Chapter 312: A terrible liar
"Father, when you knew about it you should have told Lucius about it." Layla’s voice carried her shock and disbelief that Alekis kept such a big truth from Lucius all this time.
"That was to protect him, Layla," Alekis replied. "Did you not see how desperately Vladimir wanted Lucius back? He had already made up his mind to leave us, to abandon you, and to join Vladimir’s side. Evelina and I agreed long ago that keeping him away from that truth was the only way to keep him safe."
"Father, but you should have told him how dangerous his real father was. Lucius was open to the mafia world at a tender age. You should have told him the real reason why you never wanted him to be a part of that world. Tell me if Brother Antoine also knew about this?" Layla inquired.
Alekis didn’t respond immediately. He slowly nodded his head. "Antoine knew about it," he admitted.
"This isn’t right, Father. You all lied to him. You kept him in the dark for years, and now—now he’s shattered. He’s breaking apart because of the truth he was never prepared for!"
"I wanted to protect him," Alekis repeated, his voice quieter this time. "Hiding the truth was the only way I knew how to do that."
Layla recalled his conversation with Lucius where he told her how he knew his real father was someone untouchable.
"What’s your theory on Brother Antoine’s death?" Layla asked. She wasn’t supposed to touch this topic, but she felt something was odd about it too.
"Layla, let’s not speak about it," Alekis said and brushed past her. But Layla stopped him.