Chapter 17 ARCHIVED TRUTH (Demilia’s POV)
“Drake, you’re scaring me.”
"I'm already scared on your behalf!" He hissed. "Do you think I wanted to be here in the first place? You think I ever wish to set my eyes on him ever again?"
I tried to comprehend whatever he was ranting out, his words making no sense to me. "Who exactly is coming for me?"
He swallowed hard, his heart rate increasing, mire like it was a difficult task to do. "It's.... it's not.... it's all connected. Ethan's family that you know, they are not exactly what you might have assumed them to be. His mother knows everything. And as for his father, he knew even before he...
He winced in pain, and I didn't know if he was actually using that to distract me from knowing the truth. He clutched to his chest, holding himself like his breathing could ceased an moment. "Demi, listen to me carefully. You have to find a way and check Ethan's father's files, not the recent ones, but the old ones. You will find everything in the study."
"What's exactly is in them?" I asked quickly, thinking it wise to ay least know the content of whatever I was putting myself in.
He glanced at me, his eyes dark and glowing with desperation. "The truth. The one you've been requesting to see for so long. The ones about you, about what really transpired that ugly night."
My stomach churned noisily as he said that. "What night are you talking about?" I asked just for clarity sake.
"The masked night," he whispered like saying it out loud would cause a commotion. "The very night you were sold unlawfully."
My breath caught, the world spinning around me. "Drake, no...that can't be happening. Don't dig up old wounds, please."
"I have to, and I will do it against your wish," he replied. "Because, you won't remember everything on your own. You have been made to believe that Ethan bought you by accident? That everything was just a mere coincidence? No darling, it wasn't like that."
"Stop it right there!" I cried. "Everything you've been saying isn't making any sense."
He grabbed my hands, holding me very tight. "I wish I was making up alm of these. But I would want you to know today that you were never meant to be anywhere close to the venue of the auction that night. Someone paid for you to be there. Ethan's father to be precise."
The room shook uncontrollably. "You mean his father?"
He nodded weakly, already tired of everything. "Ethan as he claimed, didn't save you that night. He just finished whatever his father long ago."
Before I could respond to whatever he was saying, a cold voice rang from the room, interrupting the moment.
"That's an interesting story to listen to."
We both turned to the direction of the voice, only to see Ethan standing by the doorway, his expression masked, completely unreadable. His presence alone was suffocating.
"Ethan," I managed to whisper out of shock, my heart pounding restlessly. "I...he didn't...he just..."
He raised a finger, silencing me in the process, his eyes locked in a dangerous manner with Drake. "You've really got nerves shoeing up here, and doing that unannounced."
Drake ignored him, but after hesitating for a few seconds, he stepped forward, not considering the blood on his lips, and the danger of making it worse. "You shouldn't have hidden it from her, Blackwell."
"Get out this minute!" Ethan yelled coldly.
“She deserves to know the truth.”
"Did I just hear the truth?" Ethan let out a humorless bitter laugh, the mocking type. "I'm certain that you would never recognize the truth even if it's staring directly at you."
Drake clenched his fist the moment he said that. "You think by hiding behind your I'll gotten money, and the lies laid down by your family, that you would be untouchable? No, it doesn't go they way anymore. Not when I've seen the deadly secrets buried in your father archives."
The moment he said that, I saw something strange in Ethan's eyes, but it wasn't anger, neither was it guilt. It was more like he was sending a secret warning message to Drake, of which he bluntly refused to heed. "You're obviously treading on the wrong path, and making mistakes."
"No," Drake shot back. "You actually the one that made a mistake. The very day you decided my sister was the perfect pawn for your father's sick games, that's the day you invited me into your affairs."
I turned to both of them, panic rising heavily in my chest. "Stop this madness the both of you!"
But neither of them behaved like they actually heard me.
Ethan moved closer, and st this point, his voice was already very dangerous. "I would give you the grave if ten seconds to take your leave honorably, and still retain the remaining dignity in you. If you spend more than a second, I would have you dragged out."
"Do it," Drake sneered angrily. "Prove her right. Prove to everyone that you are no different from your father. That you are a monster, a bigger one than he was."
Ethan's jaw tightened aggressively, his eyes turning dark with fury. "You don't have any idea who my father was."
“I know enough to not want more,” Drake spat. “And I know exactly what he did to her.”
The words was left floating in air, heavy and very electrical.
Ethan froze, obviously lacking the words to defend himself. I stared at Drake, my voice breaking as I tried to get a hold of myself. "What exactly is he talking about? What was done to me in the past?"
Drake's lips shook more than his hands. "You don't remember anything?" He asked softly like I was meant to know the answer. "But he was also there that very night, Demilia. He was..."
"Enough!" Ethan screamed, his voice thundering all over the room. He turned to get the attention of the guards outside the mansion. "Get him out of this vicinity with immediate effect."
Two men stormed in, wasting no time in carrying out his order.
Drake struggled under their heavy grabs, screaming out so loud but it all fell of deaf ears. "She at least deserves to know the truth, Ethan. You can't possibly hide it forever. The earlier, the better for you to handle."
“Take him!” Ethan barked out if rage.
"Demi!" Drake yelled, still trying to pass on the message, but the guards didn't allow him. "Ensure to check his father's files. You will discover unbelievable things about yourself."
"Drake!" I cried out, running to meet him, but Ethan was fast to block my path, and held me back immediately.