"Mom-mom, what are you talking about?" I ask, confused and curious, as I rub the cuff against the bedboard, hoping it will loosen or break, my heart beating faster, foreseeing what potentially insidious plan my mother may have in store for me, knowing it won't be good.
"Mom?" I am taken aback as she laughs bitterly, shaking her head, leaving me staring at her, completely stunned and confused. "Oh, you think I am your biological mother?" She laughs. "No, darling, we are not biologically related in any way, despite what the papers may say." The shock of her words leaves me wide-eyed and desperate for clarification.
"W-what...?" My voice stutters out, the pounding of my heart increasing, desiring answers.
With a bitter chuckle, she explains in a cold tone, "Nineteen years ago, I adopted you for a specific purpose." The words hit me like heavy rock to the face, catching me off guard and leaving me unprepared.
She adopt me?
My mouth falls open in shock and disbelief.
Despite hearing her words, I struggle to process the information and make sense of it all, feeling a mix of confusion and terror as my mind races with questions, realizing that I need answers to understand what is happening.
I have known her my entire life. We also look alike...
"What?" I manage to whisper hesitantly, trying to grasp the situation.
With a contemptuous expression, she smirks at me, my mouth slightly agape as she reveals her true intentions, "All I wanted was the money your biological parents left behind when they passed away." My stomach tightens at her shocking words as I struggle to speak, my voice trembling in my throat.
"I would have earned a decent sum by looking after you, but when you turned eighteen, all the inheritance meant for me was handed over to you," she puts down her gun, and I let out a sigh of relief, although still feeling puzzled.
"I-I never got a-any money," I mumble, not wanting her to get mad and kill me, knowing there is a possibility.
"Because I didn't tell you about it. It's lying around, and I can't lay a hand on it when that's all I want to do. Not to see your damn repulsive face!" She yells, shaking her head disgustedly at me.
My chest tightens at her words, "Y-you said y-you are not my mother, but w-why do we look alike?" I choke out, feeling tears streaming from my eyes.
How can't she be my mom? I question even when I believe her.
With a bitter chuckle, she informs me, "Oh, my dear, have you not heard of colorant? I colored my hair just to fit the role and achieve my goals!" As she looks at me, she breaks into cold laughter.
I am unable to recognize her as the person I once knew. She has undergone a significant change since the last time I encountered her. Her behavior is now characterized by recklessness, cruelty, and hostility, which is vastly different from her previous demeanor.
I sigh, sensing my hands getting weary from coating the cuff against the board. "I-I don't understand why you're even doing this?" I ask, utterly confused and fearful for my life, my posture quivering uncontrollably, knowing I could die and never see Lorenzo again.
He's the only person that truly cares for me.
"Because you're still alive. You didn't die, so I can't get your money. Aria, if you die, I will be receiving all your assets," she explains solemnly, staring me dead in the eyes, her words making my stomach contract, fear making me feel nauseating.
I try controlling my uncontrollable tears, not wanting her to see me weak, but it is impossible when I could lose my life. "W-why? You're already wealthy from Alex..." I trail off, knowing that he's dead. The man that I love killed him for me.
Mother narrows her cold, unwavering eyes at me, making me shudder, knowing I have never seen her this way.
"His company was in crisis, and he lost everything, and now we're at square one. I am back at square one, Alex included," she shakes her head as if finding it hard to believe.
"What is s-square one?" I ask, needing answers, knowing if I might die, I could at least know what for.
"Initially, my motive was to pursue your money, but then I came across Alex, who was affluent and prosperous. However, after a year, his fortunes took a downward spiral, and he lost everything. As a result, I am once again in pursuit of your wealth. As I said, we are back at square one."
My eyes widen once more, my throat getting parched from her words, all of this adding up to me now. "So you and Alex conspired to kill me, so you could get everything I owned?" I ask in disbelief, letting out a deep horrifying gasp, my eyebrows creasing as I look at her.
They were a part of me getting kidnapped and held hostage to be killed-!
She grins at me with a look of madness, "You didn't quite get it right, but I won't hold it against you..." she chuckles notoriously, making me frown at her, confused and gritting my teeth in anger.
"What?"
"I forced Alex to kill you," she speaks blatantly. "He didn't want to, but he had to," she explains, tightening my heart.
At her words, my eyes widen, my eyes filling with tears and regret, knowing I knew Alex was a good person at first.
I can't believe I let Lorenzo kill him.
Lorenzo... I sigh, thinking of him, feeling my heart melt to my stomach.
It's possible that Lorenzo's departure marked the final time he laid eyes on me. It's unfair to hold him responsible since he couldn't have anticipated the tragic turn of events. My mother's true nature as a murderer was unforeseeable, and she had meticulously orchestrated my death without anyone's knowledge.
No one.
"Alex was a good man-" I stop grinding my cuff against the board because of how worn out my hands get, and nothing was happening.
"Before you and your boy toy murdered him, so there is no more Alex to talk about," she lifts her hand to focus her gun to my head, making me gasp in horror, my body quivering in despair and dread.
"I-If we k-knew that y-you were behind all of this, L-Lorenzo would-" I begin, knowing he would've done anything to keep me safe.
"Killed me blah blah blah, all of your bullshit, shut it!" She screams at me. "Don't you see I have a gun pointed at your head!"
I quickly press my lips closed, looking at the gun she holds, my lips quivering and my breathing growing heavy with panic.
"I've been coveting this moment for way too long, but you kept eluding all my endeavors. When you turned eighteen, you went to college. When you came for Thanksgiving, it was held a grandma's, so there was no way to act. You spent Christmas with your best friend and the other holidays on trips, also with your best friends, then all that happened the other year until I met Alex, and I halted on you because he was already wealthy." She explains, aiming the gun, her fingers twitching to pull the trigger, causing me to gulp with fear.
I can't believe this woman! Someone who I thought was my mother and loved. I thought she loved me.
She was one of my best friends.
But I am lucky I came this far, unintentionally dodging her attempts for two years. I saved my life without even knowing.
"You used him!" I yell at the sick fuck. "You never loved Alex?" I mutter, shaking my head, knowing that he loved us. He never deserved to die, and it is all my fault he died. I forced Lorenzo to kill him! I killed him.
I am a murderer.
My eyes begin to well with tears once more before they start rolling from my eyes with heartbreak and regret.
"I mean, yeah, why would I? I wanted cash-" She shrugs her shoulder, making my blood boil with hatred and rage that starts inside me from what she did.
"He loved you!" I scream in wrath.
"I have the fucking gun, and I am not afraid to use it!" She retorts, infuriated by my words, making me quickly calm myself, knowing she's right.
"O-okay, okay... I am s-sorry, please don't shoot," I beg, shaking my head at her, even knowing there is no persuading her.
With a chilling and terrifying statement, she starts, "Since you possess all the knowledge necessary, your existence becomes unnecessary." These words strike me with an overwhelming feeling of fear, shock, and panic, causing my heart to sink into my stomach.
"W-who were my biological parents?" I enquire, wanting her to continue talking to me and not needing to put a bullet inside my head.
"Shakira and Nickalus Davidson. I heard they were such lovely people, friendly in the neighborhood and such," she smiles cocking her head to the side, bringing it back to me with a soft chuckle.
I need to prolong our conversation even though no one might come to save me. No one is aware of my current situation, including Lorenzo. It would be comforting if he knew what I am going through.
All I ever wanted was to be with him indefinitely before being stuck in this predicament.
"H-how did they d-died?" I ask with my voice cracking up, fearing to lose my life.
"Tragic plane crash, I heard, so sad, not that I care because, look what it granted me with, YOU." She laughs. "Anyway, they were on their way home from a trip to Jamaica, and things started acting up on the plane, then you know, one thing led to the next, and they died," she lets out a fake breath of exhaustion for telling me the story, giving me a hostile look.
I am experiencing a state of desperation as I have exhausted all my questions, which are essential for my survival.
The realization that I have no further questions to generate is distressing me greatly, causing panic to take me over.
This is not how I wanted to meet my end, and I am struggling to come to terms with it. Despite having imagined numerous ways to depart from this world, this was never one of them.
My body is trembling uncontrollably, and my heart is beating ferociously in my chest, instilling a sense of terror that overwhelms me.
My eyes start hastening with tears, and I start to panic, my heart thundering in heavy rhythms.
"Pl-pl-please take th-the cash a-and forget e-ev-"
She starts laughing at me as if I am crazy when she's the crazy one. "Y-you think giving me the money will save you? Honey, there are a lot of reasons for you to run off to the cops. I can guarantee that!" She shakes her head at me and smiles cruelly while the tears rush from my eyes, fearing my life.
"I-I w-won't s-say anything," I stutter out in fear.
"I doubt that," she snorts.
My mom or Martha cocks her gun as she lowers it to my heart.
Before I can take my last breath, I feel an urgent need to convey a message to the one person who has always held my trust and love.
With a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes, I whisper to my mother. "Lorenzo should know that I will never stop loving him," I begin to weep, waiting for my last breath to arrive.
It's my time.
Bam!