“You promised, Ace. I want to know everything.” My voice came out firm, though my hand fumbled with my bracelet under the table.

Hands balled into fists, he took a deep breath; gaze set on the board. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” I whispered, gulping. “Everything that happened that night seven years ago. If you claim you always had feelings for me, you always wanted me, then… what were you doing with Tess on the balcony?”

I let out a breath, finally asking the questions that have been nagging under my skin for so long.

Silence.

The only sound I could hear in the room was the ticks of the hanging clock on the wall, and my pounding heart in my chest.

His gaze drilled into mine as he sat there with an unreadable façade. Though the storm in his gray eyes was transparent.

“Ace?” I probed.

“Before you know what happened that night, you should be aware of my past first,” he said. “Remember, Emerald. Before reaching any conclusions, know that whatever I did was for everyone’s good. Especially yours.”

What good was in there for me? But putting my question aside, I nodded, encouraging him to go on.

He closed his eyes before opening them again. The muscle of his jaw ticked. “After my father passed away, my… mom went into depression. She couldn’t take the loss of her husband and drowned herself in alcohol and parties. I was about to turn eighteen at that moment.” The pain in voice was visible, though he tried to mask it hard. “As you knew, my father was an idol for me. Even if he never spent much time with us, I... loved him a lot. And after he passed, I—I was lost. I didn’t know what to do with my life then.”

Something squeezed in my chest, imagining how much agony he must have gone through.

“With my mother never at home, I found myself alone. Though Caleb was there, no one could take the place of my parents. On the top of that, the company’s burden was falling on me. For an eighteen-year-old, it became too much for me, Emerald.” He looked away from me as if ashamed. “Not being able to take everything in, I—I took the support of drugs.”

A gasp slipped through my lips as I sat there, shocked.

“I became a drug addict.” His voice was as hard as steel, eyes flashing. “There wasn’t anything I hadn’t tried to forget everything. To get a moment of peace, not knowing it was only pushing me towards destruction.”

My eyes burned. My heart pained at the emotional downfall he went through. And I hadn’t had even any idea of it. Guilt washed over me like a tsunami.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything?” My voice croaked.