Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours!
Chapter 305: Revelations III

Chapter 305: Revelations III

While Ewan prepped himself in silence on how to expose a hidden aspect of his past, Athena took the time to look around the local restaurant for the umpteenth time.

This time, however, she could actually understand why Ewan had chosen this place for the secret reveal. It was loud.

Conversations swirled around them like a vibrant cacophony, evident in the animated arm gestures that punctuated the air. Even those twirling in certain areas of the restaurant, ostensibly dancing, seemed to be engaged in lively discussions.

With the booming music accompanying their chatter, her conversations with Ewan were shrouded in a veil of anonymity.

In this bustling atmosphere, the patrons had no interest in them—not in their secrets, not in their pasts. Perhaps in some form of fleeting pleasures, yes—if the women still eying Ewan was any indication—but not in knowing anything deeper.

Everyone minded their business here; no one even recognized them. This would have been a different case had they stopped at one of the more expensive restaurants in the city.

There might have been paparazzi lurking around to take pictures for the tabloids. There was also a high chance of being monitored by someone keen to harm them.

Thirdly, the space Ewan chose for this sit-down was at the far end of the bar, where shadows danced intermittently, keeping them enveloped in privacy. It was, in other words, the perfect place for a conversation laced with secrets.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone dinged with a text.

Assuming it was Aiden with more intel, she hurriedly tapped on the message, a smile touching her lips when she saw it was from Nathaniel.

’We know you are dealing with the bad guys, Mom! Take your time! I know we are going to have so much fun together when all this is over! So hurry up!’

Her heart warmed at the words, and she chuckled softly, sending back a laughing emoji, followed by a heart and a hug. She must have done something good in her past life to deserve understanding children, brilliant children.

"You seem happy over a text? Antonio?" Ewan’s voice dripped with an edge of distaste as he mentioned Antonio’s name, though he managed to keep it at bay.

Athena shook her head without much thought, although she wondered why Antonio hadn’t replied since she sent him a message—it had been more than an hour now!

"It’s from Nathaniel. He just gave me permission to stay out late." She chuckled more when she noticed the flicker of confusion spreading across Ewan’s face.

"Don’t bother about it. Just get back to the main point. Are you ready to talk now?" She queried, her smile fading as quickly as it had emerged, not wanting to be sidetracked by the trivial matters.

Ewan nodded, letting out a deep, weighted sigh. "It’s a long story."

"And that’s why I’m happy the kids understand. I have enough time, Ewan. So speak."

Ewan bit his lower lip as he scrutinized Athena’s expression keenly. Would she cut him off when he was done? Would their fragile truce be shattered?

A pang of unease welled in his heart at the thought. He couldn’t bear that, yet lying to her was equally impossible—not when they had come this far.

"I joined the gang for protection," He began, pausing as Athena raised an eyebrow, skepticism etched on her features.

"Protection is quite an abstract reason. You can’t blame me. Most join for monetary gains or power, or whatnot. So why did you need protection?"

"Because of the threats to my life." Ewan’s voice softened as he exhaled heavily. "It started with a death note in my locker during high school. I was barely seventeen."

Athena’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. She hadn’t seen this coming. Who would want him dead at such a young age?

"At first, I thought it was a prank from my friends, or maybe some juniors or seniors. But then, dead things started turning up in my locker: dead birds, rats, rabbits—sometimes even cockroaches, mangled in the worst possible way. And then they started appearing in my room."

A frown masked Athena’s face. She would have called this revelation bullshit, but the agony swirling in Ewan’s eyes, despite his efforts to remain calm, gave her pause.

She knew him well enough to see the tension coiling in his form. Allowing herself to empathize with him, she recognized how traumatic it must have been to receive such horrific gifts at seventeen.

"It made me paranoid..." Ewan continued after a moment of silence, gathering his thoughts like fragile pieces of glass.

"I kept thinking someone was following me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was in my room; I stopped sleeping in the dark. Then, on my eighteenth birthday, I received a package—a death sentence, detailing the exact day I would die. That’s when I knew I had to tell Alfonso. He was my guardian then, as you know it."

Athena was on the edge of her seat, her curiosity piqued. What did Alfonso do?

"At first, he was livid—wondering why I hadn’t told him sooner. He enlisted the help of the police and hired bodyguards. For a while, the awful visitations stopped. But during my graduation, when I climbed to the pulpit to receive my certificate, I was shot by a sniper."

Athena’s mouth fell open slightly, her eyes instinctively scanning his face in search of a bullet hole.

"It was a warning shot. It grazed my cheek. The graduation descended into chaos. Alfonso, unsure of what to do, shipped me off to college, thinking maybe the matter would die down. But it only got worse. I had accidents—accidents I knew had been staged. Somehow, though, I escaped unscathed. My friends even called me miraculous Ewan..."

Ewan’s voice faltered as he continued, "All that changed in my second year. I went to a party with Sandro and Zane; we were friends then. On our way back, they decided to drop by a friend’s place for the night, but I had to drop off my girlfriend first at the dorm."

Athena inhaled sharply before she could help it. Girlfriend? A pang of discomfort shot through her, but she pushed it away and continued to listen, even as her heart began to beat irregularly.

"On our way, the traffic light on our side turned red, so we stopped, chatting away—talking about typical college gibberish. But then the light turned green. I was too engaged in conversation to notice how quickly it had changed." Ewan’s voice wavered, a fleeting sorrow flickering in his eyes.

Athena could already discern the inevitable outcome, and a wave of empathy washed over her for the young Ewan who had faced such a harrowing experience.

"When I moved, I was crushed by a moving trailer. I passed out. When I woke in the hospital, my hands were cuffed to the bed, and I was met with the devastating news that my girlfriend was dead, and I had been arrested for drinking and driving, for murdering someone."

Ewan’s hands slipped from the table and gripped his thighs tightly as he struggled to contain feelings he had long buried alongside his painful memories.

"After recovering from the hospital, I was taken to the police cells. I would have been transferred to Iron Heights Prison if not for the intervention of Herbert, Zane’s father."

"What about Alfonso?" Athena cut in, suspicion rising. She began to think that the wicked male had been behind all the troubles Ewan had faced.

"He tried rescuing me from the situation, but the girl I allegedly murdered was the daughter of a prominent government official—a minister, I think. I’m not sure how Herbert managed it, but in the end, I was released on parole. That was how I met Connor."

"Connor Brafus?"

Ewan nodded.

"We met during our community service days. We got to talking, and that’s how the gang came into the picture. I didn’t want to join—I had heard of the gang and their operations. But then, on the last day of my community service, I received a package with dead animal remains."

A pause ladened with pain.

"I was tired, Athena. I was fed up. I was angry. I wanted to know who was behind this. At some point, I wanted to confront Old Mr. Thorne. Alfonso had thought he was behind it..."

Athena scoffed. "What about him?"

Ewan shook his head, frustration creeping into his voice. "Both were cleared of the allegations after much research."

Of course, Alfonso wouldn’t bother killing Ewan, especially since Fiona was being drilled at that time for her role as the puppet master. Athena considered this grim revelation. If not Alfonso, then who was behind the relentless assault on Ewan?

"Do you think it’s the killers of your parents?" She asked softly, aware that this was also a tender topic for him.

"I don’t know," Ewan responded meekly, his shoulders slumping as weariness overtook him like a heavy shroud. "I never found out the cause of their deaths, nor discovered who was behind my assault."

"What about Spider? He couldn’t locate the person or group?"

Ewan shook his head slowly. "That’s the one mission Spider has ever failed—finding my attackers, the people behind my parents’ deaths. He still beats himself up over it."