Chapter 70 The Nasty Truth of Millers. Eva's Outburst.
Chapter 70 The Nasty Truth of Millers. Eva's Outburst.
Author’s POV
The heavy wooden doors of the mansion’s meeting room shut with a dull thud, sealing the tension inside. The air felt thick, almost suffocating.
Eva sat on the chair across the long table, her back straight, her fingers clenched tightly together on her lap. Across from her sat Robert, his expression calm but unreadable. Abram stood beside the table, his arms crossed, his jaw tight with irritation.
“Did you call him here?” Robert finally asked, his voice low but firm.
Eva lifted her gaze and met his eyes without hesitation.
“No, I didn’t,” she replied evenly. “He came on his own.”
Abram scoffed lightly. “On his own?” he repeated. “Through the balcony? How exactly did he manage that?”
Eva shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Silence stretched for a moment before Robert spoke again.
“Why didn’t you inform us?”
Eva’s lips curled into a bitter smile.
“What would you have done if I had?” she asked. Her eyes hardened as she leaned slightly forward. “Kill him?”
Abram straightened instantly. “No, but…”
“I thought he came to meet me,” Eva cut him off sharply. “Not to start some discussion about the losses of the past.”
Her voice carried a sharp edge now.
“And why is he asking for that much money?” she continued, looking directly at Robert. “What’s the real reason behind it?”
Robert didn’t answer.
The silence that followed felt louder than any scream.
Eva’s patience snapped.
“Dad,” she said, her voice rising, “you have to answer me.”
Her chair scraped loudly against the floor as she stood up.
“Why is Rafael asking for so much money? What is the agenda behind this?” she demanded. “What exactly happened in the past? And why were those twenty-three people killed?”
Her questions came one after another like bullets.
Robert’s face remained composed.
“It’s none of your business, Eva.”
Eva stared at him as if she had just been slapped.
“It is my business,” she shot back instantly. “I deserve to know everything about the man I’m married to.” Her breathing grew heavier as anger surged through her.
“I married him without any objections from this family,” she continued, pointing around the room. “None of you had any problem then. But now suddenly everyone is angry at me just because he came to meet me… his wife… through the balcony of my own bedroom.”
Her gaze shifted sharply to Abram.
“And you,” she said coldly, “are questioning me like I committed some crime.”
Abram clenched his fists but remained silent.
“I want answers, Daddy,” Eva said, turning back to Robert. Her voice trembled with suppressed fury.
“What is the real reason behind my marriage to him?”
Robert remained quiet.
“You told me I was betrothed to him since childhood,” Eva continued. “You said the marriage was a symbol of peace between two families.”
Her eyes burned now.
“Then why,” she demanded, “did Rafael say that I am the compensation for twenty-three dead people?”
Robert finally spoke.
“Because,” he said calmly, “that’s the truth.”
For a moment the room froze.
Eva felt the ground beneath her feet disappear.
“What?” she whispered, her voice shaking. “So I wasn’t promised to him?”
Her eyes filled with disbelief and rage.
“I was just… compensation?” she asked.
“It’s not like that,” Robert replied.
“Then what is it like?!” Eva screamed.
Her voice echoed through the massive room.
“Eva!” Abram shouted as he stepped forward quickly. “Lower your voice!”
He grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back.
“You can’t raise your voice at Daddy!”
Eva jerked her arm out of his grip, her eyes blazing like fire.
“Then maybe,” she said through clenched teeth, “Daddy should stop lying to me.” She looked at Robert. Eva’s chest rose and fell rapidly as anger and confusion churned inside her.
“Why were those twenty-three people killed?” she demanded, her voice trembling but loud. “Why was Rafael behind bars for thirteen freaking years? And how did Laila lose her voice that night?” Abram frowned slightly.
“Laila?” he repeated. “Who is Laila?” Eva turned toward him, disbelief flashing across her face.
“Rafael’s younger sister,” she answered sharply. “She went mute after that traumatic night.”Abram’s eyebrows lifted with sudden amusement instead of concern.
“Oh,” he said casually. “I didn’t know that cunning man had a sister. Otherwise I could have married her.”
For a second Eva simply stared at him. Then a sudden, burning urge to slap him surged through her veins.
“You are disgusting,” she snapped. “She’s eighteen.”
Abram shrugged lazily, completely unfazed.
“Perfect age,” he said with a smirk. Then he glanced at Robert. “Dad, in our next meeting with Rafael we should talk about his mute sister for my marriage.”
Before the sentence could even settle in the air, Eva shoved Abram hard in the chest.
He staggered a step back, clearly not expecting it.
“Have you lost your mind?” she shouted.
Abram’s eyes darkened immediately.
“You pushed me?” he said dangerously.
“Rafael will kill you,” Eva fired back without hesitation. “Don’t underestimate him.”
Memories of Rafael’s cold eyes and terrifying calm flashed through her mind. She had seen what kind of beast lived beneath his composed exterior.
Abram crossed his arms again, glaring at her.
“Oh, so now you’re taking his side?” he asked mockingly.
Eva’s jaw tightened.
“No,” she said firmly. “I am not taking his side.”
Her voice softened for a brief moment, but the anger in her eyes remained.
“I’m just standing up for an innocent girl who has already suffered enough.”
Abram scoffed.
Eva turned back toward Robert.
“Dad,” she said, her tone desperate now, “please tell me the truth. What exactly is the history between our family and Rafael?”
Abram suddenly chuckled darkly.
“So you really want to know the history?” he asked.
“Yes,” Eva replied instantly.
Abram leaned slightly forward, preparing to speak.
“So hear this~"
“ABRAM!”
Robert’s voice thundered across the room.
Abram froze immediately and straightened like a disciplined soldier.
Robert turned his gaze toward Eva.
“Eva,” he said calmly, though a warning lingered in his voice. “Don’t dig into the past. It’s darker than you can imagine.”
“I want to know about those murders,” Eva insisted stubbornly.
The word murders hung heavily in the air.
For a moment Robert said nothing.
Then Abram spoke again, his voice colder now.
“Dad, just tell her,” he said. “She deserves to know.”
He looked directly at Eva.
“The truth is simple,” Abram continued. “Our family, the Bianchis, and the Romanos… we teamed up to wipe the Vladimirs off the map.”
Eva’s breath caught in her throat.
“We killed everyone,” Abram said bluntly. “Everyone except two people.”
“Rafael… and Laila.”
Eva felt her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
“At that time Rafael was eighteen,” Abram continued, his tone disturbingly casual. “Laila was only six.”
Her hands slowly began to tremble.
“Rafael somehow managed to escape that night,” Abram said. “He grabbed his sister and fled Switzerland.”
“We searched everywhere for them,” he continued. “We wanted to finish what we started.”
His lips curved into a faint smile.
“But we couldn’t find them.”
Abram glanced proudly at Robert.
“However, Daddy managed to put Rafael behind bars in Germany.”
“For thirteen years.”