Chapter 17

"Are you sure about this?" Lizzy asked for the umpteenth time about the information she brought to her. 

"I've never been more sure," Mia said vehemently, and she believed because she had told her things that turned out to be the truth she had been running away from.

Mia was surprised that it didn't affect her in any way, emotionally. All she did was stare at her, a void that she could not comprehend staring back at her, making her feel bad about coming there in the first place.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have come. I have to leave right now." She said, taking her bag and aiming for the huge door.

"You know it's too late to leave now, right?" Lizzy found her words when Mia was already trying to open the door. She threw the keys at Mia who caught it swiftly. "If you still want to go, then I'll see you some other time." She said, her voice screaming fatigue and her eyes looking tired, not from the recent happenings but of life generally.

"I'm so sorry if I'm being rude right now," she said, studying her and realizing she might have said something hurtful.

"It's no problem. I understand," she said, not totally understanding anything but pretending to. Lizzy led her to her room and proceeded to go out, craving her bed like a snack.

"Lizzy." She called, holding her hand.

"Yes, do you have anything to say?" She asked, trying to sound polite in the midst of her already slumbering voice.

"I'm so sorry for bringing this news to you. I didn't mean to make you sad or bring these things to you." She said, almost crying at a point.

"No, it's fine..it's really something I want to hear right now." She knew she needed everything she wanted to say, but Mia was hiding a lot from her too. She thought to say everything before leaving the next morning.

Checking the time, it was already 11:30pm, which meant she had little time left to sleep. 

Leaving Mia, she went to her father's room to take his phone and moving outside, she saw something she didn't understand. A bracelet stained with blood she believed to be her father's. She took it with her as she knew it would be useful someday.

Her father does not wear bracelets, so she had no idea whose it was, but she was sure someone else was in the house with him that day. Immediately, she forgot about it, making it a point of duty to think about it the next morning. She jumped on her bed, which welcomed her warmly and comforted her in her distress.

That same night, Evelyn was pouncing around her room, restless, detest in her eyes as she jumped up and down the room. Her son has not gotten back home since they had an actual disagreement which made her spill another thing Lucas shouldn't have known. 

"Hello, have you seen Lucas around?" She asked his dear friend, Josh, if he had seen his friend. 

"No ma'am, I have not seen him since he was in custody. Is he okay?" 

"I've not seen him for almost 24 hours. Please, let me know when you have news about him." She hung up without expecting his reply. 

Thinking about it right now, she regretted her actions. She found out it wasn't about her, but also about family, and she felt she had been so selfish, not thinking about Lucas for once.

Earlier that day, she did something heinous, something she regretted as soon as she did it. She believed Lucas would hate her more if he heard about it too. 

That afternoon, she was also restless, thinking about her enemies, the Berlins. She wanted to make a statement without anyone knowing it was her, but how to do it was a problem.

Then, an idea came to mind that produced a smirk on her face. One of the things she would love to do was to take one of them down, and she knew just the right person for the job.

"Hello, Caleb." Still maintaining that smirk on her face. 

"Hello, madam." A voice at the end of the call said.

"No, don't sound rude, my darling."

"Please, what do you want?" He said, already impatient and wanting to hang up.

"I need the head of Markus." She said, a beautiful smile brightening up her face. 

"I thought I told you I'm no longer interested in this kind of work anymore." his voice sounded like someone who was angry but still trying to control himself.

"Yes, love. You did, but I thought you were joking, especially since I can have your father dead at the snap of my fingers." She enjoyed what she was doing and strolled out of the house to the beautiful garden, her right hand touching the flowers and her left hand holding the phone to her ears.

A sigh which lasted for close to a minute sounded at the other end before he responded. "Okay, what do you want?" He surrendered to her tactics, feeling helpless because she truly had the power to stop his father from breathing.

"I already sent what I want. I need the head of Markus." She said, smiling hard and thinking about the news trending for some hours: "Almighty Markus Berlin mysteriously found dead in his apartment."

"Look, I can't do this to him. He is Lizzy's husband for crying out loud."

"And how is that my business?" She already suspected that he was getting distracted by falling in love with Lizzy, and sincerely, that wasn't her business.

"I didn't send you to get close to her just to fall in love." She chuckled after saying that, finding it absurd that someone would fall in love like that so fast.

"I know. I couldn't help it. You understand, don't you?" He said, fear designed in his voice. 

"I don't understand anything. I didn't get married because of love. I don't understand that foolish concept called love. So forgive me, but if I don't hear news of his disappearance or death, your father will pay dearly for it."

She said the truth, as she doesn't remember falling in love. The closest she felt is her love for her children, but never with her husband. 

"Okay, please don't hurt my father."

"That depends on you. His life lies in your hands." She sensed terror in his voice and it made her feel more powerful, more like Queen Elizabeth, who could get anything she wanted. 

"Alright. I will do it." He had to take a minute to think it through. He didn't want to hurt Lizzy or her family. He never wanted to be in this mess, but he needed a lot of money, and someone suggested getting that kind of money from Evelyn.

After giving him the money, she told him she would contact him for business. Several weeks later, she called him to meet her and described the company he wanted him involved in.

It was about the Berlin family. She needed a spy to go around with them and learn everything they did. The spy had to pretend he liked Lizzy to stay around the family. However, the pretence graduated to actual love.

Hanging up, Evelyn felt light, thinking he would deliver neat work as always. The first assignment she had for him was to track Elena's whereabouts and update Evelyn. 

As expected, it went smoothly and she achieved her goal without stress. She thought he would always cooperate this way, but love had come in, and she knew the crazy things she heard about love. 

An hour later, she got a message from him, saying he and Lizzy just left Markus in their mansion. She pulled a few calls and she got what she wanted. But she needed him to initiate the execution so she sent a text telling him what to do.

Alright, I will do it.

She saw doubt in those words, but somehow she thought he would do it, just like the previous ones. 

Apparently, he didn't, and no one she sent to the house had gotten back to her yet. The restlessness started again, being worse than before. She was also concerned about her son not picking up or returning her calls. Rania wasn't getting back to her either and she felt so bad about everything. 

By 7pm, she decided to send Caleb a text.

"I hope you didn't screw this up?" and she sent the text to him, expecting a reply in five minutes or maybe ten. But there was nothing after 45 minutes. 

She was so terrified and surprised that he could do that to her. Did he forget about his father? Did he forget the threats she made? Why was he wasting her time? All those questions came at her while she was still restless about it.

A text popped on her phone, from a familiar number who sent her just what she needed to hear. 

It is done! He's probably dead by now.

She jumped and did a slow dance, her head playing a Celine Dion as she spun round the room. But there was just one thing remaining that proved she had to doubt the truthfulness of the text.

Why hasn't it been all over the news? The death of a celebrity multimillionaire should have been announced and everyone should be talking about it, but she turned on the TV to hear some news regarding that and nothing like that popped up. Were they trying to hide it from everyone, especially since they couldn't find Elena?

Lizzy slept like a baby for four hours, waking up to an alarm she set for 4 am. She had a migraine, and she didn't feel like standing or starting her day. She didn't know what the day would hold and she would rather stay in bed than begin a sad day. 

As she stared back at the lines of the ceiling, her mind replayed what happened the previous day. The bracelet she saw kept haunting her sleep and came back to her thoughts. She knew that the person who came inside the house wasn't a friend, but she was frustrated at not knowing who did it. 

Finally dragging herself out of the bed, she opened the windows to take in the amazing breath of early morning fresh air mixed with mist. She closed her eyes to take it all in and found out that this became a therapy.

She got interrupted by her phone buzz, the phone popped up and it showed Mia's name.

I need to talk to you before I leave. Something doesn't feel right.

She wasn't ready for a long talk with her again, talking about tragic things and not coming up with actual solutions about her mother's kidnapping. She decided that she would not face her yet and left the room to go down the little light hall. She found her way to her father's room which was still dark, and she remembered Markus' phone. 

She also remembered the bloodstained bracelet she had taken from his room. Bringing it out, she studied it and was more confused about the fact that she recognised it from somewhere. She didn't know whose it was, and she seemed fearful about the fact that her father couldn't remember what happened. 

As she thought about everything that happened, a creak crept in, which was a shock to her. Was it Mia? She thought, remembering she was not the only person who slept in the house. 

But then, there was another movement, followed by a shadow she saw quickly moving out of the room. 

"Mia?" She called, walking slowly out of the room, her heart pounding to her chest and she could hear the rhythm so loud. She walked down the hall, shaking and scared t

o her bones. She turned on the light and saw nothing but dirt and filth, a shadow of the way she saw before she went to sleep.