Paying The Price

"What made you think that was the right thing to do? How about building up the relationship. No. Build up a relationship?" Diana had always thought Wayne was different but now he was just being weird.

"I don't know where you got this mindset, I mean your family_except from your grandma_is made up of wonderful, normal people." She said

"But you...." Diana didn't know what to say or how to say.

Wayne didn't really have to hear it, he knew he wasn't an ideal husband or father, but who could he blame.

"I learnt from experience." Broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I didn't leave with my parents. My father, he was strong enough to rule the underworld but my grandfather wasn't satisfied with him. So a week after we we're born my grandfather took me and my twin sister away from our parents."

'Here's something I've never heard.' Diana thought.

With keen interest she listened to the man before her who cherished words like gems as he spoke "He wanted us to know his ways from infancy, something he couldn't do with my father. So we lived with him, did as he said but we always took care of each other. We loved each other. But one day when we were seven, there happened to be an assassination attack and my sister was ill. I locked her up for her own protection, so I thought."

"I kept telling myself 'if only I had heard her plea to open the door, maybe she would still be alive'. My grandfather said if I wasn't so clingy she won't have died."

"He was wrong." Said Diana in a soothing voice.

"He was right." Wayne replied.

"When I acted like I never loved you and that you weren't important to me, a lot of enemies shifted their attention to Fiona. And that's why I tolerated her. To protect you." He explained.

The explanation was a little hilarious to Diana "So you treated your childhood friend as bait?" She asked to make his words clear.

"Yes." Wayne answered candidly, like there was no wrong in using Fiona.

Diana smiled a little then realized something "No wonder you don't have much baby photos."

She looked at him then said "Well congratulations, you've successful extinguish my burning anger for you."

"I'm sorry about your sister. But letting things go doesn't keep them safe but keeping them close not locked up is safer." She added.