Chapter 39

Not edited*

The room filled with a tense silence as the three of us silently contemplated the new revelation. Every few moments or so, I could feel Ivan's gaze at me but whenever I tried making eye contact with him, he'd avert his gaze. It went on like this for a while longer, him sneaking glances at me while I tried to catch him in the act until a thought peaked my interest.

"I'm not sure how important this is but I saw her in the hallway talking to a man not too long ago"

"I highly doubt she's bold enough to try something else in a hospital but I should alert the police" Ivan spoke, as he pulled out his phone to make the call. Once he was connected with someone, he stepped out into the hall to continue the call in private.

I let out a long sigh, the events of the day slowly taking its toll on my mind as I leaned my head against the wall to stay awake. The mere thought of my mother, the woman who raised me after my father walked out on us and the woman who made sure I didn't succumb to the darkness, spending who knows how long in jail made me want to hurl into the nearest bucket. I ran through every memory I could remember of my childhood to figure out where exactly the needle snapped and she lost her marbles but I came up blank.

"Don't waste your energy trying to figure out when she became like this because I've known her since we were in college and I still can't find an answer." My father paused to shift his body to face me before continuing. "Part of me thinks that this was who she was all along and it only took so long for me to see her for who she really was but the other part of me, the one still in love with her has hope that their is another reason that we don't know yet"

I replayed what he had said in my head for the next few minutes trying to convince myself to stay hopeful but that was cut short when the door was opened once more. I paid no attention to who it was thinking it was Ivan, until the person stood in my line of sight only to reveal that it was her, my mother.

"What the hell are you doing in here" I spat heatedly, rushing to stand in between her and my father.

"Oh mija, is that anyway to speak to your mother" she questioned in a motherly voice, trying to hide her true intentions from us. I observed her tensely, trying to piece together some information just by her stance and her facial expressions but I came up empty.

"If you won't tell me what you're doing here then at least tell me why you sent men to attack Ivan and Alejandro" I countered still seeking some sort of clue as to what her stake in all of this was.

"Well to be completely honest, I never planned for it to get this far but your father and playtoy are too damn stubborn to listen to reason." she began, taking a seat in the chair closest to her as she examined her nail polish. "I sent numerous warnings to both your father and Ivan to do as I say unless they wanted to pay the consequences but just like you, they're stubborn to a fault"

"What did you warn them about" I urged inching closer to her.

"I told Ivan countless times to stay away from you and my family but that man doesn't know when to let go. Your eagerness for me to tell you this must only mean that he kept it from you so I guess he's destroying his relationship without my assistance. After all, what is a relationship without trust and communication?" she mocked, the end of her speech geared towards Alejandro.

"And Alejandro?"

"I told him that he needed to give me the money he owes me for all the crap he's put me through during our marriage. He refused the first time and then stopped responding so I sent in a little reinforcements" and almost on cue, the door opened to reveal Simone much to my confusion.

"I don't understand, what does she have anything to do with this" I questioned, the information she was giving me still not making any sense.

"Oh darling, how much I've missed you" Simone mocked me as she strutted towards the hospital bed my dad was lying on. Again, I positioned myself in front of my dad so that Simone couldn't do whatever she was planning to do to him.

"Protecting daddy dearest are we?"

"No" I answered, rolling my shoulders back before continuing. "But at the moment he seems to be the lesser evil out of the three of you"

"And the dumber one as well I suppose" my mom interjected, not taking her focus off her manicured fingernails. I scoffed at her nonchalance, getting her attention in doing so as she got up and took a few steps towards Simone so that they were side by side.

"When your father refused to pay up, I sent Simone in to persuade him to give into my demands which worked perfectly in my opinion" she smirked at her achievement.

"Or so you think" my father finally spoke with a cough. "You don't think I actually fell for your pathetic little plan did you?"

"Of course you did, while you were too busy shagging Simone, she was able to transfer the money into an account of mine behind your back" my mom explained.

"Or maybe I knew from the start who Simone was and set the whole thing up to get you to confess your plan to have one of your minions seduce me to get my money and how you were the one who orchestrated the attack on Ivan and I. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed that you'd think that plan of yours would work" He explained, laughing at their expense towards the end.

"Even if you take this to the authorities, its your word against mine and who's gonna believe the man claiming his late wife came back to attack him" she snapped back thinking she was in the clear but the device in my hand quickly wiped the cockiness out of her expression.

"No, it's your word against you, way to incriminate yourself mother"

Almost on cue, the door bursts open and in came in 3 police officers along with Ivan who was holding his phone in his hand as I ended the call. They immediately put the two of them in handcuffs, dragging them out as they screamed in protest over the police reading them their rights.

The scene in front of me left a bitter taste in my mouth and an even bigger hole in my chest. I wasn't able to comprehend losing my mother again but at the same time, the woman currently being dragged away was no mother to me. She had intentionally put my loved ones in danger and that was something I couldn't get past.

"It's finally over" Ivan muttered throwing himself in the nearest chair in exhaustion. His words did little to comfort me in the fact that I could finally live my life without fearing anyone. I turned to my father, his expression portraying the hurt and betrayal he was currently feeling. Without a second thought, I wrapped my arms around him and gently rubbed his back as he weeped in my embrace. His pained sobs brought me to tears as well as we let out all of the pain and anger we felt at the world.

"Please don't leave again" I begged not being able to go through losing both parents in one day. He released me just enough to look me in the eyes before speaking "I won't ever leave you again, I promise you that"

Relieved, I hugged him tightly once more, as I felt his chest rumble in response. Letting go, I got up and made my way towards Ivan, yearning to straighten things out between us. Once in arms distance of him, I stopped and watched as his eyes traveled up my body before settling on my eyes.

"Hi" I shyly whispered, his smile indicating his amusement at my response.

"Hello mia cara"

"Can we talk in private?"

"If you needed privacy all you had to do was ask me to close my eyes Amelia" my father teased from behind me, I whipped around to see him covering his eyes with his hands like a child. Giggling in response, I turned back around and grabbed Ivans hand to lead him out of the room, much to my father's disapproval.

We walked down the hallway to a secluded area before stopping, as I leaned against the wall with Ivan a few inches away from me.

"So.." I stalled

"So?" He asked, his tone hinting at his nervousness.

"What do we do now that everything is finally over"

"I mean I guess we can finally continue with our lives and take the next step of our relationship" he began before I blurted out what was really on my mind.

"Why did you hide the letters from me and why weren't you there for me when I needed you" I watched impatiently as his mouth opened and close while he tried to find an answer.

"I didn't think I could be of much use to you if the people who did this were still out there so I made the decision to hunt them down. As for the letters, you were already so overwhelmed with your family situation, I didn't want to add more onto your plate especially when I didn't think it was a big deal" he rambled trying to explain his perspective.

"You shouldn't have kept things from me in the first place Ivan, I had a right to know and you took that away from me."

And I understand that, believe me I do. Its just, I felt helpless watching your pained expression whenever you thought of them and how much they hurt you, so I wasnt gonna add onto that list with the letters, Im sorry he apologized sincerely.

I am going to forgive you only because I so badly want to get on with the rest of my life, I mean I think Ive had enough drama to last me a lifetime but if you even think of hiding things from me again, Im done with you I promised watching as my response immediately broke a smile out on his face as I followed suit. He clutched onto my waist as he peppered my face with kisses to show his appreciation.

Now, kiss me you fool I ordered

My pleasure he said, leaning in and capturing my mouth in a passionate kiss. My heart fluttered at the familiar feeling only his kisses brought me and how much I had missed it. We broke apart at the sound of an awkward cough, a older nurse glaring at us at our outward display of affection. My cheeks heated up as I hid my face in Ivans chest much to his pleasure as he chuckled at my embarrassment.

Let's get out of here mia cara he spoke, intertwined our fingers as we marched down the hallway to bid my father a farewell so that we could finally retire for the night. We walked back into the room to be welcomed with the sight of my father sleeping peacefully, the heart rate monitor an indication of his slumber. I quietly tiptoed to the edge of his bed to place a gentle kiss on his forehead before walking back out into the hallway.

Ready Ivan asked stretching his hand out.

Where did Sierra and Connor go I questioned, only now realizing their absence.

I told them to go home after I arrived seeing as your father was ok and they had no reason to be here for the rest he explained as we made our way to the lobby of the hospital.

I need to call Sierra once we get home I said making a mental note to fill her in on the chaos I had just experienced.

With that thought in mind, I got into Ivans car very ready to retreat to our room and sleep for as long as needed after the emotional rollercoaster I had just endured. I leaned my head against the cool window, closing my eyes as the serene environment and the cars movement lulled me to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 39 complete! This story is slowly coming to an end after almost 2 years of writing. Make sure you let me know what you think my voting, sharing and commenting!!

Love y'all<3

A.O