Abrelle's POV
In order to not draw suspicion I sit in my office staring at the computer screen and pretending to type. I'm just writing random words on a sticky note as I think about what just happened.
I'm entirely unnerved, do they have microphones in here or a camera?
I try not to think about the idea of them having a camera in here. What if they saw the autopsy report? I best not leave it here in the office.
"Abrelle," the door is thrown open and I jump letting out a small scream.
"Stone," I hiss, my hands on my chest feeling my completely erratic heartbeat.
"Did you fire them?" he asks closing the door behind him. "Please, tell me you didn't show them the"
"I fired them," I cut him off grabbing my purse, and the documents, and standing up. He just gave me the best way out of this damn office without drawing suspicions. "Now, before you give me a damn lecture about the Fight for Hunger campaign, I'm not changing my mind."
What the hell am I talking about?
Elliot looks at me completely confused, but I don't give him chance to speak.
"I don't want to waste my time having another meeting," I say, rolling my eyes for dramatic effect. "So can we just talk about it on my way out?"
"I...um," he says, scratching the back of his head. He's totally confused and I don't blame him, nothing I'm saying makes sense.
"Let's just sit," Elliot says and he's looking at me like I've lost my mind.
Think Abrelle, think.
Mhm, okay I know exactly what to say.
"I'm in a hurry," I shake my head. "I'm working on this case for Noah and I need to meet with this client who keeps throwing crazy conspiracies at me. So I need to get out of here."
For a second I think Elliot isn't going to understand what I'm saying, but then he nods.
"Right," he says. "I get it. We can talk about the campaign later."
"Thank you," I nod and open the door. He walks out and I follow him closing the door behind me. I try my best not to look paranoid as I walk through the halls of my company, but I can't help feeling watched.
As soon as we make it out of the building I feel like I can breathe again. God, that was suffocating.
"What the hell was that?" Elliot whispers as we make our way toward Jax, who is casually parked in front of the building.
"They can hear everything that happens in my office," I whisper back, smiling at Jax as he opens the car door for me.
"We're not going anywhere, Jax. Just give us a few minutes," I say before I climb inside the car, happy to be out of their view, whoever they are.
Elliot opens the other passenger door and climbs in sitting directly next to me.
"Wait, who can hear you?" he asks as he closes the car door.
"I don't know," I say pulling out Elizabeth's note and handing it to Elliot. "I was talking to Elizabeth and she gave me this in the middle of our conversation."
"Is she being serious?" he asks looking concerned and I nod.
"She was acting strange and then said she was writing down my important meetings," I explain. "Because they were urgent and then handed me this note."
"We have to go meet her," he says handing me back the note and I shake my head.
We?
"I have to go meet her," I say brushing off imaginary dust from my pants. "and you won't be coming."
"What?" he scoffs. "Why would I not come?"
"Because I'm not taking you," I explain. "I'm not risking her not trusting you and then backing out of telling me whatever it is she wants to say."
Can we blame her, I don't trust you completely either.
God Abrelle, your trust issues are insane.
But who can blame me?
"Come on Abrelle," he starts saying, but I shake my head.
"No," I tell him leaving no room for arguments, he knows there's no point in pushing.
"Fine," he rolls his eyes opening the car door. "Tell me everything she says."
"Sure," I nod as he exits the car and closes it behind him.
***
Jax parked the car a block away and walked me over to the alley behind Tina's bakery. I'm standing there waiting for my mother to arrive.
She's already ten minutes late.
Good thing I had an extra hoodie and a pair of sunglasses in the car. I shoved all my red hair into the hoodie hoping that was enough for anyone to not recognize me.
Jax said he'd be around, but I can't spot him anywhere.
"You're here," I say as Elizabeth walks towards me, she's wearing a long dark wig and sunglasses.
"I said I would be," she says leaning against the wall in an attempt to look casual.
"Who was listening in?" I ask as she pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights one.
"Who do you think?" she scoffs before pulling on her cigarette.
"Stephan," I answer and she nods exhaling smoke.
"Stephan, Kyle, and Harrison," she states and I look over at her confused.
"Who is Harrison?" I ask, and she scoffs.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," she exhales smoke. "Harrison is Macy's father, the owner of their company."
"Why are telling me this?" I look over her and extend my hand out asking for her cigarette.
"Because you're going to get yourself killed," she hands me the cigarette and I pull from it. "Or worse get Natalia killed."
Why is she suddenly acting as if she cares?
"As if you'd care," I exhale the smoke feeling the small high the cigarette gives me.
"Of course, I care," she glares at me. "Everything I've done has been out of love for my kids."
"Love?" I laugh, handing her back her cigarette. "The love of a mother like you is poison, it kills everything it touches."
"I've made some mistakes," she grabs the cigarette. "I didn't think some decisions through and you ended up paying the price, but I've done the best I can."
Is this her way of apologizing?
Geez, she's horrible.
"Some mistakes," I laugh, thinking of all the ways she's failed. "Two of your children went to prison and one is dead because of your mistakes."
Maybe that's harsh, Noah would say.
But it's true.
"Sam killed Nathan," she turns to look at me with a cold glare. "I was doing everything to keep him out of this life. To keep you all out of this life. I wanted you to have a different life, not this."
"By making me Lydia," I scoff, as she exhales smoke. "That was you trying to give me a different life."
"I was trying to clean up the mess," she looks away as if looking at some distant object. "The mess your father made."
"Don't," I hiss, my tone of voice harsh. "Don't you dare talk about my dad!"
"You think he's such an angel," she chuckles, as she pulls from the cigarette.
I try to control my bubbling anger, knowing it won't lead to anything good. I can't let myself get so emotional I spill everything about the autopsy.
"Do you really think he built the company up with tears, sweat, and good intentions?" she asks, the sarcasm dripping out of her mouth. "That it became everything it was when he died because of all of his hard work."
How dare she talk about him like this?
"Your father was greedy," she glares at me. "He created a mess and then left me to deal with it when he couldn't handle it anymore. I did everything I could to protect my kids, but things started slipping out of my hands and before I knew it there were more fires than I could put out."
"You're a liar," I say, my hands shaking with anger.
"You don't know the truth," she says, her voice going soft. "You think I'm the villain, that I wanted to ruin your life. The truth is, whether you believe it or not, I was trying to save you. I was trying to save all three of you and you're right I failed, I got caught up in their game and I ended up losing everything."
"All you've ever wanted is the company," I shake my head, not believing a single word she says.
How could any of that be true?
"All I've ever wanted was to keep you far away from this," she exclaims and for the first time, I can see the worry on her face. "Don't you get it Abrelle? "
I don't understand, what is she saying?
"Then why send Elliot Stone to my apartment all those years ago?" I ask. "Why bring me back into all of this when I was finally out?"
"Were you?" she asks shaking her head. "Sam had his claws all over you, and that was on me. I shouldn't have asked him to free you, but I wanted everything. I wanted Nathan, Alisson, and you. I couldn't let one of you go, so I told him to make you run."
I told him to make you run.
"No," I shake my head, completely overwhelmed and confused by what she's saying. "Sam made me run so I looked guilty, he did it to save himself."
"I gave him the tools to do it," she scoffs. "How else do you think he had the money? Or knew the people who could change your appearance? Or the man who would take off your monitoring anklet?.. Do you really think a low-level FBI agent has that kind of power?.. No, money has that power, my money."
What is she saying? How could my mother be involved in all of this?
Was she trying to save me or save them? Or maybe she was just looking out for herself, like always.
"He did it to save Alisson," Elizabeth says. "Look I can't explain everything, but you need to stay out of this Abrelle. Let Stephan back into the company and just keep running things the way you are."
Why would I let Stephan back in?
"Stop," I tell her, trying to slow her down. "I know the truth about what happened all those years ago, about what you're responsible for. I know you sent Alisson after Luis. I know Sam and Alisson killed him and then told me to run. Those are the facts Elizabeth, stop trying to confuse me into letting Stephan back into the company."
"You only know what they want you to know," she chuckles. "What I wanted you to know. . .Have you ever considered that you don't know anything?"
Again with they.
I know who they are now: Stephan, Kyle Stone, and Harrison
"Then tell me," I glare at her as she hands me the cigarette but I don't take it. "Tell me everything!"
"Leave it be Elle," she says and for the first time in my life, I see true fear in her eyes. "For your sake and for Natalia's"
"Do not call me Elle," I growl.
Maybe you should listen to her, Noah would say.
How can I? Luis deserves better, my dad deserves better, Nathan deserves better, and you. You and I, we deserve better. It's what I would tell Noah if he were here.
And maybe he'd convince me to let it be, if anyone can it'd be him. But he's not here, he's in a coma fighting for his life. Because of them.
"I am not going to stop until I figure this out," I tell her and she frowns as she pulls from her cigarette. "And when I do, I am going to destroy every single one of you. I will have no mercy for what you did to me." To my dad.
"You have no idea what it's like to bury your child," she says, throwing the cigarette on the ground and stepping on it. "Please don't find out."
With that said, she turns on her heels and leaves me standing there wondering if she was warning me or threatening me.
***
I'm in the kitchen drinking my Patron tequila straight from the handle with Kill Bill by SZA playing in the background when Elliot and Macy walk in.
I laugh at the irony of the lyrics and the situation we're currently in. Noah would laugh with me.
You are evil, he'd say.
"What are you doing?" Macy asks as she spots me sitting on the kitchen counter, as I a sip from my bottle.
"Celebrating," I smile, feeling lightly buzzed from the alcohol I've consumed. I mostly stick to red wine, but today I visited Noah sober and went straight to hard liquor once I got home. "I got rid of the rats infesting my company."
"What did your mother tell you?" Elliot asks and I exhale, jumping off the counter I make my way to the cabinets that have the shot glasses.
"A lot of stupid shit," I groan as I grab two shot glasses. "All of which I'm sure is untrue and manipulative."
"Like what?" he asks and I shrug lining up the shot glasses in front of me.
"Nothing worth repeating," I grab the new bottle of Patron and our two shots, making sure to fill them to the rim.
I was glad Jax listened and bought two bottles of Patron. One is all for me and the other is for Elliot and Macy to split.
We're all getting wasted tonight.
"Abrelle," the door opens and a voice calls from the hallway.
Genesis.
When I spoke to Will earlier, he'd already informed me that when he arrived at daycare they casually crashed into Genesis and she asked for a ride to Elliot's house.
"In the kitchen," I yell back and I'm immediately filled with joy as Natalia runs into the room, her hands already thrown in front of her as she asks for me to carry her.
"Baby," I smile lifting Natalia into the air and she giggles. "How was daycare? Did you have fun?"
"Yeah," she smiles and I plant a big kiss on her cheek.
"I love you," I say as I look into her big eyes, Noah's eyes.
"Love you," she says before I put her back down on the floor.
"Ms. Abrelle," Will walks in with a smile on his face. Natalia runs to him asking to be carried, but he just hands her one of her dolls and she takes it happily.
"Will," I smile as Genesis walks into the kitchen.
"Are we having a party?" She asks, and I can tell she's annoyed just by the look on her face. I mean, when isn't she annoyed?
"A celebration," I correct and she rolls her eyes. "But before that, how about you and I have that talk? I need to put Natalia to bed, come with me and we can talk?"
The look of utter shock on her face almost brings a smile to mine. She wasn't expecting me to want to talk with her, but I have a plan and I need her help.
"Sure," she nods eagerly and I smile.
"Then me and you can check in Will," I tell him and he nods, a small smirk on his face. Will knows the entirety of my conversation with my mother, he also knows I'm scheming. He wants me to get revenge almost as much as I do, he cares for Natalia, and the idea of anyone harming her has him riled up.
"Abrelle," Elliot says and I turn to look at him. "Are we going to talk about the conversation you had earlier?"
He's referring to the conversation with my mother.
"Let me take care of this first," I say, trying my best to sound genuine. "Then I'll fill you in on everything. . .But we are definitely celebrating, so you might want to start drinking."
"What are we celebrating?" Macy asks and I smirk.
"My dad," I say and she gives Elliot a confused look. But I don't bother explaining, instead, I pick up Natalia and walk out of the kitchen with Genesis following close behind me.
***
"You are so absolutely freaking totally kind," Macy says, her words slurring together. We're currently sitting on the couch talking about how kind Will is.
"Isn't he the best," I smile before taking another drink from my bottle of tequila. "He takes care of Natalia and protects her, how kind is that?"
I have my own personal bottle of tequila that I'm drinking from, while Elliot and Macy share the other.
"He's a great guard of the security," Elliot slurs, a small smile on his face.
"Isn't he?" she smiles as she takes another drink from her bottle.
It wasn't hard convincing Elliot and Macy to celebrate with me. I gave them a whole speech about how I always celebrate the dead with their favorite drink. I'd go to Toxic every year and buy a beer for Luis and today I wanted to drink my dad's favorite tequila.
Once, the drinking started it was easy to convince them to just keep going. I told Elliot a very short and reduced version of the conversation I had with my mother, leaving out the potential threat to Natalia.
I have a plan to deal with all of that and I don't need his help.
"I'm sorry he didn't secure. . .securely. . .securidly?" she rambles and Elliot rolls his eyes, annoyed at her.
"Securely," I laugh and she nods enthusiastically spilling a bit of alcohol on the carpet.
"Don't drop it," Elliot pouts, snatching the bottle from her and taking a large drink.
"You're so rude," she glares at him and he shrugs.
"Abrelle," Elliots says as he wipes his chin on the sleeve of his shirt. "What would you do if someone came back from the dead?"
Well, that came out of nowhere.
I told you getting them drunk was a bad idea, Noah would laugh, as he proceeded to drink from my bottle. Of course, I'd share my bottle with him.
Mhm, what would I do?
"Freak out," I chuckle, taking another sip from my bottle. "Wouldn't coming back from the dead make you a zombie?"
"But you love zombies," he says pointing a finger at me as if saying "Gotcha!"
"No," I shake my head. "I love zombie movies. Real zombies would suck, I mean they'd eat my brains."
"So you're the reason he keeps all those zombie movies?" Macy asks, a small smile on her face. "I knew it! He never talked about zombies then after England, boom! He has all these new zombie movies he just wants to watch on repeat."
He watches the movies I left?
"But, what if they came back non-zombie?" Elliots asks, ignoring Macy's comment.
Why the hell is he asking this?
Elliot's always been a weird drunk, I told you this many times babe, Noah would laugh.
Mhm, that's true. He did tell me that a couple of times.
"Do I get to choose who comes back?" I ask, as I seriously consider his question. "I mean, we all know I have plenty to choose from."
"True that," Macy nods, and I see Elliot flinch at her comment, but I just start snicker.
"Sure," Elliot says exasperated. "You get to choose who comes back and they won't be a zombie."
I think about all the people I might be able to bring back; My dad, Luis, Nathan, and Alexandra.
"Only one person?" I ask as I consider my options and he nods.
Mhm, if I can only bring one person back then my decision is easy.
"Alexandra," I answer and Elliot gives me a confused look. "She's Noah's older sister, she passed while we were in New York."
"Isn't your brother dead?" Macy asks, matching Elliot's confused look.
"Yes," I nod.
"You'd bring back his sister," Macy says giving me an incredulous look. "Rather than your own brother, you'd bring back his sister. . .Either you're an angel from the heavens above or there's another reason?"
They don't know about Natalia's birth mom, Noah reminds me.
Dang, the alcohol is really getting to me.
"Alexandra Collins is Natalia's birth mother," I explain, causally taking another small sip from my bottle.
"Natalia's not your daughter?" Elliot asks and I frown.
"She is my daughter," I say, a bit more defensively than I mean. "I adopted her legally, well Noah and I did."
"I am confusion," Macy says, looking between my and Elliot. "And I can't tell if it's because I'm drunk or because this makes no sense."
Give more context babe, you're only giving half the story.
"Did you all notice how Noah's family absolutely hates me?" I ask, and both of them nod.
"They hate your guts," Macy says and I chuckle.
Drunk Macy is kind of tolerable. . .Maybe even fun?
I will never forget you just said that!
God, I'm so glad you're not real.
"The reason they hate me is because when we left California their daughter Alexandra was pregnant," I explain remembering the day I met Alexandra. "She was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly before we left San Francisco, but she never told Noah. Then she found out she was pregnant, by some loser who wanted nothing to do with the baby. . .Alexandra knew that if she went through with the pregnancy she was more likely than not going to die, her cancer was advanced at the beginning of her pregnancy. Going months without cancer treatments was going to allow it to grow, but she wanted to have her baby. She was determined and no one could convince her otherwise. . . She never told Noah and his parents didn't either.
"When Noah left with me, his parents told him that if he left they didn't want to hear from him. He took that really hard, but he also listened. I tried for so long to get him to talk to his family, but he refused. He only spoke to Alexandra, she was always calling and video chatting with us," I smile at the memory of her bright blue eyes. "Me and her, we weren't close. I was so out of it for the first few months, but when I was better she was the kindest woman I've ever met. You'd never know she was dying, she was a ray of absolute sunshine. . . Alexandra was a lawyer, a very good one. She knew she was dying and she made a will. In that will she named Noah as the legal guardian of her daughter in the case of her death. She said it was to bring her family back together."
"We were eating dinner, " I say as I recall the exact moment Noah received the phone call. "Noah received a call from a lawyer about a will and that's how he found out Alexandra had passed. . .Long story short, his parents hate me because they think I took Noah away during a difficult time for them. Truth is, Noah stayed away because he couldn't forgive them for not telling him about Alexandra's cancer. In the end, we raised Natalia, it's why she's named Natalia Alexandra Louise Collins. I adopted her shortly after Noah gained legal guardianship."
"Wow," Elliot sighs, a look of shock on his face. "How do you manage to have all of these things happen to you?"
"I ask myself that exact question every day," I say, a small smile on my face. "Anyways, I would bring back Alexandra, so Natalia can meet her birth mother and have that relationship."
"You really are an angel," Macy says looking away from me and for a second I think she has tears in the corner of her eyes.
There is absolutely no way Macy is crying.
Okay, this night went from strange to stranger.
First, Elliot, Macy, and me drinking together like old pals. Then, I told them a personal story about me and Noah. And now, Macy is going to start crying.
No, I can't get caught up in this. I have a plan I need to follow and it doesn't include sharing my feelings with Macy.
I will never let you live this down, I can see Noah smirking in my mind.
Oh shut up, you.
"Okay," I stand up, making sure to take my bottle of tequila with me. "It's time for bed, let's get you two upstairs."
"Why are you talking to us like we're drunk?" Macy asks as she attempts to stand up, but fails miserably, falling directly on her behind.
"Alright," Elliots says, he manages to get to his feet, but I can see him swaying. "Let me help you, Macy."
"You are so handsome," Macy grins as Elliot helps her stand up, holding her by her waist.
Okay, I am officially disgusted. Are Macy and Elliot flirting?
Absolutely not, a girl can only take so much.
That's what you get for tricking them.
Again, shut up, you!
"Will," I yell, as Macy and Elliot attempt to walk towards the stairs. By the way, they're swaying on their feet, there's no way they'll make it up the stairs without help.
"Ms. Abrelle," Will smiles as he enters the room with Jax following close behind, not surprised that I'm calling him over. When we checked in earlier, I told him that they needed to stay close by. I knew I'd need their help getting these two to bed.
"Jax," I smile. "Can you help Elliot and Macy go up the stairs and make sure they go to bed?"
"Of course," he nods and I can tell he's trying to hide a smile.
He's wondering how you drank these two under the table.
Jax walks towards Macy and puts her arm around his shoulder and Elliot does the same. I look at them as they walk towards the stairs and I realize they're going to be fine. Elliot is stable enough to climb the stairs on his own, while Jax is practically carrying Macy.
"Do they suspect anything?" Will asks and I shake my head.
"As far as they know," I answer. "We had a fun night of drinking."
"Ms. Abrelle," Will says and I can tell he's also trying not to smile. "Can I ask you a bit of an unprofessional question?"
"Yes," I nod. "We're friends Will, you can ask away."
"How is it that you drank a fourth of that 1.75-liter bottle and don't seem very affected?" He asks as I take another small drink from the bottle.
"Will," I smirk. "I can handle my liquor, you should know that since you use to drive me around every weekend from club to club. . .This is nothing, in fact, this is the most sober I've been in weeks."
You do drink three to four bottles of wine every night with me.
"Can't argue with that," he says and I can tell there's a concern in his voice. "Well, are you ready to get going?"
"Let me shower and then we can head," I say and I'm about to start going up the stairs when Jax comes down.
"They're fast asleep," he says and I can tell he's amused by the entire ordeal. "Where to Ms. Abrelle?"
"I'm going to go get ready," I tell him and he nods. "Then we're heading to one of Mr. Stone's apartment buildings for some important documents"
"Are we still going to the prison?" Will asks, again, there's some concern in his voice. As much as I want to ask him about his fears, it's too late to back down. I've already arranged everything, we have to act now.
"Absolutely," I nod. "We're going to both prisons."
I hope you know what you're doing.
I have no clue what I'm doing, I sigh as I make my way up the stairs. What I do know, is it's finally time for them to pay for what they did to you, to me, to all of us.
*
A/N: New update! Hope you enjoyed it.
QOTC: What do you think of Alexandra's story?