Capítulo 16: "Unveiling Dark Secrets: The Shocking Revelation"

"I'm fine, and you don't have to pretend."

"Pretend?" I frowned, and she smiled wryly.

"You and I aren't family, Cress. This is your family home, not mine. You don't need my permission or approval to be here. You also don't have to pretend that I matter. We're not close. I understand."

She turned to walk away, and I caught her arm. Her eyes lowered, then quickly darted up to my face. I still didn't let her go when I spoke. My fingers remained firmly wrapped around her forearm. "We're not family because that's not what you want. We're not close because you keep me and everyone else at a distance. Don't pretend like Jona; I haven't tried. You are our brother's wife."

She snatched away and leveled her eyes with mine. "I am no more important than those men in there with him right now, Cress. Business. I'm not here because I want to be. I don't love Christian, and he doesn't love me. We are a consequence of our families' actions. I've accepted that. You should too."

With her final decree, Aja turned to leave, and I spoke my final thoughts to her back. "Christian loves you. He's been trying for years, but you don't make it easy. Three,Aja. You took three children from him. You let him love you, and in return, you took something he thought wasn't possible. But it was. How is he supposed to feel? Why would he give you any more access to his heart, only for you to crush it with your lies and false promises? You hurt him and you hurt us, but we're all still trying to love you."

"Yeah, well, don't," she hissed, and she moved away from me, her heels creating footfalls across the pristine marble floors as she quickly made an exit from the truth she didn't want to accept. She'd killed three of my brother's children and let him believe it was God's doing.

Aja was yet another reason why arranged marriage was insane. An expectation that would never work and a reminder that Christian shouldn't want this for our baby sister. I had a good mind to follow Aja out into the garden, but I wasn't in the mood to argue with my brother's wife. She wasn't happy and, in turn, wanted everyone around her to be just as miserable. My heart went out to her; however, I couldn't forgive her lies. I tried because I understood, but she hurt Christian in ways neither of us could ever forget.

Once Aja was gone, I refocused on my reason for being here. I navigated to my brother's office and stopped outside the door, listening to the voices inside.

"You understand my hesitation."

"As you should understand mine, we are both in a predicament with things as they stand. Two lives were lost. Not one,"Christian spoke dryly.

"Your brother was reckless and out of control. He wanted what had never been promised to him. He shot my brother."

"And you tortured and killed mine."

"Where is your proof?" The callous and arrogant tone delivered had my muscles locking. Eirik Omari.

"It's there, in that cocky grin of yours,Christian replied.

"We're getting off task. The goal is to focus on what's happening now and what that means for our families," Ezekiel said.

"I've lived peacefully for four years without the nuisance of our family or theirs hovering over me," Eirik said.

"You've been an enforcer to a man who is so far beneath us that you should be ashamed to be associated with his organization, Lyle. You were his hired help," Ezekiel chimed in.

"My choice. I lived the way I chose to live without any of this." Eirik said.

"This is your legacy," Ezekiel shot back.

"If you two want to hash out family business, then do it on your own time. We have issues bigger than the two of you. Samson has been meeting with people attached to Parker and Forrester for months now. They have done well to keep it under wraps, but we all know what the discussions are about.

"We do, which is why we need to prove that we are together on this. They've been watching and waiting for years now. The divide between our families makes us weak," Ezekiel said.

"Speak for yourself, Christian. My brother has been proving his ability to stand strong with or without you," Eirik said.

"If that were the case, he wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here. Three against one means that things shift, and that shift affects us all. We become the minority. Our hands aren't completely clean, but there's no comparison to the blood on our hands versus theirs. If they gained control, Christians responded.

"They won't," Eirik said.

"Our families are on opposing sides of things. It's hurting business."Christian said.

"Yours is more than ours. We don't handle drugs, weapons, or women."

My jaws flexed with tension from Eirik's statement.

Drugs. Weapons.Women?

I wasn't naïve. I was aware that my family dealt in illegal things, but women? Did that mean trafficking? Prostitution?

As I listened to the heated conversation between my brother Christian, Eirik, and Ezekiel, the revelation about my family's involvement in illegal activities, including drugs, weapons, and women, left me feeling both shocked and troubled. It was a chilling reminder that I may have only scratched the surface of the secrets and darkness that surrounded our family.

Eirik's mention of women in their operations raised disturbing questions in my mind. Were they involved in human trafficking or forced prostitution? It was a horrifying thought, and I couldn't believe that my own family might be associated with such heinous crimes.

My mind was racing with a mix of anger, disbelief, and concern. I was torn between confronting my brother and the others about what I had overheard and trying to uncover the extent of these sinister dealings. The weight of the truth I had just discovered hung heavy on my shoulders, and I couldn't ignore the urgency to address these revelations and the potential consequences they held for our family's future.