Firefly

41: fall in happiness

Chapter 41: fall in happiness.

Elena

I barge inside the main door and drop my bag next to the couch. "Dad," I yell checking the kitchen, and his room, "Dad!" I yell louder. 

"In here," he yells back from his study. I barge through that door and he shivers with the papers in his hand. "Jesus Christ, Elena." He holds his chest as I stomp my way to his chair, grab his hand and drag him out of the study. "What is going on?" 

I walk behind him. As soon as we near the doorway, I close his eyes with my palms. "I have a surprise. Step." I say and he minds the step. I bring him outside the house, right in front of the bike I rode in from the castle. I pull my palms away and join his side. "Ta-da." 

His frown and his smile both grow at the sight of the bike just before he recognizes it. He takes a step closer to the bike, and like I'd predicted, he walks around it to check the silencer. He lets his breath out in a jerk when he sees my mother's name inscribed across the muffler. He kneels down beside it, his hands attempting to touch it. 

"Don't." My warning comes flying. "I rode it all the way from the castle. You'll burn your hand." 

He pulls his hand away and it falls to the ground. "Who gave this to you?" 

"Harlan Raine." But he already knew that. He was merely confirming it. "I talked to him. He told me a few things." 

My father's head falls down as he hears it. When he lifts his head up, there are tears streaming down his eyes. He takes the bike in a glance again. He stands up and his hands brush against the mirror, the handle, and the seat. He misses my mother. He doesn't have to say it out loud, I can read through his emotions. 

I wait until he's relished the sight of the bike. I cling onto his arm as we walk in and I kick the door shut. "It was beautiful, dad. The whole wedding, the masquerade party, the food, the decorations, everything was so splendid. Everyone asked for you and Dylan--"

"Did Harlan tell you everything?" My dad interrupts me as he sits on the couch. I'm about to accompany him, "Can you get me a glass of whiskey?" 

I glance at the time showing 04:00 pm. "Now?" He simply nods. 

I fetch the whiskey from the cabinet and hunt for a glass. "On second thought, get the whole bottle please."  

The bottle in my hand is a little less than half. I take it to him. He takes a massive gulp as I sit down on the couch adjacent to his single-seater recliner. 

"What all did he tell you? About Silverton?" My father asks me and I nod. "About Joseph Castor?" I hesitantly nod. "About the assassination?" 

I frown. "The what?" 

My father gulps three times from the whiskey bottle. "That man who hit your mother's car that night was paid to do it. He was paid to cause an accident, rape you and your mother, and murder you both before escaping." My eyes gouge out of my sockets. My father laughs. "Of course, Harlan didn't tell you this. He'll protect his family even in death." 

"Why would he leave out such a massive detail?" I wonder out loud. 

"Because your mother was Joseph Castor's weakness. And Joseph Castor had a lot of enemies. I'm talking underworld enemies here. He exposed them and they wanted to hurt him. Who do you think they targeted?" He takes another sip of the whiskey and I start getting scared. 

"But they had no connection once she came back from college. She married you." I stress enough to somehow make that the truth. 

"She did." My father laughed. "But he wasn't over her. He had a family of his own, an empire of his own, but he was ready to leave it all behind for her. He didn't sneak behind my back or try to reach her any other way. You see, he was my batch-mate too. A very honorable man. He approached me directly to tell me the situation. That he was in--he felt for your mother."