Chapter 54 Chapter 54

Chapter 54 Chapter 54


For the millionth time since Ajax had set foot in the old Halest Villa, he looked at the time and sighed worriedly in his chest.

Vincent should have reached home by now.

He hadn’t.

Not only that. Even his number had been unreachable for a reason he could not figure out.

Ajax only hoped for him to be alright.

There was already a tornado knocking at the doors. There was really no need for any more bad news in their lives.

At least not for a while. Who knew how long it would take to get over this one? The betrayal, that is.

It went without saying how much his father’s betrayal disturbed him to the bones.

He was disgusted by him.

The man he had known all his life—the so-called father figure—could do something so horrendous, could nurse such a sick mentality, nauseated him to his very gut.

The truth was that if it weren’t for Noémie by his side, and his determination to not lose control, he would have exploded like every nerve ending in his body was pushing him to.

If it weren’t for Noémie he wouldn’t have known what to do with himself and this storm of anger and hurt brewing inside him. He didn’t want to be alone. Not when his world was falling apart after learning the sick deeds of his father.

Ajax wasn’t certain if she knew or not, but when she agreed to stay the night with him, she did him a favour he could never requite. She was with him when he needed her the most. And now he was in her debt so deep that no amount of resurrections could pay off what he owed to her.

Despite the mystery of that fateful night still hanging like a hammer between them, threatening to fall to the ground and crack the thin ice he was standing on, she still put her faith in him and confessed her feelings.

He wasn’t so sure if he even deserved a pure heart like that. He probably didn’t.

But for the first time in his life, he wanted to be selfish.

After spending his entire life trying to appease his father, and failing every time in doing so, he craved to have this happiness for himself. He wanted Noémie for a lifetime and whatever came afterwards.

The first thing after reaching the old Halest Villa Ajax did was pull a chair for his mother and reveal everything. By the time he was done, he was surprised to find her face washed with more guilt than hurt.

“Mom…” Ajax said as he watched tears wobble in her eyes. “…what is it?”

Sonia Halest sobbed uncontrollably, not able to meet his eyes. “I should have said something…done something…”

“Mom, what are you saying?” for the life of him, Ajax couldn’t understand what she was trying to get to. And even if he did have an idea, he almost didn’t want to admit it out loud. No. His mother couldn’t possibly…

“A woman knows when her husband is cheating on her, Ajax!” she said with more tears racing down her cheeks, lifting her head and nervously playing with the sleeve of her top. “No matter how careful a man is, no matter how sharp he thinks of himself, the wife always knows. In her heart, she always knows.”

Ajax sagged back in his own chair, his upper lip curling with dark hate. “Did you also know about those…”

“No!” Sonia Halest denied it outrightly. “I didn’t know about the rest of the things. I swear. I didn’t. He had been cheating on me for a long time. I agree. I should have said something, should have confronted,” she shook her head. “But this world that we live in, this society of wealth and affluent, love doesn’t last here for a very long time. I should know. I have seen my own parents fall out of love before they broke up and then divorced each other. But I had you and Vince. You were so little when I got the first hint of his dishonesty. I was so angry. I wanted to come clean to his father and tell him everything. But then our marriage would have ended just the way my parents’ did. And I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was for me and my sister to bear that time. It was horrible. No child should be exposed to circumstances like that. No matter how older you are, it hurts just the same. It breaks us little by little. Sometimes we don’t even know it.”

“Mom…”

“No. Please. Let me….” she swallowed thickly and broke down even more. “Let me say it, please. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t kept my mouth shut. If I had done what was right. If I had just been a little more brave…”

“Mom, you are brave…”

“I’m so not, Ajax. I’m so not. Terrified. That’s how I felt to even think about losing you two. Either of you. Who would have known how dirty your father would have played at the question of the custody of you two? Michael would have fought tooth and nail to satisfy his ego. I know that for sure. I couldn’t bear the thought of separating from either of you. I love you both so much. So, instead of confronting him, I suppressed my anger, hate, and disgust deep inside me. I swallowed it all down, for the sake of you two…I know it was selfish to overlook…”

“That’s not being selfish, mom.”