The Bad Boy's Queen

Chapter 23 - Confession

"But what if you're his happiness?"

"Then he'll have to delete me from his life and replace me."

"So, you want him to marry someone else for the sake of your respective mafia mobs?" I nod my head as Nico purses his lips. "What happens to you then?"

I chuckle. "I'll probably drown in self-pity from not being able to let go. But if he's happy by the end of the outcome, then I'm happy."

Silence fell for a few moments before Nico finally laughs. "You're definitely Maxon's daughter alright." Nico reaches out and ruffles my hair, smiling at me with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Always putting others first before your own feelings." Nico wraps his arms around me and hugs me tight. "But, Ava, sometimes you have to remember what you deserve than what you want."

"I know, Nico." I choke out, my voice muffled. The main reason why Nico hugged me was because he could see starting to cry. And at this very moment, I'm glad he did because my heart is aching painfully. "I know."

Nico rubs my back before kissing my hair. "I'll do it. I'll accept the next time someone requests for my son's hand in marriage for their daughter. But promise me one thing."

"What?"

"When you cry when that happens, you run to me. This is your father's will given to me."

The moment he finished his sentence, I didn't hesitate to cry into his arms.

**

I was glad that Law was gone for such a long time because I had cried into Nico's shoulder for about 15 minutes and my makeup was smudged. Because of that, Nico requested for some maids to freshen myself up again. It took about 20 minutes of redoing my makeup, restyling my hair, fluff up my crumpled dress and remove any signs that I have been crying.

It was a good thing that Law didn't come back until half an hour later. If he had seen me balling, he would have pestered me into telling him the reason why. That would just throw the whole purpose of making Nico accept the deal out the window.

I didn't notice how shaky my hands were until I saw a reflection of myself in the grand mirror of the ballroom. Staring back into my own eyes, I finally realized how scared and vulnerable I really was. I shook my head to get rid of the haunting thoughts in my head but there was no denying the tremble of my body. I decided to settle onto the fact that Nico's maids did such a good job that there little to no chance of Law noticing that I had just cried.

But this was Law we were talking about. 

Suddenly, I felt like that 15 year old girl I once was again. Just thinking about my father could have tears pooling in my eyes.

Yes, my father is Maxon Carter. Yes, he was the most wanted man and boss The Family. Yes, he was feared by most. But he was still my father.

People who didn't know that he was my father used to badmouth him back in my old school- the school I was in before I transferred. They assumed that he was cruel, sadistic, a psychopath, was greedy for power and wealth, and evil. They just haven't met him for real. They didn't know how much he suffered before he became who he was. They didn't know his connections, his relationships, his passions and more.

They judge before actually meeting him.

But aren't we all like that?

I leaned against the balcony railing, my hand instinctively taking the gold 'F' pendant that was tucked under my dress out to hold. My father had given the same gold pendant with the letter 'F' as a symbol of commitment to The Family. Everyone in the mob has one, even Noah and Jack. I stare at it, smiling as a few memories whizzed through my mind. The pendant was the one thing all of us in The Family held onto after Dad's execution- the only thing that reminded us that it really did happen.