Chapter 102: The Unwelco Truth
And yes...that was it...the truth was ugly and disgusting no matter how much Theo wanted to deny it-his and Danielle’s fate was similar.
Their mothers, fathers, everyone around them...not a single one was honest and truthful.
But this was going to end...Theo didn’t breathe for several seconds after Frank finished his statents.
Silence wrapped around them like a second skin, too tight and too full of everything that could not be taken back.
Then sothing violent cracked inside him.
"You should have told ."
His voice ca out muted and calm...like the ss of calm that ca before a hurricane.
Frank’s skin covered in ice.
Theo stepped closer and his shadow swallowed the dim corridor light.
"You knew," Theo said. "All these years. You knew who my mother really was. You knew what Zack did. And you kept quiet."
Frank lifted his hands. "Theo, listen, I did not have the right to tell you. It was not my place."
"Not your place?"
Theo almost laughed. The sound was humorless.
"You brought us here! To this island! You let Danielle think this was just a diplomatic rest. You let walk around this place without knowing what kind of hell it actually is."
Frank inhaled deeply. "I brought you here because the president wanted Danielle to know the truth. He wanted her to understand that he did not kill her mother. The cult did."
Theo’s jaw locked and his chest turned into a burning lava.
He knew Frank was not the enemy.
But he was the one standing in front of him.
He was the one who had known every piece of the truth and chosen silence.
Theo moved before he realised it.
His fist connected with Frank’s jaw so hard that Frank was sent spinning sideways, stumbling into the wall with a choked gasp.
Frank wiped the blood from his lip, shocked but not angry.
Theo stayed still, breathing like he had swallowed fire.
"You stay away from ," Theo ordered. "You stay the hell away from both of us!"
Frank nodded carefully. "I understand."
"No," Theo growled. "You do not. But you will."
He turned abruptly and took out a phone from a drawer nearby. He dialed Aiden’s private line without thinking.
The call connected in seconds.
"A helicopter," Theo demanded it. "Now."
Aiden did not even ask why. "On its way."
Theo hung up and stord down the hall toward Danielle’s room.
He opened the door quietly and stepped inside.
Danielle was asleep where he had left her, her hair spread across the pillow and her breathing was so slow and fragile.
She looked younger when she slept, more free like a bunny in the forest. Now, he understood the aning behind her nickna.
It twisted sothing deep in Theo’s chest.
He touched her shoulder like she was a piece of a broken glass. "Danielle," he humd. "Wake up."
She stirred and her eyes blinked and then opened in slow motion.
"Theo...?" She sat up, yet Danielle was still half dazed. "What happened...?"
"We are leaving," he mumbled. "Get dressed. Sothing comfortable. We do not have ti."
She moved imdiately, trusting him without hesitation, pulling on lighter clothes with quick, tired motions.
Danielle did not ask why since she knew him well enough to feel the urgency in his voice and their situation’s.
When she tied her hair up, Theo grabbed her bag and slung it over his shoulder.
Her hand brushed his, and the touch lingered for a heartbeat longer than necessary.
He pulled her toward the door.
Frank was standing outside waiting, bruising already blooming on his jaw.
Danielle stopped, startled. "What happened to you?"
Frank looked at Theo but answered her.
"Your boyfriend is angry," he said simply.
Theo pushed Danielle gently behind him.
"Do not talk to her."
Frank sighed. "Theo, you cannot do this. If you take her without clearance, you will be fired."
"Hahahahah!!!" Theo burst into laughter, but not an amused one.
This laughter was colder than any winter in the north.
It was a sound that rolled through the hallway like thunder cracking open the sky.
"Fired?" Theo repeated, wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye. "Frank, do you honestly think I care about that right now?"
Frank lowered his head. "Theo, please...Think."
"I thought," Theo snapped. "I thought for years. I thought I knew my life. I thought I knew what kind of man Zack was. I thought I knew what kind of job I had."
Danielle looked at him, confused and alard. "Theo...?"
He turned to her and his face looked fierce and raw.
"This is not about being your bodyguard, Danielle," he muttered.
She blinked slowly since Danielle couldn’t understand what was going on right now?
’Is he angry?’ She asked herself. ’He looks angry...’ Then, Dnaielle glanced at Frank who was fixing his jaw with one hand.
"What the heck is going on here?" Finally, she made that question louder.
"Theo..."
"Frank?"
Both knew that the next statent could simply destroy or end their relationship. They were cousins, real cousins.
To Frank, this was a mission that he needed to accomplish no matter what...he was so close to gaining Elias’s complete trust-he couldn’t afford to have Theo act on his emotions right now.
But to Theo this was a complete betrayal. He wasn’t expecting that his family and closest partner would stab him in the back like this.
And most importantly, Danielle’s life was put in danger. He lost Bae once, and he wasn’t going to lose Danielle...not a chance!
Frank cleared his throat softly. "Theo, be careful what you say." He looked into Theo’s ocean eyes.
Theo ignored him completely.
He stepped closer to Danielle, just close enough that their breath mixed.
"I am not acting like your bodyguard," he made his statent in a deep and unshakable tone.
He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her against him.
Her heartbeat jumped under his touch.
"I am acting like your boyfriend."
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