474: Truth

Truth

"Tsk. Whatever." Axel shook his head, already satisfied his sister-in-law was doing much better than expected. "Anyway, Basti is doing perfectly fine. He's doing a bunch of reading."2

Heaven raised her brows as she paused in wiping her nose. "Was he looking for me?"

"Well, that's obvious, but he understands that you needed to rest as well." Axel sported a short smile. "Don't worry about him. He's doing better than you think."

"And Riley? The other child?"

"Well..." Axel cleared his throat as he glanced up. "I haven't heard anything from their side, but it seemed he was fine. I don't get enough details, you know?"

"I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he is." His lips stretched broader. "Also, mom regained consciousness last night."

"Really?" Heaven's eyes lit up in surprise, making his smile turn into a grin.

"She still can't move freely, but she's alright. Her vitals are also stable, so we're praying for a speedy recovery."

"That... I'm so glad." Her face softened in relief at the thought. "How about Dad?"

"About that... err..." Axel scratched the back of his head, which was enough for her to get the answer. 

Lionel hadn't regained consciousness. Among everyone in that car, Lionel inflicted the worst injuries. He protected his family and, because of him, Sebastian, Riley, and Ria were saved from inflicting worse injuries. Surely, even in such a situation, Lionel only thought of his family. 

"He'll be fine, Axel." This time, Heaven forced a smile and waited for Axel to look back at her. "Dad is strong, and I'm sure he will wake up soon."

"Of course..." his eyes softened, watching his sister-in-law nod at him encouragingly. "I know. He will be fine soon."

The two of them held each other's gaze, silently encouraging each other. This would just be a memory in the future, and thus, they had to keep an optimistic heart to feel better. For now, they had to focus on each of their recoveries. 

"Anyway, I have to check on Basti..."

Knock knock

Axel trailed off upon hearing a faint knock on the door. Both he and Heaven instinctively turned their heads, watching it open from the outside. 

"Dom!" Her face brightened up at the sight of her husband, almost bawling her eyes once again. 

Dominic snapped his eyes at the bed, and then his eyes fell on Axel. The latter simply held his brother's gaze for a moment before facing Heaven.

"Sis, I'll just go visit Basti," he said, offering her a wide smile. "And then, I'll check on Mom."

"Are you a doctor?" she humored on instinct. "You're doing your rounds more than them."

"Ehh... I used to dream of becoming a doctor when I was a child, eh?" Axel hummed back as he rose from his seat. "Anyway, I'll visit you again later when I have the time."

"Okay."

With that being said, Axel turned on his heel to give the couple some privacy. As he walked away, his eyes slid to the corner to see his brother. Dominic didn't cast him a single glance, making Axel sigh. He didn't complain, though, knowing his brother was tired and had been through a lot, just like everybody else.

"Dom," Heaven called as soon as Axel shut the door behind him. Dominic slowly sat on the chair beside the bed, taking the seat where Axel initially sat. Her smile was soft, eyes flashing with affection and longing. 

"Dear, how are you...?" she trailed off the moment Dominic lifted his eyes to her, bearing a distant look on his face. "Dom, are we... okay?"

"I don't know."

Her heart clenched as her breath hitched. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"You know why..." Dominic rocked his head, keeping his eyes on her.

For a moment, neither of them talked as they could only stare at each other. Heaven leaned back slightly as the smile on her face faded completely. She wasn't wrong. Dominic avoided her intentionally, and not because he was just busy. 

"Heaven Liu..." Dominic lowered his eyes as he pressed his lips for a second. "... from what I know, she is quite feisty if she wanted to. She is a hard worker and is always passionate about her dream. Although our relationship wasn't great, I believe she is a good person who wouldn't even hurt a fly."

He slowly lifted his eyes back to her. "That is why… I know for sure the person who was with me back in that building isn't the Heaven Liu I know."

"I did a lot of thinking in the past several days," he continued. "The more I thought about it, the more I realized the Heaven Liu I know really did change… as if she was an entirely different person. From the way she speaks and the way her eyes shine, and sometimes, how her story seems to not match on certain circumstances."

"It wasn't just last night." Dominic paused, assessing every slight movement on her face and eyes. "I didn't think about it back then — I ignored it, to be precise. But Heaven Liu would never, in this lifetime, fall in love with me."

Heaven's breath turned jagged as she slowly clasped the blanket in her lap. She swallowed down the tension building up in her throat, eyes a little shaky the more she listened to his remarks. Even if he spoke in a roundabout way, Heaven already understood his point.

The doubt in his heart already reached a point she couldn't deny or stop. 

The truth which she planned to take even to her deathbed caught up to her. And now, she only had two options. Lie and hope he would blindly believe that lie, or tell him the truth and put everything on the line. 

'Is that even a question, Hera?' she asked herself as her eyelashes fluttered slowly. 

"Tell me…" he breathed out, clasping his cold and sweaty hands. "Who are you?"

He already knew, but he wanted to hear it from her. He wanted to hear the truth from those lips.

Heaven kept her lips shut, studying the pair of fiery eyes mirroring her. Those eyes… 

"No doubt," she breathed out, letting out a weak laugh. "You're that kid. He also had that same look in his eyes when he saw his uncle through the gap in the door, realizing the truth was much harsher than he expected."

For some reason, she felt her stiff shoulder relaxed as she let go of any hesitation. It was just as people say, the truth would set people free.

"Hera Cruel," she said under her breath. "That's my name, Dominic Zhu."

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