Chapter 33 - Confrontation
Ava
I was completely staggered after finding out Ace's hidden truth. I didn't know how I should react, but I knew that I needed some time to process everything and cool off.
Confronting Ace right now would be a bad move, so I decided to book the earliest flight to Colorado and informed Aunt Chloe, whom I had found while leaving the mansion, that I was going to my dad's place.
Ace might think that I used and threw him away right after sex, but I couldn't care less about that at the moment.
All I could think about was the fact that my husband was a murderer. My Ace was someone who killed people to climb up the business ranks.
When I got on the flight and settled into my seat, I brought out my favorite book through which Ace had confessed his feelings to me. That book was the only thing I had brought along, nothing else, not even a suitcase of clothes.
Throughout the one-hour flight, I continued reading the book where I left off. When I got off the plane, I got a text from Ace.
Ace: Why are you suddenly visiting your dad? Is his health okay? Should I come too?
Seeing his concern about my dad made my heart flutter, but I shook my head to keep myself steady. I decided to reply, otherwise, he might go crazy and just come over anyway.
Ava: You don't have to come. Dad's fine. I just missed him.
His reply was almost instant.
Ace: Thank goodness. I thought you were mad at me about something and just left.
Well, his thought was right, but I didn't need to tell him that, so I put my phone back in my pocket and got to the car that Dad had sent for me at the airport.
After twenty minutes, I was home. Dad was waiting for me in the living room. He decided to stay home for me after I called him and said that I was coming for a visit. It was actually amazing how the two most workaholics people in my life would prioritize me so much over their work.
I put on a big smile and gave my dad a bear hug. I was good at covering my pain, so I got through the conversation with Dad. Mostly.
"Ava, is something wrong?" Dad asked suddenly in between when we were talking about Liliana's baby.
"Huh? No. Why would you say that?"
"No, I just felt like it." Dad gave me a smile.
Wow, you really can never hide anything from your parents.
"Dad..." I was hesitant to ask about it, but the encouraging smile he gave me was enough to remove any more doubts. "Say, what if one of your closest people hides a very important truth about themselves from you? What would you do? Won't you be mad at them?" I asked hypothetically.
Dad gave a thoughtful hum and said, "Naturally, I would be. But I'd also have to understand their reasons."
"What's their reason?"
"It's because they are afraid that you will hate that part of them, and they are only afraid because they truly love you. They are afraid that you will leave them. That's why they hide it."
I hummed in understanding.
"But I think it's courageous for them to confess that truth to you themselves." Ace didn't confess himself. I got to find out through Veron. "Because it means that they trust you not to leave them because of their truth." That meant Ace didn't trust me. "Besides, you really can't leave them because of that if you love them back as well. After all, true love means accepting all the good and bad," Dad advised.
Despite my head being even more clouded, I smiled genuinely and gave Dad another hug. "Thank you so much, Dad. That really helped."
"Anytime, dear." He patted my back and pulled me apart. "How about you go up to your room now and take some rest? You just had a long journey."
I nodded my head and stood up from the couch. "I'll see you for lunch, Dad." I headed upstairs to my old room and plopped down on my bed with my book.
I continued reading again.
The female protagonist in this book left the male protagonist after learning his truth. But that couldn't be right. If true love is accepting all his truth, that means she should accept him too.
While turning the pages, I noticed some highlighted words. I arched an eyebrow as I read the words:
I kill people.
My eyes widened. I hadn't even read this before. Ace had told me to read all the highlighted words last night. But I had only read 'I love you' and jumped his bones.
I quickly skimmed through the first pages to the last to connect all the highlighted broken sentences. I wrote them all nicely on my phone and started reading,
I have a confession to make to you tonight. This may seem out of the blue. But it's important for you to know. I have kept this side of me hidden from you... for a very long time. Because I was afraid that... you would leave me. But I know that it will only hurt you more if you get to know about it from a third party. The truth about me is... I kill people. I killed people who were... responsible... for my dad... and big sister's... death. But after I had taken revenge on them... I continued to kill rapists... who were not brought to justice. I don't kill them with my own hands, though. I hire others to do my dirty job. I may be a heinous person. But... I love you. I love you more than anyone else. I promise I will do better. I will stop killing people. I will be a better person... for you. So please... don't leave me, baby. And I want to seek your forgiveness as our wedding gift. Please forgive me and give me another chance.
I was crying by the time I finished reading.
Ace really did trust me and didn't want me to leave. Not to mention, his courage to confess the truth to me.
I was an idiot and only saw the three magical words. No, he was the one who was an idiot. Who the hell confesses something so important like this?
It's because they are afraid...
Dad's voice rang in my head.
Yes, Ace must have been so afraid to say all this. But why did he never tell me about his big sister? I never even saw any of her photos around the Valentino mansion or heard anyone mention her. However, I also remembered some weird things.
The room in front of Emma's room that always stayed locked. Ace never showing me his family album. Luna crying by herself at Liliana's baby announcement party, which must have been because she remembered her first child and that her daughter would have been like Liliana if she was alive.
But why the hell did no one ever mention her?
I needed to talk to Ace—
Just then, my room's door opened up and a frantic-looking Ace was standing at the door.
"Ace, what are you doing here?" I asked in surprise as I sat up on my bed.
"I..." He tried to catch his breath and continued, "I called Veron earlier and got to know that he called this morning, and I picked up but didn't talk. Right after that, you left the house. So I connected the dots and..." He walked up to me and kneeled in front of me. "Did you really... leave me and come here permanently?" he asked with tears in his eyes.
Oh, my God, this guy...
I got down from the bed and kneeled on the floor as well. I hugged him and assured him, "No, no, I'm not leaving you. I'm never leaving you. I just needed some time to think about it."
He hugged me back tightly in relief. "Thank God. I was so scared, Ava."
I rubbed my hands behind him in circles to calm him down and pulled him apart. "Though it's your fault."
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"Who the hell confesses such an important thing through highlighting? Shouldn't you have at least mentioned reading from the start?" I crossed my arms and glared at him.
"I didn't know that you didn't read that. I thought that you read everything and accepted it, that's why you said you love me too. But when Veron said that, that's when I realized that you didn't. After that, I got on the private jet to come here as soon as possible."
Aww, that was so sweet of him.
"Okay, I understand. But..." I took his hand in mine. "Do you really promise not to do such things again?"
Ace nodded firmly. "Yes, Ava. I'll quit everything. I won't do such bad things again."
I smiled in satisfaction, but another question came to my head, so I asked, "Did you really ever kill anyone with your own hands?" I also really wanted to ask him about his elder sister, but right now didn't feel appropriate. For now, I had to focus on calming Ace down who had been panicking straight for more than an hour.
"No, never. I only get Veron to hire assassins. Veron also never killed anyone himself. He just loves saying the word 'kill'." Ace rolled his eyes.
I chuckled and hugged him again. "That's good enough. As long as you don't break that promise, I'm not leaving you. I'll always stay with you, Ace. I love you."
"Thank you for still loving me, Ava."