Chapter 154 - Tell The Truth

"What?" Santiago asked Romeo who was looking at him weirdly. His eyes flicked to Emmanuel's, a hundred questions glittering there. 

"Umm…" Romeo couldn't form the words to tell Santiago that Persephone didn't drink coffee anymore. She liked juices and other healthy drinks more now.

Even he, as the previous chef, who used to serve Persephone a lot of snacks and unhealthy food back in his hometown, was shocked to find that she had changed her eating habits.

But you see, he shouldn't be surprised anymore by what she does now. It was like the Persephone of now was a completely different person from the one he met before. 

Yes, it was strange. But what could he say? 

Sometimes he didn't know if the woman he met before and the woman of now were the same people. 

They seemed a while different people now. 

"I don't drink coffee anymore, " Persephone replied, saving Romeo from the situation. She couldn't just say out aloud that caffeine was bad for her baby. Well, she wouldn't be able to tell them a lot of things for now. But she hoped to clear misunderstandings with all of them...soon. 

"Ah, I'm sorry," Santiago replied with a small smile. Even if he found many of her new habits weird, he didn't say anything. 

People change with time and so she had. He had no right to say anything when he was the one who tampered with her memories. 

She didn't remember all those things that were making her unhappy.

Perhaps, it was for the better that she didn't have to remember all that stuff that made her unhappy. Most of all, him. The reason for her nightmares. 

Still, he hoped that she would tell him the reason why she would turn her eyes away from him as if she was doing something behind him or betraying him. 

He didn't think that there was anything in this world that could persuade him to be mad at his girl. 

"It's okay," Persephone murmured and went back to finish her breakfast. She veered her eyes from his face and looked down on her hands, trying not to look at him again. 

Everyone silently had their breakfast. No one talked about anything to anyone on the dining table. The atmosphere there couldn't be said to be peaceful and homey but it wasn't tense either. 

After breakfast, Santiago went back to his room to get ready as he had received a very important call at breakfast and even if he didn't want to, he had to leave right away.

When he came out of his room, he found Persephone pacing around outside the room, deep in thought. It could be discerned from her posture that she was nervous.

He wondered what made her so nervous and uncomfortable in the morning, entirely forgetting that his aura had a tendency of making anyone nervous. 

Persephone looked up when she heard the sound of his footsteps. He was dressed in a navy blue suit and was looking every bit of a handsome man that he was. Their eyes met as he was fixing his tie.

He blinked those gorgeous blue hues as his face fell on her and stopped in his footsteps. 

"Do you have a minute?" She asked him with hesitation. She didn't let him speak in fear of getting dismissed.

Apparently, the girl still didn't know that Santiago Vitello could dismiss the world but not her, his Red. 

"Do you want to talk about something?" Santiago asked her.

He had noticed that she was stealing glances at her during breakfast when she thought he wasn't looking her way.

Of course, he wasn't looking in her direction. It was just even in the room full of people all he could see was her much less than a room comprising only four people. 

"Umm, yeah," Persephone said while nodding her head. She showed him the way to their room back and he quietly followed her inside.

Even he was intrigued to know what was going on in her little pretty head. 

Santiago was now sitting on the edge of the bed while Persephone was fiddling with her hand, looking quite nervous and uneasy. 

If it was his flustered Red, he would have teased her to see her face turning scarlet. But nervous Persephone was, in turn, making him nervous. 

"Persephone?" Santiago called out her name softly. 

Persephone mustered up the courage and spoke in a single breath, "Canyoucomehomedaily?"

"What did you say?" Santiago asked her. 

"You didn't understand?" Persephone questioned him.

Her heart was racing in her chest and her palms were growing slick with sweat. She was going to have 'that' conversation with Santiago Vitello.

Apparently, her husband was keeping more than a handful of secrets between them. And someone had told her that secrets are the end of the marriage. Even if they were not real couples like real real couples, she still wanted to know where she stood in his life. 

Because only when she could understand him, she would be able to tell him about her ultimate truth.

Previously, she had thought of cheating on him but not anymore. She wasn't Alessandro Marino who cheats people. She wanted to be Persephone, the woman who just wanted to survive and keep her child safe. 

However, everything changed last night. When she went to the guestroom to spend the night there, she had caught understanding of many things that she wasn't able to previously. 

She had a feeling that Santiago was hiding something from her. And if she got to know what, she was going to have a complete understanding of this man. And she wanted that very badly. 

"I did," Santiago asked with wide eyes. He was just not able to react to her question for a long time. "I just want to confirm that I am not dreaming." 

Yes, he wanted to know if he was indeed dreaming. To say that this dream was more beautiful than any reality wouldn't be wrong. Without his knowing, his lips slightly arched to form a very gorgeous smile on his lips. 

Santiago Vitello didn't smile too often. But when he does… He makes everyone stop breathing by the force of his otherworldly smile. 

"Why would you think so?" asked Persephone with crinkled up brows. 

Why did she have a feeling that he's not coming home was somehow related to her?

To be honest, it wasn't just a feeling and her heart knew it too but it was just denying for the sake of her mental health. 

"Because you don't like me anywhere near you," The words slipped out before he could stop them. 

Her eyes went wide when he realized what he just said. No, he didn't want to make her feel guilty now. He didn't mean to humiliate her or put her in a bad spot. 

"Is that why you stay away from me?" Persephone asked him. Her heart sneered at the choice of her words. It was saying that it had known about it for a long time but never told her as she was not ready to hear it. 

Santiago sighed before nodding. Why not just accept the truth now that his slippery tongue and overflowing emotions had already blabbered! 

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I have many places to go but you only have this. This is your home. So, I don't want to make you awkward."

She found no malice in his oh-so wicked blue eyes, just desperation. 

What was he so desperate for? 

And why would he care about what she wanted? 

She was no one to him other than a pawn in the big game that he was playing with her day dearest.

"Why would you do that?" She whispered, meeting his eyes. She had so many questions but no one to answer. As much as she understood him, she knew that he would never answer her questions. However, she wouldn't be Persephone Marino until she got answers for all the questions that were haunting her existence now. 

"I don't know," Santiago sadly smiled at him. He was not lying at this time. Even he didn't know why he did the things he did? 

Maybe, he did. But just like her, he wasn't ready to acknowledge them either. 

It was safer this way, playing to be oblivious. 

"Why did you marry me, Santiago?"Persephone asked him. She was not masking the confusion and pain visible in her eyes.

She didn't want to be that girl anymore who didn't know anything about her at all when everyone else had a complete report on her life.

"Can I not answer the question?" Santiago directly questioned. He had some secrets to protect. He would answer her surely. But not today. It wasn't the right time yet. 

"Why?" Persephone asked him. The sheer look of despair on her face was torturing him too. But what options was he left with? 

"Because I don't want to lie to you," He answered so naturally. 

"Then tell the truth, "Persephone told him. 

"I can't, Percy," He said, swallowing the lump in his throat.