An Unexpected Alliance

Mandy broke out in a cold sweat, her face went pale, her throat went dry as though she hadn't drunk in days and her legs trembled beneath her weight as questions ran through her mind.

How did she know? No one has ever called me by that name since… well, forever! But... how on earth did she know?

For the past twenty years, all Mandy — or Martha — has been doing was making sure no one discovered who she actually was. And no one had cared to find out… well, until now.

She was a wanted criminal in Florida for both attempted murder and arson. She had run away, far from her hometown, to a state where no one knew her, and had started over, working as a nanny and managing to live a quiet, unquestionable life.

All she's worked hard for for the past twenty years was going to be for nothing. Who is this girl?

"How… how d–did you know?" She asked in a coarse trembling voice.

"I told you I did my research before coming here, didn't I? I had to know what I was getting myself into." Raven smirked in satisfaction. She had her now! "You are wanted for attempted murder and arson."

Raven paused and then continued.

"As if breaking up your best friend's marriage wasn't enough, you… you went on ahead and set her house on fire when she told everyone about you and what you did, including your parents who severely reprimanded you and made you miscarried. Filled with rage, you went over to her house and set it ablaze; the fire nearly took her life if not for the interference of her neighbors. You're a real piece of work, Martha. After that, you ran away and came down here where no one knew you, living in total solitude and working as a nanny under the name Mandy."

"First, I didn't know she was even in the house. Second, that's all in the past!" Mandy defended, trying to sound resilient even though her heart was racing so hard that she had a hard time breathing. "You can't judge me by a silly mistake I made in the past. And besides, do you think Mrs Brant or anyone here will believe you? What proof do you have?"

Raven smirked, already getting tired of this conversation. "We'll see if anyone believes me or not. Now, I'm gonna make you a proposition, Martha. One, you can go ahead and tell Lara about me and her husband. If you do, she'll remember who I am and will certainly throw me out of her house, but you, on the other hand, will end up losing your job after I report you to the police. You will have more than an 80 percent chance of going to jail, which I know you hate. Two, you shut your goddamn trap and help me in ruining Lara's life…"

"Okay, I've accepted the fact that I'm a really bad person and that there's no way I could change what I did back then. I made a mistake." Mandy interrupted. "But Mrs Brant… she has done absolutely nothing wrong to you. She's intense and unfriendly, yes, but she's a pure-hearted soul…"

"Don't make me laugh! You have absolutely no idea what I went through in that bitch and her friend's hand!" Raven said hysterically. "I lost my sanity, my will to live, my family because of her and her friends… my mom, my sister… they died." She paused and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall out. "My own brother hates me and doesn't even want to see my face anymore. He thinks their death was all my fault. My family's death was covered up because Lara and her friend's family were rich and influential. They bought the press and the police. Lara was the architect of my whole life-ruining. If she hadn't bullied me on my first day of college, her other friends wouldn't have joined in. Now, I'm here to give her a little taste of what she gave to me. After I'm done with her, I'm moving on to her brother and friends. Make your choice now, Martha!"

Mandy hesitated. She hated Raven and wanted nothing more than to stay away from her as far as possible as she knew her whole secret. But if she tells Lara about her, her own safety would be in jeopardy. She doesn't want to spend even a day in jail! Talk more of months, or worse, years!

Lara wasn't worth her life being unsafe. Besides, she hasn't done anything notable for her since she started taking care of her daughter.

"I said make your choice!" Raven thundered.

Mandy was in such a panic that she couldn't see that Lara was so influential she could help her out even if Raven were ever to tell the police about her.

But even if she did, would Lara even help her stay out of prison? Is she any use to Lara? There are a plethora of nannies out there ready to replace her.

"Okay, okay!" Mandy answered. "I'll keep my mouth shut and help you."

"Good," Raven said and then patted Mandy's fat cheek. "Of all the bad choices you've made all through your miserable life, this is the best you've ever made."

"But… this doesn't involve killing her… right?" Mandy asked, her face flushing from the insult which she chose to ignore.

Raven held all the aces! And she knew it.

Raven smiled at her. "Oh, I'll kill her, after I'm done making her insane and destroying her life like she did mine."

Mandy's eyes popped out of its socket in shock. "What?"

"Oh, I'm kidding! You should've seen your face! You can't take a joke, can you?" Raven chuckled lightly, then abruptly frowned and tilted her head to the side. "Or am I?"

"Huh?"

"See you soon, Mandy." She said patting her cheek once more. "We'll make really great allies. Good luck to you staying out of jail and me making Lara miserable."

With that, Raven spun on her heels and walked away, back to the maid's quarter, leaving Mandy drowning in her thoughts.

Raven hadn't expected that things would take this much turn. Of course, she'd dug into Mandy just in case she posed a threat to her plans, so she could blackmail her with it, but she hadn't expected it to actually happen.

Perhaps, things were much better this way.

Mandy would be a great help!

---------

Ever since Lara got married to Felipe, there's always been this unspoken hate Felipe had towards her. She repulsed him!

The fact that Felipe hated her to the moon and back wasn't lost on her, and she was aware that even if, hypothetically, she was to be the only woman left on Earth after an apocalypse, Felipe would prefer to remain celibate.

She knew that she wouldn't have gotten pregnant with Lucy if Felipe was in his right mind on the night of their wedding day. He was so sad and unhappy that his family had forced him to marry a woman he knew was egotistical and condescending that when Lara had made sexual advances at him that night, he couldn't resist. He was too drunk to.

Not that he saw her attractive that night or anything, just that it was his way of reducing the stress — which he later regretted the next day.

It's been five years now since that night happened, yet, he's never even looked her way, even if she went stark naked in front of her. It made her feel less of a woman. He was still in this marriage because of the prenuptial agreement his family had forced him to sign.

His lust was always satiated by different women… any woman in fact, as long as it wasn't her.

She has tried. God knows she has tried, and is still trying. When will he ever see her as the woman she was?

Did she commit an atrocity in her past life or what?

Coming from a family of aristocrats, she had everything, power, wealth, authority… all except love from her husband! Is that such a hard thing to ask for? Even if their marriage was a loveless and arranged one, they could still make it work like they do in those romance novels!

But Felipe wasn't even trying!

Being a housewife, — his big brother took over their family's company — she always stayed home and lounged around; she spent her time either reading books, watching shows, scrolling the pages of social media, going on a shopping spree, or reading webcomics.

She was lounging in the sitting with a fashion magazine in her hand when Mandy came in with a boxed package.

"Ma'am, there's a package for you," Mandy said, handing over the package to Lara, who stared at the package with a puzzled expression.

She wasn't expecting any package.

Who could it be from? She wondered.

Just as she was about to rip it open, Felipe came home.