Chapter 5 .

Aria's pov.

When we got to the hotel, we got up to the top floor and into a huge suite. I had never seen such an amazing place before. At least not like I can remember.

Richard told me where my room was and told me to try to get a good sleep. And that we would talk more in the morning. So I wished him a good night and then headed to bed.

The next morning when I woke up, I got ready for the day and made sure all my bruises were hidden with the concealer I had.

Then I got out to the common area of the suite and saw Richard already awake, dressed in another expensive suite and had his head buried in a lot of documents.

I could also see around 10 guards standing there, and when they noticed me, they all looked at me at first, shocked. Before, they shook the shock of their face and straightened up.

"Good morning Little one. Were you able to get some sleep?" Richard asked, looking up at me with a warm smile.

"Good morning Sir, and thank you, I did. Have you been able to rest as well?" I asked, giving him a light bow.

"Please Aria, you don't need to call me 'Sir' or bow down. I work for you and your family, and your family also look at me as family." Richard said sadly and carefully stood up from his chair.

He carefully walked closer to me but stopped when he noticed I started to tremble. Then he crouched down in front of me about half a meter away.

Then he very carefully and slowly moved one hand towards me. He paused when he saw me flinch, but after I had gotten that under control, he slowly moved his hand towards me.

Then he carefully put a hand on my cheek, making me look up. I still made sure I didn't look at him in his eyes. I ended up looking at one of his cheeks instead.

"Aria, can you please look me in the eyes? I will never hurt you, and I'm sure my eyes will tell you that. I remember your mother told me ones, the eyes are the window to a person's soul." He said softly, and I looked up into his eyes in shock that he knew that saying as well.

"There you go Little one." He said softly with a warm smile on his face.

"Your mother always told us that before she left with you so many years ago." He said, answering my unasked question.

I looked into his eyes, and there all I could see was kindness, care, even a familiar love towards me. Nothing evil or telling me that he will ever hurt me. He truly is genuinely happy I'm here and that he can be here with me.

I subconsciously took a step closer to him and that made him smile a little more.

"Aria, can I please give you a hug? It's like I, myself, have just gotten a niece back into my life, and I have seriously missed you." He asked, and I saw tears make their way into his eyes.

I couldn't help myself getting tears into my eyes as well, and I gave him a small nod, taking a tiny little step closer to him, and he gently put his arms around me and hugged me gently.

I felt absolutely safe in his arms. And he didn't put any pressure on my broken ribs. He is so gentle, yet I feel so much warmth in his embrace.

I'm not used to any kind of love or care like this. I just broke down crying into his arms and put my arms around him as well. Taking a grip of his suit jacked.

"Oh my sweet Little one, let it out, it's not healthy to keep it all in." He said with a kind of fatherly care in his voice.

He carefully pulled me more into his chest and then gently lifted me up before he sat down on a chair and I were sitting sideways on his lap.

I had completely broken down and no matter how much I tried to stop, I just couldn't. Richard just held around me carefully and caressed my back.

I must have cried myself to sleep, because when I woke up I was lying on the couch in the common area of our hotel suite.

"Are you feeling better, Little one?" Richard asked softly from where he was sitting with some documents in his hands and looking at me with a fatherly caring smile.

"Yes, I'm sorry Si.. Richard, for breaking down like that." I said, correcting myself from calling him Sir, but I couldn't help but give him a little bow.

"Aria, you have nothing to apologize for, you have been through so much already." He said softly, and I could hear he meant every word he said.

"You said yesterday we needed to talk." I said with a shaky voice, and that made Richard put down the documents he had in his hands.

"Yes Little one, can you first tell me what your mother has told you about yourself and what her plans were?" He then asked carefully and I took a shaky breath.

"When my mother was lying on the floor, slowly bleeding out." I said, looking down at my hands I had folded on my lap.

"She asked me to make a recording. I can play it for you, so you know what she said. She told me I could trust you, and honestly I do. So if you want to hear my dying mother's words. I can play it for you." I said with a shaky voice and waited for Richard to tell me what to do next.

Richard was quiet for a few seconds before I heard him take a deep breath.

"Yes, that would be good. If that is okay with you?" He first said before he asked carefully.

I just nodded and pulled out my phone from my sweatpants and found the recording. I placed my phone on the table and pressed play.

We could hear everything my mother said, what I said. Her weak voice and short breathing.

Hearing it all again made me tear up. I could also hear many of the guards around the room letting out some shaky breaths when the recording finished.

I carefully took my phone back and put it in my pocket.

I may have disliked my Mom, and low-key hated her. But I also loved her despite the beating, cutting, stabbing and hurtful words over the years.

And even so, I never wished for her to die like that. And she died because she tried to keep me safe from Ivan. I can't forgive everything she has done to me. But I can't truly hate her either.

She was my mother, and despite it all, she did it to keep me alive. Even if it all hurts me deeply, even if it has wounded me badly. I still love her.