My Fault

“How… Why did you chase Dante out?” Mireille asked as her headache reduced.

“Mireille.” James sighed softly and Mireille furrowed her brows at him.

“What exactly happened that night?” She asked James but of course got no response from her brother.

“We were out on a night ride and then… These men were chasing after us and Dante had a… He had a gun with him in the car!”

“Mireille, don’t think about these things for now. Just eat a little and go back to sleep. You are still weak and…”

“No!” Mireille cut him off with a pretty loud voice as she recalled what she had heard that night.

“Dante! I heard what one of the men said… They… They said Dante was in the mafia.” her eyes widened and her grip on the bed tightened.

“And Dante didn’t deny that! Is… Is that true? Is Dante in the mafia?” Mireille asked, her right hand leaving the sheets and grabbing Jame’s hands quickly.

“Is it true? Is… Is my Dante involved in the mafia? Did you know about this too? Have you been hiding this from me too?”

“Mireille, you have to calm down. You just woke up hours ago, please don’t think about all of this and…”

“Just tell me! Is that the truth?! Is Dante really involved in the mafia?” Mireille cried out.

James reached for a button and clicked on it.

“We will talk about this later, Mireille. When you are in the right state to talk about it.” he had barely finished talking when a doctor and two nurses rushed in.

“Tell me the truth.” Mireille screamed at James.

“You should probably let her be alone for now so you don’t irk her.” one of the nurses said to James and James gave a short nod before heading out while the doctor attended to Mireille.

He walked out of the ward and gritted his teeth.

“I have failed in protecting Mireille for too long. I haven’t protected her like I promised our mum that I would but this time around, I am making a vow to protect her better.” He vowed.

The next day

Dante took in a deep breath before proceeding into the ward, his right hand clutching the bouquet of flowers tightly.

“Good morning, Princess.” he said as soon as he was in but Mireille said nothing.

The look in her eyes was enough for Dante to realise that she was not too excited to see him.

“Please have your seat, Dante.” her voice was solemn as she pointed to the chair beside her bed.

“Here you go.” Dante stretched his arms forward, giving her the flowers.

Without a word, Mireille accepted the beautiful flowers and held it close to herself while Dante sat down.

Slowly, his hand reached for her hand and he held her right hand.

“Dante.” Mireille started.

“What I heard that night, was it true? You being in the mafia?” She asked and let out a low huff.

“Why am I even asking? You didn’t deny it that night and you being in the mafia makes everything make a whole lot of sense. Of course it is true but…” Her voice trailed off at the end.

“But I still… A part of me still wants to hear you tell me that it is all a lie and you are not involved in any of that.” her voice cracked even more with each word she uttered.

“Princess…”

“No. Don’t call me that.” Mireille stated sternly.

“Until this conversation is over, call me by my name and nothing else.” she added.

“You heard it right that night.” His grip instinctively turned tighter.

Mireille lowered her face, almost burying her face in the flowers as she sobbed quietly. Dante felt his heart clenching and wrenching. He was making her cry too when he had promised himself to only make her smile and laugh.

He had failed her too many times already.

“I shouldn’t have hidden it from you.”

“Yes, Dante! You shouldn’t have hidden it from me!” She raised her voice at him, lifting her head to look back at him with tears.

“That… That was why I was being hunted. That was why I was almost shot down the other time and that was why that guy named Jonas tried to kill me, right? Because I was getting involved with someone as dangerous as you are!” She jerked his hands off hers.

“I should have realised sooner… I was just so stupid and blinded… Blinded by my love for you, Dante. Your guards being willing to die for you anytime, you killing them yourself and being able to get rid of bodies like it was no big deal. I should have realised a lot sooner but I was just plain stupid!” She hit her hand against the bed once and was about to do it again when Dante grabbed her hand, stopping her.

“No, Pri…. Mireille. You are not stupid!”

“What do you do, Dante? What exactly do you do, Dante?! Do you sell body parts? Or guns? Or drugs? What are you involved in?” Tears rolled down and Dante could not stand it anymore.

He got off the chair and sat on the bed, pulling her into a warm hug.

“I hate you, Dante.” Mireille cried in his arms.

“I hate that even in this situation, I still like being so close to you.” She sobbed while Dante patted her, comfortingly.

There was no need for him to speak up until he was required to. His words would only further infuriate Mireille at the moment. He didn’t have to be told that.

“Why?” Mireille raised her head from his chest and looked into his eyes.

“Why would you join in something like that?! Something that dangerous? You have been wealthy since the day I knew you, Dante and if you wanted power…” She sniffled back her tears.

“You could have gotten it from somewhere else, Dante. Why did you choose this?!” Mireille cried.

“I didn’t choose this path. It was chosen for me.”

Mireille’s teary eyes squinted and she pulled away from the hug entirely, wiping her face.

“Wh… what do you mean by that?” She asked him.

The last thing Dante wanted to do was to tell Mireille how hellishly he had lived and how he had found himself in this line of work. It was way too horrific and it would most probably further crumble her than make her feel better.

“Wait a minute.” Mireille suddenly spoke up.

“Last night, I asked James and the doctor about our baby and they just told me to rest and rest.”

“Dante.” she grabbed his hand.

“How is our baby?” She asked and Dante went silent, his face falling.

“Dante, how is our baby?” Mireille asked, her voice more urgent this time around.

It was that moment she saw Dante do what she had never seen him do, what she had thought he didn’t have the ability to do anymore.

A lone tear slid down his face and that was all the answer Mireille needed.

She clutched her stomach urgently.

“My baby… My baby is gone!” She cried out and Dante pulled her into another tight hug.

He should have known better that he was never meant to be happy for long. He should have left Mireille out of his life of miseries and bleakness.

“My fault. It’s all my fault.”