HIS

Chapter 53

I expected to feel different—maybe even a sense of emotional relief—after confronting those fools about their vile actions, but I felt exactly the same as before I walked into that restaurant.

All I know is that I needed to make them aware there are others who see them for who they truly are. What's hidden in darkness will always be revealed in the light.

Thanks to my mom's lawyer who told me everything this morning after I made a few arrangements with him. He told me everything my mom told him, a few hours before her murder.

How Julia was planning her death for months and about my uncle killing my dad, then holding her hostage in her own house through measures he put in place. Not to mention the fact that he tried to swindle her out of her whole inheritance. That was also why her will was airtight because she found a way to escape and put her will in place just in time before her death.

My mother's passing is something I've already gone through—I've mourned her, and that chapter is closed. As for my father, I never truly knew him; he was killed when I was just two years old. A few months after his death, my mom discovered that he had a twin who had been pretending to be her husband. May both of their souls' rest in peace.

He rarely came home, which is why she could never figure him out—until she finally did. After the lawyer learned about my kidnapping and safe return, he made sure to share everything my mom had told him. He hadn't told me earlier because he feared that knowing the truth might put my life in danger.

I understood his perspective to some extent, but truly knowing would have made a world of difference in my life. There's so much I could have prevented, yet it's all behind me now. Instead of dwelling on what might have been, I can only focus on moving forward.

My parents are gone, and nothing can bring them back. I've come to terms with that, and now it's time to focus on the future instead of clinging to the past.

I never realized it before, but the moment I fell in love with Domenico was the moment I began to truly heal from my past. I've already come a long way, and now the past no longer holds such power over me.

His love filled the lingering emptiness and gave my heart a true home. It brought clarity, as the puzzle pieces of life finally began to fall into place. It inspired me to transform my fears and insecurities into confidence and self-worth. Isn't that what true partners should bring out in each other?

Sometimes shielding a child from life's lessons can do more harm than good. By allowing them to experience failure, you give them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and build resilience—skills they'll need when you're no longer there to protect them.

That's why I feel a bit sorry for Sophia—she believes wealth and status are the ultimate signs of success, proof that you've "made it" in life. She has no real understanding of what the world is truly about, and honestly, it's not entirely her fault. This is what people mean when they say someone has been spoiled rotten—rotten not just for herself, but for her future children and even society.

It was painful to be the one to tell her that she was born as a result of incest, but the truth needed to come out. Living in a protective bubble might have seemed safe, yet it was ultimately causing more harm than good. Perhaps knowing the truth today taught her a measure of humility.

Although she was raised that way, she was still given free will by the One above—the ability to form her own beliefs and make her own choices as an adult. She had every opportunity to break the cycle and rise above her parents' flaws, yet she chose to follow in their footsteps, becoming just as vain and vile.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when Igor asks what I'd like to order from the McDonald's drive-through—our quickest option to grab a bite before meeting up with Demetri.