“Why did you kill them? Was it for fun?” Ann asks startling Nicholas as he watches the emotional Ann looking at him furiously. “Do you even have anything to say? Answer me!”

“My life wasn’t always bad.” Nicholas says letting out a cold chuckle startling Ann. “I guess, growing up, I had a perfect life or so I thought. My earliest memories of my father was him beating me, while my mother laughed while she kicked me. It wasn’t long before my grandparents knew, they went to court, took me away and left town to avoid my parents. After that things seemed perfect. I grew up, they way many put it ‘normally’. Had friends, got in trouble for skipping class, the usual.” Ann listens carefully as she witnesses true emotions in Nicholas, with his voice sounding truly happy at the thought of joyous memories.

“But then one day, my mom returned. She was crying, begging to be let in. My grandfather was very cautious, but soon even he realized she was telling the truth. She said my father had beaten her almost every day and that she even ended up having a miscarriage because if it. She said when she lost her baby she knew what kind of a monster he was. ‘How could a father hurt his own child’ she said. That made me furious,” Nicholas’s cold voice makes Ann tremble as she stands there motionless as he continues.

“Though I was mad, grandpa was always there for me. He convinced me that holding on to my hatred would only hurt me, and in a way he was right. My mom never cared about me, she barely spoke to me at all after she arrived. No matter how much I wanted it, that woman would never love and I should have realised that sooner. Though she was my mom, my grandparents treated me as their own, so much that, I didn’t lack the affection of a mother and father because of it.” Nicholas lets out a laugh, though she smiles Ann can clearly hear the pain in his voice.

“I couldn’t do anything. My dad came looking for my mom, he broke down the door and went on a rampage. By the time I got home, I saw him standing bloodies over their bodies, with my mother standing beside him… smiling. I had enough, so I found a knife and fought back.”

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“Nicholas,” Ann says as her eyes fill with tears. With his story, Ann realises, maybe he was a man who was forced by circumstance to take such extreme measures. “You were arrested?”

“No Ann,” Nicholas replies normally. “I was too young, and the cops thought it was self-defence.”

“But why now?” Ann asks with tears begin to flow down her cheek. “Did Scarlet and Gregory deserve it?”

“Maybe,” Nicholas replies as he lets takes a deep breath. “Maybe someone thought they did.”

“What does that mean?” Ann asks as Nicholas turns around and replies.

“It means you should wait for your brother,” Nicholas says trying to hide his painful smile as Ann realises he knew she called Oscar.

‘What is happening?’ Ann thinks. ‘Why did he tell me all this? Why did he bring me here? Was it for Oscar to find something? Was it to clear Benjamin’s name?’ With all these questions pilling up in Ann’s mind, she watches as Nicholas leaving. Without thinking Ann jolts towards him and embraces him.

“Nick…,” Ann says crying.

“What are you doing?” Nicholas asks as his heart begins to pound. “Ann, I am not going to jail. I can’t stay here. The cops will be here soon and you can return. You can go to your brother and go back to your normal life.”

“Are you serious?” Ann says mustering up all the courage she can. “After everything! You were always there for me, you held me when I was weak, you were my shoulder to cry on but most of all… You did this to me!” Ann shouts as Nicholas removes himself from her arms and turns to look at her.

“Ann?”

“You see what you did to me,” Ann cries. These words cause Nicholas to feel a tug of guilt, something he hasn’t felt in a long time. Ann cannot tear herself away from the way she feels. Even though Nicholas just admitted to murder, all she can recall was how he was there for her. She cries and looks at him, though her mouth couldn’t speak the words in her heart it was obvious, she didn’t want him to leave her side.

“Ann, I am nothing but trouble,” Nicholas says holding her shoulders. “Ann I have killed people, I can’t stay. I have done horrible things with my life and so far all I have done is used you. You seriously can’t…”

‘SLAP’