The Mask Of The Monster - Chapter 103

From Ella’s Perspective)

I sat on the couch as Dad was reading a newspaper sitting beside me. “I didn’t know there was any newspaper here,” I said.

“As if! A newspaper is very common,” he said.

“I thought this world is really ancient.”

“Not as much as you think,” he said. “If you look closely, you will find it fun as well, minus the shifters though.”

“I see… By the way, are you going to marry someone?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, do you have anyone in mind?” I asked.

“Not really. Why are you asking this?”

“Just curious,” I mumbled.

“I don’t do it anymore.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t interest me anymore,” he said. “That time, I was young and kind of reckless about this kind of thing. But I don’t like this kind of thing anymore. Like marriage and going around with women… It’s all meaningless.”

“Hmm… Did you like Mom?”

“No,” he replied without hesitation.

“Ah, that was pretty blunt.”

“It was just a one-night stand. It’s not like I liked her or anything. To be honest, I did not feel any kind of attachment with her. I even forgot her name.”

‘Wow, just wow…’

“She was too wild for my taste and I did not like her arrogant talking.”

“I agree. I hate it too,” I mumbled. “But Owen loves it. He likes her because she is wild.”

“But I liked her face. Just her face, nothing more… That’s why I went to see her again and that was the time I found out that I have a daughter.”

Dad never then loved Mom. It was not like I was surprised. But I thought he would have at least just a bit of attraction that he felt towards her.

“Mom loved you,” I said. “She still does.”

I always knew that Mom felt strongly towards Dad even though it was a one-night stand. And I looked just like Dad. That was the reason she hated me. Because looking at me would remind her of Dad.

Owen knew about it, or at least, he could guess. It was pretty clear even though Mom tried to hide it all the time.

Owen did not like me for that as well. And he even tried to kill me. Thanks to my luck and my dad, I was saved. But it was a traumatic experience for me.

“She has someone now,” he said.

“So what? When I said she still likes you, I meant it,” I said firmly.

“Does her boyfriend know?”

“Owen does know. It’s pretty clear, you know.”

“What does he look like?”

“Owen? He is really tall and he has dyed dark hair. His nose moves a lot than normal,” I said. “When he is angry, his nose moves even more. It’s really weird. He is overall kinda average looking.”

“I don’t think I need to ask what kind of person he is,” he said. “Judging the fact that he hired professional assassins to kill you…”

“They were not professional, those fat pigs. I think they were local,” I said. “Professionals are usually handsome… Not that I like them or something. I am talking about their looks.”

“You should have gone to the police that time.”

“I know now… If I say that I wasn’t scared, that would be a lie,” I said. “I was immature than now that time. I didn’t know a lot of things. But I managed to do as much as I could to protect myself. You know, I don’t wanna die.”

“Anyway, let’s not talk about it anymore,” I said. “I will go to my room now. By the way, how do I send a letter?”

“To him?”

“Hmm.”

He sighed. “Just give it to me. I will send it for you.”

“Really? Thanks…”

“It’s alright,” he said, looking away quickly. Dad’s ears were red. He definitely was flushed. Dad seemed to be a much better person than I thought.

I returned to my room and flopped on the bed. The bag that I brought here was placed on the floor, under the window. I grabbed it and sat again on the bed, with it on my lap.

“I don’t even know how many clothes are in there. Perhaps I should place them in the closet,” I muttered to myself. Leandro was the one who packed my things. I was too lazy and was not doing much of a thing. Now that I thought about it, Leandro took care of me quite a lot. He was like a parent sometimes. Not that I wished him to be…

I opened the bag and brought out the clothes. But there was something else under the clothes. It was a file with some pages within. The leather of the file seemed to be pretty expensive.

‘As expected of Leandro…’

I pulled the little ribbon to open the file and what I saw shocked me. I did not know he was doing it all this time.

There were drawings of me. He even added color to some. It was just me, doing normal things.

“What…”

One was of when I was eating chicken with bare hands, sitting on the table in the kitchen. He was not drawing that time. Perhaps he drew it sometime else when I was not around.

Then there was another one when I was playing with flowers. I remembered that moment- I was pulling out the petals and then throwing them forward. I did not know he saw me at that time.

I was only in my underthings on one. I was shocked seeing it. On the bed, I was lying down, with my face flushed and eyes watery.

‘Ack, so embarrassing! What the hell? I look like I am drunk… This is how I look like when we get intimate? Strange, I look strange…’

There was a painting where a cat was touching my face with its paws. It was the cutest one. I was too accurately drawn in every single of them. Though I was not much fond of my face, I liked the cat. It was too cute.

He even drew my sleeping self. My hands and legs were in a weird shape and my mouth was even slightly open.

‘Why would he draw this? EEE…!’

One was of when I was eating with my eyes closed because the food was too tasty. Now that I looked at it, I looked like a kid.

There were lots of them. Perhaps at least, thirty. I had no idea he liked me the extent that he would draw these many photos of me. I could not believe I even suspected his love.

“I am an idiot… Shit, I really am!”

I looked through the photos. Every single of them was of mine. There was also one of when I was trying to imitate Leandro when he used to draw. In the painting, a manly hand was pinching my nose just like he did that time.

“Haa…”

Two drops of tears fell on the paper. “What… I am c-crying…? I really…”

I thought all my tears had dried up. I always believed that I lost the ability to cry. But it did not seem like the case.

I thought I was the one opening the lock to his heart. But I was wrong. In reality, he was the one who did it. He was the one who opened my heart.

And once the tears started, they did not stop. I pressed my palms tightly over my eyes to stop them, but it did not help.

I kept looking through the drawings even if they were tearing my heart apart. It was painful, really painful.

But one of those drawings shocked me the most. It was the last one. “What am I going to do with you? You thought it all through… Hic… I miss you. I love you… hic…”

I had no idea what I was supposed to do now. I wanted to see him again. Sending a letter would not be enough. I would like to hug him and tell him that I loved him more than anything else and I was sorry for being an idiot.

He was serious about me all those times. Just because my parents were like this, I thought he would be like that as well. What an idiot I was! I failed to see the light even when it was shining in front of me.

I hid my face on the pillow and tears kept wetting the cover. I could do nothing but think about what a big mistake I made. And now, I did not even have the courage to admit that I doubted him.

All the paintings remained messy on the bed all around me, as if reminding me again and again how much he loved me.

But among them all, the last painting shone brightly, the painting of me in a wedding dress…

[It’s up to you all that how will you take Ella’s decision.. Remember, she was traumatized. And trauma is pretty hard to move on from]