#191 “I’m So Sorry, Benjamin.”
Despite his initial shock, Benjamin decided that this was just another game on Alexander’s part. He
frowned and despite the pain from his wound stood up.
“Let me guess, Alexander tell you this nonsense?” he scoffed, his tone tinged with bitterness.
Sophia shook her head, her resolve unwavering. “Yes, but…”
“Can’t you see that he is trying to separate us? He makes up stories to…”
“Benjamin, listen to me,” Sophia interrupted, her voice tinged with frustration. “What Alexander told me
is not a lie. It’s another secret that my grandfather kept from us.”
? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.
Benjamin’s brows furrowed in disbelief, his eyes searching Sophia’s face for any hint of deception. But
all he found was sincerity, an unwavering resolve that spoke volumes even in the midst of their shared
turmoil.
“I know this is hard to ept, but it’s the truth,” Sophia continued, her voice soft yet resolute. “Our
family has been hiding this secret for years, and I only recently discovered the truth.”
“But… how can you be sure?” Benjamin asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty. “How can you trust
him?”
Sophia met his gaze squarely, her eyes reflecting a well of emotions tooplex to name. “I trust him,
Benjamin. He is not ying, his mother told him this.”
Benjamin’s brow furrowed in consternation, his mind racing as he grappled with the enormity of
Sophia’s revtion. “And what now?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “What do we do with
this… truth?”
Sophia sighed, her expression pained yet determined. “I don’t know, Benjamin. But I couldn’t keep this
from you any longer. You deserve to know the truth, no matter how painful it may be.”
As the weight of Sophia’s revtion settled over them, a heavy silence filled the room, thick with
tension and uncertainty. Benjamin’s mind raced his thoughts a tumultuous whirlwind of disbelief,
confusion, and a deep-seated fear of the unknown.
He had always considered Sophia a constant in his life, a steadfast presence he could rely on, but now,
faced with the possibility of their shared bloodline, he couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of
disorientation.
Benjamin struggled to find his voice, his throat constricted with the weight of unspoken emotions.
“Since when… since when do you know?” he finally managed to choke out, his voice barely above a
whisper.
“I found out the day after you were shot,” Sophia confessed, her own voice tinged with sorrow. “I didn’t
say anything until now because I wanted you to recover.”
Benjamin’s hands clenched into fists at his sides, his heart pounding with a mixture of shock and anger.
“This is crazy. It can’t happen to me,” he muttered, his words a desperate plea to make sense of the
impossible.
Unable to contain his turmoil, Benjamin began to pace the living room, his steps erratic and frenzied. ”
You mean to tell me that my mother hid all this from us?” he shouted, his voice filled with a sense of
betrayal. “As she watched me grow up and fall in love with you, didn’t she once decide to tell me?”
Sophia reached out, her hand trembling as she gently ced it on Benjamin’s arm, her touch a silent
plea for him to calm down. “She wanted to protect you,” she exined softly. ”
The important thing is to calm down. Please, you can’t change it.”
Benjamin’s chest heaved with ragged breaths as he struggled to contain the storm of emotions raging
within him. ” No… I… I don’t know,” he stammered.
As Benjamin’s despair deepened, a heavy silence settled over the room, punctuated only by the sound
of his ragged breaths.
“I can’t… I can’t believe this,” Benjamin murmured, his voice barely audible as he sank onto the nearest
chair, his strength draining away with each passing moment. “It’s like… like everything I thought I
knew… it’s all just… gone.”
Sophia watched him with sorrow as she struggled to find the right words tofort him. “I know this is
overwhelming,” she offered softly, her voice tinged with empathy. “But you’re not alone in this,
Benjamin. We’ll figure it out.”
But Benjamin’s despair was all- consuming, his thoughts consumed by a sense of hopelessness that
seemed to suffocate him from within. “I don’t even know… who I am anymore,” he whispered, his
words heavy with resignation. “And… and seeing you and Alexander… it’s like a constant reminder of
everything I’ve lost.”
Sophia’s heart ached at his words. “I’m so sorry, Benjamin,” she murmured, her voice filled with
genuine remorse.
I wish there was something I could do to make this easier for you.”
But Benjamin shook his head, his spirit broken by the weight of their shared revtion. “I need… I need
time,” he dered, his voice hollow and distant. ” I need to go back… back to Europe. I need to confirm
this… with my own family.”
Sophia nodded, “Whatever you need, Benjamin,” she whispered, her voice filled with quiet
determination. “I’ll be here for you, every step of the way.”
With a heavy heart, Benjamin rose from his seat, his steps heavy and slow as he made his way
towards the door. ” Thank you, Sophia,” he murmured, his voice tinged with a sadness that seemed to
echo through the room. “For everything. But now I want to be alone.”