He averted his gaze. “Because she doesn’t like that. She got out of her depression with a lot of difficulties. And seeing me and Caleb, means her past, brings her… unwanted memories.”

Seeing her own son brings unwanted memories?

“But she does try. That’s why we talk sometimes,” he added. He still loved her, no matter how much she stayed away.

My heart tugged for him.

Nodding, I cleared my throat. Come on, Emerald. Ask it.

“What happened to your father?” My eyes held his stormy grays. “Why did he commit suicide?”

FIFTY-FIVE: THE DEMONS OF THE PAST

His entire stance tensed as soon as I asked the question. His eyes still away from mine as he took a deep breath, his jaw locked tight.

“Rosebud, we just got together. Let’s keep the bitter chapter of my life out of our new beginning, shall we?” Gray orbs met mine. They held desperation for me to understand. “I don’t want to relive my past when all I want is to make new, beautiful memories with you.”

I knew it hurt him to talk about it, but I couldn’t let this go. I had this intuition that whatever Arthur was talking about was related to his father’s suicide. I needed to know everything to sort things out.

Even though it pained me to torture him with his memories, I didn’t back off. “Until you let go of your past, you can’t start fresh. You can’t be truly happy. I can see it, Ace. You’re battling with something. There’s something bothering you. And it’s not just Antonio. Please tell me, what is it? What happened to your father? I want to know everything.”

Closing his eyes, he pulled away and showed his back to me. Facing the window again, he stood there with his hands fisted.

“There’s not much to know, Rosebud.” His voice came out cold. “I used to always look up to my father as my idol. I wanted to become like him. Until I got to know his real face.”

I didn’t dare interrupt him, fearing he would switch off again. I just stood there silently, listening to him.

“He was a womanizer. After some years of his marriage with Mom, he started to cheat on her. And that broke my Mom,” he revealed.

A gasp slipped through my lips.

“But even after being unfaithful, he loved his reputation more than anything. He was always discreet about his affairs. He wanted his image to be great before the society and his children. Mom had always doubted his activities until one day he wasn’t careful, and she caught him with one of his girlfriends in their own bed.”

I stood there immobile, shocked at the revelation. That’s why they never had a good relationship.