He grinned and pointed the gun even more at me. I almost lost consciousness because of so much nervousness and fear but my spirit remained awake, watching him as I saw in him the determination to kill me when it was all over. He seems to be the only one who has the right to take everything from me without me doing anything.
"I know what you were doing all along, Anastacia. If I had known that you would favor that man more than me, I would have killed that bastard a long time ago," he told me firmly and pointed the gun at me even more.
"E-even in the afterlife, I will choose him over and over again over you," I boldly told him and did not hide the fear I felt in my heart.
At that point, I knew it was my end so I completely surrendered my whole being to Him. After all, I'm tired of the fighting because I haven't achieved even one victory in my entire life.
I still remember when I first heard a gunshot. The blood that was gushing down from his chest and his gaze on me that day while trying to reach my hand. I don't know how many years it would take for me to endure it alone but my heart broke like it has so many times before. It was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. I didn't even feel my own right then because of the sudden numbness of my whole body.
Not until tonight.
I'm not scared or anything. I'm numb and clueless about what was happening to me. Until Leon suddenly appeared in front of me and kicked Ares in his side causing him to drop that gun.
"Get inside! Now!” He shouted at me loudly before quickly picking up the gun that was on the ground and pointing it at Ares.
"L-Leon, no!" I shouted and immediately grabbed him by his arm.
“Goddammit, Ana! Get the fuck inside now! Why are you still here?!” He shouted at me again and kept his eyes on Ares.
"You son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you, you motherfucker!" He screamed at Ares so I was even more scared.
I could feel the excessive shaking of his arm while holding that gun. His teeth gritted in anger as he looked at Ares.
"L-Leon, that's enough. Let's just go!” I told him as I was trying to stop him from shooting Ares.
"I told you to get inside, Anastacia! Call the police! Get out of here! Why are you so hard-headed?!” The patience he had kept for a long time was gone.
“I-I'm not leaving until you're with me. Let him go, please. Don't you ever shoot him…” I threatened him but he didn't seem to listen.
He turned back to Ares who was now grinning as he looked at the two of us.
"Aww, what a nice bonding of two cousins! Can't shoot me, Pantaleon, just like before?” This was a mockery of Leon, which is why my head almost exploded with so much annoyance and anger.
I know what he's trying to do. He's provoking Leon to shoot him!
"I can't believe you ended up being so desperate to get Ana's love again. Still can't accept the fact that your brother Apollo is way better than you?" Leon mockingly said to him so I also looked at him.
My grip tightened on his still-raised arm because that gun was still pointed at Ares. I tried to lower his arms but he wouldn't let me.
"Don't be so full of yourself, Leon. Where are you all so proud? Where is he? Fighting for his life? I wish I had let him die and not tortured him anymore," Ares replied with a smile that made me close my eyes tightly.
I still can't believe what I'm hearing. I still don't understand why he ended up like this or was he really like this all along and I just didn't notice?
After all, he was able to turn me around for three years. What else can't he do now, Anastacia?
“We all know here that Apollo will never let you in on his plans. He is fighting for his life to kill you. You know what? Anastasia made the right choice. It was a blessing in disguise that you fell in love with her sister Agatha because you both never experienced true love," Leon replied to him.
I immediately looked at Ares because of what Leon said. The pain in his eyes I saw became worse. I no longer knew what else I would feel at this point; whether conscience or anger.
"Leon, that's enough, please..." I whispered to him because I already knew what was going to happen next.
Again, he didn't even look at me and just stayed with Ares.
After a while, I heard Ares cuss multiple times so I just bowed. I can still feel the weakness of my knee even with its constant shaking.
"You know what? You should also fight for your position in your own family because I think you don't experience the true love you talk about. And after you successfully did that, I will make sure that I'm the one who's going to shoot your fucking head, coward!” Ares directly said to him and in an instant, a black Sedan suddenly arrived and he quickly disappeared from our sight.
The silence was so loud when Ares left us there but I can still hear the loud bang of my heart. The next thing I felt was the pouring of all the fear and pain in my being and I completely sat on the ground.
"Ana!"
I covered my whole face and cried all the way there. My heart is full of heavy thoughts and agonizing pain to the point that I couldn't take it anymore. The sheer terror I felt when Ares pointed that gun at me hadn't registered in my brain before—now it was out of my sight.
Maybe because I still want him to see how brave I am. Maybe because I want him to see how I was willing to take his grief by choosing myself over him. Maybe because I want him to see how I was fucking willing to die in front of him. That I want him to see that he's gone and that what he did is even more painful than that.
And my heart is slowly crashing which made me wonder—how? How else can it be crushed over and over again if it has been refined from the very first beginning?
“I-I'm fucking scared, Leon… I'm scared, please. I almost gave my life to him. I actually surrendered it all and just let him shoot me just to call it quits. J-just to stop this pain… j-just to stop me breathing. My daughter didn't even cross my mind..." I said to him trembling
and sobbed again.
My heart ached even more when I remembered Amari and Hector. What about them when I'm gone? What kind of mother and wife I am.
I clung to his clothes and apologized over and over again. I even rubbed my palms repeatedly in front of him.
“I-I'm so sorry… I-I forgot my daughter. I-I was in so much pain, I forgot about her and preferred to just die... s-sorry. f-forgive me... It hurts... I just can't take it..." I told him and sobs harder so that I couldn't breathe anymore. And the next thing that happened, was I fainted again.