Chapter 57
Pete's heart tightened as he sensed an unspoken turmoil in Mariah. "What's the matter, Mariah? Is everything alright?" he asked, his concern etched on his face. Mariah met his gaze, a smile masking the pain in her eyes. Yet, as she looked at Pete, tears welled up, and a flood of memories crashed over her—the moments with Adam, Pete, and Mason in the mansion.
"Ella, my sweetheart. Come here," she called her daughter, fighting to maintain composure. Mariah hugged Ella tightly, trying to shield her from the storm within. "Can you play in your room for a while? Mommy needs to talk with Uncle Pete and Aunt Blaire." Ella, sensing her mother's distress, smiled and kissed Mariah on the cheek. "Anything for you, Mommy," she replied, leaving the room.
Pete exchanged a worried glance with Blaire, the heaviness of the unspoken hanging in the air. "Mariah, what's going on?" he asked softly, his voice a gentle plea for her to share the burden.
As Ella skipped away to her room, Mariah took a deep breath, attempting to steady the whirlwind of emotions threatening to engulf her. Pete's concerned gaze lingered, waiting for Mariah to share the weight that burdened her heart.
"Mariah," Blaire spoke gently, his voice a reassuring presence in the room. "You can tell us anything. We're here for you."
Mariah looked at Pete and Blaire, her eyes revealing the unspoken pain she had concealed behind her smile. The memories of the mansion, of Adam and Mason, lay heavy on her shoulders, and she knew it was time to unveil the shadows that lingered in the corners of her heart.
Mariah's revelation hung in the air like an unexpected storm, catching Pete and Blaire off guard. The mere notion of Mason's presence after all these years seemed to defy the laws of their shared history, leaving them in a state of stunned disbelief.
"I saw Mason a few days ago," Mariah confessed, her voice carrying the weight of an extraordinary truth. As the words settled, Pete and Blaire exchanged incredulous glances, their minds grappling with the implications of what they had just heard. Mariah continued, her voice trembling with raw emotion, "At first, I thought I was just seeing things, and it wasn't Mason, but..." Her words faltered, and her struggle to maintain composure became palpable. "I tried telling myself it was all in my head, questioning the impossibility. But my heart believed my eyes, and I trusted my heart. In my search for the truth, I found Mason. He's... alive."
Silence engulfed the room, a heavy pause pregnant with the enormity of the revelation. Pete and Blaire sat in disbelief, trying to process the resurrection of hope they had long buried. The air was charged with a mixture of shock, confusion, and an undercurrent of emotion that threatened to overwhelm them.
"But... but how is this... how is this even possible?" Pete's voice finally broke the silence, his words choked with tears streaming down his cheeks. The memories of loss and grief resurfaced, colliding with the newfound realization that the family he thought he had lost was still alive. Mason, against all odds, was alive. The room became a battleground of conflicting emotions, where the weight of the past collided with the hope of the present in a moment that transcended the boundaries of their understanding.
Mariah took a deep breath and continued, "I struggled to believe it myself. Everything that happened that day, and I..." Her voice trailed off, mirroring Pete's struggle to come to terms with the inexplicable.
"I never stopped thinking about Adam and Mason, not for a single day. The pain of losing them has been a constant companion," he confessed, his words bearing the weight of years of grief. "And now, to learn that Mason might be alive—it's like life I'm experiencing that day all over again."
Blaire, equally affected, reached out to hold Mariah's hand, a silent gesture of support in the face of the unexpected. The room remained immersed in a poignant silence, the boundaries of their reality forever altered by the revelation that someone they thought was lost had miraculously reappeared.
"I thought Mason and Adam were gone, that my daughter would never be able to meet his father," Mariah admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "For years, I believed they didn't make it out of that building. I thought I lost him, and I had to go on living without him."
"And then, Mason told me something that shattered everything," Mariah continued, her voice trembling with the vulnerability of her confession. "Adam survived that day as well. Mason was able to save Adam just in time before the collapse, but... Adam lost his memories. He doesn't remember us, our love, or the life we had together. He sustained a head injury which made him forget even his own name. I just came back after seeing him."
Mariah sobbed, her heart ached for all the years they had lost. Adam doesn't remember anything, and Mariah's heart is unable to bear the pain. Pete and Blaire listened in solemn silence, absorbing every single word. Pete had known Mason and Adam his whole life, they were the ones who saved him. Adam was like his older brother, he never abandoned him like his parents. The loss would have been too much for Pete to handle if it weren't for Blaire.
"I don't know how to face this, how to rebuild what we had, especially when Adam looks at me like a stranger," Mariah wiped her tears off, her vulnerability laid bare before her friends.
Pete squeezed Mariah's shoulder in a gesture of solidarity. "Mariah I know what you're going through right now. It's just so hard to believe everything, but We're here for you. They were my family and I thought no one survived that day, I resented them for leaving me alone. But I know Mason must have a reason for hiding all these years, the danger was still there even after Ariak died. The mafia world had shaken as there was no trace of Adam or Ariak."
As Mariah absorbed Pete's words, she felt a flicker of hope in the midst of her heartache. Pete continued, "I promise you Mariah, I'll do anything to bring your old Adam back to you. I'll make sure he remembers you, and he remembers me."