Chapter One Hundred and Eighty
Aht hadn’t imagined the night ending like this. He had pictured her staying, maybe just a little longer. He had hoped the night would end with her choosing him, even if only for a mont, even if the world outside the room was still burning.
All night, the echo of her voice clung to him; sharp, wounded, and resolute. He had gone into the evening believing clarity would bring them closer. He had seen it in her eyes, felt it in the pauses between words, the way she lingered like she wanted to stay. Whatever stood between them, it hadn’t been indifference.
But now everything felt splintered.
Lying awake, staring at the ceiling until dawn bled through the curtains, he kept circling the sa thought: truth never ca without distortion. Even lies carried fragnts of it. Maybe sothing had happened between their fathers. Maybe blood had been spilled but not in the way Marco had painted it for her.
His father wasn’t an innocent man. Aht had also never pretended otherwise. But wiping out an entire family? Won, and children? That didn’t fit. His father killed when it was demanded, when it was strategic, when it was necessary. What Asli accused him of, that wasn’t the man he knew as his father.
Marco? The way he ruled, through it all, was different. So if she saw him as a saint, why did she think...
Still, the thought gnawed at him.
"Evil or not," he reminded himself, "that is still Asli’s family my father must’ve killed."
Giving up wasn’t in his blood either. Not on her. Not like this. If Marco had planted a lie deep enough to turn her into a weapon, Aht would tear it out at the root before it destroyed everything he loved... including her.
He waited for morning only because he had no choice.
And when it was morning, he drove to the Villa.
By the ti he pulled into the villa, the sun was already high. His parents were in the hall, his mother reclining comfortably while his father sat beside her, massaging her feet like the world had never known violence.
They both looked up and smiled.
"We hardly see you anymore," his mother said lightly.
Aht returned the smile out of habit. "Soone retired early and dumped all the work on ."
His father chuckled. "You’ll retire too one day. It’s just a matter of ti." How he wished it would be that simple for him.
His father looked up. His thumbs continued their slow, practiced circles against his mother’s feet, unbothered, and unhurried. "This must be serious," he said mildly. "You’ve hardly involved since I retired. What is it?"
Aht shifted, suddenly aware of his mother’s sharp, curious, and already suspicious gaze on him. "It’s not... it’s not like that," he said, forcing a lightness into his voice. "Co on, Dad. Look at Mum. She’s already planning my execution."
His mother huffed softly, her glare deepening, and Aht lifted his hands in surrender, as if that might stop whatever was coming next.
His mother narrowed her eyes and pointed at him briefly. "You promised not to bother him."
"I promised you’d have him all to yourself after retirent," Aht countered. "This is just questions. No guns. See? I have no knives."
She sighed theatrically and reached for the remote. "Fine. I’ll rewatch my favorite singer." She paused, squinting at the screen. "I wonder what happened to her. She had such a brilliant career, then she just... faded."
Aht stiffened. "What?"
"Lisa," his mother said fondly. "She no longer cos on tv as often as she used to. She’s taking a break. She has such a beautiful soul. Like an angel."
He burst out laughing before he could stop himself.
"What?" she demanded defensively. "She is an angel."
"You don’t know her." His father chipped in but his mother kept insisting.
"Of course," he muttered, eyes drifting to the screen.
Asli stared back at him from the screen. The soft lighting, gentle smile, and the illusion of her being soone else, were flawless. She looked like soone who freed animals from cages, not soone who pulled triggers without flinching. For a split second, he wondered who she might have been if Marco had never touched her life.
The thought punched straight through his chest. ’What if your father hadn’t killed her family?’ The question gnawed at him.
"Aht!" his mother snapped. "Your father’s been calling you."
His father smiled faintly. "An angel is always drawn to the devil and the devil is also always drawn to the Angel. Just like I’m drawn to your mother."
Aht scoffed. "That’s pushing it."
"So our son is the devil now?" his mother shot back.
Before Aht could respond, his father cleared his throat. "No. Our son is the angel. That one..." he nodded at the screen, ".. is the devil."
"Absolutely not," his mother laughed. "You know your son isn’t innocent."
You don’t even know her," his father said, finally looking up. "Have you seen the stance she takes? I’d almost say she’s a trained fighter."
"What? No way. Maybe she knows self-defense, every celebrity must’ve been tasked to learn that. She’s fragile." His mother scoffed. "She even fainted at the sight of blood. That girl couldn’t hurt a fly."
His father’s gaze sharpened. "Then how did the blood co into the picture? Was it not hers?"
"They addressed it in a press conference," she replied easily. "She got injured while filming a music video."
Aht nearly laughed. ’If only you knew.’ He wanted to tell her. Why did she like Asli? Was it her voice? Clearly, she was a bad dancer. How different was Lisa from Asli?
Lisa was soone his mother adored, too much, in fact. Ironically, she was everything his mother claid to hate.
"You know what," Aht said, forcing a grin as he neared his father, "can I steal Dad for a few seconds. I don’t know whether you rember, but I had asked at first. Then you two can go back to arguing about who’s an angel and who’s a devil." He paused, smirking. "For the record, I am not an angel. Never call that, mum."
He was already walking, his father following him into the study.
The door shut softly behind them.
"Dad," Aht said without preamble, "do you know who Asli is?"
"Asli?" His father frowned. "No. Who’s that?"
"The Female Mafia."
Recognition flickered. "Ah. That’s her na? What about her?"
"What did you do to her parents?"
His father studied him now. Really studied him. "Her parents?" he repeated slowly. "She isn’t in any register. How would I know who her parents were?"
"So it’s possible you killed them."
He nodded once. "I probably did."
The words hit Aht like a blade. "If I did, then they deserved it."
"Yeah. I know," Aht said quietly. "But why?"
"Why?" His father exhaled. "Aht, I’ve killed many people. I don’t rember reasons unless they were remarkable."
"It was remarkable," Aht snapped, his voice rising before he could stop it. "You wiped out an entire family."
Silence fell. Then...
Concern crept into his father’s expression. "What is it, son?"
He hesitated.
"I’ve never wiped out an entire family before," his father continued slowly. "n, yes. But not a family."
The knot in Aht’s chest loosened just slightly.
"Then she’s mistaken for soone else," his father said with certainty.
"I know," Aht replied. "But can you rember why Marco..."
His father’s hand curled into a fist at the ntion of the na. He knew there was more to the story.
"Why did Marco adopt her?" Aht finished anyway.
Realization dawned. "Ah. So Marco adopted her and told her I killed her family."
Aht nodded.
"That imbecile," his father spat. "Your uncle knows him better than I do. Ask him when he returns."
The venom in his voice told Aht this wasn’t just anger, it was mory. One that was filled with regret. Sothing unfinished. Markus’ father had left years ago to fix a mistake he could never forgive himself for. What if this was it?
"What is it, Dad?" Aht asked, his voice breaking despite himself. "Tell . I need to know who Asli is."
"You like her," his father said flatly.
Aht didn’t deny it.
"What is it father? Tell . I need to know who Asli is." He asked and he didn’t care if it sounded like he was begging.
"I wouldn’t get close to her if I were you. Anyone tied to Marco could not be of any good. If he adopted her, then you should know she is evil."
"No, we found out sothing from his warehouse. One of the warehouses was for prostitution and inside it had pictures of so many girls. Including hers. From her childhood to a point and then they stopped keeping tabs on her." Aht explained.
His father’s jaw tightened.
"Marco murdered his own father to inherit that empire," he said darkly. "He then killed his older brother too. That place used to be the purest kind any Mafia leader could keep it. But he killed him and his older brother because he want anyone else to inherit it. He turned it into a devil’s playground. No woman could go in and co out alive. You think if she were adopted, she would be any good?" his father spoke with so much anger.
"Dad," Aht said, stepping closer. "She may be broken, but trust , that man wants to kill her after using her. I want to save her before he does anything to her."
His father shook his head. "Aht, that woman you want to save, could be his best bet... his best weapon." His voice dropped. "I don’t want to be the one to say this but you and she, can never be together."
"What?" Aht almost yelled.
"If she believed I killed her biological parents, then it ant he adopted her and trained her solely to destroy. From what you’ve said, I’m one of the people she is ant to kill. And who knows? He probably killed her family and pinned it on ."
"Why," Aht demanded. "Why would he do that? Why would he pin it on you? How’s Uncle involved in all this? Why would uncle leave to correct his mistake and leave his son with you if he knew he wronged you?"
"Whatever the problem was, Markus should never be blad for it. Your mother promised his mother that he’d take care of him just as much as she would take care of hers."
"I know how much you two love him. But you haven’t answered why Marco would pin it on you. What is it?"
His father looked away.
"I don’t know." He whispered and Aht grew anxious. He needed to know the answer. Until he knew what it was, he needed to tighten the security before Asli did anything to his family.
He had seen the look in her eye. He knew he needed to keep his family safe, especially his mum from her.
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