A Lifetime With You

Chapter 73

She followed Damien, and it was obvious that the latter a regular at the bar. The manager recognized him instantly and greeted him respectfully, “Welcome, Mr. Radbury.” Damien ordered two glasses of beer. A pretty waitress bent over him and whispered seductively, “Mr. Radbury… we’ve missed you very much.” Damien made a gesture and signaled her to leave them alone. “Is this where you spent the night when you didn’t come back home?” Ava was feeling uneasy, and she muttered jealously. “The truth is, I am the owner here.” “Are they your exes then?” Ava questioned. He sneered, “That lady is my employee.” “Guess I am just an employee as well then?” Damien gulped his drink in one go and savored the warm sensation in his throat. Damien turned and gazed at Ava. He never knew that Ava was pretty cute when she was jealous. He was blinded by everything back then. “Ava, do you simply fall in love for every good guy out there?” He was slightly offended by her intimate interaction with Enrico in the backyard earlier this evening. Damien admitted that he was a cruel husband to Ava in the past and Enrico was probably the only member of the Radbury family that welcomed her. But, that rascal… Ava was annoyed and replied defiantly, “Wow, look who’s talking now! You are the one fooling around all this while!”

Although she was clueless about the reason behind Damien and Enrico’s soured relationship, Ava expected them to reconcile someday. But it seemed like everything was impossible now. While placing her glass down, Ava stood up and was ready to leave. But Damien grabbed and dragged her back onto her seat. “Stay away from Enrico from now on” Damien ordered. “Why should I agree with everything you’ve said? You’re domineering and rude!” He tightened his grip on her. Under the influence of alcohol, he had a sudden urge to confess everything that was piling up in his heart for almost twenty years. “You can ignore everything but this. If you choose him between us, then…I will be alone forever.” His voice was soft, but Ava could hear everything. What was he talking about? “Then tell me, what happened between the two of you?” The bar was loud but Damien couldn’t feel anything. His cold eyes seemed to reveal the hidden

intense emotions from the inside. That year, Damien and Enrico were eight and five respectively. He snuck out of the house together with Enrico to a park nearby. Once they arrived at the park, Enrico was craving cotton candy. Hence, Damien reminded Enrico to wait at the bench for him.

When he returned, Enrico was missing! He was kidnapped and the kidnappers demanded a huge ransom of money from their parents in exchange for Enrico. The police managed to nab the perpetrators shortly after, and the latter was jailed. However, Enrico was confined in a dark house for three days and he never recovered from the traumatic experience since then.

He was sick for a few years and underwent many therapy sessions before recovering. But, Enrico never forgave Damien for everything. Enrico blamed Damien for abandoning him in the park. He even thought that Damien hated him and had kidnappers took him away purposely.

Their brotherhood was destroyed since then.

Ava was surprised after listening to the story. This was her first time learning about the incident.

She had always wondered about the tension between Damien and Enrico. But, Ava couldn’t seem to find any information about them no matter how.

Considering that the Radbury family had solid fame since twenty years ago, why was there no news publicized regarding the kidnapping incident? Also… Ava was puzzled and asked, “Since it was a misunderstanding, why did you have such a strong reaction just now?” “Because everything I’ve just told you was a lie fabricated by my family to appease the media. Worrying about their reputation being ruined, my parents had some tricks to bury the news once again.” “What is the truth then?” Damien chuckled and took another sip of the drink.

There were several empty bottles tossed across their table now. “If I tell you that I was the real victim of the kidnapping, will you believe it?” She stunned and nodded, “I believe you.” Because Ava realized

something that no one else knew. There were times where Damien would talk in his sleep as if he was having a nightmare. He would utter the same sentence repetitively, “Help…help me.” Finally, Ava knew the truth behind his sleep talking. “How could this happened?”

“Since I had no money back then, I pawned my watch to pay for the cotton candy. Little did I know that it was a valuable item which then triggered the greed of the stall owner.” Damien was kidnapped by the stall owner and confined in a dark room for three days. After Damien was finally rescued, Enrico was sick then. It turned out that Enrico waited continuously at the park before his parents brought him home. He was terrified after discovering that his brother was captured. He felt guilty for demanding cotton candy. If it wasn’t for him, Damien would still be there. The guilt was eating him until Enrico was struck down by fever and lost his consciousness. Enrico’s illness only worsened when Damien was rescued. Enrico somehow started believing that he was the victim instead of Damien. He would scream in terror and cried for help every day. The Radbury family sought help from countless psychiatrists, but Enrico never recovered. According to the medical diagnosis, Enrico was remorseful for everything and started hallucinating that he was the victim instead. To stabilize Enrico’s emotions, Damien discussed the matter with his family and everyone decided to play along with the lie. This explained why the Radbury family struggled hard to bury the actual news back then. “But, you have sacrificed yourself and why did you two remain tense after all these years?” Ava did not understand. “Because he hates me for everything until now.” “What do you mean?”All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.