Billionaire's Replaced Bride

Chapter 62: Death is a Poison

Christian

"I don't know if I should call myself fortunate for having two fathers or unfortunate for losing both of them," I sigh, staring at the clean water of the lake, my favorite place in this Forster care home where I met my second father.

"I think you should choose the positive one," Ivanna looks at me with a smile.

We're standing a few inches away, facing the lake and looking at the beautiful ducks floating.

"Death is a slow poison," she says after a while. "Not to the person who dies but to those who are left behind. The poison gradually sucks out the happiness from a living one and makes them crave dying. If we start giving importance to death, mourning instead of celebrating their lives, death wins."

Her deep words consume me, filling the voids inside and making me realize how badly I need to come out of the realm that has surrounded me. I close my eyes, going back to my childhood-- the moment which changed my life forever.

After getting released from the hospital, I was taken by a small group of mafia where children used to work as messengers and commit other crimes which they could easily do without getting caught. We were seven in the group, and we were unaware of the work we used to do until our master got caught. We had to stay in judicial custody for a month before we were finally released, stating that no one among us exactly knows what we were doing. We were sent to the foster care home for good maintenance and education.

I don't know if I was lucky enough when a man arrived there after a few days. He was in his early forties and he looked rich and modest. Mrs. Rachel brought me to him. To my surprise, the rich man with a bunch of bodyguards with him went on his knees, almost ruining his expensive clothes. He patted my head with a smile.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Chase Robinson," I replied without any reaction.

"Will you mind if I give you a new name?"

I shook my head. I had nothing to call my own-- not even my parents. What would I even do with the name?

The man affectionately cupped my face.

"From today, you'll be Christian Adam Scott," he declared. "And I'll be your Dad."

"My dad died," I said out of nowhere, not realizing how hurtful it could be to him back then.

"Call me Dad when you feel like I deserve to be called your Dad. Now, let's go to your new home," he said, getting up and holding my wrist.

I narrated the entire thing to Ivanna except mentioning my former name and how my biological parents died because she could easily figure out who I am.

"My second father was a good man but too sensitive. He was rich enough, but his heart was the softest thing on the earth. Mrs. Fisher told me once that he loved his wife a lot. So much that he never got married after her death. But he needed someone. So, he adopted me. His heart was of gold because despite having so much money, he could afford to have a surrogate and had a biological son. But he preferred to adopt an orphan and made sure the other kids got what they lacked in life. He gave half of his vast property to me and shared the other half among those plenty of children he raised in years," the entire time I was speaking, my eyes were at the small ripples of the lake.

"You're right. Death is a poison to the people whom the dead person leaves behind. Even if he left his everything for me, the past five years were crucial. No wealth can fill the void of loneliness."

I feel Ivanna's hand wrapping around my arm. She holds me tightly and rests her head on my shoulder. I look down to see her looking back into my eyes. Those icy blue eyes, that breathtaking face, that terrific gaze of hers-- everything is still the same as before when I found her in my car on our wedding day.

She was trying her best to escape. But I knew I couldn't let her go. I would chain her with myself and make myself her prisoner-- forever. The moment I saw her as my bride, I knew she was going to fill all the voids which annoyed me for years. And she did it.

"And life is a blessing," she whispers. "Not to the person who's alive, but to them who promises to be with the person forever and fulfills it."

Keeping her intense gaze on me, she locks her hand with mine. It feels like she's trying to assure me that she'll be there for me-- forever. No matter what happens.

"I wish I could tell you I'm your Chase, your big bad monster. But before that, I'll have to dig into the past and find my answers," I speak to myself and stare at her.