Chapter 103 CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
\[TWO DAYS LATER, IXORA'S HOUSE\]
Ixora exhaled and sat on the couch. Her parents' actions have affected her, and throughout all of them, she's alone. No one to support her.
The government took charge of the girls kidnapped and promised to help them find their parents.
The police also searched her house yesterday, and she was shocked to see several weapons being brought out.
Their burial was yesterday, with little to nobody in attendance. No one would want to attend the burial of human traffickers.
She's just tired of everything and hopes things will be okay. But she feels they can't.
Throughout those days, Drexton hasn't contacted her.
Even when she calls, it says his phone is not reachable.
He doesn't come to the office, and he's not at the hideout either. It feels like he's gone far away from her life.
After he kissed her, they hadn't seen or spoken to each other. She wondered if he was still angry and punishing her for her parents' wrongdoing.
"He should at least pick up my calls," she muttered, dialing his number again.
Not reachable.
She sighed.
These days, nobody's number is reachable. Nelly, and Blake too.
She hasn't even seen Maddox and Jaxon.
She wanted to keep her phone when a text notification came.
"Come to the outhouse by 6." From Drexton.
She narrowed her brow while reading.
She could notice the iciness behind the text. It wasn't the usual Drexton she fell for. It was the one when he hated her.
Still holding the phone, her palms became cold, too cold for her.
Her heart sank.
"Why this strange feeling?" She rarely feels this way, but his text was making her uneasy.
She glanced at the time: two hours until six.
\[DREXTON'S HOUSE\]
Drexton stood beside his drawer, with his emotionless eyes. His gaze left his phone and fell on the window.
Two hours to go, and he would watch her cry blood.
He's going to break her and shatter her. He will do it in the outhouse—the place that holds all of their memory.
She thinks the devil could ever have a heart. Never.
Her smiling face appeared in his head. He's going to make sure she never smiles.
Her teary face appeared, and the image of him wiping her tears.
Every single time they've been together began playing in his head.
The wedding, office, Sicily, and the outhouse moments.
He ran his hand along his hair.
His eyes caught the hourglass on the table. It showed he had thirty minutes left. He slammed his fist, and it fell to the ground with a breaking sound.
He slid his hand in his pocket and brought out two bracelets.
The one Ixora gave him.
The first one has the image of a fire and flame in bold was carved into it.
The second one was a firefly with a firefly carved into it.
His gaze locked on them as he remembered she had given him the gift on his birthday.
He drew in a deep breath as he opened the drawer.
His eyes went to the clock, and he saw it was an hour remaining. Only an hour, and he will shatter her.
He had been orchestrating this plan for a long time. He would get close to her and break her emotionally.
He has no emotion.
Maybe that's what he thought, because in the deepest part of him, he could feel—
He shook off the thought.
The time was ticking fast, and for the very first time, he could hear his heart beating.
"I have a heart?"
"Of course, you do. Everyone does. Should I show you?"
"It's beating fast."
And again, he remembered their conversation at his parents' grave site. How she showed him his heart, and how they watched the stars together.
He had always thought his heart stopped beating together with his disorder.
What was happening to him? The time should go faster, and he would end everything he'd built with her. If he does, she'll hate him to the point of almost killing him. He will use that to get his old self back.
He kept the bracelets in the drawer and wanted to close them when his eyes caught something.
"Bracelet?" he muttered, bringing it out.
It was so small that it almost looked like what a child would give him. It's girlish as well.
He doesn't remember having an encounter with a little child. Then who gave him this?
His eyes locked on them longer than usual.
Pink and tiny.
"Here, take my lucky charm."
He recalled a voice in his head.
He doesn't have amnesia, so why doesn't he remember?
"Smile and be happy."
His head began banging, hard. It was throbbing and splitting. It felt like an earthquake was happening in his head.
"Argh!" he groaned, crumbling to his knees.
Something slid out of his nose.
Blood.
He tried to keep his eyes open, but they kept rolling back and forth.
The blood increased, trickling to the floor.
He growled in pain as he landed on the ground with a thud.
Slowly, his eyes closed as he went down memory lane.
\[FLASHBACK, AGE 11\]
Drexton sat on a bench staring at the kids who were playing in the park. It's been four years since he left the Castellan house. Four years of being homeless. Four years of having to survive on the streets like a beggar.
He doesn't plan on remaining this way. He needs to hurt the people who wronged him.
His face was stone ice. They will smell his hate.
A shadowy figure stood in front of him, and his gaze locked with hers.
She was staring at him with her rich hazel eyes.
"Why is your face like that?" she asked.
He looked away, ignoring her.
She sat beside him. "I'm talking to you, Mr. Ice face."
"Ice face?" he faced her, asking.
"Yes. You are looking at those kids like you want to kill them with your eyes."
"Little girl, go away." Drexton stood and began walking away.
"Little girl," she murmured, and hurriedly stood. She caught up with Drexton.
"I am not little. Do you know the things I've done, and will still do? If I tell you, you will be impressed with me." She placed her hands on her waist and flipped her hair backward. A sassy expression showed on her face.
Drexton stopped in his tracks and faced her.
He was way taller, and that made him look down at her.
"What are you then? An adult?"
She shook her head. "I'm a young adult." She had a serious expression as she said that.
Drexton stared at her for a while, unaware of when a smile appeared on his lips.
"Yayyy," she jumped, jamming her hands together. "I made Mr. Ice face smile."
His smile fell. "Don't call me that." He walked away.
"Wait up," she ran after him. "What should I call you then?"
"Didn't your parents teach you not to talk to strangers?" he asked, not stopping.
"My parents are rarely around, so I spend most of the time with my nanny. Besides, I listen to no one. I wonder what her face would look like when she finds out I jumped out of the window."
That prompted Drexton to stop, and he faced her.
"You mean to tell me a little girl like you can do mischievous things?"
"Not only that. She's mean to me, so I love to stress her. There was a time I used her toothbrush and scrubbed the toilet." She placed her hands on her mouth, realizing what she had just said.
"N-no, I didn't mean it that way. I meant I did do it, but I felt bad about it and told her before she could use the brush." She pouted her lips.
His lips stretched into a wide smile as his gaze locked on her face.
She looked at him and mirrored their gaze.
"You look so handsome when you smile," she mumbled.
He ruffled her hair. "You should go home."
She slapped his hands off. "Don't do that to me. They do that to kids."
"Aren't you a kid?" Drexton asked, perplexed.
"Don't act like you're an adult just because you're tall. You're also a child."
"Such a talkative." He continued his steps.
"Won't you tell me your name?" she asked.
"No," he replied.
She looked at the weather. "I'm sure she will be close to finding me. My house is not quite far from here."
She held his hand when he didn't reply. Her innocent eyes locked with his.
"You should try to smile more often. You will appear nicer."
"What if I don't want to be nice?" he asked.
She wanted to reply when he got a glimpse of her nanny.
"She's coming," she said beneath her breath.
Her eyes fell on the bracelet around her wrist, and she took it off.
"This is my lucky charm."
He wanted to release his hand, but she held it tight.
"Good luck will follow you, and hopefully you will smile again."
She wore the bracelet around his wrist.
"Drexton," he said.
"Huh?" She asked.
"My name is Drexton."
A huge smile kissed her lips. "He told me his name." She wrapped her hand around him.
Drexton froze as he felt her warmth on him.
Since he left the Castellan house, he hasn't felt anything.
She broke the hug and pecked his cheek.
He felt it again. The second sensation in four years.
"Smile and be happy," she whispered.
"Come here, you silly child," the nanny said and grabbed her hand.
"Nanny, wait!"
The nanny didn't listen as she dragged her along.
"My name is Ixora," she said with a smile as she waved at him.
Drexton raised his hand and found himself waving back with a smile.
His eyes fell on the pink girlish bracelet.
"Ixora."
\[REALITY\]
Click. Click. Click.
Drexton slowly opened his eyes only to get blinded by camera flashes.
He stayed on the floor for a while to get himself.
She's his childhood lover, the only girl who ever made him feel real emotions.
He should have known when he felt strangely attached to her.
Planning to break her can go to hell. He's going to make her his because she's already his to begin with.
Opening his eyes again, he saw the flashes were real.
They were people in his house, and—
Maddox and Jaxon have been apprehended by the police.
He looked at them and couldn't understand what was going on.
"W... What is going on?" he asked in a weak voice as he managed to stand.
Inspector Williams came to him with the reporters, crazily taking pictures of Drexton.
"Mr. Drexton Blackthorn, you are under arrest for the crime of murder for being among the notorious mob gang known as the Hell Devils. You have the right to remain silent because whatever you say or do now will be used against you in the court of law." He faced a constable.
"Handcuff him."