His Beautiful Addiction

Nicklaus watched Tiana walk away with slow steps until she disappeared into the building; he heaved a weak sigh,

What would go on in her mind now? He wondered for a moment before walking back to the T-building.

Tiana pushed open the front door and stepped in; once she was inside, she slumped against the door, a breath she didn\'t know she had been holding, escaping from her lips.

She couldn\'t bear to hear him say it. Although she knew it was his life before he met her, she couldn\'t bear to think the man who was smiling sweetly at her about an hour ago was about to hurt someone without even batting an eyelid.

She raised her hand and clutched her chest tightly, trying not to think about it. She would wait for him.

He was really putting a lot of efforts to be a better person. Maybe he needed time. She would wait for him to open up to her about his past and insecurities; he couldn\'t have been born this way. Something must have happened. Something tragic…

She would trust him.

…

Tiana lay on the bed hugging two pillows to her chest and, playing candy crush saga, it\'s been about an hour and yet he wasn\'t back, what was holding him?

He had promised he would not hurt him, so what was still keeping him?

Tiana asked herself for the umpteenth time before she finally stood up from the bed and walked towards the door to go look for him; her steps came to a halt when she pulled the door open.

\'\'Baby… \'\'

She called as their gaze locked in each other\'s, her eyes widening in surprise.

Why was he standing outside?

Tiana asked herself. From his posture and the shocked expression on his face, she knew he didn\'t just get there;

Nicklaus\' lips fell open as he stared at her. He didn\'t expect that she would come out of the room. He had been standing there for over ten minutes wondering what he would say to her if she asked him again;

He knew that with what happened that evening, she would really find it hard believing anything he said.

The only way out of this mess was to tell her what happened seventeen years ago. He had told no soul about that night; he had never spoken about it, not even to his aunt, whom he had lived with for a few years or his grandparents.

They all thought he was having sleep issues because of his parents death, none of them knew that he had witnessed the death and he even knew who the killer was.

He had wanted to take revenge on them himself. That was why he hadn\'t spoken till that day.

Since childhood, he didn\'t have friends, and he had a hard time trusting people. He was always alone, and very sad, but he had masked his sadness with being frosty and wicked.

Because of his iciness, no-one wanted to talk to him, everyone detested him, and so he inflicted pain to make himself feel important. He wanted to show them they needed him to survive, and with just the snap of his fingers, their life would end.

He loved when they pleaded for their dear life. He loved the look in their eyes. It made him feel less lonely, less grieved. But he didn\'t know that it was slowly growing on him until it became part of him.

But everything changed when she came along.

Everything changed the moment she didn\'t plead for her life anymore, the moment she showed him he couldn\'t hurt her anymore. The moment she fuckin\' smiled instead of begging for her life.

At first he was just surprised at her boldness and wanted to know what made her so audacious. But the more he tried to find out, the more he fell for her. And the more he fell for her, the more she broke down his defenses, and finally, after so many years of darkness, he would finally tell someone about his horror.

\'\'Beautiful, I have something to tell you… \'\'

Tiana\'s thoughts were cut short by his question and she creased her brows. Before she could say a word, he pulled her back into the room and shut the door.

Tiana\'s eyes watched his back as he walked them to the bed, sitting down and pulling her down with him.

She swallowed;

Did something happen? Did he mistakenly kill Mr. Park?

Her eyes searched his, but she couldn\'t even decipher what he was thinking;

Nicklaus shut his eyes, taking in a sharp breath before pulling them open again;

\'\'What is wrong? Did… did you kill him? \'\'

She asked worriedly;

\'\'No, far from that, I just got the shares I needed and let him go. \'\'

At this juncture, her head was a mess. If he didn\'t kill the man, why was he so pale?

Nicklaus took her hand in his and kissed it;

\'\'There is something you don\'t know about… \'\'

His words were cut off by the phone that started buzzing in his pocket and their eyes looked towards it;

Nicklaus sighed; this was the second time today. This stupid phone!!

He wanted to ignore it, but the buzzing was so loud that he couldn\'t; angrily taking it out to switch it off, his eyes fell on the caller ID.

Grandfather…

His grandfather had never called him directly in years now, for him to do it now, it must be very serious.

His brows creased, and he raised his eyes to Tiana who was still waiting patiently for him;

\'\'It\'s grandfather, give me one second. \'\'

She nodded, and he picked the call immediately;

\'\'Grandfather… \'\'

Before he could greet, grandpa cut him off.

\'\'Nicklaus, have you seen the news today? \'\'

His voice was firm but there was a hint of anguish in them; Nicklaus brows creased,

\'\'No… \'\'

Tiana could hear grandpa\'s voice since the call was loud and her eyes widened in surprise;

Did something happen?

\'\'Hmm, \'\' Grandpa paused before he continued; \'\'I think you should check the news now, get back to me after you\'ve done so. \'\'

With that, he ended the call. Nicklaus brought the phone to his eye view, his head going over what could have gotten grandpa so agitated, but he couldn\'t pin his mind around anything.

Without thinking twice, Tiana stood up and dashed to the parlor, switching on the TV.