CHAPTER 56

~In life, it's normal for people to enter and leave. It's just that some departures hurt more than others~

~Mina

SERAPHINA'S POV

I woke up tied to a wooden chair and my head felt as though it's been attached to an anchor.

With my blurry vision, I tiredly dart my eyes around trying to locate my surrounding.

It wasn't until my eyes fully adjusted to the bright blinding light did I notice my friends on similar strains. Although unlike me, they were fully awake and alerted, each struggling to break free from the painful restraints.

"Phina, thank goodness." Asher breathed out in relief.

"What happened?" I exhaled, in a complete daze. I was yet to recover from the effects of the sedative.

"We're trapped, that's what happened." Kabia groaned.

"Babe, you okay?" Enrique voiced out in concern.

"Yeah. Have you seen your phone?"

He shook his head and relentlessly twist his wrist through the thick fibre.

"You're gonna hurt yourself, Rique. We're trapped either way." Maya reminded.

"Mark, that snake. I was always suspicious of him giving. He'd easily give in to all our requests" Malu seethed.

"That's not fair, Lu. He could've been killed for all we know." I defended, and it's the truth. Everything happened in a total blackout, including Mark's disappearance. I don't think it's fair to blame him.

"Who has time?"

I stared at Leila in disbelief while the rest glared at her. If we had the opportunity to check the time, here's the last place we would've been.

"A minute to your decapitation." Lalia snapped, making me bite my lip in amusement.

Trust us to argue in a life or death situation.

"Guys, I've freed my other wrist," Maya announced.

"Smart. Hurry and f...

Ace started only to be cut mid-sentence by a loud, booming sound.

My mouth hung agape in horror as a huge projector broke out of the top opposite wall, and settled in the middle with a loud thud, sending dust particles our way.

The screen lit up and two hands clasped together, depicting forgiveness popped up, followed by a short sentence underneath.

" I've forgiven you. " It read

What followed after this vented gasps of shock from everyone.

"You!" Asher exclaimed in prominent bewilderment.

"What the?!"

"It's a lie!"

"Someone please slap me back to reality."

Everyone simultaneously blurted out.

"I always knew you'd an unhealthy obsession over our friendship but never have I ever thought you'll go such great lengths to split us." Malu glowered.

She redirected her gaze to me, and I stared right back, with twice as much blankness as hers.

"Why are you doing this?" Severina quietly let out, gesturing towards the strains.

She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, after adjusting the camera to a better angle, making her face more visible.

"I'm sorry I restrained you. It's the only way we could get you to hear what we have to say."

"We? You and who?" Asher snapped.

"Patience. You'll know everything when I'm done."

"How pathetic are you?" A sudden bolt of anger surged through me.

"Or maybe your life was so much of a boredom to you that you couldn't help but turn to us for refuge. How sad." Lalia taunted with a little pout, making us laugh.

"I honestly don't blame you for everything you've ever said and are saying against me right now. You've got every right to."

She smiled sadly. A toddler would be able to make out that she was fighting back tears, but I don't get it.

Why the pretence? Why the games? What's worth all these dramas?

"Sis cut the crap and hit the nail on the head. It's not like we'll be able to do anything in these strains." Severina snorted.

She shifted her gaze to me again, but I averted my eyes.

"I want you to know, that picture wasn't what it looked like." She started with her head lowered.

We all knew what she was talking about, but since I've made it known that I don't want to be reminded of anything that had to do with that day, everyone respected my opinion. It'd been a buried hatchet since then.

"Enlighten the blind girl, then." I retorted in a bored tone.

"What you saw was photoshopped."

A loud laugh involuntarily rippled from my chest. I opened my mouth to apologise only for another one to escape.

I looked at the girl on the screen, at an entire loss for words.

"Are you high?"

"You won't understand, but it's the truth." She defended in a monotone.

"Yes, and my grandma is a virgin." Kabia scoffed.

"This is the problem with you Seraphina. You don't listen and always think that you're on the right path."

I ignored her and suddenly my shoes are the most interesting thing in the world.

"This is the original photo."

She exhaled.

I wouldn't have looked up if not for Severina's sharp intake of breath.

My eyes darted between her and the crumpled yet clear picture before settling back on her.

"And how do we know that you're not the one who photoshopped this?" Enrique reprimanded in skepticism.

"This upcoming video will be the answer to that." She smirked.

"What video?" Like everyone else, I was astonished by her revelation.

"Continue watching, but just know that your entire life is a lie, Seraphina."

"Phina, Phina, Phina. She isn't even blinking." Kabia groaned, retaking his seat.

"It's alright, Kabia. She's just shocked, but will recover sooner than later." Zara lightly chuckled.

"Babe, Sera." Enrique waved his hand in my face so fast that I couldn't help but smack him.

"Ouch." He yelped, covering his now red cheeks.

"At least she's back for the most part." Caleb mused.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, trying to digest the past one hour.

"I don't even know where to start." I breathed, directing the question to Zara.

"I understand." She smiled sadly.

To bring you back on the same page with us, it's safe to say Zara was apparently being truthful. Not only about the photoshopped picture of her and Tyler, but everything that had been happening behind our backs in the past two years.

Despite the catfights, the beef and "hatred", well fake hatred anyway, Zara and Tyler were the guardian angels in my life.

They saved me from countless murders, some of which I didn't even know was planned.

Apparently, someone had been stalking me for over two years and using endless strategies to annihilate me, but for Zara and Tyler's intervention, their plans fell through.

" I'm so sorry for slapping you." I felt so embarrassed and disgusted with myself. If only I'd listened to her after the cheating scandal, my ass wouldn't have been thrown in this mess.

"It's okay. I told you your actions are justified. Anyone in their right mind would've acted the same."

"But I should've listened when you were trying to give your account on the incident."

"Yes, you should've and this infuriated

me so much, I won't lie, but it's alright." She dismissed.

"Your behaviour though, it looked so real. Are you an undercover agent, actress or something?" Enrique wondered.

Zara laughed and tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

"No, I'm neither. We just had to make sure Seraphina hates me so much that she wouldn't be able to stand me, and that meant enough time to do all our investigations until we're ready to come out clean."

"And you succeeded, trust me." I chuckled, gulping down some water.

"It hurts so bad at first, you know, having to inflict pain on someone I love, but I'd no choice. It was the only way to prove my innocence."

"How about Tyler? Were you all in this from the beginning?" Asher asked.

"No. I forced Tyler into playing along otherwise his initial plan was to attack the perpetrator then sort things out with Seraphina."

I stared at Zara as though she'd grown a pair. I've had my fair share of jaw-dropping scenarios but none like this and honestly, I don't think there'll ever be another of its kind.

"How did you know you were being snapped?" Not this girl again.

Zara looked taken aback by Leila's question but regained her composure anyway.

"I'm trading you for tampons." Lalia shook her head in disappointment.

"The flashlight for starters, but the receding footsteps as Tyler chased after them was a dead giveaway."

"Why didn't you tell Phina the truth from the beginning?"

"I couldn't even if I wanted to Severina, because Seraphina had already gotten ahold of the first pic before the following day. So, what was I going to prove myself with."

"Fair enough." Asher shrugged.

"So, you're part of this black opp operation thingy. I always knew you were a badass." Kabia joked.

"It's not in a black opp operation K. We just managed to get help from Tyler's friend in the CIA."

"You worked with the CIA?" I wondered.

"No, Tyler's friend does. He's an undercover agent. When things started getting beyond our control, we reached out to him and luckily he offered to set a case file and arrange a group of expert investigators on the matter."

"I still can't wrap my head around how you were able to get a clear shot of the venom-mush syringe inserted in the Prada." Maya chided.

I owed Zara yet another portion of my life. If she hadn't replaced my shoe, I would've convulsed to death on that runway.

If you don't know venom mush, ask mafias. It could kill in mere seconds.

"That was Tyler. He was recording from the ceiling." Zara clarified.

"Why didn't you save, Sophia?" I blurted, no longer able to steer my mind clear of the question.

Zara's face morphed into remorse and sadness.

"It was too late. I wanted to intervene when he hit Miskha on the head, but Tyler stopped me, saying we won't have any evidence and he was right. If I'd proceeded with the attack, then everything we'd worked for from freshman would've visited the dumpsite.

" But Tyler could've helped? " Malu argued.

"Never, because he wasn't present in the scene. He was merely watching through a camera from the CIA's safe house."

"So you watched helplessly as Sophia was stabbed to death." Enrique calmly stated the obvious.

"Yeah, and that night still haunts me." Zara sucked in a sharp breath.

"How do we free Miskha since it's obvious she wasn't Sophia's murderer"? I asked.

" She'll be freed tomorrow, hopefully. Maybe even today,"

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked.

"You see, I may not have been able to save Sophia but I'd manage to shoot a tracker on the killer's jacket and with that, I'd been able to track his moves and conversations. These pieces of information could help free Miskha"

"Okay, but how do we use it against the murderer?" Maya asked the million-dollar question of the time.

"That's where I'm getting at. Seraphina you'll receive a call by 7 pm, requesting you to go alone at Skaneateles lake street and Aisha will be used as leverage if you don't comply." Zara declared.

"How did you know that?" Bia

accused.

"This guy isn't alone. If anything, I predicted this to be an entire group of criminals, judging from his conversation with another unknown possible hitman." Zara recalled, putting air quotations on hitman.

"You know what I don't understand. In all your narratives, you've been mentioning  'he' but Aisha said it's a she."

Asher's statement turned all heads to Zara.

"I honestly don't have any idea on that, but it could be possible considering this isn't a one-man battle. However, my encounter with Aisha was when Tyler and I helped her out of the car after she crashed into the bridge.

"This whole thing is more messed up than I thought." Maya countered.

"I just hope my family is okay," Severina whispered.

"Don't worry, Stella is one of the best agents in the CIA," Zara assured.

Just when I thought we couldn't handle any more shock, Zara revealed that our housemaid Stella was an undercover CIA agent she appointed to ensure our safety. Apparently, they knew of Tiffany's pregnancy and were the ones who abducted her from the hospital as she was next on the hit list at the time.

According to Zara, my parents are aware of everything now and are currently with Tiffany in safe hands. The relief I felt was indescribable.

"So how do we go about with this plan?" Maya asked.

"I've done have of that already. Mine and Tyler's team are already based at the venue on standby. Tyler's call is all I'm waiting for right now."

"But why Aisha though? why try to kill her. She's innocent in all this?" Kabia wondered.

"She may have gotten something they wanted, but don't stress it, she's safe. After realising they'll make another shot on Aisha, knowing she survived. I collaborated with the CIA forensic scientists to mould another body, although fake but of the spitting replica of Aisha's form."

"What if they know it's fake?" Maya cautioned.

Zara shook her head and smiled.

"They won't know 'cause they want nothing to do with her. Phina's the main target, and they are only terminating people they think are getting in the way.

They're using Aisha as leverage to get to Phina, knowing she'll do anything for her loved ones, but trust me the moment they get what they want, Aisha's travelling to the grave."

Zara's phone suddenly blared, and she smirked, looking up at us.

"Tyler's call."