“Pack up your things in the closet. The luggage is inside. I’ll wait for you outside.”
“Daemon wait!”
“What?!” he growled. The raspy tone of his angry voice creates a more menacing aura over his face. The cold, harsh expression on his face makes her want to crumble to her knees.
“Are you really sure about it? Are you really returning me back to my family?”
“You said you wanted to talk to them. Now, you can not only talk to them, you can now live with them again like you used to.”
What he’s saying is tempting but her heart is rejecting the thought of being away from him. Something is telling her not to go back yet. As embarrassing as it may sound, she wanted to stay with him or if she can’t stay forever with him then maybe she can stay a bit longer despite him being toxic, imposing, rude, demanding, and dangerous.
“Would it be better for you to give me back to them?”
Daemon’s features softened but he remained his lips sealed so she continued.
“When you said that you have no reason to keep me by your side, are you giving up on finding Emily too?”
“No, never,” he hastily replied as if she just asked him the most cynical question of all. “I’ll find her, I’ll find my daughter.”
Going back into the door, he glanced at her. “And just so know, it’s better for you to hide your condition from them. You can’t trust your own family.”
A sour smile broke out from her mouth. “And I can trust you?”
“You did trust me already the moment you begged me to marry you.”
“I don’t remember that.” Raising her head, she met his dark hooded eyes. “If I can’t even trust my own family, then why would you want me to return to them?”
“Because you made me see again the most obvious way to find our daughter.”
Stunned, she bridged their gap and grabbed his arm. “What do you mean? Daemon?”
But he jerked them away gently. “Be quick. We’ll talk in the car.”
He left her in the room alone, her thoughts torturing her even more as his words echoed in her head like a broken recorder. If packing could earn her a Guinness world record, then it would have been handed to her in a silver platter as it only took her a few seconds to fill up one luggage before she pulled it outside and onto his car.
“Daemon, what did you mean by that? Do you think they’re hiding Emily from me? Did they want to kill me too?” she asked anxiously when they’re on the road.
“I don’t know. I don’t have enough evidence to accuse your family. It’s for you to find out.”
She’s frozen in her seat for a moment when a realization hits her. So that’s what he meant. She needed her to be his eyes in her family.
“They’re my family, Daemon. Did you really think that I would betray them for you?”
“You already did, Devon.”
Silence.
He continued driving while she’s evaluating her actions once she set foot in her home. Her number priority is to recover all her memories to find her baby. She believed their house and her family held enough trigger to make her remember.
Daemon pulled up on a curb a few meters away from the private subdivision she reckoned where she had lived.
“Tell the guard your name and they will guide you into your home,” he coldly said without looking her way.
But she didn’t move in her seat. Her palms are sweaty from anxiety of finally meeting her family and being separated from Daemon. It’s like being taken hostage again but this time, it’s voluntary. No one forced her.
“Are you going to communicate with me?”
“No, I won’t.”
“Are you sure? Won’t you miss me?”
Instead of answering, he pushed a button and a door to her side opened.
“Out,” he commanded.
“Daemon, if I call you, would you answer me?”
“Why would you even do that? No, don’t call me.”
“What if I wanted to hear your voice?”
“Why would you want to hear my voice?”
She exhaled sharply. This is getting out of nowhere.
“Okay, I get it. You wanted me out of your sight now. Irony, isn’t it? You literally kidnapped me months back and now you’re kicking me out of your life now. But before I leave, I’ll say something to you. Do you know that in my years of living as Ava, I haven’t met a single person that is as indecisive and as turncoat as you? I just hope that you’ll wake up one day from this foolishness. And you know what, I’m proud to say that I’m not as stupid as you. Make up your mind, Daemon. You’re a man. Be a man.”
After getting her luggage from his compartment by herself, he left as quickly as they came the moment she closed the door at her back.
Sucking in a breath, she asked the guard about the Farrows and true to Daemon’s words, they dropped her off in front of a white mansion that is as big as Daemon’s house.
“This is it, Devon. Moment of truth.”
She pressed the doorbell outside and waited for someone to open the gate for her.
“Who’s that?”
She heard a familiar voice as her heart leaped in recognition.
“What do you want?” The old lady paused to take a good look at her before she erupted into a shriek. “Ma’am Devon?! Ma’am Devon, you’re alive!”
“Uhm, hi?” she said, noting the genuine happiness on her crying face.
“Ma’am!” The old lady is shouting while running back into the house. “Your daughter is alive! Ma’am Devon is outside!
“What foolishness are you talking about, Sandra? Devon is dead!”
A low authoritative voice slapped away the helper’s excitement. Devon swallowed hard. That’s her father, Gestoni.
“Sir, no! I’m really telling the truth! Ma’am Devon is really alive. Please come outside and see it for yourself!”