Chapter 328: FARAWAY FROM HOME
Staring at him in the eye, Erika asked, "So your wife looks like me." She didn’t know what she’d asked, especially him since she had already planned to ask Beatrice that question, but looking at him now, she didn’t hesitate and asked it. But as soon as she uttered the questions, she noticed Viper stiffen. He didn’t speak and only stared at her, his eyes suddenly dark. That’s surprising.
"She did."
Surprisingly, he replied to her. She’d thought that he would perhaps scowl at her before evading the question and then walking away. ’This is my chance to dig out more answers from him,’ Erika thought to herself.
"Why the past tense? What happened to her?" she brazened up and asked next. "Is she dead?"
"She is," Viper replied faster than her heartbeat but that was a reply she wasn’t ready to hear out. Earlier, she’d thought that her look alive was crippled or probably health stricken but to think that she was dead, that was very sad to hear, coming from him.
His tone when he replied was dry as he tried to cover up his emotions but he didn’t do a good job when it came to that.
Coming to think about it, she remembered how shocked he was when they both met for the first time, inside the hallway. He continued to stare at her like a creep and that was very uncomfortable for her. But to think that she reminded him of his late wife, she didn’t feel comfortable with it, especially since she had the face of a dead person.
"She died a few years ago," she heard Viper add and it was at that moment Erika realized that she had been quiet for a while already, but she didn’t know how to react or know what to say to him.
Despite how bad she felt for him, she didn’t forget how wrong his actions were for kidnapping her. He couldn’t use this excuse to make her agree to stay with him.
"What killed her?" Erika asked. Seeing Viper’s expression change for the worse, she wished she didn’t ask that question but she had a right to know since he’d kept her captive all because of his late wife, who was haunting him.
Viper kept quiet, while an evident scowl formed on his face but Erika didn’t want to give him the chance to escape it by apologizing for the question or changing it to something else.
She also remained quiet with him, patiently waiting for when he would open his mouth to speak as the TV blared with the female reporter’s voice while images of people people fighting for an unknown reason appeared.
After seconds passed and it turned to minutes, viper finally spoke.
"It was an unfortunate accident, and it was caused by me. I was the reason she died and the reason she won’t ever be by my side ever again."
Erika turned speechless as she tried to understand the words that he was spilling out. He was beating around the bush and from the looks of things, he wouldn’t tell her the exact cause of what killed his late wife.
Tired, Erika sighed before walking toward the stroller to still find her sons sleeping in.
Remembering another question, she turned to Viper who still stood like a statue watching the news with the same scowl on his face.
"What about the two boys that I saw on your phone? Are they your sons?" Erika questioned.
Viper stiffened again, his gaze still on the TV but his mind wondering how he would answer that question of hers. He didn’t want to reopen old wounds since it would still hurt but now he wondered if those wounds were truly healed or not since it still hurt just from remembering those incidents.
"Yes, they are my sons," Viper replied, using the present tense since he already guessed that Erika might question him more if he used the past tense.
He sensed her relax behind him and he didn’t know why she would do that.
’Was she worried that I’d lost my sons too?’ He wondered.
"So where are they?" She heard her question from behind him.
"They are not here with me right now," he replied almost instantly, wishing she wouldn’t ask any more questions and luckily for him, Erika seemed to drop the matter when he heard her sigh for the nth time.
"I still want to find out about something," said Erika.
Curious, viper turned to her and cocked up an eyebrow.
"I want to know how Ethan is doing. I want to know how he’s doing. Is he even going alright?"
"Ethan is doing alright, I can guarantee you of that. Since you were able to survive the accident, it’s only obvious that he did and—-"
"He has a bullet in his head," Erika abruptly interrupted him, her eyes turned red from anger which was the last thing that Viper wanted at the moment.
He enjoyed how patient she was when it came to answering her questions. She didn’t push him and he took his time. She wasn’t angry at all but now, she was.
"I know he does," Viper replied. "But he’s alright. He’s still in Spain now, receiving treatment and your family members will be joining him soon."
"That means I’m not far from him," Erika mumbled under her breath. Looking outside which was already dark, she urged Viper. "Please take me to him, I want to see how he’s doing," she pleaded.
"We can’t. Spain is too far from where we are now," Viper replied, his tone low but ready for Erika’s outburst.
"W-what do you mean? We are in Spain right?" She questioned him while trying to understand what he meant. She remembered the accident clearly and they were on the road to Spain, they hadn’t arrived in New York yet. And now...
"We are not in Spain, Erika. We are in Boston," Viper replied, while he waited for Erika to say something.
