Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours! - Chapter 266

Chapter 266: Pained

“Let me guess… she sent you out… wouldn’t give you a listening ear…” Aiden started lazily as soon as Athena opened the door to the dimly lit room and trudged inside.

Athena paused, having not expected his presence, then snorted in annoyance before closing the door and taking a seat on the couch opposite him. “Shouldn’t you be in your own room?” She muttered, dropping the coat that had been resting on her arm to the floor, thoroughly famished.

“I am surprised she didn’t throw a shoe at you for disrupting her sleep…” Aiden continued, as if he hadn’t heard Athena’s statement.

“Aiden…” She growled softly.

Aiden chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. “Yeah, yeah, I should. But I just thought to warm up some food so that we can eat. Knowing you, you would rather sleep after such a tiring day than head to the kitchen and prepare something, no matter how hungry you are…”

Athena scoffed lightly, though a smile played on her lips. “I am just tired, Aiden. I am surprised you have the strength for kitchen duties…”

“Well, men are stronger than women, per se, no matter how you lot are bent out of shape arguing the opposite.”

Athena didn’t bother giving Aiden the joy of engaging in this unreasonable banter. She threw her head back and took in sharp breaths, centering her core.

“I can’t believe Gianna would tell Ewan about the nightmare…” She whispered after a few seconds of comfortable silence, bringing her gaze back down to Aiden. “When did she get that comfortable with him?”

Aiden pursed his lips, contemplating this matter. He shook his head thereafter. “I don’t think she told him anything substantial. And what nightmare are we talking about here?”

Athena’s eyes widened as she realized that she had just outed her secret to Aiden. She almost slapped her mouth for always running freely around this man. Now, he wouldn’t let go until he got all the answers he wanted from her. Worse, she wasn’t exactly in the right state of mind and body to keep refusing him, should that happen.

Maybe she should have shut her mouth and gone to bed; that way, he would have left too.

“Athena…”

“I think I can smell the food burning…” Athena immediately interjected, cutting Aiden off. The latter raised an eyebrow in incredulity, yet he got to his feet and sauntered toward the door.

“Don’t you dare go to sleep. We are not yet done talking.”

Ten minutes and two bowls of food later, Aiden sat down to talk, not minding that Athena had hastened to the bed and burrowed into the sheets, as if that would stop him from getting the answers he wanted. “That’s not going to work, Athena. What is going on?”

Athena sighed, abandoning the sheets and sitting up. She needed to talk to him about the CIA interference after all, and perhaps find out what had really gone wrong. He was the best man for that, including convincing the Boss to do some groundwork for them, that is, if the latter was even innocent in the ploy!

“Athena…”

“I have nightmares sometimes. I am not sure what triggers them, but they came around last night.” She spoke, her hands fisted between her thighs. “Unfortunately for me, the kids had heard me whimpering, Gianna too, so they had troubled Ewan to know if he had hurt me; they didn’t know I was having a nightmare. Well, I told Gianna about it, and she told Ewan. That’s why I bundled myself into her room to demand answers.”

Silence reigned for a short while as Aiden tried to make sense of what he was hearing.

“Firstly, I can understand the children’s actions. They were just trying to protect you; I am surprised that you are even surprised. And since Alfonso and his daughter have been properly dealt with, their next option had been Ewan. So, like I said, understandable. Secondly, I doubt Gianna would tell Ewan the details of the nightmare. Knowing Ewan this short while, he must have contacted her, wanting to know what was wrong, so that he could tackle it to prevent further tension with the children… you know that ex of yours doesn’t joke with duty. It’s how that sly snake had him tied for years…”

Athena gave no indication that she had heard Aiden’s last statement.

Aiden, seeing this, smiled thinly and continued. “She must have just told him that it was a nightmare, and that was that. Gianna wouldn’t go further than that. Or did Ewan mention any details regarding the dream?”

Athena shook her head, seeing reason after Aiden’s explanation.

“Good, so tell me about this nightmare, and why I am the last person to know about it… I didn’t even know you had nightmares in the first place…” Aiden said, crossing his legs and folding his arms across his chest in his signature stance.

Athena exhaled softly, leaning back into the bed’s headboard, her eyes focused on the wall ahead of her, taking note of the time. It was the early hours of the morning. Today was really going to be a long one for her.

“Well, the nightmares started when I was much younger, before I was married to Ewan. I can’t recall what they were about, but whenever I woke up, I always seemed to have struggled to live another day, and I was always drenched in sweat.”

“Hmmm… did you experience some trauma while growing up then…” Aiden asked, leaning forward, his hands loosening to rest with elbows on his knees.

“Not that I can recall. There was a time I was in a coma, but I can’t remember what had brought that about that either…”

A crease marred Aiden’s forehead, shock and confusion fanning his face. “You have amnesia?”

Athena bit her lips, knowing how that sounded. She was an astute, almost perfect doctor, and she hadn’t found a cure for her own illness. What irony!

“When does it date back to? Which memories can’t you remember?” Aiden continued, more urgently this time around.

Athena shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t remember most of my childhood; hence, I didn’t understand the nightmares. I only felt dread whenever I woke up.” A sigh. “And then the one that came up yesterday is a familiar one, though I haven’t heard it in a while. It’s about Scarlett.”

Aiden’s brow furrowed even more. “Scarlett, what about her? Why would she be the cause of your nightmare? Weren’t you two friends?”

Athena nodded slowly, her lips tightening as the memories started pouring in again.

Aiden, seeing this, was more confused. Was there something he was missing? He wondered, his mind going through all the information he had on Scarlet and her missions with Athena. The latter’s death had been tragic, but it shouldn’t be the cause of a nightmare.

“Athena, please say something… what is going on?”

Athena opened her mouth and expelled air, as though her nostrils weren’t doing enough to expel the air inside her, which seemed heavy and uncomfortable. “I…” She paused and exhaled again, her fists tightening. “I lied about Scarlett’s death.”

Aiden’s brows rose to his hairline as he tried to grasp the sincerity of the statement. “How did she manage to die then?” He asked, already feeling the dread pool within his belly. If it was enough to give Athena nightmares for years, then he should prepare to swallow the pain.

When Athena’s silence lingered longer than he could take, he got to his feet and sauntered toward her, settling on the bed calmly and taking her hands in his. “Talk to me, Athena. What happened to Scarlett?”

And so Athena talked. She didn’t stop, not even when Aiden let go of her hand out of shock, or when he let out a heart-wrenching gasp of sorrow, or when he left the bed and started pacing from one end of the room to the other. She didn’t stop until she was done.

“That’s why I have nightmares…” She surmised, looking at her hands. “Susan asking about her mother had triggered the nightmares.”

Aiden swerved; he had been facing the wall at that time. “You told her all this?” He asked, his voice louder than usual, contorted with anguish.

Athena shook her head sorrowfully, dreading sleep now. “Of course not. I just told her the story that I had reported; she had died in a mission.”

That answer didn’t dampen the lines on Aiden’s face, but it eased the piling tension on his face. He couldn’t imagine what the girl would feel if she found out the details of her mother’s death. She might have probably contemplated suicide.

“Athena, I am sorry about this.” He spoke finally, covering the distance between them, sitting on the bed, enveloping Athena in a hug. “I am so sorry you went through that. I so wish you had told me.”

Athena said nothing but wept, clutching tightly to Aiden’s garment. The latter was whispering comforting words to ease her sorrow when she suddenly jerked away, her sorrow replaced with fury. “And do you know what, Aiden?”

Aiden, who was shocked at the instant transition, shook his head, too surprised to speak.

“The CIA was behind it. They sent Morgan and his gang after us because of a stupid…” Athena stopped talking when she noticed that Aiden looked more panicked than curious. There was surprise too, but it was at her knowledge of this matter, not at the implication.

Pain, at the realization of the betrayal, threatened to consume her. “You knew?”