If he didn’t open up to me completely, it’d become a hinder between us for the rest of our lives. It would always weaken our relationship. I wanted him to open up to me. I wanted him to trust me with his secrets.

Maybe I should just give him some time.

And then I remembered I didn’t bandage his knuckles.

Picking up my phone, I dialed his number. But it directly went to voicemail. I called again, but to no avail.

Where the hell is he?

His wounds are needed to be taken care of.

Frustrated, as I slammed my phone on the bed, it began blaring.

With a skip of my heart, I picked it up. But disappointment soon followed as Warner’s name flashed on the screen.

Rubbing my forehead, I received the call.

“Hey. I called you earlier today, you didn’t pick up. What’s up?” Honestly, I didn’t have the strength to talk about Arthur at that moment.

“I was busy digging out some worms, but guess what? I’ve found a snake instead,” he said from the other side of the phone.

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Remember once you told me how you didn’t know a lot of things about Achilles’s past? And knowing how sensitive it was for him, you were hesitating to ask him?”

I remembered talking to him at Tess’s wedding. When he saw Ace and me together, even though he didn’t look happy, he congratulated me. He asked me what my next step in our relationship was. I told him I wanted to know more about Ace.

But seemed like it was turning out quite difficult.

“Yeah, but why are you talking about that now?”

“Well, I thought I could help you a little. And guess what? I was right from the beginning. That man doesn’t deserve you. Because he never told you the truth. All he did was keep you in the dark and manipulate you in his trap with his sweet lies!” he hissed.

“What do you mean? What are you talking about? I thought I told you not to talk about him like that—”

“I’m just stating the truth, Em. I just called to tell you what a liar he is.”

My eyes narrowed further. “Get to the point. What lie did he tell me? What do you want to say exactly?”

“He told you his father committed suicide, didn’t he?”

Something churned in my stomach as I slowly nodded, even if he couldn’t see me. “Yes?”

“His father didn’t commit suicide, Em. He was murdered.”

FIFTY-SEVEN: MISSING HIM

I stilled. His words slowly processed in my head.

“W-what are you talking about? Everyone knows he committed suicide. And I know why he did that. Ace told me everything.”

I heard him scoffing.