'I Do' For Revenge-Chapter 256: Don’t Make Me Regret This

~AXEL~

I walked over to her slowly, like I was approaching something very fragile that could break any second. When I got to the bed, I sat on the edge, keeping some distance between us. Close enough to talk, but far enough not to make her feel crowded.

"We need to talk," I said quietly. "Really talk. No more avoiding each other."

Layla nodded, wiping at her eyes. "Okay."

I took a deep breath, trying to find the words. No more half-truths, no more protecting myself at her expense.

"I bought the hotel just a few hours before you ever stepped foot in it," I began. "The Pearl River Hotel. I had my team finalise the purchase that afternoon."

Her face didn’t change, but I saw her hands grip the blanket tighter.

"I knew you were coming there that night," I continued. "I’d been monitoring Charles’s family for months. When I saw your wedding on TV, when I saw Cassandra destroy it publicly, I kept my eyes open. You were vulnerable, hurt, and angry. Perfect conditions for what I had planned."

"Which was?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"To meet you. To present myself as someone who understood your pain. To offer you an alliance against Charles." I forced myself to meet her eyes. "I was still finalising my plans for your then-father when your wedding fell apart. I saw an opportunity. I knew you’d want revenge, or at least you would if I said the right things. And I did."

Silent tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t look away.

"I arranged everything. The ’overbooked’ hotel. The room mix-up. The key cards that opened your door. Every single detail was orchestrated to make you think it was fate when it was just manipulation." My voice cracked. "I manipulated you from the very first moment."

"Why are you telling me this now?" she asked.

"Because you deserve the complete truth. No more omissions, no more protective lies." I ran my hands through my hair. "But here’s what I didn’t plan for. I didn’t plan for you."

She looked up, confusion in her tear-filled eyes.

"I went in with a strategy," I said, leaning forward. "I went in thinking I’d marry you, use you for revenge, then discard you when I was done. That was the plan. Clean and simple."

"And then?" Her voice was so small.

"And then, shortly after getting to know you, I was in love." The words were raw. "I genuinely fell for the same girl who had shown me kindness before: no pretence, no acting... just pure, real love. Layla, you became everything to me. You were my whole world."

"The revenge plot died," I continued. "It died the moment you smiled at me, when you trusted me to protect you, when you let me see the real you beneath all the armour Charles forced you to wear. That’s when I knew I couldn’t go through with it."

Layla wiped at her face. "Then why didn’t you tell me? When I asked if there were more secrets, when I looked you in the eyes and asked you directly, why did you lie?"

"Because I’m a coward." The admission hurt. "Because I was terrified that if you knew the truth, you’d leave. And I couldn’t... I can’t lose you."

"So you chose to keep lying?" Her voice broke. "You chose to protect yourself instead of trusting me?"

"Yes." I felt my own tears starting, something I never allowed myself. "And I was wrong. I was so wrong, Layla. I should have trusted you with the entire truth from the beginning."

The tears came faster now, and I couldn’t stop them. I’d cried twice in my adult life... once at my parents’ funeral, once when I found proof Charles had killed my father. But this was different. This was breaking apart in front of the only person who mattered.

"I lost my parents to Charles’s cruelty," I said through tears. "I spent twenty years hunting him, building my empire around destroying his. Twenty years of my life consumed by revenge. But none of that compares to the thought of losing you."

I looked at her, letting her see everything. "You’re not part of my revenge anymore, Layla. You’re my redemption. You’re the reason I remember what it means to be human instead of just a machine built for vengeance."

Layla was crying too now, her shoulders shaking. "You should have trusted me with the truth. That’s all I wanted from you. Total trust. Complete honesty."

"I know," I whispered. "And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry."

The silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we’d been through—the lies, the manipulation, the love that had grown despite it all.

Finally, I forced myself to ask the question I was terrified to hear the answer to. "Tell me what you need. Tell me what I can do to earn back your trust. Anything, Layla. I’ll do anything."

She was quiet for a long moment, thinking. "No more secrets. Ever. Even the ones you think will hurt me. Especially those ones."

"Done," I said immediately. "I swear to you, no more secrets."

"Anything else?" I asked.

She looked at me with those eyes that had haunted my dreams since the day we met. Then she shook her head slowly. "I forgive you."

My breath caught. "What?"

"I forgive you, Axel." Her voice was steady despite the tears. "And know this: I’m choosing to forgive you. Not because you manipulated me, not because I’m pregnant. But because despite everything, I love you. And I believe you love me."

"I do," I said desperately. "More than anything. More than revenge, more than justice, more than my own life." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Then prove it," she said firmly. "Every day. Through actions, not just words. Show me that this marriage is real, that your love is real."

"I will," I promised. "Every single day for the rest of our lives, I’ll prove it to you."

She nodded, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"Can I hold you?" I asked quietly, afraid of pushing too far too fast.

She nodded again, and I carefully moved closer. I wrapped my arms around her, and she buried her face in my chest. We held each other and cried for the pain, for the lies, for the new life growing between us, for the chance we were giving each other.

"I love you," I whispered into her hair. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she whispered back. "Don’t make me regret this."

"I won’t. I swear I won’t."