42. "He'll be dealt with in a manner I consider suitable."
My legs quivered a little as I walked into the graveyard with flowers in my hands, sucking in a deep breath.
It was my first time ever visiting a graveyard.
I neared a particular grave, my hands shaking as I put a rose over it.
Placing a hand over the shoulder of the man sitting at the edge of it, I tried finding words.
He looked up at me, letting me see his melancholic eyes.
The corner of his lip lifted up slightly. "You brought flowers?"
I nodded quietly.
He gestured towards the other graves with his head. Swallowing, I walked up to them, putting a rose on each one, before coming back to him and sitting next to him.
"If you want to cry, you can." I told him, as he was clearly holding back tears.
I bit my lip to hold back my own tears as he opened his arms, asking for a hug.
Leaning closer, I wrapped my arms around him, letting him bury his face in my neck as he allowed his tears to fall out and soak my shirt.
I rubbed his back, letting him take all his emotions out that weighed his heart for years.
Aiden cried on my shoulder for an entire hour, before lifting his head and showing me his tear stained face. My heart ached, but I knew he needed that catharsis. Wiping his tears, I gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"They're in a better place," I told him softly. He nodded. "And I know they're very proud of you."
"Proud of me?" He smiled ironically.
I squeezed his shoulders. "Yes. They're your family. You kept up your father's reputation, worked tirelessly to keep the company at top. They're very proud of you, Aiden."
He sniffled, looking back at his mother's grave as he touched it.
"We'll visit them often from now on, hmm?" I said softly. "We'll bring them flowers and talk to them. What do you think?"
He nodded in agreement, before lifting himself off the edge of the grave. I stood up behind him. "Let's go." He said, giving a final look to all three graves.
I held his hand as we walked out of the cemetery, with him tightly clutching on to mine.
———
"What I don't understand is why he's in our basement." I complained as I put a tray of cookies in the oven.
"What I don't understand is why you're doing this when we have Nina." Aiden frowned from where he stood in the doorway.
"I'm actually a good baker." I narrowed my eyes at him.
He walked closer to me, turning me to face him after I had pressed the required settings on the oven. My eyes closed as he placed a loving kiss on my forehead. "You're good at everything... but I don't like it when you do household chores."
I snickered, putting a finger on his lips. "Shhh. I'm baking the yummiest cookies of your life, and you're going to eat them."
He smiled. "I would even eat poison if you asked me to."
I shook my head, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "You distracted me again..." my face morphed into a serious one. "Why is he in our basement, Aiden?"
He sighed, his eyes darkening. "To pay for what he did."
"Why don't you just get rid of him? I'm uneasy with the thought of him being in our house." I reasoned, trying to communicate my frustration and fear.
His lips thinned. "He'll be dealt with in a manner I consider suitable."
My eyes widened as I looked into his. "What do you have planned for him?"
He kissed my head, before stroking it. "Don't worry your pretty head with any of this, little one. I'll be damned if I ever let anyone touch you again."
I took a deep breath. "Please... can you just close his chapter so I can find peace?"
"Soon." He promised, turning to leave.
"Why am I not allowed in the basement?" I questioned.
He turned back. "You don't need to see any of that."
"Are you... torturing him?"
He nodded his reply.
I rolled my lower lip into my mouth, nodding back. I didn't feel a tiny bit sorry for that disgusting guy.
As Aiden left, I sat on one of the barstools. We had shifted back to his penthouse after he recovered from his third gunshot wound. He had asked me to move in with him, and there was no way I could refuse.
It was a difficult time. Samuel was yet again the knight in shining armour for Aiden. If he hadn't showed up that day, Aiden would not have made it to the hospital on time.
Aiden had lost a lot of blood. A critical surgery and blood transfusions later, he was shifted to the ICU where he remained unconscious for two whole weeks. No doctor was sure if he would ever wake up again.
Up until the moment he opened his eyes, I felt lifeless myself. I was at the bottom of a dark abyss, and I needed him to pull me out of it. It just proved even more that I was genuinely in love with him. So much that the idea of losing him felt like the idea of death itself.
All I knew during Aiden's recovery about Liam was that Samuel had locked him up somewhere. And now, for the past few days, Liam was in the basement of our penthouse, where Aiden was giving him the punishment he considered him worthy of.
Pushing my thoughts aside, I put the freshly baked cookies in a box after eating one of them, and set the box on the counter, before setting out to look for Aiden.
———
My eyes were dark with vengeance and repulsion as I entered the room where Liam was tied to a chair in the centre. He had dried blood on his shirt and hands from where I had extracted his nails one by one.
His screams of pain still did not quench the burning fire of hatred and revenge in me. No physical torture could compensate for the emotional and mental torment I was made to go through.
Pulling his hair, I made him look at me. His eyelids were drooping, and his bruised and battered face was now more ugly to the sight.
"Tired already?" I asked him. It was my turn to be sadistic.
His response was a low grunt of pain.
"Why don't you beg me to let you go, huh?" I suggested with an ironic smirk.
He groaned, struggling feebly against the ropes, trying to speak.
"Oh no," I mocked surprise. "My bad. You can't speak. Someone cut off your tongue."
He uttered more futile sounds.
I rolled my eyes. "Do you think you're in a position to still be whining like that?"
A look of disdain crossed his face.
I glanced down at his bound wrists. "You touched my Aysel with these filthy hands of yours, didn't you?"
"Samuel." I called, and he entered the room at once, carrying a butcher knife.
Liam's eyes widened as Samuel handed me the knife, a look of horror splashing over his face as he struggled and produced sounds of protest.
"What? You don't want me to cut your hands?
" I mocked. "You should have thought about that before you held me down as you made me watch what you did to my family!
You should have thought of it before the thought of touching my Aysel even crossed your retarded mind!
" My voice grew louder and more hateful with each word.
He whined pathetically, his body shaking.
I grabbed a glass lying on the table in the corner before breaking it into pieces. Lifting some of the pieces, I walked back to Liam. "Now be a good boy and open your mouth." I taunted.
His eyes widened as he pressed his lips together tightly.
I rolled my eyes, gesturing Samuel to force his mouth open. He struggled and resisted in vain as Samuel forced his jaw open, allowing me to shove the pieces of glass into his mouth.
"Now swallow." I ordered darkly, my eyes ice cold as I watched him whimper.
Bright red blood poured out of his mouth as he writhed in agony, uttering painful sounds as he thrashed around in the chair. I felt nothing but pure satisfaction as I watched him bleed and flail.
I handed Samuel the butcher knife. "Cut off his hands," I ordered. "Make sure he dies slowly, but surely."
Samuel nodded obediently.
I looked at him one last time. My culprit. My Aysel's culprit. I had finally avenged us both.
As I turned around, I froze in my tracks, seeing a wide-eyed scared Aysel who instantly turned on her heels and left the room.