Present-day
Iva's Condo(Sicily)
"Okay girls, it's time for you to sleep, you have school tomorrow," Iva said trying to hide the pain in her voice.
Telling her story to Luna has been more difficult than she led on, she had tried to filter it as best as she could for her innocent ears, but other things had to be told as they were.
While telling her story, she did notice the slight flashing of Sumeya's crowned heart pendant, she had smiled to herself thinking how smart her boys had grown to be, it was obvious that the necklace wasn't just a necklace, she hoped they did hear the story it would save a lot of time on her part, but if not, then she would retell it one more time, her babies did deserve an explanation, Alunamida was young, but they had been big boys who would have noticed their mother's absence and felt it.
"No, I want to know what happened after, how did you fight off the guards, did they hurt you?" Alunamida pressed, holding her mother tight.
"I couldn't fight them off baby," Iva sighed as a tear slid down her face at the memories of what happened after that messy night in Milan.
"Then what happened?" Sumeya asked this time around, hearing the raw emotion on the girl's voice, Iva looked up and saw that she was struggling to keep her tears in, and she could see it wasn't just from her telling her story, the girl has been through a lot, and Iva would like to hear about someday, but for now, she was going to offer her comfort, comfort that she wished someone had given to her all those years ago.
"Come here sweet girl" she opened her arms and beckoned Sumeya to her arms, she made space for her on the couch as she came into her embrace without hesitation.
Iva hugged both girls to her and gave them time to cry silently, it became obvious to her that the hug was for herself as much as she was reassuring the young ones that all is now well, but she too needed reassurance that indeed things will be okay soon, she was tired but she knew she had to be strong for one last time because this was only the beginning of another sh**storm and she was the one who will let it rain hard on all those responsible for her long-suffering.
When she heard the girls had calmed down she began speaking with difficulty because this part is one she can not wrap her head around, she had tried to think and make sense as to why Emilio suddenly betrayed her but this one wound had cut her too deep and thinking straight seemed to be impossible, rage suddenly blinds her whenever she thinks of what she had to endure because of him, she may not be able to kill Emilio without hurting her kids, but baby daddy or not Emilio Morelli was going to pay.
"I couldn't fight them off" she starts again when she could tell they were again listening to her.
" So I surrendered, I was counting on your father to clear things out, he would never let me be killed or punished for something I didn't do" she takes a deep breath.
"But I was wrong because he did, maybe because he didn't believe that I was not the one who pulled that trigger or he felt betrayed I had a plan and executed it without his knowledge, but whatever reason, the punishment was too great and unfairly delivered to someone who only tried to protect her family".
Silence followed that statement.
"I was sent to prison, I could tell at first that Emilio made sure I still had comfort, whatever little comfort a prison could offer, my bed had a nicer mattress than other inmates and my cell was more like a private ensuite room than a prison cell, which is why I wasn't worried at first"
"At first?" Alunamida interrupted her mother.
"Yes at first, after a week in there without seeing your Father and no talks of a trial I began to get worried, Emilio wouldn't keep me away from you for such a long time, you were still a baby, and you needed me, I missed you so much," she wipes at her face again.
"A night before I was transferred, I sought out a guard, trying to get a clue on what was happening out there, to check on you kids and your father, I wasn't going to put up a fight because I felt like I understood why Emilio was mad enough to imprison me, he lost his father and brother because of my stupid plan, so in a way, I was atoning for my sins".
"But you didn't kill them" Sumeya injected sounding frustrated at the story, Iva smiled at the girl.
"Yes I didn't" Iva replied with a sad smile, but she was happy that at least these two beauties believed her, at least now she had support from the girls.
"After I talked to the guard, he told me we couldn't speak in the open and that I should come to talk to him after hours when it was time for them to change shifts, he would open my door, and I had to wait a while and come find him by the laundry room".
Iva paused to take another breath, this part of the story pissed her off, and it was what kickstarted her torturous existence after.
"Everything went as planned and soon we were in the laundry room, I asked him about you, the twins and he wasn't giving me any information, I asked about your father the only thing I could get was that the King was angry" Iva chuckles dryly.
"The king is angry with you, he said, and all I could hear was, I came here to waste your time, so I acted".
" Mama, what did you do?" Alunamida asked with worry lacing her voice.
"I killed him, I pretended to go in for a thank-you hug and on the last minute pulled his gun and shot him twice, one bullet to his heart the other to his head, making sure he won't wake up again, After that I tucked the gun in my jumper and went back to my room and waited, I was tired of being in the dark and I had made up my mind, Emilio would have to face me by force, hide and seek was not getting us anywhere and I missed you kids so much my heart broke every night I slept without seeing you".
"Didn't they hear the shots, Mrs. Morelli?" Sumeya asked.
"Oh they did, and I was counting on the fact that they will hear" Iva smiled at the girl.
"I assume they followed the sound and found him dead, they came to my cell and found it unlocked and they knew I had been out, they tried to get in, get to me, but anyone who made a move ended up dead on the floor, soon my bullets went out and by then I had shot and killed seven of them, I guess their order was to take me alive, the aim was to torture me not kill, so when they managed to get in my cell they electrocuted me till I lost all strength to move and as a final precaution they hit my head with the bum of a gun knocking me out"
"Wow," You could hear how speechless Sumeya was, this was someone's life and she was hearing it all like a retelling of a tragic movie, but this was her best friends mom, and her father was the reason for her suffering, she felt the betrayal herself, Uncle Emilio was supposed to be a good guy, but there was no sign of deceit in Iva's eyes, even her voice held sadness, her eyes showed her pain, and Sumeya knew she was leaving out details, maybe for Alunamida's benefit, but she couldn't help to wonder how much pain had this woman had to endure but still manage to look and sound so strong, Iva quickly became her idol, she was going to be a strong woman just like her, she will no longer allow her demons to devour her light.
Iva looked at the dark beauty who suddenly had this look of determination in her eyes, she smiled wondering what was going on in that young head of hers.
"When I woke I was in a dark box, and first I thought they had buried me alive, but when I moved I felt concrete the only deduction I could come up with was, I was in some sort of cell, which was made small enough to resemble a coffin, only the person inside could not sit or lay down, they could only stand, no matter how many times my knees gave in, I stood waiting, what felt like months was a week, when I came out of there I was sure to be claustrophobic for the rest of my life"
Iva shivered at the memory, it was true, even till this day, she never recovered from her fear of small spaces, the thought of being confined, with little to no room for movement caused her great panic and she would faint, leaving her vulnerable to the world, that was only one of her many bad effects she obtained from being in the pit.
Iva can not sleep with the lights off, people would think of it as a silly thing like a child being afraid of the dark, but her monsters, were real, and until they were taken care of, she didn't know if she would ever recover even after that, the sight of chains gave her a panic attack similar to the one she gets from small spaces, she suffers from occasional glitches and blackouts, due to being electrocuted like a wild animal daily, most days it's like her body acts on instinct and she has no control because her mind shuts down for those seconds, she has day and night terrors, all her dreams are fixated on one event that keeps her on a loop, she is a danger to herself most of the time but mostly she is a danger to those around her, if it weren't for Demir's parents, she would have been lost to the world forever.
"I hate him" she heard Alunamida's strong voice.
Her brows furrowed at the statement coming from her daughter.
"What?" She asked to make sure she heard her correctly.
"I hate him, mama, he is the reason you left us, you didn't leave he kept you from me while torturing you, I hate him".
Alunamida screamed jumping up from her mother's embrace, she felt betrayed, all her life she had tried to talk to her father about her mother, but he always refused her, the only time they came close to talking about her, was when he came home drunk and called her their never-ending love from that Alunamida could tell his father missed her mother and he still loved her deeply but hearing this now, she wondered how far did he go to push her mother's punishment for something she didn't do, why had he never came himself and got answered, Alunamida felt like all of this pain could have been avoided had he put his family first before his crown and ego and for that alone, she will never forgive him.
"Oh my little lamb, you don't mean that" Iva got up and hugged her daughter again.
"Luna, I understand hearing my story and what I went through upsets you, you are angry at your father that is understandable, but my love, you do not hate him, he raised you, protected you, and loved you as a father should, you are this beautiful young lady you are today because in my absence he stepped up, as much I loath your Father, I don't want you to ever doubt his love for you, this war is between me and him, and we will finish it between the two of us, I don't want you kids getting involved, do you understand me?" Iva demanded with a strong voice that left no room for argument.
Alunamida kept quiet stubbornly refusing to give her mother an answer or make a promise to not get involved because the last thing she wanted was to stay out of it.
"Alunamida did you hear me? what is going on between me and your father is an old feud that none of you children will understand, I will not repeat myself, you do not hate your father, yes you are upset, but you will get over it, and you will stay out of this, me telling you what happened all those years ago was to clear out the confusion, but my sweetheart you couldn't even begin to grasp how long and twisted the whole story is, I want to know you safe at all times, both of you" she directed to Sumeya, who had a look of defiance in her face as well.
" I am glad that you girls believe me and are on my side, but baby this is my fight, I can protect myself, all I want is for us to make up for a lost time, get to know each other, and hopefully someday your brothers will forgive me too" at this she glanced straight at Sumeya's pendant.
Alunamida finally nodded her head and hugged her mother back, Iva sighed in relief and opened her arm calling Sumeya to her, the girl immediately got up and joined the hug.
"I apologize for scaring you earlier my beauty, you remind me so much of my young self, I'm glad I met you Sumeya, thank you for being a friend to my little lamb, I can tell you are very protective of her" Iva chuckles brushing the girl's curls softly.
"I'm glad I met you too Mrs.Morelli" Sumeya responded.
"This Mrs. Morelli thing is annoying, you can call me Iva or Mama, Emilio is so annoying for not signing those divorce papers, hard-headed ass" Iva grumbled, and the girls giggled lightening up the mood.
"I'm glad I met you too mama" Sumeya corrected her mistake and Iva smiled.
"Wait so after they took you out of the small cell what happened" it was Luna who asked that question.
"I found out I was being held in the pit".
"The pit?" Sumeya asked.
" A mafia underground prison holding the most dangerous criminals, escape is almost impossible, I was there for six years as a result".
"Six years" Sumeya exclaimed.
"You escaped" Alunamida started with wonder in her voice, she had heard talks of the pit, the only way out of there was death, what goes in never came out, not alive anyway, and her mother managed to escape, it may have taken her six years but she escaped.
She looked at the woman who birthed her with a newfound admiration, and she couldn't help but wonder if her capabilities had any limits at all, Iva was her hero, and a realization set into her, her mother was a dangerous woman and the God of Mafia was the one in trouble, and she couldn't get a good hold on her feelings about that conclusion, will she kill the King? For some reason that thought brought fear in Luna's heart, yes her mother was right, she was upset at her father but she didn't hate him and that is the reason why she will break her promise.
I'm sorry mama, but I can not stay out of it.
Alunamida thought silently her mind made up already, she made a silent vow to herself, she will bring her parents together, no matter what.
"Yes, my little lamb, there's always a way out, you just have to find it".
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Thank you for reading 🙏
Love Zoey 💞🤗