Taken By The Mafia Lord

762 Break Away From The Cycle Of Hate

Marcel and Arianna walked into the house hand in hand with all eyes on them like they were some exotic species from another planet. Those who had no idea of the history between Arianna and Marcel were appalled at the sight of both of them together while the others were surprised that Eric let Marcel in. Nonetheless, all they could do was look and could not lay a hand on him.

Even though he tried to be positive and confident, Marcel was still nervous inside, after all, he was about to meet his mother-in-law for the first time officially and wanted to make a good impression. The both of them got off on the wrong foot because of his family’s history and a lot of misunderstanding, but now he hoped they got along fine.

However, with Arianna’s hand tightly intertwined with his, he felt strong and there wasn’t anything he couldn’t conquer. Moreover, even if the woman gave him consent or not, he intended on marrying her daughter. This was just him doing it the right and easy way.

Thanks to the butterflies dancing in his stomach because of Arianna’s life-changing confession, Marcel was not gripped much by anxiety until Natalie stepped into the foyer and he halted in his steps instantly.

As expected, Marcel did an investigation on Natalie and he had to admit that the pictures did not do her justice at all. Natalie was an extremely beautiful woman – no wonder Daniel could not take his eyes off her – but what caught his attention the most was the uncanny resemblance between her and Arianna.

The both of them could be almost mistaken as sisters. They were that similar.

However, Marcel was startled when he saw tears slip down the woman’s cheeks and his mouth opened speechlessly. What did he do? No, he didn’t do anything. So why was his mother-in-law crying? He didn’t recall his face being that scary.

“M-marcel…” Natalie’s voice cracked as she stared at the young man who resembled his mother and her best friend, Penelope. Even with all the mental preparation she did, it was still startling to see that familiar face.

She took slow steps towards the boy but each step Natalie took felt heavy like lead while the tears continued to flow down her cheeks, making her sight blurry. Marcel in question didn’t dare to make a move, entranced by the emotions playing out on her face.

.....

Having sensed that this moment doesn’t belong to her, Arianna let go of Marcel’s hands and wanted to protest against her gesture – he wanted her warm hands back in his. But he didn’t have the time to complain because Natalie was now standing in front of him.

Suddenly, Natalie reached out and took his face in her grip causing his entire body to stiffen up. He was not used to strangers coming up to him this close, not to talk of touching him, especially his face. But he didn’t sense any ill intent from her and let her be.

What does she want with his face? Marcel was curious. Fine, he was more than curious. The suspense was killing him! Or could it be that she was bewitched by his good looks too?

Oh no, Marcel swallowed numbly.

Natalie can’t fall for him too, how was he going to handle both mother and daughter? And did he forget to add that Eric would kill him for daring to seduce his wife? Not to mention wasn’t he a tad bit young for Natalie?

But then, when he looked into the woman’s eyes, Marcel realized that it wasn’t what he was thinking at all.

“You do look like her,” Natalie pointed out, tentatively tracing his features with her shaky hands. Aside from the eyes, Marcel looked nothing like Daniel. He took after his mother.

“H-her?” He choked.

Marcel realized that she was talking about his mother and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He didn’t realize that his mother was the first issue his mother-in-law would bring up on his first visit. Now he remembered, they had been best friends and if there was anyone that knew much about his mother, it was her.

“I’m so sorry,” Natalie began to apologize profusely to him, “I never meant to leave your mother behind, nor did it cross my mind that Daniel would be so cruel to her as to force himself on her. I wanted to come back for her, but I couldn’t. I was so selfish and occupied with preserving my own life that I cut her off. I’m so sorry, Marcel. I have been a very bad person. I don’t deserve your forgiveness but I just needed you to hear this. Your mother was a good woman. She didn’t deserve the hell that Daniel put her through and I failed her. I don’t deserve her forgiveness at all,” She cried, burying her face in Marcel’s chest while he stood there awkwardly.

Marcel didn’t know how to feel, was he supposed to get mad at Natalie and push her away? Should he blame her for never coming back for his mother when she had help from the Draven family and perhaps, things would have gone differently? Or should he just forgive her and move on as if nothing happened?

How was he supposed to react to this confession? Because right now he was numb. The emotions and the manner he should behave warred inside of him and he didn’t know what to do. Marcel was just on the spot and staring at nothing until Arianna came into his sight and it didn’t matter anymore.

It was all in the past and knowing his mother’s humble spirit, Penelope wouldn’t want her friend to suffer this much. It was up to him to break away from this cycle of hate caused by Daniel before it consumed everyone and everything in his path. Not to mention that he had Arianna, his revenge on Natalie would be to love her daughter all the days of his life.

So Marcel wrapped his once reluctant arms around the woman and let her cry out her heart on his shoulder.

It was okay.

Everyone makes mistakes.