Chapter 300: Breaking away [1]
After settling his business with Andrew, Zayne exited the pub. His mind was already fixed on the next man on his list.
On his way out, someone collided with him, breaking his stride.
Zayne barely registered the impact. His thoughts were too consumed by the task ahead, and he dismissed the interruption as nothing more than a nuisance.
"You should apologise after you bump into someone," the man said.
Zayne stopped and turned to face the stranger. He was already in an awful mood, and the last thing he cared to do was point out that the stranger had been the one to crash into him.
"Don’t give me that look as though you didn’t hear me. I said it loud enough," Reece pressed, stepping forward.
Zayne remained calm. "Rather than offer an apology, which I don’t need to, I’ll offer you advice. If you want to live to see tomorrow, ignore small matters like this and carry on with your day. Anyone in a foul mood could have turned around and attacked you."
"I am not going to fight you," Reece replied, as he only wanted to point out the rudeness. "I merely think you could have apologised. It is common courtesy. Or do you believe yourself too important to bother?"
Reece’s eyes moved to Zayne’s clothing, noting its quality.
Zayne shook his head, uninterested in the quarrel. "Someone upset you, and now you’re trying to take it out on me. I won’t be the one you bother this fine morning. I’m already in a foul mood, so go about your day."
Zayne stepped closer. "Heed my advice to not let small matters upset you. Many have truly died for less."
With that, Zayne turned and walked away.
Reece stood rooted, watching him disappear into the crowd. As the tension faded, reality struck him. The stranger had seen right through him, exposing the truth he hadn’t wanted to face.
His anger had been misdirected.
Reece sighed. He considered going back to apologise, but the thought of being dismissed or ignored stopped him. Instead, he pushed open the pub door.
He finished his business quickly, then left in search of the person who had reached out to him.
The streets grew quieter as he travelled towards the edge of town, where fewer eyes lingered. He headed to a tavern tucked away. Inside, he climbed the stairs to a small room.
Reece knocked before opening the door.
The door creaked open, revealing Agatha seated on the bed, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her body turned away from him.
"I’m surprised you showed up," Agatha said, still facing away. "After the way you abandoned me."
Reece stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "As I remember, Mother, you are the one who ran away from home after setting it on fire."
Agatha showed a bitter smile as she turned to face him. "I was not going to let all that your father and I built be handed over to someone close to Eloise. I sent for you this morning because I hoped you had found your sense."
"That sense you wanted me to find was leaving my wife and my unborn child. Your grandchild!" Reece’s voice cracked as his anger spilt into the small room.
"Lower your voice," Agatha hissed, her eyes darting to the thin walls. "The neighbours will hear."
Reece’s frustration boiled over. "Why are you hiding, Mother? I don’t recall the town guards hunting you down. You shouldn’t have burned our home. What if you had taken the neighbours’ houses too? Ruined all they worked for?"
Agatha didn’t care. "I have to think about myself. Those neighbours who claimed to be my friends turned their backs on us the moment your father was arrested. Why should I care about their livelihood when they didn’t care about us?"
"You should care because it is the decent thing to do," Reece shot back with restrained fury. "Why did you leave that letter for me to find you, when you’re still as stubborn as ever? Nowhere in it did you ask about Iris."
"You mean the daughter who ran away and wouldn’t return? I searched high and low for her, yet she never came back. Why should I continue to care when she doesn’t care about me? She could have settled this matter."
Reece’s chest ached at her words. "You don’t know your daughter as well as you think. Iris would have married any man you chose if it meant saving the family. But you never treated her kindly. You only ever saw her as a way to gain money."
The pain of his sister’s suffering weighed heavily on Reece. "Stay away from Iris. Keep being so angry that you don’t even look for her."
Agatha became suspicious. "You found her, didn’t you? You knew all along where she was, but you acted as though you didn’t. You let me run around like a fool."
"I didn’t know where Iris was until recently," Reece replied honestly. "By then, you had already run away. How was I to tell you when you went into hiding? Don’t twist this to make me the villain."
Agatha shook her head, disappointed. "You and your sister have always betrayed me."
Reece’s jaw tightened. "How? You used to say I was the perfect child, and now you claim I’ve plotted against you with Iris? You must make up your mind. We are going to settle this today. We’re going to settle where you stand in our lives."
Agatha’s voice rose. "You’ve made it evident where I stand! My daughter runs away and doesn’t bother to tell me where she went. My son got married without my permission and now has a child on the way."
Reece leaned forward. "Mother, have you ever stopped to question why we cannot turn to you? Why don’t we find comfort in speaking of our troubles to you? You have not been kind, and you refuse to admit it."
Agatha ignored what Reece spoke and asked, "Is this about Eloise? None of this would have happened if not for your father taking her in-"
"Her father was sick!" Reece shouted, his voice echoing off the walls. Agatha flinched. "And we are family. There was nothing wrong with her being taken into our home. The trouble began when your husband stole from her."
Reece’s nails dug into his palms. "You’re too cruel to admit that our side caused the trouble."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Reece tried to calm himself, as being loud wasn’t in his character.
Agatha’s eyes glistened, though whether from rage or regret, he could not tell.