𝔹𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕃𝕠𝕤𝕖 | Tommy Shelby

𝕏𝕍𝕀. ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴘᴀɪɴ (ᴘᴀʀᴛ 1)

"I hear you" Tommy encouraged his sister as she seemed suddenly at a loss for words and her eyes were fixed on the tiles on the floor.

"First of all, I must confess that I'm taking advantage of your condition", Ada admitted. "Knowing that you aren't capable of doing something crazy by being prostrate on a stretcher helps me to be able to speak. I adore you, Tom. You're my blood, my brother". Ada's eyes were beginning to flood with tears. "And I know that beyond all, you love us too. That's why you do what you do, because you want the best for the Shelbys, and we've paid you back with lies and betrayals".

"Ada, I'm not a saint", that speech made him nervous. "You know better than anyone, so stop justifying my actions and speak up, please" Tommy surprised himself begging.

Ada inhaled and exhaled a few times before she could utter a word. She still couldn't look at him directly and was swinging her feet nervously.

"Olivia no longer exists, that's the only truth."

"But..."

"Let me finish". She stopped him by raising her index finger. "Olivia Westerling, as you knew her and as we all knew her, she is no longer among us". Tommy noticed that his sister's hand was trembling worryingly. "Now, she bears another name".

Tommy coughed as he sensed that he was choking on his own saliva. He squirmed on the stretcher as the broken ribs jolted in his side, causing almost intolerable pain. But nothing was compared to the stab that Ada had inflicted in the middle of his heart: the dagger, which had not been of metal but of a truth that he already knew, had embedded itself in his heart muscle, killing him instantly. His death, which to his misfortune was neither real nor tangible, implied the loss of trust, the uncontrollable hatred he suddenly felt for his little sister, the girl he had always adored and protected, even more than to any other person.

For the first time in the forty-one years of his life, Thomas Shelby didn't know what to say. He could not formulate a sentence and, when the coughing fit ended, he allowed himself to cry, moistening the bandage that covered the right eye. Ada watched him, also crying and silent.

"I would have expected something like this from Polly" At last, words poured from his throat. "Maybe from Olivia, too, but from you... from you, Ada...".

"I did it for my friend, Tom", Ada hurried to speak. "I know you aren't able to understand but next to you, she was in much more danger than you imagine. Olivia didn't seem to be aware of it at first, but as things got more complicated...". Ada sobbed. "God, Tom. She really was in danger. She had to go, she had to leave you. She had to start from scratch. It was either that or die".

"Where is she?"

'Where is she?' : that was the only question Tommy was able to ask that cold, distant night, when Polly called him to inform of Olivia's death. That had been the question he had asked with his soul shattered in front of that brick house, believing that inside it was the lifeless body of the woman he loved the most.

Everything, absolutely everything, had been a vile lie.

"I don't know, and please Tom, believe me". Ada sniffed. "I found out that Olivia was still alive the next day. My reaction, the one you saw that night, was real, Tommy. I also thought she was dead".

"Whose idea was it?". Tommy already knew the answer.

"It was Polly... and Michael's idea"

Tommy considered himself an idiot for not having imagined it from the beginning. His aunt saw herself as responsible for Olivia's well-being after she saved her son's life; Tommy knew Polly and knew that she was not willing to lose anyone because of her nephew, and if protecting Olivia meant blatantly lying to his face, she would do it without her voice shaking.

Michael, for his part, loved Olivia and would do anything to get her away from him, just as he had done everything possible to take over Tommy's company, business, and gang. He was not assuming the fact that Olivia preferred Tommy to him, that she had rejected him countless times for being faithful to Tommy, and that, even with the promise of a quiet life, she had chosen the uncertain and chaotic future that only Tommy could provide her.

"Her parents were also accomplices?" Tommy remembered Jane Westerling at her home in Whitechapel, suffering from a grief that could not being feigned.

"No. Her parents believe that she really died", Ada rubbed her eyes "and that was the hardest part. From what Polly told me, Olivia didn't want to hurt her parents".

"But she hurt them anyway". Tommy found unjustifiable Olivia's actions.

"You don't understand her, do you?" His sister was hurt by the anger Tommy felt towards Olivia. "That's why you should have read the diaries first, because only that way would you be able to understand her motivations".

"And what were her motivations, Ada?" asked Tommy. The salt in the tears made his wounds burn. "Tell me, what can lead a person like Olivia to behave in such a despicable way? I would understand if any of us acted like this, but Olivia... she seemed to be different".

"She is, Tom. She is different. She always was". Ada took his hands. "Her motivations, in addition to the answers to all your questions, you'll have to know through her diaries. I refuse to keep making things easier for you because all I'm getting is you to hate Olivia".

"I'd like to hate her", he confessed and saw Ada frown in concern. "I'd like to hate her because it's what she deserves". Tommy had stopped crying and from the wound in his heart did not flow blood, but rancor. "But I can't".

"Tom", his sister called, her voice brimming with empathy, "if Olivia walked through that door right now, what would you say to her?"

He did not know where the approach to that hypothetical situation was coming from, but, turning his head a little towards the door, Tommy imagined that Olivia was there.

"I'd tell her that I love her as I have never loved any woman in my entire fucking life".

"Would you forgive her?"

"Yes".

"Would you understand her?" Ada narrowed her eyes. "Would you let her go?"

"Yes, but I'd go with her."

Ada sighed and standing up, she went to the diary that the nurse had left on a chair. She took a seat and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her blouse.

"Where did the nurse stop reading?" Ada asked him, looking through the notebook's sheets.

"I think it was the entry of June 8th, when Michael and I almost killed each other in my office". Tommy felt fire in his chest as he spoke the name of his cousin.

"All right. I remember", Ada agreed as Tommy gave in to the numbness caused by learning a truth that until then only his heart believed possible. "Should I start reading the next entry?"

Tommy nodded as he closed his eyes and allowed his body to sink into the bed. In his inside, he cried out for a speedy recovery and begged the life that until a while ago he had hated, give him the strength to leave that hospital in the search of Olivia.

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A/N: This chapter is not that long but I wanted to posted in two different parts to separate the conversation between Tommy and Ada, and Olivia's diary entry.

I'll publish PART 2 in a couple of days. Thank you so much for you support!! 💖🥰 Let me know your opinions about the truth!!