386 A Mother's Embrace

Damien's hand hardly touched the car's door handle when Amelia stopped him, her hand placed on top of his. He understood what she meant but everything just didn't make sense to him at the moment. He felt like he had just received a huge blow when she told him that his uncle might have something to do with his father's death. He didn't even consider that possibility.

He and his uncle clearly had issues with each other, but he never thought that Uncle Frederick could do such a thing… could he? But how?

Damien was fourteen when his father died but he could still remember how it was. All his life—ever since that day, he had carried the burden that it was because of him. That he was the reason why he lost his father from that car crash. And now all of sudden… He was so confused. It was as though his mind didn't want to process what Amelia told him. It was as if his brain wanted to reject it. 

"Damien… Look at me." Amelia called him. He didn't realize that he had been in a trance and he was just standing there, trying to process things. He felt two soft yet calloused hands touch both sides of his face and when he came back to earth, he met his mother's worried eyes. "Hey…"

"How… how could this be true?" he managed to utter.

"I know… It's hard to process. But I need you to stay strong. I didn't want to tell you yet because I don't have any hard evidence with me. I didn't tell you I was going to come here because of that. If Frederick isn't guilty and I told you this, it will ruin your relationship with your uncle. Even if I don't like that prick, he was still there while you were growing up. So I couldn't just blindly accuse him... I needed proof."

"What exactly did Edward say? Was that why you were crying that day?" Damien recalled two days ago when they arrived and he saw her looking forlorn.

Amelia nodded, lowering her hand and subconsciously holding his arm as she recalled. "Edward was sort of my inside man while he was still working at the mansion. We don't really meet often because I cut all ties with the outside world when I was in Shadow. I can count the number of times I met him over the years with one hand. Anyway, he told me that he overheard Frederick talking to someone on the phone. It was on the day that your father died."

"What did Edward hear?" Damien was willing to ignore the fact that she had been in contact with the man all these years. That's not what's important for him right now. "Who was Uncle Fred talking to?"

Shaking her head from side to side, Amelia sighed. "Edward didn't know who it was. He said all he heard was: 'Are you sure everything is set? Make sure no one will suspect. Tonight.'."

"That's… pretty vague," Damien muttered.

Amelia's voice trailed off. Even if she didn't finish her sentence, it was understandable what she was trying to say. If Damien's father didn't die that day, he would have been the next chairman. Damien didn't even know any of those things back then. But he did remember that the mansion was in chaos after receiving that phone call from the hospital, informing them about his father's car accident. Everything was a blur later. The only clear thing for him was that he was blaming himself since that day… because if it weren't for him, his father wouldn't even be driving the car.

All of this was too much for him. What seemingly was a normal Sunday turned out to be the opposite with such a shocking turn of events. What if what happened back then wasn't an accident at all? Like what Amelia told him just now, what if his uncle had something to do with the accident? While his head was reeling, he could hear her muffled voice talking to him but he didn't understand anything that she was saying. The next thing he knew, she had pulled him, her small frame trying to envelop his tall built in a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry you had to hear this. Everything will be okay…" Amelia whispered, her hands stroking his back as she tried to comfort him. It had been so many years since Lawrence died but after hearing things from Edward, that wound in her heart got scraped ugly. And now she could only imagine what her son must be going through. She didn't even know how to comfort him. She wasn't around when he was growing up. She sucked as a mother. Not knowing what else to say, she just tightened her embrace and kept stroking his back.

Damien felt deflated. But for the first time in forever, his heart swelled at the thought of having Amelia there with him. The feel of her arms cradling him brought him back to when he was a little boy when his knees got hurt after falling down. It was Nana who held him up and hugged him while he cried and he found comfort in that. However, this was different. He couldn't explain how heart-warming it felt. It was similar to that of Nana's hug except it was so much more. A different kind of feeling that he hadn't felt from anyone else. Different from Nana's, different from Katherine's.

Despite being hesitant at first, Damien found himself returning the movement when his strong arms encircled around his mother in a tight hug.

"My sweet boy, I know it's hard but we'll have to come up with a better plan than going in blindly. We'll figure this out. Whatever is the truth… If your father's death wasn't an accident, I'll make sure that whoever was responsible will pay."