CHAPTER 126: ENDLESS DILEMMA

"You don’t trust me?" he repeated my words darkly.

"I’m sorry. I honestly don’t know if I can," I admitted in a shaky voice.

Raphael’s expression only hardened even further. I saw something unfamiliar flicker in his eyes, but before I could identify it, he quickly looked away.

"Do you want to leave?" Raphael asked after a long moment of silence.

His unexpected question sent a jolt running through my body. I stared at Raphael speechlessly when I realized that I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

Did I want to leave?

I had been thinking about it non-stop, about leaving the mafia world and taking my mother with me. But when the time came for me to answer his question, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

"Do you honestly think that you can simply walk away?" Raphael asked accusingly.

His eyes were wild with rage, but I only saw it for a brief moment before his lips came down to claim mine in a punishing kiss. His lips felt so hot on mine as his hands moved to grope my breasts roughly. Raphael wrapped an arm around my waist as if he wanted to keep me from escaping from him.

His lips moved wildly against mine before his tongue plunged deftly between my lips.

"Mhmm..." I moaned into our kiss as our tongues entwined in a maddening dance.

His heat filled my mouth as his tongue danced around with mine. While he invaded my mouth, his hand squeezed my breast, pumping them in turn. He was being so rough with me, but surprisingly, I didn’t mind it at all. I just felt surprised at the rudeness of it all as our kiss deepened. His fingers moved to capture my nipple before he began squeezing it.

"Ahh..." I cried out as he broke our kiss.

I was a panting mess by the time that Raphael let go of my lips. When our eyes met, Raphael had an unreadable expression on his face. I could have been mistaken, but he looked so bewildered, as if he had completely lost it for a moment. Without saying a word to me, his hand fell away from my body, and he turned in the direction of the door.

"Raphael..." I called his name softly.

It was no use. Raphael did not say another word or turn towards me. My heart raced heavily in my chest as I watched him leave in silence. There were so many things left unsaid between us, but I couldn’t bring myself to chase after him.

...

Later that night, sleep evaded me as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling while my mind replayed the argument that I had with Raphael over and over again.

The weight of the truth that I had learned about his family pressed down on me along with the feeling of love that I had for him.

However, before I could worry about myself or even about us, I knew that I had to worry about my mother. My mother still had no idea about the truth, and she was still living in her beautiful illusion, married to the man she believed to be nothing more than a wealthy businessman.

She loved and trusted Bennett in every way possible. However, just as Raphael had been withholding the truth from me, Bennett had been doing the same-if not worse.

I let out a loud sigh because I knew that I had to tell my mother the truth. She deserved to know who she had married, and she deserved the chance to make an informed decision about whether or not she wanted to stay in this kind of life.

Just the thought of breaking the truth to her broke my heart because I didn’t want to shatter the happiness that she thought she had found after so much hardship in raising me alone as a single mother.

When morning came around, I knew that I had to make up my mind. I needed to talk to my mother, and there was no point in delaying it any further.

The opportunity presented itself quite smoothly that weekend when I asked my mother to have lunch with me. My mother readily agreed without suspecting anything was off as I took her to a quiet restaurant that I had booked in advance away from the mansion.

My mother was excited and delighted at my sudden invitation as she chatted cheerfully away, although unknowingly, her excitement was only making it harder for me to go through with my plan.

When we arrived at the restaurant, it was truly as quiet as I had imagined, with only another table occupied by two more customers.

We sat down by the window, where we could see the beautiful garden outside. The weather was beautiful, and that only made me wish that I could do something to maintain the peace.

"It’s so great of you to invite me out. It feels like a girl’s day, being out here just the two of us on our little date," my mother said joyfully before beaming a smile my way.

I tried my best to force a small smile, but I had to look away for a moment to remind myself of the real purpose of this meal.

"Yes, I thought that we could use some time together. It’s been a while, just going out, the two of us," I replied.

"I love spending time with you, and you know that. I’m sorry I might have been busy lately with Bennett dragging me all around the place, but we should definitely do this more often," my mother said before she reached out a hand to squeeze mine.

My stomach flipped uncomfortably when my mother mentioned Bennett’s name. I swallowed hard as I felt the palms of my hands sweating. My mother didn’t lose any time in noticing.

"Is everything okay? You look a little nervous," my mother asked.

I had been struggling to bring up the topic, but now it seemed like my mother was handing me the perfect opportunity to start the conversation with her.