The Faceless Man-Chapter 50: Mom Killed Dad

Nooooo!!!

Ross stirred awake slowly, his vision drowned in sleep. The ceiling above him swam in and out of focus. He lay flat on his bed, a drip connected to his arm, a medical machine beside him humming softly as it monitored his vitals, searching for any anomaly that might disrupt his recovery.

His senses returned one by one, booting up, sluggish and imperfect. Sound came first: the faint beeping of the machine, the soft rhythm of breathing. Then light. His vision sharpened, brightness settling into clarity.

And when his eyes fully opened, the first thing he saw was Marie.

She sat beside the bed, smiling brightly. Silent, but her heart was loud, overflowing with things she didn’t yet know how to say.

Thank God she’s okay, Ross thought.

Maybe he had done something right that night after all. Giving up half his glory to heal her didn’t erase his loss to Zabi, but it softened the blow.

"Marie..."

His voice was hoarse, fragile.

"Yes, Ross. I’m here. I’m with you."

She grabbed his hand immediately, squeezing it like she was afraid he’d disappear again. Her face lit up as tears welled in her eyes, the first genuine smile she’d worn since their father’s death.

"I thought... I thought I lost you," she said, her words breaking apart as relief spilled over. "You were asleep for two days!"

"Death would need way more than that to take me out," Ross muttered confidently, despite the fact that half his body felt like it had been run over. His head fell back against the oversized, comfortable pillow.

"Hahaha!"

Marie laughed softly, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked at him like he was something priceless. Moments like this reminded you how fragile loss really was, how devastating it felt to believe something was gone forever, only for it to return.

The warmth between them was real. Like a reunion between people separated by years instead of days.

But then,

Like a needle hidden in hay, a memory stabbed Ross.

"I’m sorry, Marie."

His voice trembled. Uneasy. Like a child admitting failure, knowing the confession was inevitable whether he wanted it or not.

Marie’s face twitched. She knew where this was going. Apologies she’d heard too many times,apologies for not being there when she watched their mother gun down their father in their own home. The bitter truth was unavoidable now, and hearing it from Ross would only make it harder.

"I know it’s because of my stubbornness," Ross continued. "If I had listened... maybe none of this would’ve happened. There’s no way I can fix it."

"Mom killed Dad."

She cut him off.

The words fell heavy. A tear slipped down her cheek as her voice cracked under its own weight. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Even knowing the truth already didn’t dull the pain, speaking it made it fresh again.

Ross froze.

He pushed himself upright, wincing as pain flared through his body, his hands gripping the mattress.

"What... what are you saying?"

He needed to hear it again. Needed to believe he’d misheard. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Zabi told me," Marie said. "And Mom... she didn’t deny it. He didn’t force her. I saw it in her eyes."

Ross shook his head faintly. For a brief moment, he hoped—stupidly—that this was some cruel joke. But the look in her eyes crushed that hope.

"But why?"

His voice was hollow. Confused. Broken.

"Dad never cheated. He never hurt her. They argued sometimes, sure, but it never went beyond words. We were happy. We were a family."

"So why?"

"She said she was afraid," Marie replied quietly. "Afraid Dad would give all the money to charities. To donations."

Her fists clenched.

"Zabi shot her before she could finish, but honestly? There’s nothing she could’ve said that would justify stealing Dad from us."

She swallowed hard.

"Sometimes... people do horrible things for no reason."

Ross’s face tightened, lines carving into his skin. Tears threatened to fall, but he forced them back. He refused to look weak.

Still, a new hole opened in his chest, one only a mother was supposed to fill.

Silence flooded the room. Thick. Unhealthy. Dangerous.

"Let’s... let’s change the subject," Marie said quickly, wiping her tears.

"Yeah," Ross agreed. "That’s... that’s better."

She laughed softly, trying to pull life back into the room.

"So," she said, tilting her head. "What happened to your face?"

Ross blinked.

"My face?"

She circled her finger around her own, pointing. "That."

"When I was at the elderly home," Ross said slowly, "I made a deal with an entity called Satori. In exchange for my face, he gave me the power to protect you—and to reclaim Dad’s legacy."

"...Wow."

Marie stared at him.

"So you made a deal with the devil."

"If you want to see it that way," Ross replied. "Then yeah."

Her eyes narrowed. Silence returned, this time heavier. Marie was deeply superstitious. A Christian to her core. Hearing that her brother had bargained with something demonic shook her.

Ross felt it too. Saying it out loud made the decision feel even more terrifying. Stupid, even.

Regret crawled deep done his soul, making feel heavy for the first time since loosing his face.

"So," she said slowly, "if he took your face... what’s with the skin on your forehead?"

"What skin?"

Ross’s voice jumped, sharp with sudden excitement.

"The skin. Right there."

She pointed at her forehead.

His hand shot up instantly.

And then—

He felt it.

The sensation hit him like lightning. Warm. Real. The unmistakable feeling of touching his own skin.

"Fuck!"

Ross shouted, laughing in disbelief.

"My skin—it’s coming back!"

"It wasn’t there before?" Marie asked.

"No! It wasn’t—oh, fuck!"

He laughed again, energized, moving more than he probably should have.

Click.

The door swung open.

Armstrong stepped in casually, coffee in one hand, a stack of files in the other—like he owned the place.

"That’s because you completed the Regain Contract requirements," he said calmly.

Ross and Marie both turned toward him in unison.