Avenge Marriage Book 2 (Two Parts Combined Edition)

Chapter-4

Helena was unrecognizable. And if it wouldn't be for her cold eyes, Ivan might not have recognized her in the first place. Her hairs which used to be long and shiny have gone grey for the most part. There were deep bags under her eyes and her face was already showing signs of aging. All the money spent on those expensive spa gateways completely wasted, Ivan thought inwardly as he stared at her. 

"How have you been?" Helena asked and Ivan scoffed. He can't believe that after everything she did, she has the guts to ask him that? 

"Better than ever," He answered tartly and Helena smiled, shaking her head. 

"Your face tells otherwise," She answered. "You have lost weight. You have lost that regality about you. You look tired and could really do with some good sleep. If that defines fine, well,  I guess I am fine too then," 

"I don't care how you are," He snapped. "And now you are concerned about me? After everything...honestly, what are you made of?" 

"Nothing," She answered, staring at some blank space. "I am a husk of a woman," 

"What do you want? If you think I have a thousand years to spend on you...you are wrong. I have a legacy to run that thanks to you would have been in ruins," Ivan said. "You will go down the history in shining golden letters," 

"I will sure go down the history," She answered with a smile. "There's is and never will be a Navarro Regina like me ever again," 

"Sure...evil like you is a rare thing," Ivan answered sarcastically. "Look...if you are done talking nonsense, get to the point. It's enough that I agreed to see you in the first place. What do you want?" 

"Forgiveness," Helena answered, her cold eyes fixed on his face. "Please...forgive me, Ivan. Please...give me one more chance at life. This time, I really want to try and be your mother," Ivan blinked at her. 

What did she just say? 

He was speechless so all he could do was just stare at her blankly. After a beat, a small laugh escaped him turning into full blown hysteria. He laughed so hard at her words that his stomach started to hurt. 

"What did you say?" He asked, trying to control himself. "Really, what did you say? Forgive you? Let you be my mother?" 

"I know it's a lot to ask for but..." Helena begin but Ivan stopped her as he banged his hand on the table in front of him. 

"Too much to ask for? It's a sin to even think of that, Helena," Ivan snapped, loosing his control slowly. "You killed my father. You tried to even kill me. You put my wife through hell. I trusted you. Respected you and loved you. I placed you in the place of my mother and yet you were ready to completely destroy me. And you expect me to forgive you? Wow...you must really be shameless," 

"Your father killed my son!" Helena hissed. "I was pregnant with Maxwell's son and he forced me to abort it! What do you think I should have done?" Ivan's eyes widened in surprise. Maxwell's child? When? 

"If we keep on preaching the theory of an eye for an eye this world would have collapsed a long time ago," Ivan answered. "Yes, what my father did was wrong. Brutal. But you could have reported him, you could have been strong and left him...you could have done a lot but you chose the wrong path. And why me? What did I ever do to you?" 

"Nothing," She whispered. "You were just paying for your father's sin," Ivan scoffed at her words. 

"No, Helena...I was paying for trusting you. I was paying for refusing to see what was right in front of me. I was paying for your greed. I was paying for not believing the woman who actually loved me," He whispered. "If I forgive you now, Amber will never forgive me. Everything that she went through for me...it would all be completely wasted if I even minutely consider the idea. I will never let her down ever again in my life. So don't call me again with such outrageous proposal. You deserve to rot in hell for the rest of your life. And from today onwards, I don't know who you are. I never met you....you never existed," Ivan stood up and shot her a cold look before heading for the door. 

"She is gone and yet she continues to have a hold on you," Helena said and Ivan stopped. He turned to face her and she smiled. 

"You are not like your father. Its good to see that you can treat a woman like this who is otherwise no match for you. A woman who doesn't even have a record of her birth or her parents and has no importance in the society, with such high regards. Your father wouldn't have give her a second glance," She said and Ivan glared at her. Even after so much, Helena Navarro will never change an ounce. 

"That woman was my wife. That woman was the reason I am still alive," He hissed. "That woman has a name. And that is the woman I love. For her, I will die and for her, I will kill too. I am not my father. Helena. I am Ivan Navarro. And before questioning my father's behavior towards you, maybe you should dive a little deeper and look within yourself. You are not the kind of woman anyone can love. And Amber...she is loved by all. If you are hell she is heaven so before insulting her think of where you stand. Don't expect me to see you ever again. Enjoy your stay," 

He turned on his heels and walked out, feeling sick within. How can she ever expect him to forgive her? He was not even healed from the wounds that she inflicted on him. Ivan sighed as he climbed back into the car and he wished whole-heartedly that she would be here. Her soft soothing voice would have calmed him. Her arms would have given him the sense of security and protection. He pulled out his phone and stared at the wallpaper. She smiled back at him, excited and carefree. It was the picture he took when they went to see the sunrise. That seemed like a very beautiful dream now. 

"Where are you?" He whispered, stroking the image with his thumb. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back and felt the gnawing pain inside him taking over once again. Every day felt like a punishment to him. If he say he didn't try looking for her that would be a lie. He has tried looking every place he can think of. He has scoured every musical school in London and New York, hoping to run into a dark haired girl with twinkling eyes on his path somewhere. Just like he did that night two years ago. 

"Are...are you alright?"

"Yeah...sorry. I just...I got a bit startled,"

He had no luck and eventually he was forced to give up. After all, you can't find someone who doesn't wants to be found. When the hope left him, the real pain took over. The emptiness that surrounded him in that gigantic house forced him to go through every pain he inflicted on her again and again. Guilt pierced through him every waking moment. He wrote down every possible place he went wrong and how things would have turned out had he not done handled the situations the way he did.

 For instance, if he would have punished Dario the very first time he laid his eyes on her maybe he wouldn't have gone this far. If he tried to look into her eyes, he could have seen her love. If he really tried to feel the depth behind her kiss every time he kissed her, he would  have known she was the one he was looking for all along. If...if...if...there were so many if's, so many places where he went wrong that no matter how much he try to make amend with himself and forgive himself, he can't. And he won't until he proves to her that she didn't make a mistake loving him. He deserved nothing less but to live with pain Amber must have felt every single day. That was his redemption. 

Its good to see that you can treat a woman who is no match for you. A woman who doesn't even have a record of her birth or her parents and has no importance in the society, with such high regard.

Ivan frowned as he pondered over Helena's words. No record of birth. How was that possible? As far as he know, Amber was born here. Her parents were from here too. Then why don't they have any records either? It was weird. Maybe he should check and see with the local bodies if some paperwork has gone missing. If he can find out the records, Amber won't ever have to hear that she has no existence. Or her parents for the matter. He pulled out his phone and dialed Joaquin's number. 

"Sir," He picked up at the first ring and Ivan smiled. 

Stopping the Navarro lineage from crumbling down was no less than a feat. And he could have never been able to do that was it not for Joaquin's support. He told him how he helped Amber. How she used to sneak letters and messages to him through Christina instructing him what to do. She even has left a letter to him and every time Amber is mentioned, Joaquin gets uncomfortable. As he said, everyone loved her. Ivan has given Joaquin a raise, giving him Hewitt's position, much better pay and a new apartment in the very complex he lived in. Amber would have wanted that too. Joaquin couldn't thank him enough but it was Ivan who felt that way. He couldn't thank him enough. To know that she had someone beside her when he f****d up was comforting. On Joaquin's suggestion, Ivan has almost changed the entire workforce of the Navarro industries. He left those who started later on and fired everyone who worked for Hewitt. There was no way he could trust anyone anymore. 

"Joaquin, can you get in touch with the local bodies and find out if they are missing some paperwork on Amber Moreno. Wait...I don't know her parent's name. I will talk to Vienna and let you know but maybe find out if you can find anything on Amber's birth details," 

"Will do sir," He said and thanking him, Ivan cut the call. Sighing, he stared out of the window at the bright summer evening. It was time for the annual masquerade once again. And there was no way he was going even if Vazquez were the hosts this time around. But of course, his best friend has other plans. 

"Welcome home!" Cecilia cried out making him jump as he walked in. 

What the hell was she doing here? Looking so cheerful at that. Enrique was not at home so she was here to see him. Ivan was exhausted and that woman was trouble big time. 

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, pouring himself a glass of water. He should have never give her the security codes. 

"That's insulting," She grimaced. "If Enrique can stay here...then I can come here too," 

"Of course you can. Just don't jump out like that. My heart can't bear anymore shocks," He murmured and Cecilia's face fell instantly. s**t. 

"I am just kidding, Ci," He quickly added, seeing she was visibly upset. "What's the matter?" 

"Come with me," She said, and grabbing her hand dragged him upstairs to his room. Ivan's heart fell as he stared at the cloth line lined with suits. Oh no...it was one her fitting sessions. 

"Ci...your engagement party is not for another week," He grumbled and Cecilia rolled her eyes. 

"Not for that, i***t," She slapped his arm. "The Masquerade. My In-Laws are holding it this year, don't you know?" Cecilia's eyes sparkled at the word In-Laws and Ivan grimaced. Enrique was right.  She was going a bit crazy. 

"I am not going," Ivan answered, loosening his tie and Cecilia gasped. 

"What do you mean you are not going?" She demanded, incredulously. 

"Cecilia...there can't be any hidden meaning behind that," Ivan said tiredly. "Not going means not going," 

"No! You have to go!" She exclaimed. "You cannot just not go. After all its all for..." She paused and bit her lip. 

"All for?" Ivan raised his brow and she shook her head. 

"It will be fun," She waved at him. "You have to let go of these self imposed restrictions, Ivan. It's been a year. You have punished yourself enough. Now its time to be a new you...that's what Amber would have wanted. To see you happy," 

"You make it sound like she is dead," He grumbled and Cecilia snorted. 

"You are acting as if she's dead. She will come back eventually. And I have feeling...very soon," She smiled at him and he stared at her blankly. Ivan sighed, trying not to get too hopeful. Because he had no idea...

How soon will be very soon...

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Hello readers! How are you all? Here's the next updates. I hope you like it! Yesterday got a bit crazy but thank you for all the support you are already giving to this book. It means a lot! Also thanks for voting guys! Avenge Marriage received freaking 111 votes! We stand at 232 rank now and you are already pushing book 2 up as well. I am so immensely grateful to you guys that there are no words. Please keep voting dear readers! We have until 21st August. 

Also book 1 will be going to PTR today. I wanted to wait until next week but my editor is not too pleased about that. And before she locks it, I rather do it because that way I can keep as many chapters free as I can. She will only promote the book when its on PTR and I need the promotions on book 1 to make this one successful. The reads have already gone down since you guys have shifted here and I have done all the self-promotion I could. But anyways, I am still stoked with all the support you guys have shown. Please do keep the votes as it will get me a chance to get promoted.  I will see you guys tomorrow!

Thank you so much once again! 

PS: To vote on book 1 you don't have to unlock the last chapter every time. You can go to the info page and click the small red box on top :)