THE END

27. Confessions

"I am."

My head spins at the conviction. He's kidding, right?

"Don't lie to me! It isn't a joke anymore, Leif. I've done my research. All the clues led to him. You cannot deceive me." I keep denying.

"Then you haven't researched correctly." He doesn't let go of my chin as he keeps looking at me intently.

"He was at the ball! The ball is held each year for the birthday of Aiden !!" I start the list.

"But so was I. We met in the ball, didn't we?" He replies.

"And how did he know about the rooftop? That's because it was one of HIS MANSIONS!" I state.

"It's because he was RAISED WITH ME! He used to visit me a lot!"

"But his birthday is in February! He celebrated it the next day of the ball with us !" I point out the next.

"Because we both are just one day apart. The ball was to celebrate MY birthday."

"But he works for Harper business. This is only because he is the FREAKING AIDEN HARPER! How come he was the first person to know I'm ALICE?"

"Because he is my secretary. Why do you think we hang out most of the time? Or why is Caleb's home a safe place for me? Because it's the place I come to when I need to stay low." He answers.

"But but..... " I stop the train of thoughts as it hits me that I did not do the research MYSELF. I just believed what Elijah said.

"No no no no no...." I hold my head as Leif -or Aiden- releases me from his hold.

"You are in the denial phase. It's obvious." He tries to comfort me, but fails.

He is not Caleb.

"But why did he accept he was Aiden?" I still cannot wrap my head around the notion of him not being Aiden.

"To protect me and to help you. He was always the sacrificing type." I feel the strain in his voice as it sinks into him that he has really lost his friend.

"Wait, did he admit to me being his best friend? Or is this the girlfriend effect people talk online ab---?"

"Are you guys NOT best friend?" I stop in my tracks and look at him in surprise.

"I mean we hang out a lot but we've never titled our relationship."

This explains why Leif was shocked when I asked him if they were best friends. Because they were boss-employee.

"So I killed him for no reason? I lost him just due to a mistake? I lost him. I lost Caleb." I whisper more to myself as I blame his loss.

"He will always be remembered. " Leif hugs me as I break down.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I killed Caleb. I'm so terrible. It is all my fault. I'll hand myself over to the police. I'm worthless."

"No you are not any of that. You are an incredible person. The only person Caleb genuinely loved. He was an orphan when my dad took him in. We were practically brothers till I moved abroad. He never had a taste of real and pure love. Celia was the closet to family for him. And me? I just became the employer. I tried to become a friend. And yeah, we were close. But love was something he always gave to others. He was never at the end of receiving. And you returned the love he gave to others back to him. You became his soul. He was dead before he met you. Just completing the tasks he was assigned. Just living in a soulless body. But you became his soul. The thing he lived for."

"And he died because of this soul." I reply.

"I doubt if he remorses any of it. He was tasked to kill you as much as you were tasked to kill him. One of you had to die. And he chose himself for that. If he hadn't killed you, he would have died nonetheless. Atleast I hope he got a peaceful death." Leif assures me.

"He did." I wipe my tears as I face him.

"And about me being nice to you, I have my reasons." He changes the topic swiftly.

"Which are?" I prompt.

"I've liked you since the ball." He scratches the back of his neck.

"Are you confessing?"

"I'm not. But I don't think I'm capable of hiding it anymore. You deserve to know that you are not alone. I kept it hidden because Caleb loved you. He doesn't love just anyone. If he found his peace, it'll be the last thing I want him to lose. Hence I admired you from afar. You don't have to reciprocate my feelings but I just needed to let if off my system." He answers.

"I honestly don't think I can process more confessions. The night was long. I think I should sleep." I get up from the couch and go to the room where I unpacked my stuff.

I don't hear anything from Leif for the rest of the day.

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A/N
Song: Car's Outside (James Arthur)

*ahem* *ahem*

Future me: Didn't Caleb die recently?

It's been over a month after that....

Future me: Caleb deserved better.

That's sad. But anyways, DID YOU SEE LEIF BEING AIDEN ??!!

Future me: I'm from future and I've seen it. But it's nonetheless a surprise for all the readers. They ACTUALLY believed Caleb will be Aiden XD XD !!

Yeah THAT was the trick!!! I guided them into thinking that !!! They forgot that I AM A READER MYSELF and I wrote this story from a reader's perspective, hehe.

Future me; Clever. Now let's move on to the next chapter.

Yup !! Stay tuned.