~Beauty or a Beast~Part 8

~Beauty or a Beast~Part 8

Jackson slid the folder across his desk to her.

"My mother would not lie to me about how my dad died?!" She raised her voice, fury dancing in her eyes at his accusation.

"Please... read what's inside the folder. I swear, it is not my intention to upset you Adella." He gave her a pleading look.

Adella reluctantly snatched the folder, flipping it opened and scanning her eyes over what was inside. Her mouth fell slack at what she was actually seeing.

Proof of her mother's betrayal was right there staring her in the face. Della had always wholeheartedly trusted her mom. Why had she kept the truth of her father's death from her?

"I'm really sorry you had to find out this way. I have no choice but to share this with you." He said knowing there was more to thais story, which would undoubtedly cause her heartache. He hated to be the one to tell her.

Her breath caught, as a painful knot formed inside her throat, she couldn't swallow down.

She carefully flipped through the many pages reading over each one as tears slid down her face dripping onto the papers in front of her. Adellas hands covered her face. She could longer keep herself from falling apart. Her body shuddered, weeping all over again, just like the day her mom had told her; her father was gone.

Jackson's heart broke hearing the whimpering sobs coming from the girl he wanted to comfort....yet he knew she needed a few minutes to process all the life altering news she'd just heard.

Adella lifted her head wiping her wet eyes with the fluffy cuffs of her bathrobe and took in a deep breath.

"I just don't understand why my mother would feel the need to lie to me for all those years. Why would she do that to me?" She managed to choke out the words, a pained look on her face.

"I'll explain why Adella. I...i'm so sorry to be the one to tell you all this, but you really must know the truth." He paused to give her a moment to try and collect herself a bit more before he began.

He sat staring at her sympathetically.

"It's ok, I'll be fine....I want to know everything. Please continue." She was ready to hear it all. Nomatter how difficult it would be.

"Ok....well, from the very start your mother blamed my father for your dad's death...even though that horrible accident was most certainly not his fault." He stopped, closed his eyes and shook his head as if he were trying to clear his mind of the horrible thoughts that had plagued him for years.

"Adella I'm not sure if you were ever aware of the fact that your mother was a woman that possessed certain "abilities." She...she was a self proclaimed witch that practiced the art quite religiously....and she was indeed very powerful." He gauged her shocked reaction.

"I take it, you did not know this either?" He questioned.

"N...no I never knew that. However I'd get teased in school about my mom being a witch....but I....I never took it for more than just hurtful taunts, and I certainly never imagined it to be anything remotely close to what you're telling me." She kept wiping her tears away shaking her head as if what she was hearing wasn't real.

"I'm sorry but....there's actually quite a bit more I must tell you." He stared at the girl who had been betrayed by her very own mother her entire life.

"Ahhh.....of course there is." She laughed humorlessly.

"I'm sorry... I have to tell you all of it....be...before it's too late." He responded, his voice shaky.

"Wh...what do you mean? Before it's too late!" She took on a worried expression.

"I have something I need to show you before I continue." He stood from his chair walking into an adjacent room. In less than a minute he returned carrying a single rose with as much care as one would use to handle an infant. It sat upright inside a glass dome, lights illuminated all around it. The blood red rose had very few petals left on it and she wondered what this dying flower had to the story he was telling her. He very carefully sat it in front of him, as not to disturb the delicate petals that still clung to it.

"Now I'll explain the meaning of this rose. It's a story you may find hard to believe, yet I assure you it's all true. He cleared his throat, his eyes misting over as he gazed at the flower as though he were in a trance.

"On the day of your dad's funeral after everyone had left, your mother walked up to my father and handed him that rose. He stood turning his back to Adella, hands shoved down inside his pockets staring out a window at the darkened night sky.

"She said that when the last petal fell, so too would my fathers youngest son. But that wasn't all she cursed the youngest son with. His home would become his prison. He could never leave...and if he ever tried he'd become deathly ill. She also cursed him with a Beast that would surface with the change of his emotions. And the only way this curse could ever be broken was if a descendant of hers could see the youngest son's true beauty, even in the face of the beast. So.....you see, he will die unless by some miracle a descendant of your mother can accept him and the beast. You....you've already seen the beast th...that terrified & repulsed you. I...it is me that is the youngest son of my father and I will die wh...when that last petal falls." He choked up on his words a bit as he turned walking back to his chair and sat down. His head laid back with a far off hopeless look on his face.

"My brother and I never thought we'd ever find a descendant of hers....and we certainly never knew of you. Then about a year ago...things changed for us. My older brother went to the cemetery to visit our parents' graves one day and while there, he saw a girl crying on her knees by two large headstones.....one belonging to the man that had worked for our father. We never even knew that he had a daughter. You are the one my brother confronted that day....you are the descendant we've been searching for." Jackson closed his eyes dreading the painful reaction he knew he would get from her.

Adella immediately let out a whimpering cry that cut through the silence, and Jackson's heart. He hated having to tell her this part of the story. He remembered Nathan telling him what a caring and beautiful girl she was. Nate had strong feelings for Adella from the start, and she didn't even know it. Nate had damn near fallen in love with her....but he had to ignore his feelings before he completely lost his heart to Adella and his brother to death.

"Na.... Nathan is.....y....your.......brother." she wailed out painfully, remembering how he had approached her that day and comforted her, then immediately started asking her questions, like he cared. After that he had made certain to stay in contact with her and they became great friends in such a short time, and did everything together.

She recalled the times Nate had held her when she felt so down on herself...and how long they had been like a brother and sister, he'd even taken her in when she had no place to go. Her heart felt like it had been stomped into a bloody pulp at hearing how he had used her....had he really used her for the sake of saving his brother?

Adella was a total wreck....tears constantly pouring down her face in a steady stream.

"I don't know if I can take this...p...please tell me it wasn't all a lie!" She almost yelled out. Her eyes were swollen and red as she stared at the man in front of her. Adella's hands trembled horribly while she cried uncontrollably, waiting for him to say something.... anything.

"Adella. I swear to you it wasn't all a lie....my brother cares very deeply for you, actually more than you could ever imagine." He stood walking over beside her chair.

Adella's cries eased a bit as she sniffled. Jackson handed her a box of Keenex, which she made good use of.

Adella stood up from her seat slowly. "I have to go, I need to be alone for a bit."

"Please don't go Adella. Please stay with me." He whispered in a pleading tone as he gently pulled her closer to him. She felt a safe warmth surrounding her as he held her to his chest.

"J...Jackson, I....I don't know what to say about all th........this, I don't know what to do! I...I'm so confused." She felt weakened in his arms.

"I don't wanna die Adella. C...can you please help me?" He begged while she stared at the handsome face of the man whose life was in her hands. Could she really accept him along with the beast her mother had cursed him with? For the first time ever she felt anger toward the woman that she now realized she never really knew at all.