chapter-29: Truth From Past

Aria Anastasia
I had lost all the hope now. I was counting the seconds in my head ever since Luke said that I had thirty minutes left. Already twenty minutes was gone, and I had the last ten minutes before my death.
This was how my death was written, so I had to face it. If only my hand wasn't handcuffed, I could've managed to get off the ropes. Luck wasn't on my side today.
Suddenly, I could feel a familiar presence nearby; as if Zaiden was nearby. I looked around the room, but I couldn't look behind since I was tied, yet I tried to look around as much as I could. My tears had already dried off after too much crying.
All of a sudden, my eyes fell on the door of the warehouse where I found Zaiden standing, wearing a dark green suit. His green eyes were watery��tears threatening to fall from his eyes, which he managed to control. However, I couldn't control my tears, and more tears sprinkled out of my eyes.
I wanted to call out his name, but my mouth was covered with tape, so I couldn't even utter a word. I watched Zaiden take large steps to me. He pulled the tape off my mouth and cupped my cheeks, kissing my forehead in a state of panic.
"Don't worry. I am here to save you," he mumbled and wiped my tears with his thumb. "I will defuse this bomb."
I shook my head. "Zaiden, don't."
He looked at me as if I had grown two heads. "Why won't I?" he questioned, glancing at the bomb and trying to figure out what he should do.
"If you cannot defuse it, we both will end up dying and you have plenty of stuff to handle," I spoke up with my broken voice. "And you cannot die, silly," I said with a sad smile.
He glared at me. "What makes you think I will live without you?" he asked sternly. When I didn't answer, he brushed his thumb over my cheeks and said, "Aria, I want to live with you, and if that's not possible, I don't mind dying with you."
My heart melted at his words. I sucked in a deep breath and said after mustering enough courage, "If we are together, we should hope to live together, not die together. So, stop talking and focus on rescuing me."
He chuckled hearing me. He kissed my forehead one last time and untied the ropes, but the bomb was still attached to me. Luke attached it in such a way that it was connected to my handcuffs. Until I got out of the handcuffs, the bomb would be stuck to me like a belt.
"Zaiden, here is the key," I heard Luke say as he ran towards us.
It confused me. Why was he here and why on earth was he helping us? Luke was the one who pushed me to the death.
He handed the key to Zaiden who snatched it roughly from his hand and started to free me from the handcuff.
"Why is he here?" I asked Zaiden and he didn't answer me.
Luke had tears in his eyes as he tried to stop the time bomb. "We have three minutes, Zaiden, hurry up," urged Luke.
Soon I felt my hand free from the tying position. With shaky hands, I opened the belt which had the bomb and threw it in the other direction.
Zaiden grabbed my hand and helped me get up from the chair.
"Let's go," he instructed me and Luke.
The three of us ran towards the door as fast as we could. Once we reached outside, we heard an explosion sound, making my heart leap in fear. The bomb had blasted, and if we delayed for a second, we would be lying dead.
I looked at the now burned warehouse, fully shocked at what just happened. It was a new experience. I was about to die.
"Are you okay?" Zaiden asked, pulling me into a hug. He caressed my hair softly when I cried silently. "It's okay, we are safe now."
I hugged him back, wrapping my arms over his neck, afraid to lose him. What if I let him go and all this is a dream?
He kept hugging me, giving me the peace I needed at the moment. It was when I realized, I didn't only like him, I had fallen for him hard. I loved him.
Once I got to a hotel room, my mom pulled me into a big hug. She was a crying mess.
"Oh, my baby, you are safe," she mumbled and kissed my cheek.
I hugged her back and asked, "What are you doing here? When did you come?"
"I came in the morning to surprise you. Thus I decided to stay in the hotel till your office hours ended and then I felt like you were in danger so I tried calling you. I couldn't reach you and then I called Zaiden. He told me everything," Mom said it all in one go.
I furrowed my brows in confusion. Zaiden told my mom everything. Did she mean that she knew the Mafia stuff as well?
My doubts got cleared as soon as I heard Zaiden punching someone, which was indeed Luke.
Mom and I looked at them, only to find Zaiden pointing the gun at Luke's forehead. He asked in a deadly tone, "Should I kill you like I killed your corrupted son?"
I wondered why Luke was here in the first place and why he saved me. Before I could ask, my mom stood in front of Zaiden, putting the muzzle of the gun down.
What was exactly going on?
"Luke will get his punishment, Zaiden. Don't taint your hands," Mom said to Zaiden, who put the gun back.
Zaiden walked to me and said, "Let's go."
I stopped him by grabbing his hand. Then I walked to Luke and asked, seeing his blue watery eyes, "Why did you save me if your intention was to kill me?"
Luke looked at my mother, which made me uncomfortable.
I glanced at Mom and asked, "Do you know him, Mom?" When she didn't answer me, I urged, "Answer me."
Mom burst into tears and said, "Luke is your father, Aria."
A gasp escaped my lips and I stumbled back, only to collide with Zaiden's chest. "How can he be my father?" I asked in utter shock.
"I had a one night stand with Luke and ended up being pregnant, Aria," Mom confessed. "I tried to look for him after I got pregnant but he never returned to that bar. So I stopped looking for him and decided to raise you alone."
"I didn't know you were pregnant, Amora," Luke said, trying to clarify his point. "I didn't contact you anymore because I fell in love at first sight with you, and as I was a gang leader, I didn't want to put you in danger."
"But you had a son," Zaiden pointed out, arching an eyebrow.
"I needed an heir and his mom left me after giving me an heir," Luke explained and turned to me. He caressed my hair and said with a genuine smile, "I was about to take revenge on Zaiden by killing you, but thank God I saw Amora when I video-called Zaiden. It was when I learned you were my daughter."
When none of us spoke, he continued speaking, "I swear for a moment the world stopped for me when I realized I left my daughter to die. No wonder why I felt a fatherly affection for you when we met at the grocery store."
"You met him?" Zaiden asked, and I nodded my head.
Luke let his tears out and said with a quivering voice, "I am sorry, Aria. Please forgive your father. I really love you and your mother. I mean it."
I was shocked at what was happening. My own father tried to kill me before he got to know I was his daughter. What if he learned the truth after I died?
Still, Luke was my father and he was apologizing to me. He seemed to repent for his mistakes.
I didn't know what to do. It was so confusing and complicated, but I had to act calm and smart.