Page 60 of Scent of Desire
I pulled my hand away from him and sat my back against my pillow, despite Hugo’s instructions—who this time didn’t question me. My heart felt empty and heavy, the flashbacks of what had happened at the club scrolling through my mind.
The fire. Radcliff’s club. It all burned out.
The aphrodisiac. It disappeared.
Christian. He was dead.
I even wondered if Adonis knew about his father. We had all lost something that night and left behind a part of ourselves. Forever.
“Where is Radcliff?” I locked my hard stare on Hugo, erasing those images of chaos in my mind.
“He’s fine, but…” Hugo readjusted the pillow behind me before giving me a thin smile that meant he was hiding something. “You need to focus on you,doudou, okay?”
“No,” I quipped back. “I need to see him.”
“Lily, you need to think—”
“Uncle,” I cut him off with all the bitterness inside my soul. “You have nothing to say. You lost that right.”
My uncle quietened, his head bowing to the floor before he took a step back.
“It’s not possible.” Hugo crossed his arms.
“If you don’t bring me to the manor, I’ll go on my own.” I was determined, unbound by the rules. I wouldn’t stay in that emotionless white smell any longer. “And knowing Radcliff, that’s something he wouldn’t want me to do.”
“Just like he knew you’d say that.” Hugo snorted, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Would you bring me, then?” Flames of hostility licked through me, my eyes not budging from him.
“Do I have a choice?” he complained.
“No.” My lips curved into a proud smile.
“I’ll get the doctors to get you out, and I’ll drive you.” Hugo then eyed both my uncle and me. “I’ll let the two of you… resolve your evident issues.”
Hugo took his leave, and the silence filled the room. My uncle didn’t even dare to look at me anymore. His gaze was frozen to the ground, his fingers intertwining with each other. His lips moved like he was whispering something to himself, but he made no sound. He looked like he was senile, a madman lost in his world.
Eugene had been a coward and an unworthy uncle. His heart couldn’t love me or anyone because he couldn’t love himself. He was weak but not evil.
“Why did you give away Mom’s perfume?” I broke the silence, swallowing my fresh swell of anger toward him. “And no more lies. I know she would have never wanted that.”
“I don’t know.” He fell on the chair, his eyes lost in the room, like he was finally seeing the truth that clouded his vision all this time. “I was a failure. Your mom had always been better than me… And I thought…” His chin shook. “Perhaps I thought I could steal her future. Her talent. I was a screwup who crawled under debts. I wanted to show everyone I could have a higher social status. That I could be the talented one. People made fun of me, you know? They called methe ratbecause they said I was useless and ugly. I got bullied a lot in my childhood. I used to come back every evening with bruises on my face, torn clothes, and they were stealing my things. Once, they even threw me in the gutter… I was the laughingstock of everyone except for your mother. She always stood up for me. She was so strong… And that’s how I repaid her.”
He brought his hand to his nose, and the tears of regret consumed him. “Before your mother died, she had become paranoid with all the substances she was taking, saying they would all want her perfume. She looked scared, but I wasn’t there for her. She made me promise, whatever happened, to keep No. 27 in the family. She wanted this to be your legacy, but I—”
His mouth trembled, tears flooding him with the burden of his betrayal. “I can’t… This is too hard.”
“Continue,” I ordered him, my heart palpitating. “Please, Uncle. You owe me the truth.”
“I betrayed her,” he admitted. “Carmin offered me prestige and a huge deal of money for it. He was the first one to treat me likea friendand not likea rat. He told me that I could prove them all wrong. You see, we grew up in the same school. Christian always had a crush on your mother. I never understood why she was turning him down—to me, he was all I ever wanted to be. He was the rich, popular one, and he offered me the chance to not be an outsider anymore.
“I was too weak, and I accepted his offer… I can’t look at myself in the mirror anymore. She trusted me to take care of you, and I couldn’t even do that. I’m a failure… A coward.” He leaned forward, twisting his body, his tears exploding in a new wave. “I’m an impostor, it’s true, but… I love you, Lily, and I loved Nicole. I’m so sorry.”
My uncle’s demons had caught up to him, the regrets of his mistakes washing over him. My heart broke, witnessing his past that had left irreversible consequences, but I remained cold as stone. He had sold out his family for his glory. He’d made his own misery.
And most importantly, I had learned Christian knew my whole family from their childhood. How could he have done this to us? He had fooled everyone, his death hiding the darkness of the truth.
I’d give my uncle a chance to have his redemption, because his weakness did not condemn him to hell. “Will you do everything you can to get Mom’s perfume back?”
