♡♡♡
Ace
It was inevitable.
From the moment we set our eyes on each other at the restaurant.
I knew that I was in her life for this. I always thought it was for love, for the unconditional love I felt for my Quinn. I thought it was the love that brought us together but being in that cell, I realized that this is why we meet. For me to save her. To save her from the trauma, to heal her, and to sacrifice everything for her.
And I would just do that again without a second thought.
All the pieces came together in my head and they all made sense. They made perfect sense and I wondered how I never saw it. From the day Angus died to the day I was arrested, it was all inevitable. And I was going to make everything right in her life again. I was going to make sure she lived a perfect life from that day onward.
The metal chair screeched beneath me and the coldness seeped through the material of the trouser I was in. The police officer tapped my shoulder before leaving me alone in the questioning room waiting for the person who'll decide what happens to me.
But I had already made my decision.
I hung my head and placed my hands on the table.
"Ace Winston never thought I'd see you here," a man came in with a dry voice and sat across me. The bright light above us flickered as he gave me a fake smile.
"Now I heard one of our men offered you the VIP room but you refused and asked to be treated like a regular person?" he questioned, his eyes scanning through the file in his hands.
I remained quiet and he stared at me through his glasses.
"Hmm okay since you're being like this let's start the questioning shall we?" He cleared his throat once he realized I wasn't going to pay for any special treatment.
"What was your relationship with your grandfather?"
"He's my grandfather," I deadpanned.
The man across from me gazed at me for a few seconds before sliding his hands on the table. "I heard that you guys never got along. You hate him. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Winston," he said at once and glanced around. "Look this is serious okay? He's on his deathbed, the doctors are saying that the poison has been eating him up from the inside slowly killing him. There's an 80% chance he would die. That means there's an 80% chance that you'll be labeled a murderer and spend the rest of your life behind bars. So please actually work with me here."
My body tensed as he voiced out exactly what had been going on in my head. Suddenly my feet began to itch, an itch to run out, to get my freedom. To escape this absurd situation and fall into her arms but I know I can't. So I fold my hands into a fist as I feel the bile forming in my throat. I let out a low breath and finally looked him in the eye.
"There's nothing I have to say," I spoke out.
"Is your lawyer coming?"
"I don't need one. I'm not denying any charges."
His eyes widened for a split second but he quickly concealed it and looked beside us at the glass wall which I'm sure covered the other policemen listening and watching our conversation.
"Do you understand what you're saying, Mr. Winston?"
"Yes... I tried to kill my grandfather."
~~~~~♡♡♡~~~~~
Minutes and hours pass over and over again. The darkness of the room engulfed me. They're taunting me, the people in the room with me. I can see them, I can hear them. Their low whispers and laughter, cursing me, stabbing me, peeling my skin off. I felt the sweat run down from the side of my face down to my chin. I swallowed and tried to block out their voices. The voices telling me I was a mess, telling me my life was ruined, telling me I don't deserve to be happy. The people that died because of my family, were all around me.
The piercing sound of the metal door creaking awoken me from my trance and I flinched as I turned back to monitor the new person in the room. I expected it to be the inspector from before but the person before me had such a solemn look in his eyes that I don't know who looked worse between him and me.
"Mr- Mr. Manchester," I managed to let out as I was still feeling light-headed and weak. I didn't do anything in particular that made me tired, it was my mind. I was exhausted from the inside and lost the will to fight anymore. I decided to take the burden and end it all, and it was eating me from the inside. Just like I was withering the life in me away.
He pursed his chapped lips together and scanned me with his icy blue eyes, I bet his son had blue eyes just like him. His son who my family killed. His family which my family ruined. His son who my Quinn loved and cherished. I took my eyes away from his as these thoughts crammed my head, and I felt myself twitching.
My breaths became harsh and staggered. He was there to kill me, just like how his son was killed. He was there to ruin me. My hands began to tremble and I shut my eyes so tightly like I was hoping to open it and for it to all be a dream.
Then his touch came and the sensation of icy water ran down my spine. His touch on my shoulder covered my body as he wrapped his hands around me and I sat there, perplexed and frightened. I forgot to breathe as he held me and I heard a soft sigh from him.
"It's not your fault... You've already been through so much." His voice was so gentle and calming that I suddenly felt the suffocating air around us disperse and I could suddenly breathe again. He spoke so gently, I could see why Quinn cherished him so much.
"You are still so young. You don't deserve any of this," he said as he finally released me but still stayed in his crouched position and stared at me. "And most importantly, you love my daughter."
That did it. The tears strolled down my face without me blinking and my lips quivered.
"Why did you tell them you did it?"
"Be- because... I did it. I- I - I poisoned him," I drew a breath slowly.
"No, you didn't. You know she did it, don't you? Is that why you're taking the blame?" He stood up and moved the chair across the table to sit beside me.
I looked around warily. "You can't say that here," I pointed at the glass wall beside him and he waved my worries away.
"I told them to excuse us. Nothing is working right now. Not the camera or speakers and no one is watching us. It's just us. So you can feel free," he assured me but it only made me more tense.
He could kill me if he wanted to right there.
He must have read my mind and body language as I lowered my shoulder and slightly moved away from him because he said, "I understand that you might not trust me because of my wife. But please, I've been in pure distress since I found out about her plan and what she did to you. I- I know there's nothing I can say to make you feel comfortable but please give me the benefit of the doubt. After all, we both want the best for the same person, Quinn."
Hearing her name brought me back to earth and I finally relaxed and released my finger from the tight fist they were locked in.
"Why did you say it was you?" he asked again.
"Because I can't let Quinn go through that. I can let her mother go to jail."
"You're doing this because of your love for my daughter?"
I paused and looked at him with all seriousness suddenly the smile was wiped from my face. "If I need to die for her, I will. If she needs me to kill for her, I will. I will do absolutely another for her."
His eyes studied me intensely before he nodded and took a deep breath. "Then I'll be on your side."
"No matter how much I think I can't figure out how you fixed the puzzle and knew she did it."He added.
"When the police arrived at my house and found the poison in the toilet, something clicked in my head. I suddenly remembered when I went to meet my grandfather but found him and her having tea, and then I remembered when she came over to tell me not to call Quinn anymore do you know the only place she visited in my home?" I raised my head.
He tucked his hands together and muttered, "The toilet."
"You would think that those two weren't even to judge her but she's a mother. She lost her son all because of a man who had an affair and a family that would kill anyone who tried to bring dirt to their name. She must have been boiling with rage all these years thinking of how to ruin us. And she's done it... And I'm going to help her."
"What do you mean by you're going to help her?"
"She is planning with my mother and father on how to bring my grandfather down but she truly wants to bring everyone in the family down. She has struck down two of us, leaving my father and mother... I'm still stuck on how to deal with that situation but on the company, my plan is already in motion. Very soon the truth would be out about the dirty deals we've been involved in would be exposed, it'll be right after my father takes over. Then all the blame would be on him and the company would have no one to take care of it, hence its downfall. The grandfather dies, the son is labeled a murderer and sentenced to life, and the prodigal father appears but loses everything once again. That should satisfy her a little don't you think." There was a huge smile on my face as I spoke and I definitely resembled a Chesire cat.
But to anyone else I definitely looked like a devil, a psychopath, a maniac who knew his downfall was coming and was embracing it.
"Ace," he breathed and I crashed back to earth and turned to him. "You don't have to carry the burden on yourself like that."
"No!" I yelled, my eyes widened and face turning pale. "I have to do this! This is the only way I can redeem my family! It's the only way I can stop this madness! The only way the victim's families can feel better! It's the only way all these people can stop staring at me and whispering." My last sentence came out as a whisper as the hairs at the back of my head spiked up and my eyes rolled around the room.
"What people?" He asked, sitting up with a concerned look on his face. His eyebrows knitted with pity, sadness, and confusion as he followed my eyes around the room.
I gripped a fist full of my hair and my breaths panned out staggered with my words. "The people they killed."
His chest heaved as my words sank into him but I was too busy scrutinizing my surroundings to notice the way his pupils danced due to the thoughts running in his head.
"They- they're everywhere- they- they won't leave... The whole- whole room is- it's so suffocating- I can't- do this. No! I have- I have to do this- for my Quinn and the other victims... My Quinn, my Quinn, my Quinn, my Quinn," The words continued spilling like a chant from my lips and my sight got blurry again. The blood surged through my veins just as fast as the people around me moved making me turn my head swiftly each time to watch them. Her name continued to spill from my lips, she was the only thing in the world that kept me going.
"Son," his voice boomed and bounced around the wall in my head. I turned to him and the warm look in his eyes eased the tension I felt. He calmly took my hands which were shaking and held them tightly in his.
My whole world went silent at his word. Son. Nobody has called me that for so long, the word became foreign to me. I gradually looked at him wondering why he was being so kind and caring to me.
Son.
"Son, listen to me. I won't tell you to change how you're feeling. I won't tell you to change your statement and ruin my family. I know you're doing this because of Quinn. You don't want her to know about her mother or have her mother labeled as a murderer. I'm way too selfish to ask you to tell the truth to the police. So the best I can do is help you in any way I can. I'm so sorry that you had to live such a difficult life. But it's not your fault. Nothing those terrible people did is your fault."
I remained speechless. Letting his words sink in.
"Can you please do something for me?" I finally spoke and he nodded immediately.
"What is it?"
"I need a pen and paper."
~~~~~♡♡♡~~~~~
Writing this chapter really took a toll on me and I wanted it to be perfect. I hope you were all able to feel Ace's emotions as much as I did.
I just want to give him a big hug, it hurts too much to hurt your characters.
Quinn's POV is coming soon so stay tuned for the next chapter and erm let me just say get your tissues ready.
Please vote, comment, and share!🤍