"Can you explain further before I lose my mind here?" Ben asked, shaking his head in frustration.
Johnny answered, "After everyone on the plane was released, the plane was taken back inside the hangar. Once the hangar doors were closed, our lookouts had no line of sight. After a while, they saw several people drive up and enter the hangar. Then both of Drakos's jets came out one at a time. It looks like both are going to take off but we don't know which one he's in."
"Ok. That's not as bad as it seems. We can track both planes and have people waiting on the other side," Ben noted.
Johnny explained, "Yes, but we don't have access to their flight plans and getting access is proving difficult."
"Leave that up to me," Ben said. "I'll email it to you soon."
After they said goodbye and hung up, Ben went into his office and closed the door so he could make a call. When he was done, he went to the bedroom that Selene was in and knocked on the door. He heard her say "Come in" so he did so.
Selene sat up on the chaise lounge chair and looked up at him expectedly but didn't say anything.
Ben went over, sat next to her, and said, "I have more to tell you."
She looked at him and said, "Okay."
He said, "You are right. I should have trusted in you more. I should not have let my fear get the better of me. I won't make any excuses. What I'm going to tell you will explain what was behind the fear but please know I'm not using it as an excuse because my apology is sincere. I love you and I'm so sorry I hurt you."
Selene was surprised at what Ben was saying. She didn't know how to respond so she said, "I'm not sure what to say but I appreciate the apology and I accept it."
Ben took her hand and kissed it. He whispered, "Thank you." Then he went on, "What I'm about to tell you is the real reason we broke up and it's actually a story that goes back before our generation." He sighed and looked down. "It's so messed up, Selene," he continued. "My family and the Drakos family actually used to be close friends…"
Selene was shocked and inquired, "How is it that possible?"
"I know. No one talks about it anymore because of the rivalry between both the families and the companies. But it's true. My grandfather Lui Hui Zhong and Victor's grandfather Georgios Drakos were both immigrants and met each other through some of their early business transactions. They became close friends and closed some deals together that were profitable to both companies. My grandfather was targeting investors in China and other parts of Asia while Drakos was focusing on Greece, the Middle East, and some parts of Europe. So, there was never any real competition. When there was, it would be friendly and 'let the best man win' type of thing."
"But obviously something went wrong at some point," Selene speculated.
"Yes," Ben responded. "What my grandfather didn't know was that the Drakos's business dealings weren't on the up and up. They became connected to a mob organization and now they run that organization. With Georgios's death, Victor's father, Dimitrios, inherited the role, although Victor handles a lot of the dirty work himself. The other thing my grandfather didn't know was that Georgios was having an affair with his wife, my grandmother, Liu Fen Fang."
Once again, Selene was shocked. This all sounded like something out of a C-drama. She hesitated, but said, "I'm so sorry Ben. This all sounds terrible. When did you find all this out?"
"I'll get to that part. That has to do with our breakup, unfortunately," he replied and squeezed her hand. He went on with, "Apparently, the affair had gone on for a year before grandfather found out. And then…" Ben hesitated before continuing, "…There was some question about whether my mother was his child or my grandfathers."
"What?!," exclaimed Selene. The consequences of Margaret being Georgios's daughter were not lost on her.
"I know. Just hear it out," Ben said and tried to reassure her by rubbing her arm. He explained, "It was quite a mess. Back then they had just come up with a better pregnancy test, but it wasn't very accurate, and it came back inconclusive. But then when my mom was born, she looked like our family and didn't have any traits of looking Greek at all, so they all figured she belonged to my grandparents'. But, you know, there was always a little doubt..."
Selene couldn't wait for Ben to finish, and she interjected, "So is your mom..."
"No," Ben stated firmly, realizing he couldn't keep telling the story and keep her hanging.
Selene let out a big breath. "Oh, thank God," she exhaled. "I was about to be really sick, Ben. What the hell is going on?"
"The problem is that my mother didn't tell me that. She lied to me Selene," Ben confessed. Selene's eyes grew wide. "That's why I broke up with you. Remember that day when I took you to meet them?," he asked. She nodded. "I just couldn't bear them not accepting you. So earlier that day when I came to see you, I had gone over there. I tried to reason with them. My father said he didn't have any problem with accepting you and got into an argument with my mother. He left saying we had his support, and I was left with just my mother. That is when she told me all of this. I asked her why she never had a paternity test done when the technology got more advanced. She said she did and that she was indeed his daughter. I was horrified because of the implications, of course. That you…and I…"
Ben put his hands on his temples, lowering his head so that his elbows were on his knees. Selene started rubbing his back. "I can only imagine," she said. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I can't believe a mother would do that to her own child."
After a few moments he turned to embrace her and then after they pulled apart, Ben said, "She told me this and then she said that Dimitrios had also threatened to kill you and me over a deal that our respective hotel chains were competing against. So, you see, I had to break up with you to protect you and because I thought we were…brother and sister."
There were a few moments of silence and then Selene asked, "I'm so sickened by what she did. How long did you think this? How long did she let you suffer? Her own son."
"Months," he responded. She shook her head.
He explained, "I've always known my mother would do anything to get what she wants. She's hated the Drakos's for as long as I can remember. She's always told me they were our enemies because they've always cheated us and tried to harm our business interests. When she told me about this history, I realized the real reason though. You see, grandmother actually wanted to leave grandfather and Georgios was willing to divorce his wife, Elena, as well. But grandfather wouldn't let her go. And culturally, at the time, divorce was just not an option. For either side, I guess. My mother found out about this from grandmother's diary. She died when my mother was only 12 from a heart attack, and I guess she didn't think anyone would find it. But my mother found her journals when going through grandmother's belongings after she died. She kept what she called 'cry journals' that she would write in only when she cried. In it was the whole sordid story."
Ben shook his head and continued, "My mother didn't explain it all in this way, of course. Her telling of the tale was through her perspective, but this is how I put two and two together. I think my mother blamed Georgios for seducing her grandmother. She was always a daddy's girl. I think all this changed her to who she became. She had to destroy them at all costs. Even if it cost me. It took me several weeks to get over the shock of everything. Then I became suspicious. I thought surely we would have known. But then there were several months where it was literally life and death between us and the Drakos family. The problem was that we weren't killers, and they were. That's when we sent my sister out of the country. After we finally beat them, barely…it was more of a stalemate…that's when I took over everything. That's also when I was able to secretly get a paternity test done, don't ask me how, I had to break a lot of laws. The test clearly showed my mother and Dimitrios were not related."
Selene took everything in and nodded. "I'm sorry you had to wait that long to find out but at least you had your suspicions. I haven't asked about your family since we got back together, waiting for you to bring it up. I'm not asking now. But when you're ready, I'll be here."
"Thank you," Ben said.
"But Ben, you could have told me all this before. If these were the reasons, why didn't you find me earlier? All these years. Why didn't you come to me?," she implored.
He took her in his arms and replied, "It's as I said before. Because I didn't have the power to protect you from that family."
She sighed and they embraced for a while. Then she pulled away and said, "At least this all makes sense now. But…it doesn't change the fact that you didn't trust me. And I still need some space to process that along with now all this, combined with the kidnapping, and the fact that I'm part of that family…when I put it all together, it's a lot. I just need time, okay?"
"I understand," he replied and kissed her forehead. Then he got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.