Chapter 32 (Saving her from faith)

                                    

                                          
True to their promise, Angelo himself came to the Silas mansion next morning, to bring her back home. Leila walked towards him to stand beside him, a look of somewhat relief was plastered on her face. She almost gasped when Angelo grabbed a hold of her hand as if she was a child and nodded his thanks to Aurelio and Jennet.
Adriano and Ace stood at the distance, watching the pair silently. Adriano's eyes met Leila and he stared as if silently saying her something. Leila looked away from him but not before giving him a thankful look back as she remembered what took over two hours ago.
Flashback...
Leila was downright tired, having been invaded her entire night with nightmares, she was feeling sluggish. A knock on the door startled her a bit, just as she got up to stand. Adriano entered a moment later with his hands shoved in his pockets. 
"How are you feeling?" He asked, taking note of how Leila couldn't mask her surprise at his straightforward question.
"I am well. How are you?" She asked politely after a pause of awkwardness. In response, he ignored her and just stared at her for a moment before reaching in his back pocket and bringing out a neatly folded paper.
"What is this?" She asked confused while reaching for it.
"I was meant to do this years ago." 
She couldn't hide her frown at the strangeness his voice held.
As she looked at the written contents of the paper, her hands started shaking. It was her dead bestfriend Laura's handwriting.
Tears brimmed her eyes as she read the entire thing. Laura was being thankful that she got her as bestfriend. She mentioned that she was suffering from an incurable disease and decided that instead of going through the long process of painful suffering, it was good to end everything at once.
Leila's eyes widened. 
She thought all those years that Laura commited suicide because she could not handle bullying and continuous failures in her studies. 
"You knew? And still you kept this hidden?" Leila asked Adriano who looked unaffected by the sudden anger in her tone.
"Alexander was the one who got his hands on this letter first. I barely managed to get it back from him but before I could reach you, you were already gone." 
Her eyes widened. The words felt like a slap but she was more dwelling on the fact that her bestfriend was suffering all alone. Leila had always protected her from bullying but each time Laura got angry with her. Now, Leila was understanding the reason of her frustration.
It made her eyes tearful. She clenched her hands in fists and shoved the letter back in Adriano's hands. 
"Thank you." 
Thus, she said no more, turning away from him and letting the tears slip down her eyes freely.
Adriano stood there for a second, watching her silently weeping and her shoulders trembling with each quiet sobs. He didn't move to comfort her. Instead, he turned around to get out of her room.
As he stepped out of the door, his eyes met Ace. He looked behind Adriano and raised his brow.
"It had been years. You hadn't need to prod her old wounds."
"But she was always blaming herself. If I didn't tell her that, she would have never been able to get well. She never failed to protect Laura but Laura couldn't save herself from faith." 
Ace almost snorted at his statement. But then again his little brother really grew up.
Flashback over.......
Angelo was watching Leila carefully during the entire ride. She looked a little somber due to the whole ordeal that occured last night but she seemed alright. 
Oddly alright.
As they reached home, Leila was not surprised seeing the increase of men in black standing at every corner of their home.
Her brothers would obviously try hard that this thing won't occur again. 
She followed Angelo inside, ignoring everything around her.
Just as she took a step in, she was swooped up in a familiar embrace. Luciano stunned her for a moment but she willingly returned the embrace.
"Yo!" Luciano grinned. He made it seem like last night never happened. Nor that she wanted to remember it. She was happy to forget about it.
Vincent and Zach gave her a small wave. Antonio silently watched her with a glare on his face as usual. But unbeknownst to her, he was trying to find any sign of bruise on her body. So he could torture those bastards more when he come across them again.
Xavier and Carlo stood at the distance watching the whole interaction. Leila's eyes met them. She smiled a little making them return the gesture with a nod.
Luciano pushed Leila on the couch gently and let her lay her head on his lap. She blinked, feeling his hand softly caressing her head.
She couldn't understand what to bring out of this sudden gentle and heart-touched action but it wasn't like she was going to complain.
"How was your stay at the Silas?" Zach asked, taking seat on the couch across her.
"Mm good." She whispered, shutting her eyes for a moment, rewinding everything that happened at the Silas family within span of 9 hours.
She got to know about her mother a little and she was revealed to the truth of Laura's death. Was it that she supposed to feel now? A relief. True to Adriano's words, she blamed herself for Laura's death, cursing herself for being so ignorant seeing Laura was suffering under the hands of their peers.
But at the end, it was Laura's decision. She was sad learning about the faith of hers but she cannot fight it.
She opened her eyes, looking at her brothers. Upon seeing their silence, she heaved a sigh and decided it was better to tell them about this.
At the end, Luciano was fuming while others gave mixed reaction of emotionless and plain understanding.
"That fucker could have said so!"  
Antonio rolled his eyes annoyed, feeling his fists clench. Leila's eyes met his and he gave her a hardened look making her look away from him. Others beside Luciano silently observed the tension radiating between them. Antonio had a hard time showing that he cared for her after so many years he downright hurt her. 
He wanted to get close to her but he was too prideful for his own good.
"Whatever said or happened is already done. You should all think that tomorrow is what important."
The hidden message in Xavier's words seemed to gain his brothers attention. Leila, unaware to all happening, just nodded thinking Xavier wanted her to focus on making her future better.
But for her brother, it was a signal. They needed to protect their family's future.
******************* Location: Unknown
"Leila Lambordi? Was it?" A dark whisper filled the air. Pale fingers clad with rings, ran on top of Leila's picture. 
Dark eyes glazed up at the pictures of the three main families, observing each of them carefully before coming right back at the picture of Leila again. 
His fingers tightened around it, crushing the fragile piece without a hint of remorse.
He was beyond ready to destroy their future.
Thank you for reading... 
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