CHAPTER 124: BUILT ON LIES

"You’re right. Sorry to disturb you and Rafael as well. We should catch up over dinner," my mother said before winking at me.

"Sure," I replied, although I knew that my mother had no idea just how much we truly needed to catch up over dinner.

I glanced at the door that closed behind the two of them after their departure. My heart was aching for my mother because I knew that she just had absolutely no idea. She had no idea what kind of world she had married into. No idea that the man living right by her side and loving her had built an empire on things that most people wouldn’t even dare talk about. She was scared of Josh and his violent behavior, and that was when I knew I had to tell her.

I couldn’t let her continue living in this illusion while being treated as a fool. No matter how much she loved Bennett, she needed to be told the truth. In fact, because she loved Bennett so much, I felt that my mother deserved to know the truth so that she could decide for herself what she wanted to do about this love.

...

A few days later, I found myself sitting quietly in the back seat of Bennett’s sleek black car as he and my mother chatted away about all the amazing places that we would visit on our shopping spree. The days had crawled by without me uttering a word to my mother about the truth that I had learned. At first, I thought it would be all too easy to make up my mind about what to do and bring myself to do it. However, I quickly found out that when the time came, I just couldn’t find the words, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell my mother to her face that she had married a mafia boss and had dragged both of us into a mafia family without knowing it.

It felt so unreal that we were out on a shopping trip together as if nothing had happened. It felt like nothing had changed-except that everything had changed.

As always, I never failed to notice how my mother’s face lit up whenever Bennett spoke, and the way she leaned into him with complete trust. The smile on her face brought a sinking feeling to my stomach because I knew that if I were to tell her the truth, that happiness would shatter in an instant.

Could I really do that to her? Could I really destroy her dream?

Just as I was still lost in my own thoughts, the car pulled up in front of the high-end shopping mall. I followed the happy couple inside as I reminded myself that it might be better to simply live in the present-at least until I made up my mind. I felt like a lost soul as I walked behind my mother, oblivious to my surroundings. My thoughts were just too preoccupied with figuring out my next move in life. I wasn’t sure if there really was a way out of this or if we really could run away even if we wanted to.

Would Bennett let us get away?

"Abby, why are you so quiet? What do you think about this dress? I think you should try it on-it would definitely look perfect on you," my mother said as she shoved a beautiful pink dress in my face.

"Sure..." I murmured.

After shopping, a beautiful dinner followed. I watched the lovebirds chat away as they laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. Honestly, I had never seen my mother so happy. It made me realize that this was the kind of happiness that she longed for. Everything about it felt so right-except for the fact that it was all wrong. I wondered if a truly loving relationship could be built upon a foundation of lies.

I toyed around with a lettuce leaf on my plate aimlessly as my mind continued to wander. It probably took too long for me to realize that I wasn’t just concerned about my mother’s relationship with Bennett-but every concern about them also applied to my relationship with Raphael as well. Ever since that day, I honestly had no idea how to face him, and the fact that Raphael kept on acting like nothing had happened only made it more difficult for me.

...

Despite all that was going on, work at the office was nothing more than just work at the office. The days went by completely unaffected by the fact that I had learned the truth. It was just another day at work, and everyone treated me exactly the same-including Raphael.

Suddenly, the phone on my work desk rang, showing that I had received an internal phone call from another division. I picked it up without any hesitation to find that I had to send some information over.

"Yes, I understand your request. I’ll be sure to send the information over to you as soon as possible," I replied. After thanking me a couple of times politely, the call disconnected. I let out a long sigh, noting that it wasn’t the work that was tiring me out.

I honestly didn’t realize that I had been avoiding Raphael until he mentioned it to my face. Thinking back on it, it probably started off as something small and casual-like choosing to take lunch at my desk rather than going out and having lunch with Raphael. That slowly escalated into me leaving work early or much later to avoid going home with him. At the mansion, I spent more time in my bedroom while pretending to be busy whenever I knew that he was in the mansion. As if to provide an excuse for myself, I told myself that I was just yearning for more personal space and time to think and process everything. I thought that Raphael wouldn’t have noticed, but apparently he did, and he decided to confront me about it.