Before the fireplace, he was seated on the single couch. With his elbows resting on his knees, his gray eyes were lost deep into the fire crackling around the burning timbers. The hot amber glow descended on his beautiful, hard features.

But the tightness of his jaw, icy gaze, and clenched fists weren’t appealing to me at that moment.

The sudden feel of the tense air around me made me cautious.

“Ace?” My voice came out as a whisper. As if afraid to break the silence.

He didn’t respond, not even moved a muscle. The only answer I got was eerie silence, except the crackling of the fire.

When I almost thought he didn’t hear me, his deep voice echoed throughout the room. Low yet powerful.

“I always looked up to him as my role model. I always wanted to be like him. Powerful, successful, and dedicated to his work. A nice and humble person,” he paused. “Until I saw him raising his hand on my mother.”

A gasp slipped through my lips.

He used to beat Ophelia? I never thought he’d stoop so low. But if he could cheat on his wife, then hurting his wife physically wasn’t impossible for him.

But I didn’t speak my thoughts out loud, not wanting him to stop.

“I always ignored their conflicts and arguments, thinking it wasn’t my business to interfere. I thought every couple had their disagreements sometimes. I didn’t pay any mind to Mom’s suspicion about him. Until I caught him with his secretary in his office.”

A muscle of his jaw ticked while I listened to him silently. Nor did he turn to look at me yet.

“My whole opinion about him changed right at that moment. Instead of respect, I only felt disgust about that man. And my disgust turned into hatred when he found me standing there at the door and kept his secretary on his lap. As if his own seventeen-year-old son didn’t just catch him cheating on his wife.”

My heart tugged for him. I couldn’t imagine how broken and shocked he was when he found out his father’s real face. And I felt bad for Ophelia. Though I didn’t get to spend much time with her, she was a great woman. She didn’t deserve it.

“Did you tell her about it?” I asked, not moving from my place.

He shook his head. His eyes were hard as stone. “I didn’t have the courage to. Even though she had her own doubts, she was never sure about it. He never let himself get caught. She was already drowning herself in alcohol. I couldn’t give her more reasons to increase her misery.”

“If she wasn’t happy with him, if he was treating her that way, then why didn’t she just leave him?” I queried, curious to know more. “Even after the doubts, why did she stick around?”