Chapter 55
Ariel
It wasn’t completely dark outside as the light from the incandescent bulbs reflected brightly on the path of the lonely estate.
I didn’t mind because it was just what I needed-the night owls that hooted loudly, the cold gust of wind that hit my hair hard, forcing it to fly in different directions. Some of the strands formed a veil over my tear-eyed face.
Slowly, the crescent moon appeared, further illuminating my path. I smiled and took in a deep breath, enjoying the silence that made me forget about the delirious conversation I just had with my father.
Meeting Dmitri by the door at that point was quite surprising and it took me a great deal of control not to crash into his arms, but I knew how he reasoned and he might have wanted me to go back in with him.
I shook my head involuntarily. Tonight, when I return to the mansion, I’ll inform him of my wish to return to Seattle as spending one more day in that house could damage my sanity completely.
Still walking absentmindedly, I became oblivious to the fact that I’d veered to the main road and even the headlight coming from a car behind me wasn’t fast enough to warn me to move away.
My heart skipped a beat and I halted in confusion, wondering whether to keep moving or to risk waiting for the car to press his brakes.
None of that happened, instead I felt a strong grip on waist shoving me away from the road right before the car would hit me and we both landed on a grassy area on the pedestrian lane.
“Are you alright?”
That voice wasn’t Dmitri’s and amidst my shock, the heavens knew that I’d recognize the speaker no matter the situation.
“Dad?” The speed at which I spared him a backward glance caused my head to ache. “Ahhh,” I shrieked in pain.
He helped me up immediately and palmed my forehead. “Did the bastard hit you? Don’t worry, his plate number has already been captured by the camera and he’ll be punished for driving recklessly tomorrow,”
I raised my hand to argue. “You don’t have to go that far. It’s my fault, anyway, I should have maintained my lane,”
“If he had hit you, we won’t be having this conversation and if I didn’t speak to you the way I did during dinner we wouldn’t even be out here,”
I was dumbstruck by his statement and then he did something more astonishing. He fell on his knees, holding my hands with his head bowed.
My jaw dropped and I dropped my to my knees as well. “What are you doing? Please, get up now. I promise I’ve forgiven you already,”
He lifted his face slowly and stared at me with glassy eyes. Being so close to him made me to notice the dark circles under his eyes and the hollowness of his cheeks.
If I was lying about forgiving him before, all these things I just noticed helped to melt away the anger.
“Are you sure?” His tone was low and remorseful, not even the usual firm and authoritative one I enjoyed listening to.
“You didn’t raise a liar. Please let’s get up and go home,”
His eyes lit up with hope and the morose expression on his face cracked into a bright smile. He pulled me into an embrace and ran his fingers through my head. “Oh Ariel, I thought you were trying to run away like you did before,”
I giggled and hit him playfully on the chest, pulling away from him. “I won’t deny that I considered doing that, but I realized that it won’t make any sense,”
He cupped my face. “Please don’t think about it anymore. I promise that you won’t regret coming back here,”
“I have a question…”
He cut me short and held my hand. “I know you have several questions and I’ll answer all of them as we head back. I’m sure that you’ve been wondering why I never called or even asked about you,”
“True. I was heartbroken each time my phone rang and you weren’t the caller, or the times I got text messages and none of them came from you. It made me doubt if we truly shared any bond,” I sighed.
He inhaled deeply and kicked a little stone in front of him. “I was too embarrassed to hear your voice. After you left, I felt guilty and talking to you like nothing happened would make me even more shameless but trust me, I didn’t forget about you. I sent one of my men to watch over you. Dmitri knows about it,”
“Huh?”
We stopped walking. “I never forgot you for one day and that’s because of how much I love you. There’s no way you wouldn’t have gotten married to Dmitri, but things should have been done in a better way and for that, I apologize.”
“Why did you say that?”
“The Outfit has always been against us and the Bratva. Dmitri’s late father and I were acquainted with each other and so we made a pact to have each other’s back which included betrothing you to his son,” He explained, looking resigned.
“But why didn’t you tell me about it earlier?”
“When Dmitri came for you, I didn’t know how to say no to him so I thought that putting up a tough front would make it easier for me to let go. If only I was able to foresee how stupid my actions were,”
A feeling of wholeness settled within me and a fresh wave of joy spread around my chest. This was what forgiveness meant.
“It’s alright, Dad. Don’t blame yourself anymore. I’m glad that we are having this conversation right now and from the depth of my heart, I forgive you,” I flashed him a cheeky smile.
“Thank you so much. You don’t know what it means to me,” He hugged me again.
“You have a lot of things to make up for, though,”
“It’s alright, just give me the list and I’ll attend to all of them,”