Chapter 108

Chapter 108
Lucian

“Who gave you the guts to come here, woman? And how the hell did you even know this place?” Dad sneered.

“We planned this wedding together. Have you suddenly forgotten that part of history all of a sudden?” she replied, shrugging her shoulders slightly, staring at him with glassy eyes and speaking with a shaky voice.

“Sht,” Dad cursed under his breath, “I knew we should have changed the venue,” he whispered to me.

“It was too late, Father,” I replied in a soft tone. I turned to her, my look stern and firm, “You really should go; I wouldn’t want any bad luck to befall me on this special day of mine. I’m sure there was nothing like that the day you married your husband, now was there?” I asked.

“Look, Lucian, I’m not here to cause any scene; all I ask is that you hear me out,” she replied.

Dad let out a light scoff. “What could you possibly have to say that I haven’t heard before?” he retorted.

“DeMarco, please, five minutes, that's all I ask,” she said.

“Well, we’ve already spent more than that just standing out here. If you want to talk, you might as well start now,” Dad replied.

She heaved a deep sigh, her gaze moving from me to Dad and then back, “Listen, both of you, I know I messed up, alright? And there's nothing I say right now that's going to justify whatever I did, even to your biological mother, Lucian,” she began.

The minute she started with that same familiar voice I've listened to, the same voice that's lied to me countless times for more than a decade, I scowled. My heart became heavy, and all that ran through my mind that instant was to rip her mouth off just like I'd do to my enemies and anyone who dared cross me before I met Evie….

“You know what, Father, you both can stay here and continue whatever this is, but I'm certainly not going to be a part of it… Else the whole point of coming this early would be ruined. I can't be late for my own wedding.” I said through gritted teeth as I approached the church, walking past the traitor with a curled fist and a firm look.

“Your wedding is going to be a disaster,” she blurted out just as I was about to enter, making me halt in my steps.

I closed my eyes, tightened my fist, praying silently that God help me not kill this woman. I clutched my pendant, which was sitting pretty on my wrist, trying not to rip the damn thing off and do justice to her.

“What did you just say?” I snarled, my blood boiling in anger.

“Yes, woman, what did you just say? What are you planning to do?” Father growled.

“It's not me, DeMarco,” she replied, “and trust me, this isn't how I planned to tell you, but I need you both to listen to me and tighten the security here. If you are sure that you've done that, double it because what's coming isn't something humans can survive,” she added.

“What are your thoughts? Insinuating?” I asked.

“I'm not insinuating anything, son,” she said.

“Don’t ever call me that,” I fired back.

“Look, Lucian, I know you're angry at me right now and maybe will be forever, but please allow me to do this one thing for you and try to make up for my mistakes. I started all of this, and I'm going to fix it. Because the day you were born was the same day Diane’s father got to know about supernatural creatures and has been hunting them ever since. According to my source, Diane just murdered her father in cold blood and has now taken over the empire. I'm sure you know what that means for you now,” she said.

“What? How could this be?” I mumbled softly with furrowed brows. “If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's how much she loved her father. How am I supposed to be sure that this isn't just your new trick for plotting a new scheme?” I asked.

“Because I have evidence,” she blurted out before I could finish, reaching for her purse as she brought out her phone to show me a picture of Diane’s father lying lifeless on the ground with a bullet hole in him.

“What the?” I muttered, almost believing what I was staring at until I remembered, “Oh please, this could be fake. For all we know, Father, she could have photoshopped anything," I replied, giving her back her phone.

“Let me have a look,” Father said, reaching for her phone. He stared intensely at the picture before looking back at me. “Son, this isn't fake,” he replied. “But of all days, why choose today to come with this information?” he asked, turning his gaze back to his wife.

“Because this happened just yesterday, and his wife has been trying as much as possible to not make it public yet because of his status. So I thought it best I warned you because apparently it seems you have a personal vendetta against Diane—that's why you refused our proposal for you to marry her. So whatever it is, Lucian, you might want to watch your back now because if there's something I know about Diane from childhood, it's that she acts irrationally. According to our mafia codes, when is the most vulnerable time to get your enemy?” she asked.

“During a ceremony, an event, or a celebration,” I replied.

“And most of all?” Dad added.

“His wedding, when his woman is present, because the best way to get to a man is through his woman,” I said.

“Good, least being a wolf didn't make you lose your memory or forget everything about being a Mafia,” Mom said softly. She stared at my father one more time before saying, “I've done all I came here for, so whatever you do with this information is solely on you…. And also, if anything happens, just know I'd forever be sorry for what I did,” she added, pausing for a while, “to both of you,” she added softly before turning her gaze to leave.

“What suddenly made you have a change of heart?” I asked, stopping her in her tracks, her back to me. “Because you clearly weren't this remorseful when we first confronted you, so what changed?” I added.

“I realized, whether you were adopted or not, I'd also always wanted a son even while knowing I couldn't bear one. So the deal I made with your mother was beyond pressure from DeMarco's family; it was a lot more than that,” she replied.

“Then stay,” I blurted out, making her turn her gaze sharply towards me.

“Are you sure about this, son?” Dad asked, taking a step forward.

“Yes, Father, just for today… just for the wedding, and after that, all ties that remain between the both of us are off…” I sneered through gritted teeth.

“It's fine; I understand that…. Being here alone is enough for me,” she replied, but I just nodded lightly.

“So you still have a lot of good in you, yeah?” Carl’s voice echoed in my head.

I let out a soft sigh as I was beginning to get used to this new development. “Shut up, voice in my head?” I sneered.

“You know my name, boy; you don’t have to act all tough with me, you know,” he replied.

“Yes, I do know your name, but the thing is that's just another name you gave yourself while living rent-free in my head. So from this day, you are going to be paying to live in my head, and part of that payment would be me being able to call you whatever name I deem fit to call you depending on the occasion,” I explained.

“That’s not how this works,” he sneered.

“Oh, little wolf, Carl or whatever, things work the way I design them to work,” I replied with a smile.

“Are you okay, son?” Dad's voice echoed in my ears, interrupting what Carl and I had going on.

“Uh?” I asked, jolting back to reality. “What, Father?” I added.

“You seemed lost, talking to yourself and staring at nothing,” he replied.

“Welcome to my supernatural side, Father,” I said with a smile, but he just shook his head and continued.

“Well, it will interest you to know that I just spoke to the priest, and he told me that word just got to him that your bride is already on the way here, and the choir is already set and prepared to do whatever choirs do when the bride arrives. We are still not inside, so we better go in now and get this whole thing over with. I can’t wait for you to be back fully on the election again,” he said with a smirk on his face.

I nodded lightly and said, “Me too. Now let's go on before I set a record of being the first groom who was late to his own wedding." I said, and with that we all shared a laugh as we walked in.

Mom sat at the back while Dad sat on opposite sides of her. I just shook my head as I made my way to the altar where the priest stood.

"He'll come around," Carl said.

“Not now, wolf,” I mumbled softly through gritted teeth the minute I climbed the podium. Not long after that, the large doors to the church flew open, and there she was, “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BRIDE IN THE WHOLE OF HAVEN HILLS, EVIE HART,” Carl announced.

“I agree,” I replied.

“Finally, something we can both agree on," he replied with a sharp voice, making me chuckle as I was beginning to enjoy this subconscious part of me or my wolf, as they would call it, I thought.

Just then Ethan showed up, took his mother by her arm, and walked her down the aisle, looking so stunning as he played the role of a relative, originally supposed to be Evie’s father’s role. With that, the choir all stood up and began to sing.

A minute into the walk, I noticed something strange. Among all the voices echoing in my ear, one was loudest and sounded familiar, but I just shook it off as I was overthinking things. But another minute into the ceremony, the priest who stood beside me, looking all healthy, suddenly slumped like a dead man, but I caught him right on time before he hit the ground. I expected everyone in the room to panic and all started running helter-skelter looking for a place to hide. One by one, they all began to drop to the ground, including my father and stepmother, making my eyes widen in shock.

I looked around as I watched them all dropping to the ground, my brain going through a billion reasons why this could be happening. I turned to Evie, but to my surprise, she had the same expression on her face as I did.