Hannah knocked on the main door and waited. Caroline opened the door and saw Hannah there. "Hannah"

"Hi, sorry for coming here unannounced. I just wanted to give Ella a gift. I made this dress especially for Ella's eighteenth birthday, I know how much she hates it when someone wears the same dress as her." She smiled and Caroline stared at Hannah with a frown. "What's wrong?"

Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. "You are really asking me that? After everything, Hannah?"

Hannah frowned. "Did I do something wrong, Caroline?"

"You really don't know?"

"About what?"

"Sebastian didn't tell you?"

"About what, Caroline?"

Caroline glanced back at Ella and saw her relaxing in their living room, using her cellphone. "About what your son did to my daughter!"

"Ace?"

"Yes, Ace!"

Hannah smiled uneasily. "I really don't know what you're getting at, Caroline. Did Ace do something?"

"How about I show you?"

Caroline held Hannah's hand and dragged her into her living room. Ella saw Hannah and her mother. She put her cellphone aside and straightened up.

"Ella, get up!" Caroline said, Ella immediately got up. Caroline turned her around. She pulled up her shirt from behind and showed the long deep scar on her back to Hannah. "This... This is what Ace did to my daughter!"

Hannah's lips parted as she looked between Caroline and that scar on Ella's back. Ella pulled her shirt down and turned. "Mom," she whispered

"Ella, did Ace do this?" Hannah asked, stunned. Ella looked at her mother for help. Hannah stepped forward and placed her hands on Ella's shoulder. "You can tell me, sweetie, did Ace do this?" Ella looked down and nodded.

"Why would I lie, Hannah?" Caroline asked

Hannah's mind failed to take in this piece of information. She wanted to know... She wanted to know why, and when Ace did that.

"Would it be alright with you, if I talked to Ella alone?" Hannah asked Caroline.

Caroline looked at her daughter and sighed. "If Ella is fine with it, then yes, you can talk to her"

"I'm fine..." Ella mumbled, Hannah has always been a second mother to Ella.

Caroline walked out of the living room, leaving Hannah and Ella alone. Hannah turned towards Ella and cupped her face.

"Ella, I want you to tell me everything, I want to know how and why you got that scar and why would Ace do something like that"

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Hannah eyed his movement as Ace had Emily in a headlock. They were laughing and playing around but Hannah felt uneasy... Before she wouldn't even look at them if they were playfully fighting like that but now, her point of you of her son changed.

She swallowed uneasily as Ace rubbed his fist on her head, messing up her hair. Emily kept punching in his stomach to get out of it but Ace wouldn't let her go. He was laughing uncontrollably and kept messing up her hair.

"ACE, STOP HURTING YOUR SISTER!" Hannah shouted.

Ace's playful smile fell as he immediately let Emily go. He looked at his mother alarmed, Hannah had never yelled at them, ever in their entire lifetime. Emily flinched and stared at Hannah wide-eyed.

"I... I was just messing with her" Ace mumbled

Hannah closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. "Apologize to her," she said

Emily frowned as she looked at Ace and her mother. Ace wasn't hurting her, they were playing around.

"Mum, I didn't---"

Hannah cut him off. "Apologize, Ace!"

Ace looked at Emily who was as confused as Ace. "I'm sorry, Em"

"It's fine" she replied hurriedly.

"Mum, is everything okay?" Damon asked as he noticed a frown on his mother's forehead.

Hannah smiled. "Everything is fine, sweetie"

"Mum, did I do something?" Ace asked

Hannah looked at her son and all she could see was her little boy. With his famous puppy dog-eyed look. A part of her refused to believe that her son could do something like that.

"Acey..." She called "Can we talk?"

Emily and Damon stood up to leave, but Hannah stopped them. "Emily, Damon, you guys can stay. Ace and I will go for a walk"

Ace stood up and looked at his siblings. By now, he knew something was wrong, he hoped it wasn't what he thinks it is. Hannah walked out of their mansion with Ace following behind.

They walked to the nearby park and sat down. Hannah held Ace's hand. "If I ask you something, would you tell me the truth, no lies, Ace"

Ace nodded. "Okay..."

"Look, baby, your father is an irascible and short-tempered man. He loses his patience over tiny things, he is a perfectionist---"

"Mum, did dad do something to you?" He asked

Hannah smiled with difficulty. "No... Ace, what I am trying to say is... Has Sebastian ever hit you while I was away? Did he yell at you or I don't know... Was he aggressive with you in any way?"

Ace thought for a while. "Well, I did something really bad recently and that's the first time dad had hit me. I totally deserved it, I don't blame him"

Hannah nodded. "So, not even when you were little?"

"No, mum, come on, you know dad" Ace said frowning deeply.

"Have you ever felt negligence on my part? Like when you really needed someone to talk to and I wasn't there, maybe?"

"No, you're the best mom in the world" he smiled

Hannah's eyes teared up. "Did dad say something to you? Or grandpa George? Or grandma?"

"Grandpa and grandma are adorable... But---" he was about to say something but stopped himself immediately.

"But what?" Hannah asked

He looked at Hannah and then diverted his gaze. "Nothing..."

"This... This right there... You are hesitant to talk to me, why?"

"I forgot what I was about to say---"

"Ace, sweetie, you promised that you won't lie"

"Grandpa Mason and I got into a fight. It ended badly"

"Did dad ever do something disturbing to you?" Hannah cupped his face and turned him towards her. "Please, tell me, baby, please"

His mother's pleading eyes melted his heart. He remembered his first time and how painful it was for Ella and him. He remembered the blinding headache, he had for days, the feeling of being unsatisfied, the upset stomach, the dizziness.

"No," he shook his head.

"Ace... Please... Please" Hannah begged.

Ace remembered when he was fourteen years old and his grandfather took him to a strip club. He couldn't get it out of his head for days.

"Ace... Talk to me. I'm not Sebastian, I'm not grandpa Mason, I'm your mother, Ace and I want to know why you did what you did..."

Ace's eyes teared up as well. "What are you talking about, mum?"

"Ella... I'm talking about Ella. What could possibly have happened for you to act like that?!"

Ace squeezed his eyes shut and looked down ashamed. "I'm sorry..."

"Why did you do it, Ace?"

"Mum, do you hate me?" He asked

"No, no, no, I could never hate you, Ace. I know my little boy is still there but I just want to know what made you do all that to Ella? Was it something I did, or your dad, or my dad... What happened to my innocent, little boy who loved Ella more than he loved himself."

"I don't know, mum... I don't know... It's just I lose control sometimes... I didn't mean to hurt her like that, I don't know what gets over me. I have this... This rage, mum"

Hannah just stared at him. She held his face and pulled him in for a hug. "Baby, I'm gonna get you the help you need, okay."

Ace pulled away from her a little. "Help?" He asked

"You trust your mum, don't you?" She asked

Ace looked down. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

Hannah's eyes widened. "No, baby, no... Look at me, I know for some reason you don't feel comfortable talking to your dad or me and it's fine, I'm not going to force you, okay. I'm gonna take you to a doctor. They'll help you with this anger, this rage you are talking about."

"Mum, I'm scared" Ace mumbled

Hannah pulled him closer to her. "It's okay, baby. You want to get rid of this rage, don't you?" She asked and Ace nodded, wrapping his arms around his mother. "I'm here for you, sweetie, you'll be fine. I'm always here"

Later that night, Ace twisted and turned, he couldn't sleep. He got tired and got out of bed. His throat was parched, he strolled out of his room and heard distant yelling.

He walked towards the source and as he got closer to his parent's room, the yelling got clearer and clearer.

Hannah and Sebastian were fighting over something. Ace frowned, he had never seen or heard his parents fight.

"It's your father's fault!" He heard Sebastian yell.

"Are mom and dad fighting?" Ace turned and saw Emily with a look of pure horror on her face. Ace pulled his sister towards him and side hugged her.

"You hid it from me and you lied to me, Sebastian! What were you thinking; hitting Ace like that! If you ever hit any of my children again---" Hannah shouted

"I only lied because Ace didn't want you to know and Ace my son too!"

"I'm his mother! You should've told me!"

"Hannah, I warned you, again and again, to not let my children spend time with Mason fucking Clarke but you didn't listen!"

"Sebastian, did I ever stopped them from meeting your parents?"

"My parents aren't fucked up like him! You know this is the behavior that got your mother killed, she thought she could change him, she gave him chance after chance until he drove her insane and you're doing the same damn thing. You keep giving him a chance after chance, you keep believing that he can change but he can't, Hannah! I'M NOT GONNA WAIT FOR YOUR FATHER TO CHANGE UNTIL HE FUCKS UP ALL OF MY CHILDREN!"

"I GAVE YOU A CHANCE TOO! DON'T YOU REMEMBER?! MAYBE, IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT ACE IS FUCKED UP!" Hannah shouted back.

Ace staggered back a little and his chin trembled. Emily stared at her brother. "What did you do, Ace?"

They couldn't hear their parent's voices anymore. A second later, the door burst open and Sebastian strode out. He didn't notice Ace and Emily's presence as he walked straight out of the house. 

Hannah followed him out and noticed both of them. Tears stained her cheeks, she wiped them immediately. She wrapped her arms around herself. "Why aren't you both in bed?" She asked

"Where did dad go?" Emily asked in a small voice.

"Nowhere" Hannah answered

"He'll come back, right?" Ace asked

"Of course," Hannah sniffled. "Go back to bed, both of you" She smiled and pecked their foreheads.

She walked Emily to her room and tucked her in. She then placed a hand on Ace's back as she walked with him to his room.

"Let me tuck you in" she smiled.

Ace laid in his bed as Hannah tucked his blanket in from the sides as she used to do when he was little. Although, Ace was now muscular and way taller than his mother but for Hannah, he was still her little baby boy. She sat beside him and caressed his hair.

"Ace, what did grandpa do?"

Ace thought for a while. He did love his grandfather, Mason was a difficult man but he knew Mason loved him too, more than anything. "He loves me, mum. He loves me a lot but he doesn't know how to love... He tries to do his best, what he thinks is best without understanding how it's gonna affect the other person... I don't blame him"

"Ace, you don't have to make excuses for him."

Ace looked at his mother's pleading eyes. "Grandpa did do some things that were a bit extreme, and disturbing... And he shouldn't have done that because I didn't know better at the time. But mum, most of the time, I chose to do everything. He didn't force me..." He sighed and rubbed his face with both of his hands.

Hannah inhaled deeply.  "What things?"

"You know... When I go out with you and dad, I'm your son. Whenever I went out with grandpa George and grandma, I'm their grandson. But whenever I'm with grandpa Mason, I'm Ace Clarke Harding. People treat me differently whenever he is around." Ace stared at his ceiling. "I wanted to be just like him... I liked having that kind of power on people. It made me feel good." Saying that Ace just stopped, lost in his thoughts. "I liked having power over Ella. At first, she resisted but slowly she just started to do whatever I told her to and it was wrong. I wish she hadn't done that..."

"I... I never thought of you and Ella like that... I thought you guys were just best friends... Ace, she is traumatized. She was shaking when she told me all about you and her..." Hannah sniffled. "I saw the scar on her back, it sent chills down my spine... I could never imagine you doing something like that..."

Ace looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry, I'm such a fuck up"

"Hey, we all fuck up once or twice in our life but that doesn't define who we are..." She smiled at her son. "We're gonna get better, Acey, together. Without hurting anyone, we'll work on ourselves. Beating someone up is never an answer, you can not resolve violence with violence. If you hurt someone because they had hurt you, then you are equally bad."

Ace nodded listening to his mother's words. "I'm sorry you and dad got into a fight because of me"

She smiled. "It had nothing to do with you, okay... Your dad will get over it. Good night," she pecked his forehead again.

As Hannah was walking out of his room, Ace asked. "Mum, do you also think Ella and I shouldn't be together?" 

Hannah turned and gave him a sad smile. "Good night, Ace"

She went straight to her room and saw Sebastian's stuff on the nightstand. She sighed and picked up her cellphone.

It rang a few times before he finally picked up. "Hannie bear, is everything okay? Why are you calling me this late at night?"

Hannah's eyes teared up. "Dad... I would've done anything for you... Anything... But not my children, dad... Not my children! When it comes to Ace, Em, and Damon, I'm just their mother. I'm not a wife nor am I a daughter. I'm their mother..."

"Hannah, what---"

"Goodbye, dad" saying that she hung up.

And

A/N
Hey!
I know many of you have been waiting for Hannah to know her son's deeds. So, here it is.
I wrote this chapter and her reaction exactly as she is as a person. I didn't want to give her a new personality out of nowhere. This is how Hannah is and always will be... Some people might call her dumb and might call her names but this is just how she is... This is how my friend is... ❤

Anyways, thoughts on today's chapter!
Comment and Vote!
I hope to see all of you on Friday for the last chapter of TPS.
XOXO, Jane Doe! 🖤