Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 248: Goodbye, sister

Chapter 248: Goodbye, sister

She was seated on the dirty floor, leaning against the pillar behind her with her eyes closed. There was nothing she could do to change her situation with countless men surrounding her, and her side burned and throbbed with every reckless movement she made. Thank goodness the cut wasn’t too deep and had stopped bleeding, but it was still hurting her.

Mia hadn’t eaten for days and had only been given water by one of the men, who seemed to pity her or was instructed by someone to give her water now and then. She had worried about Neil until she could no longer help it and blocked her mind off the things she couldn’t control. The only reason she wasn’t panicking was because she knew Mariana wouldn’t kill or hurt Neil as she claimed to love him, and if her husband was conscious by now, he’d soon come looking for her.

She wanted nothing more than to be in their house and their room, sleeping in each other’s embrace. She missed those days when she woke up to his morning kisses, a good meal, and a soothing hot bath. Being in a smelly place for almost a week now made her feel dirty and disgusting. She numbed her mind to everything and decided to stay here until who-knows-when. In her condition, she could barely even move a limb without feeling pain, let alone plan an escape from hundreds of armed men.

However, as she couldn’t do anything but remain seated with her eyes closed, her mind went back to the past she had just recently remembered. The past that had remained a blur to her for twenty years was now as fresh as new. Everything about it was strange, but she was glad to remember. She could still see her real mother’s beautiful smiling face in her mind’s eye as if she were still in front of her. She could still remember all the things she had gone through just to keep her daughter safe from a monster who was hell-bent on destroying her.

If it weren’t for her biological mother and her mother Elizabeth, she would have been dead by now. Those two had been the reason she was still alive, but it broke her heart to know that they had died a terrible death and that she would never see either of them again.

A single tear for both her mothers rolled down her cheeks. The sound of the gun going off in her head when her real mother had been shot trying to escape with nanny Eliza, who was holding the little her, was so fresh in her mind she felt a huge lump in her throat and her heart tightening at the recollection of the person who’d pulled the trigger that night. The look her mother had given her before dying in nanny Eliza’s arms made Mia unable to hold her emotions. She remembered her exact words that day.

"Eliza... please, take good care of her. Don’t ever let her find out about me or the life she lived before. She’s now yours, take care of her..." She’d choked out with blood oozing out of her mouth and nose as she glanced at the younger Mia, who still had a bandage around her head and said with a bitter smile, "I love you... Mia. Y-you have a name now, my girl. Mia..." Then she went quiet and still in the nanny’s arms, her eyes wide open.

Mia had watched her nanny cry and try to shake her mother awake, but Mia had not shed a single tear because she couldn’t remember the woman as a mother but a total stranger who had tried to help them and ended up being killed by...

"I hope that tear on your face is because you are praying to live to see tomorrow, black seed," came Mariana’s voice, snapping Mia out of her grief and causing her eyes to fly open. She watched Mariana approach her with a huge bag in hand with two men following closely behind her holding something. What was that? She squinted her eyes and noticed that they were holding gallons of fuel. What do they plan to do with that? she wondered, but as if Mariana, who was walking towards her read her mind, she chuckled humorlessly and said,

"These are for you, my darling sister. I have a big surprise for you, a surprise I’ve been intending to give you since the day I watched mother take you away leaving me behind. You remember that night, don’t you?"

Mia felt rage consume her at the mention of the unfortunate night where her mother had been killed by none other than Mariana herself. Mia had never been someone who would cause anybody harm, but right at this moment she wished she could cause harm to her sister like she’d caused to their mother. She clenched her fists to hold back her impulse of standing up and whacking Mariana’s head.

"How could you, Mari?" Mia muttered through clenched teeth. "She was our mother and she loved us both more than anything. You—"

"Did I just hear you say she loved us both?" Mariana cut her off with dark laughter. "Ella never loved me, she loved you. She was always worried about you and your well-being while forgetting about the well-being of her own real daughter. Have you forgotten? Let me remind you if you have. The day you nailed my hand to the ground, mother didn’t even worry about me but you, she went rushing to you, kissing and hugging you while I was in so much pain calling for her. The day you whacked my head with a pan, mother never came to see me, she slept in your room that night while I woke up in the middle of the night feeling lonely and wanting to be hugged by someone, by my mother!

"But she was never there. She was never there when father gave me a gun to shoot an innocent cat in a tree, she was never there to protect me from him like she was there to protect you. We lived in the same house, yet she never knew father gave me guns to protect myself! And now you tell me she loved me? Where is the love? I never felt it nor saw it in her eyes. She loved you... not me."

"Was that why you chose to shoot her with the gun Kelvin gave you? Does that justify you murdering her, Mari?" Mia asked calmly, her heart tightening up and her throat burning with emotions. "If you remember clearly, mother wanted to take you along that night but you refused to come. You pushed her away and threatened to tell father if she dared to leave. Mom didn’t want to leave you until she was pulled away by nanny Eliza, crying and refusing to leave, and yet you tell me she didn’t love you?"

Mia could still remember that night. Their mother had refused to leave the house without taking her second daughter before Kelvin returned. However, Mariana had made it difficult, refusing to go with them until their nanny told their mother that they had to leave before Kelvin came back and that Mariana would be safe with her father but Mia wouldn’t because once he returned, he’d kill her like he’d promised. Only then had their mother agreed to leave with the promise of coming back for Mari, who had watched them leave with her hands clenched at her sides with hate burning in her brown eyes.

They had left the house through the back entrance that was built for emergency exit and walked into the night with nanny Eliza carrying her and their mother following behind. They had made it far from the house when a voice called out from behind.

"Mom!" Mariana had called, and their mother had stopped and immediately turned at the thought that her second daughter had decided to follow them. Mia had seen the smile and happiness in their mother’s brown eyes as she turned to face her daughter, only to be shot in the chest before she could register anything that was happening. Her legs had given way beneath her immediately.

Mia recalled locking eyes with Mariana that night before the girl had run away through the night before any of them could react.

Mariana’s voice cut through her thoughts like a knife. "It was your fault that she died, Mia. If you hadn’t convinced her to run away with you, none of this would have happened."

Mia’s eyes widened in disbelief. "How can you say that? You were the one who pulled the trigger, Mari! You killed her!"

Mariana’s face twisted with rage. "I had no choice! She’d put me through so much pain because of you. And now, you will pay for that night. Because i will never forgive you for what happened, you stole away everything from me, and I hate you for it!"

Mia’s heart ached with the weight of her sister’s words. She had always known Mariana was troubled, but to hear her twist the truth so maliciously was almost too much to bear. "You can’t blame me for your actions, Mari. You have to take responsibility for what you did. You killed her."

"You made me do it! You’ve always been the favored one, the one everyone gives attention to. I was always in your shadow, always second best." Mariana yelled out like a maniac.

Mia’s eyes filled with tears as she realized the depth of her sister’s jealousy and hatred. She couldn’t believe Mariana would consider what she’d gone through in her childhood as being favored. "I never wanted to take anything from you. I never wanted to be mother’s favorite. I just wanted to have a family and be loved, Mari."

Mariana laughed bitterly. "Well, now you have none. Just like me." She dropped the huge bag she was holding in front of Mia and said, "Just like Ella and Eliza, you will be gone tonight as well."

Mia’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at those words. "Eliza?" She asked, "What did you do to her? Did... Were you the one who killed her?" Her eyes widened in realization.

Mariana smirked at that, "Took you long enough to realize."

Twenty years ago, Mariana had not intended to pull that trigger that night, but after she’d done it, she’d convinced herself that it was Mia who’d killed their mother. She’d not told their father about it throughout the years he was searching for Ella. She was afraid he’d kill her too if he were to know the truth. She’d kept it to herself and made sure he’d never see Eliza again.

However, five years ago when she heard the news that he’d tracked Eliza’s whereabouts through Mia, who he’d seen on the school’s live event, and was going to confront her to ask her about their mother, Mariana had acted quickly and sent men to threaten the woman to keep her mouth shut. She’d threatened her with Mia’s life if she were to tell Kelvin anything about that night. Mariana had no idea what Eliza told her father, but when he called her one night in his drunken state crying that Neil Wayner was the one who killed Ella, Mariana had been mad that Eliza had put the blame on her Neil. Thus, Mariana sent men to end her life.

Mia’s emotions turned to rage, and she stood up without thinking and grabbed Mariana, but before she could do anything, two men pulled her away from her. Mia struggled and yelled for them to let her go, but Mariana ignored her and signaled her men to tie her down against the pillar with a chain. Mia demanded what they were doing, but they ignored her and did what they were asked. She then watched as Mariana began to open the bag she had brought in with her. Mia’s breath caught short in her lungs as she saw her twin pull out something that looked like a bomb.

The device was crude but effective-looking, with wires and a timer attached to a bundle of explosives. It was the kind of bomb that could easily reduce the entire warehouse to rubble.

Mariana held it up for Mia to see, her eyes gleaming with pride and satisfaction as the bomb was one of the rare master pieces she’d been working on for years and had intended to use it today instead of selling it like she’d planned to do before. "This, dear sister, is your final surprise. A fitting end for the one who stole everything from me."

Mia’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared at the ominous bomb. "Mari, you don’t have to do this."

Mariana’s face hardened. "Oh, but I do. You took everything from me, and now I will take everything from you, including your unborn children’s life. Oh, I heard you are having twins as well. Too bad they won’t get to see the lights of the world before they’ll burn in flames along with you."

As Mariana set the bomb down and began to arm it, Mia struggled against her restraints, desperation clawing at her insides at the realization that she would die along with her children. She couldn’t let this happen. She had to find a way to stop her sister and save herself.

"Mariana, please!" Mia’s voice was a raw whisper, her desperation to live palpable. "Think about what you’re doing. You don’t have to go down this path. We can find another way. We can be a family again, start afresh. Just the two of us. Did you remember the promise you made me when we were four?"

’I love you, I will always protect you.’ Little Mariana had said to her twin as they played.

Mariana’s eyes flickered with something—maybe doubt, maybe regret—but then they hardened again. "There is no other way, Mia. This is the only way."

With the timer set, Mariana stood back, a cruel smile on her lips as she watched Mia struggle to free from the chains that were attached to the gallons of fuels. "Goodbye, sister."

Mia watched in horror as the seconds ticked away. She knew she had to do something, anything, to convince Mariana to stop the bomb and change her mind. But as she looked into her sister’s eyes, she realized that Mariana had made up her mind. There would be no turning back.