted more blood on anyone's hands. She was too good for that. So, I let him live.
As Ezra listened, the anger he felt started to change into something else. It was a deep, stabbing ache that he recognized.
Like history is repeating itself.
Ezra’s voice had been small, almost like a child’s, as the most painful thought of all entered his mind.
"You mean... Mother was in love with him?" Ezra asked.
Wayne spoke slowly, as if the words were physically hurting his throat.
"I have no idea what that was," Wayne said, his voice cracking. "I don't know if she truly loved him, or if she just felt a strange kind of pity for him. I don't know if it was love or condolence,"
"What do you want from me?" he cried out. "Should I still love her? Or should I hate her for what she felt for that man?"
Wayne didn't get angry. Instead, that strange, sad smile stayed on his face. It was the look of someone who had lived with a broken heart for so long that he had gotten used to the pain.
"It isn't about whether she loved him or not, Ezra," Wayne said, his eyes fixed on a point in the distance that only he could see. "The truth is much simpler and much harder to swallow: your mother was a helper."
" That was her soul. It didn't matter to her if a person was a saint or a sinner, if they were a king or a beggar, or if they were famous for their kindness or infamous for their cruelty. If she saw someone drowning, she reached out her hand. She helped everyone, without exception, even the man who should have been her enemy."
Wayne did not move his eyes. He kept staring into the empty air as if he could still see her standing there. The room became so quiet that even the sound of their breathing seemed too loud.
"She was so selfless," Wayne said, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "She didn't have a selfish bone in her body. She didn't think about what was good for her, or even what was safe for her. She just wanted to help everybody."
"You should not be letting him stay alive," Ezra said, his voice hard and cold. "You should be killing him."
Wayne turned around at last. The wall he had built around his emotions finally crumbled. His eyes were not just wet; they were flooded with tears that spilled down his tired face. His voice was no longer a whisper; it was a cry of a man who had been trapped in an impossible choice for years.
"How could I hurt her?" Wayne asked, his voice breaking. "You say I should kill him. You say I should take my revenge. But hurting him would bring hurt to her. Even now, even with her gone, I can’t do it. How could I?"
"You think I haven't thought about it?" Wayne cried out. "You think I haven't sat in the dark with a weapon in my hand, wanting to end him? But every time I get close, I see her face. I remember her voice telling me to be better. I remember how she reached out to help him when no one else would."
He is a monster, he ruined our family, our everything, but I let him live, because your mother never wanted me to hurt someone she wanted to save,
And that man was a clever person, who just took everything away from us after conquering her loyalty, Ezra heard everything and Esperanza face was roaming in front of her eyes, how she healed him and let her being for the very man who wanted to kill her even after knowing who he wanted for her revenge.
"That clearly means, she was in love with that person," Esra asked again and Wayne face got fumed with the sense of incomplete affection that he never avail because of that monster.
I know this, and I can understand it, why would you marry her if you know all about her?" " wanted to know more.