Billionaire's Second Chance At Love

Chapter 131

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Simon asked while Diana stared ahead, arms crossed over her chest.

"I have to," she shrugged, not taking her eyes off the building in front of them. The one that was shut down by the government aeons ago, realizing that the time travelling device held more dangers than they were equipped to handle, and that the money put into such a project was better spent somewhere else.

Perhaps they were right. Perhaps the world wasn't ready for such advancements just yet.

Perhaps they would never be. And that was okay.

"This is the only way we can put an end to this madness for real."

Simon hummed, nodding slowly. "Well then, what are you waiting for? Let's do the honours."

Diana breathed in a deep breath, realizing it was time. She took out a small remote from her purse and pressed the only red button on it.

In the next moment, there was a loud explosion and the building before them blew up in a huge blast of fire, taking everyone and everything with it.

———

"What happened to Lewis Ladder?" Carmen asked after dinner, as her mom helped her with the dishes and putting dry ones into the cupboards.

Diana stopped for a second and her hands stilled on the plate she was about to put away, but she soon resumed her action. "Simon took care of him."

"He did?" Carmen raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Doesn't matter," Diana replied quietly, closing the cupboard and drying her hands with a cloth. "He's not going to bother us again, that's all I know, and frankly speaking, that's all I care about."

But Carmen wasn't convinced just yet. She turned to face her mother, questions in her eyes. "Why do you trust him so much? I mean, I know helped you out but...you know what he tried to do to me...don't you think it's a little weird...for you to be so close to him? Trusting him with everything?"

Diana smiled at that, a smile that did not exactly reach her eyes. "Simon is..." she trailed off, as if searching for the right word to describe the man. "...complicated. He's patient when he wants to and ruthless when he has to." She dropped the cloth on the counter and shook her head. "I'm not going to defend what he did—I can't. There's no forgiveness for the way he tried to force you but...all I can say is that if one could look past his obsessive nature and crazy demands, then they would know that he's not all that bad. He just has a...strange way of showing his feelings."

Carmen frowned at that but did not say anything. She obviously did not agree with her mother. But then again, Simon did save their lives, and had been protecting her mother for quite some time now. If Diana could see past his mistake, then so could Carmen. But she still didn't trust the guy as much as her mom did.

"So..." Diana changed the topic, raising her brows playfully at her daughter. "How are things going between you and Ronin? I heard you went to see a doctor today. Is the baby okay?"

Carmen blushed furiously at the mention of her husband and their unborn child.

"Everything's fine," she muttered, suddenly becoming shy, but a tiny smile tugged at her lips. "He or she is doing okay."

Diana's face broke into a grin. "That's great!" she hugged her daughter close and kissed her cheek. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, Mom," Carmen chuckled, her own happiness making her glow like a light bulb. But then her smile faded away ever so slowly and she leaned back against the counter, rubbing her arms. "Mom? Can I ask you something?"

Diana turned to give all her attention to her daughter, tipping her head to the side. "Of course, what is it?"

"Do you think Ronin regrets what we did to Alice?"

The question caught Diana off guard, but she did not let that surprise deter her from understanding her daughter's perspective. Of course, there were still doubts in Carmen's heart—there would always be—, what Ronin and Carmen had done years ago wasn't something any parent could do.

But then again, Carmen was Carmen for a reason. She was selfless and had so much love in her heart that sometimes she didn't know what to do with it.

Diana sighed, leaning against the counter across from where Carmen stood. "I think you're asking the wrong question, Carmen. The real question is: do you regret what you did?"

Deep thoughts crossed Carmen's beautiful face. She bit her lip. "I don't want to," she shrugged, hugging herself close. "But sometimes I wonder if our life would have been different if I hadn't..."

"You weren't the only one who took the decision, Carmen. You have to remember that."

"I know," Carmen looked down at the floor. "But I gave my agreement to it, didn't I?"

"You were just trying to help out a friend. And not just any friend—your best friend. You did that for Molly, because you love her so much. She's like your sister. She's always been, ever since you were so tiny."

Tears stung the back of Carmen's eyes and before she knew it, or could hold it, they were rolling down her face. "I know. I know. But I just miss her so much. Sometimes my chest hurts so bad I can't even breathe."

Diana couldn't see her daughter breaking down. Quickly, she moved forward and pulled Carmen into a tight hug, soothing her back and kissing the side of her head.

Carmen sobbed in her mother's arms and Diana felt like she had failed to protect her daughter's happiness. She was about to speak when Ronin walked into the kitchen, a frown marring his handsome features.

"What's wrong?" He rushed forward when he saw his wife crying. "Hey..." he stroked her face, looking at Diana. "What's wrong? Why is she crying?"

Carmen wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and Ronin held her close, his arms tight around her body, letting her cry on his shoulder. Diana rubbed Carmen's back gently, trying to calm her down as well as giving some strength to her son-in-law, who looked very worried and lost at the moment.

It took a few minutes for Carmen to calm down, but when she did, she wiped her tears away and pulled away from her husband's embrace, smiling at him through her tears.

"Sorry," she mumbled and Ronin shook his head, his eyes searching her face.

"Don't apologize," he caressed her cheeks. "Just tell me what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she chuckled. "Mom and I were just talking about the baby." She met her mother's eyes, and Diana knew the conversation that started their emotional roller coaster ride was over. Carmen wouldn't talk about Alice in front of Ronin, mostly because it would hurt him just the same. Diana had seen the pain in his eyes, too.

It had been a difficult year for all of them when Alice was born. But the person hit by the biggest tragedy was Molly and Jasper, when they lost their unborn child after a small car accident. If it weren't for Ronin, with whom Jasper had been on a call at the time of the accident, things could have been a lot worse. The moment Ronin heard of the accident, he immediately called the ambulance and stayed on the line until help arrived. If he had been late even for a few seconds...

Jasper would have lost both his wife and unborn child.