Chapter 687

Chapter 687: MEETING WITH HIS EX

Tristan stopped in front of a wrought iron gate. The house behind it was of average size but it has a spacious lawn where a playground can be seen. On the slide, he saw a little girl playing with a man, he guessed him to be her husband.

“Daddy. Daddy. Look outside. Someone’s looking at us.”

The man turned around and both he and Tristan stiffened the moment their eyes met. How could they not? They were considered buddies back in high school but he lost touch with him during college. He didn’t expect him to be the husband of his ‘deceased’ lover.

“Sweetie, can you go inside for a while? I’ll just talk to him first.”

“Shall I call the police?” The little girl questioned which made the man chuckle. “He’s not a bad guy?”

“He’s not.” The man responded and kissed the little girl’s cheek before ushering her inside the house. When he looked back, Tristan has already schooled his face back to normal and was leaning on his car door – waiting for the man to come over and open the gate for him.

“Tris.” The man muttered with embarrassment reflecting on his face. “I...I – ”

.....

“Do you mind opening the gate?”

“Yes, sorry.” He unlatched the lock and gestured for Tristan to come inside. The two of them walked toward the playground and sat on the swing which was meant for the children. The silence surrounded them which caused the other man to fidget anxiously.

Tristan checked his emotions and found he wasn’t hurt at all. He didn’t feel betrayed or jealous. In fact, he was rather calm for someone who was deceived by his ex. And weird it could be but, he was delighted that he didn’t feel these unnecessary emotions.

“Can I talk to her?”

“Please, I’m begging you.” The man knelt and clasped his hands. “She’s pregnant. I don’t want you to agitate her. I’m sorry. You can punch me, beat me until I’m crippled but I’m begging you to spare her. It’s not her fault. I’m – ”

“I’m not here to do any of that,” Tristan stated but still, his face was devoid of emotions. The man was still suspicious of his intention, nonetheless, he relaxed a little in front of him.

The man stood up and looked towards the house where he saw his daughter peeking her head outside. Surely, she saw him kneel in front of this man. What else can he do? No matter how think about it, he was at fault for colluding with the Dragon gang and faking her death. It was already a miracle that nobody said anything about them for years.

“Let’s talk inside.”

Tristan followed him inside the house and found the little girl fuming in anger while looking at him. Seeing her expression, he was reminded of Elena. The little girl looked like Elena when she gets angry. [It’s probably because of their blood relationship.] He thought as he reached out to pat the little girl’s head.

In the living room, the woman he wanted to meet was knitting something. Since it was small, he guessed it was for the baby but he didn’t say anything. When she looked up and saw him, her face showed her surprise and there was fear that crossed her eyes for a while.

“Can you bring Maya inside her room? You should clean her up, too. She reeks of sweat.” She said and the gentleness of her voice didn’t change after all these years. She watched her daughter leave with her husband and when they were finally out of sight, she looked at him once again and sighed.

“So, you have learned the truth.”

Tristan chose to stand in front of her and studied the woman that he once wanted to marry. He thought that Stefan was right when he said that the woman looked so similar to Elena and he thought of the same thing before but now, he could tell that there was a huge difference between them.

“Can you tell me the reason why you betrayed us?”

“What’s the point?”

“I just want to know.”

“I never loved you.”

This stunned him for a few seconds but instead of feeling wronged, a smile graced his lips. “If it was before, I would probably resent you and chastise you but it’s different now.”

“You found someone else?”

“Yes.”

She nodded her head and looked down at the small jacket in her hand. “Can you keep my existence a secret? I don’t want them to know. It’s fine that they think I’m dead.”

“Do you know that you have a sister?”

She looked at him once again and nodded her head. With a deep sigh, she put down the jacket and rubbed her baby bump. “I was never meant to marry you. You were supposed to meet my sister. Well, you met her first.”

Tristan’s heart was thumping so hard in his chest that he wanted to gauge it and hold it in his palm. He didn’t expect that he’d discover something else from this meeting. He was elated with this information and his mind was already telling him to go and find Elena. However, he needed to finish this conversation.

“What do you mean?” He finally asked after a minute of silence. “Haven’t we been together for a very long time?”

“The little girl who played with you and Celestine at the park was my sister. You had a sketch of her and kept it for a long time. Later on, our paths crossed after we moved to your neighborhood. Celestine brought the sketch to our house and declared that it was me. My father found the sketch and went along with Celestine’s words. Back then, I didn’t know I had a sister and I also thought that maybe, the event of our meeting was just a forgotten memory. I became friends with you and that was it. I just wanted us to be friends.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I didn’t realize it was a mistake until I saw her. I saw my sister and my mother. They were so happy together but the moment my father saw them, he pulled me angrily and left. I knew it, then. I knew that I was somehow connected to them. I confirmed it with my father and he told me the truth. Everything was fine. However, you showed promising intelligence and my father knew that you’d make it big one day. So, he decided to engage us. I wanted to refuse but he threatened me. He killed my dog first as a warning that if I won’t follow what he wanted me to do, he’d kill my sister next to make sure that you won’t meet her. I couldn’t find a chance to tell you because of fear. You were so close with my father back then.”

Tristan listened attentively to her and realized how much she suffered because of the mistake that his sister brought into her life. He couldn’t blame her at all. She told him how she continued to endure until she met Aaron and fell in love. She didn’t want to miss a lifetime of happiness for something she didn’t truly deserve.

Having heard the most important part, he smiled at her and patted her head. “You did what you needed to do because you wanted to be happy. It sounds selfish but I am happy that you did. It was very brave of you to take that step which leads us now to a better life.”

“I’m happy now. I truly wish that you will also find the person who will make you happy.”

“I have found her.”

After half an hour, Tristan finally decided to leave the place. He looked at the house once more and when his eyes landed on the balcony on the second floor, he smiled at the man who made Shiara become brave. He remembered that Aaron came from a rich family but now, he was living humbly with her.

There’s no need to know how much sacrifice he had to make to set Shiara free. He must have spent a lot of money to cooperate with the gang and he was probably kicked out by his family. Tristan wasn’t really sure but he didn’t need to dig deep.