Chapter 218 There Is A Hope!

Chapter 218 There Is A Hope!
Alexander dropped me off at the front door without another word.

The house felt different when I stepped through the door. There was an electric tension in the air, like the aftermath of a storm. I could hear muffled voices coming from the living room—Amelia and my mother, their conversation dying abruptly when they heard my footsteps.

"Ember!" Amelia rushed toward me from the hallway, her face lighting up with what looked like genuine relief. "I'm so glad you're back. I was so worried about you."

She moved to follow me as I headed toward the stairs, but I wasn't in the mood for her fake concern. What she did could have been avoided if she had used her words instead of her hands.

"I need space," I muttered to her, rushing into the room and slamming the door shut in her face. I know now why she was so into begging for my forgiveness. She was very well aware now that Alexander cared for me.

But my peace didn't last long.

"Ember?" My mother's voice came through the door, followed by a soft knock. "Can I come in?"

I opened the door reluctantly, and she slipped inside, closing it behind her.

"Why didn't you tell Alexander the truth?" she demanded, crossing her arms. "Why didn't you expose her? You could have told him about Maxwell, about everything. If you'd just been honest with him, he could get us out of here."

She started nagging me for not telling Alexander the truth about Maxwell and his mother.

"This isn't about you," I clenched my jaw, giving her the taste of her own medicine. If she can keep secrets from me, I can too.

I didn’t have any reason to be honest with her and keep pleasing her. I needed answers from her, and she caused a whole ruckus out of it, and now she wants to talk?

"Of course it's about me! You're my daughter, and I care about you." she hissed at me, approaching me while I stood in the bathroom and washed my face.

“If you really care about me, then tell me if— if Axiom was my father?” I closed my eyes, leaving the tap on, and questioned her.

“What?” she was shocked to hear about Axiom from me.

I turned around to face her directly, water still dripping from my chin.

"I'm tired of you hiding things from me, Mom. Tell me why I'm just now learning about your affair with Axiom."

For a moment, she just stared at me, her mouth opening and closing like she couldn't find words. Then something shifted in her expression—resignation, maybe, or just exhaustion.

"Fine!" she said, throwing her hands up. "I'll be honest with you."

She moved closer, leaning against the bathroom doorframe.

"Axiom is not your father!" The words came out in a rush. "He was my boyfriend at the time, but I had no idea he had a mate. I thought I was the only one."

"So when you came here, you had no idea Amelia was his fated mate?" I inquired, reaching for her and standing in the doorway of the bathroom with her.

"Honestly speaking, no!" She rubbed her palms together anxiously, a nervous habit I'd noticed more and more lately. "That's why I couldn't answer you when you first asked. When you showed me that picture, I was—I was terrified and confused."

I could see the genuine fear in her eyes now, the way her hands shook slightly.

"If you figured it out, she will too, Ember! This isn't good for us." Mom looked scared of Amelia finding out about her, but it wasn’t just a normal scare. Now I could tell why she desperately wanted to leave this place after finding out she had been sleeping with Amelia's mate in the past and now we are living under their roof.

"She won't find out," I said, though I wasn't entirely sure myself.

"How do you know?" she pressed. "Where did you even get that picture?"

"From the basement," I admitted. "Amelia just started going through Axiom's things. She hadn't opened any of his boxes until now."

My mother's face went white. She stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Then he definitely has more things that could point to me—" She covered her face with both hands and started to sob.

Who would have known the past will come haunting her when she had least expected?

However, there was one more thing for her that I found out from Alexander back when he was dropping me off. I wondered if I should tell her to let her be.

It is not like hiding it would change anything, but finding out about it from me instead of Amelia would be good for her.

"There's something else," I uttered, stealing my eyes from her.

She looked up at me through her tears, her eyes wide with panic.

"What now?"

"Lord Blackwood is going to—accept Victoria soon."

The words hit her like a physical blow. She let out a wail that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside her.

"There was no way they wouldn’t do that," she cried. "The moment he brought her back, I knew something was wrong."

She had been telling me the same thing from the beginning, and now even I could tell Lord Blackwood had started an affair with Victoria the moment they met again.

“I knew it,” she pushed me out of the bathroom after getting on her feet and rushed inside to lock herself inside and cry her heart out.

"Mom?" I knocked, but then didn’t want to bother her. I believed it was okay if she cried a little and got it out of her chest.

While I stood outside her bathroom with my hands in my sweater’s pockets, I felt the paper in my fist and closed my eyes with ease.

Suddenly, a ray of hope had emerged in my life after seeing that drawing. If there was even a tiny bit of possibility that Maxwell knew something and his drawing was hinting at the future, I was going to give it my all.

Even as my mother's world was crumbling in the bathroom behind me, I felt like I was stepping into a new phase of my life.

"Dominic," I said, sighing sadly. "I'm not going to look for your dead body anymore. I'm going to find a way to bring you back and give you the life you deserve."