Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 239: Fight and Defend
Silence crept in on us as time slowly ticked by. I could no longer hear the commotion caused by his mother and assumed that she had made her way safely out of the mansion. Her safety and how she was doing couldn’t be furthest from my concern considering that I had my own situation and complex little problem at hand that I still had to deal with. I wondered if I should just come up and admit to my wrong doings and apologize or if I should remain defiant in the stance that I had decided to take.
“It must have been hard...” I mumbled the first thing that came to my mind.
The regretful and sorrowful way that my voice sounded along with the persistent aching pain in my chest told me beyond words just how much I could relate to what Bradon had probably had to deal with all his life. If his mother had always been like that, then I could pretty much imagine what Bradon had to go through as a child growing up. It also made me realize that there was always that possibility that he was still bearing the weight of his mother’s words and actions even now.
I didn’t like to think that I understood people and their personal struggles. Knowing what someone is going through and claiming to fully understand them wasn’t something that I liked to do because it just felt like I might be too insensitive. However, in this case, I felt like I could fairly say that I understood his circumstances even if it wasn’t in its entirety. After all, I had pretty much been dealt a very similar hand of cards in this game we all call life.
It must have been hard. It must have been very hard...and maybe it still is...
“Is that what it looks like to you?” Bradon replied after a moment of complete silence.
His response caught me off guard and I reprimanded myself silently in my head for letting those thoughtless and unprocessed words slip between my lips. I immediately thought that it must have been better if I had just kept my words to a simple and clean apology. To him, it must have looked like I was sharing words of pity or that I was even looking down on him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I mean, this doesn’t have anything to do with me at all so...” I muttered quickly before shrugging awkwardly.
I must have looked very on edge with how I didn’t quite know what to say or what kind of face I was supposed to be making. My eyes darted all over the place just so that I wouldn’t have to meet his piercing blue gaze.
...
**Bradon’s point of view**
“That whole episode didn’t sound to me like you were talking about something that had nothing to do with you,” I commented passively as I kept my eyes on her face to gauge her reaction.
It was unexpected for my mother to visit the mansion without a prior appointment. I had not counted on her to randomly turn up at my house the way that she did because something like this had rarely occurred before. By the time that I received a call from my mother’s personal nurse, they were already on the way to my house. It was my fault for letting it slip my mind to change the rules associated with my mother’s visit. I had not considered the possibility that my mother would turn up to the mansion when I wasn’t home and that it would give her the chance to meet Dahlia alone.
“...What?” Dahia mumbled softly as a blank expression crossed her face.
It was clear that she had difficulty understanding what I was getting at. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was also stunned because she could understand what I had just pointed out. By the time I made it back to the mansion, it was already too late in the sense that my mother had met Dahlia. At first I wanted to step in and intervene right away as a way to control the damage; however, my plans changed when Dahlia raised her voice against my mother. My curiosity took over and I couldn’t bring myself to open the door to the room. Instead, my feet felt glued to the floor and I found myself straining my ears to hear every single word that passed between the two of them.
At first, I wasn’t sure what Dahlia was doing or what she had planned. She also felt unsure of what she was saying and the point that she wanted to make. Despite that, I could sense that her words and associated feelings must have been natural and genuine as if she was saying those things purely out of reflex. At first, her words brought mixed feelings to me and I wasn’t sure what to make of them. However, the more she said and the longer that I listened, the more it felt like she was desperately trying to defend me. Although I was sure that it wasn’t her intention to do so, I couldn’t ignore the wave of warmth that slowly welled up inside of me.
I couldn’t help but listen to her as she gave my mother a whole big piece of her mind. It didn’t take me long after that for me to realize that Dahlia must have had many reasons why she could relate so well to what my mother was saying about me. Sadly, I was reminded of the difficult childhood and life that she had led.
Dahlia was right about everything that she said. In fact, I felt like she was spot on about everything that she might as well have read my mind and had spoken everything that I had on it. Because I knew that my mother had always been in a disadvantageous position all her life and I pitied her, I never complained or said a word against her regardless of what I thought. I’ve always kept it all inside as I tried my best to live up to her expectations. I did everything that was required and demanded of me so that she could escape the blame and receive even the slightest hint of adoration from my father.
–To be continued...
