Spending the last hour or so at the police station was getting to my head. The nurse wasn't opening her mouth and the police weren't doing anything to make her talk. I needed answers for what happened to my mother, I needed revenge for what the Stanley's did to her and to Elijah.
"Miss Ester, I suggest you go back home, she isn't going to speak for a while." A police officer comes up to me but frustration creases in my brows and I walk right into the investigation room. "Miss Ester, you're not allowed—"
"I'm a lawyer, I have legal rights!" Cutting him off, I see the nurse sitting back on the chair unbothered about the whole situation, a grin resting on her face as she glances at me. Squinting my eyes at her, she lets out a snicker, "You killed my mother." Seething at her, s11he shuts right up and looks right into my eyes.
"I did and if I had to, I'd kill her over and over again," She was getting on my nerves, my body itches to do something but I had to control myself, "She deserved to die especially when they couldn't kill you."
My heart clenches into something tight—a very familiar feeling that doesn't want to vanish every time something happens. Something bad because nothing has been good.
"What makes you think you'll live though? You're charged with first degree murder," Seething, I grind my teeth together, feeling the fury across my face and she bursts out into chuckles. This bitch. "The Stanley's won't bail you out, they probably don't care that you're here." Just as she was pushing my limits, I was doing the same to her and clearly, she didn't like the idea of it.
"But you care that your mother died. Oh, it must have been exciting seeing that white foam coming out of her mouth." Her evil chuckles echo in the room, and it doesn't take me a second to haste over to her and grab her by the throat.
She starts choking, my mind blanking out as I tighten my hand around her throat. "Say. That. Again. I dare you." Grunting, I could hear her try to catch her breath with struggle just the way my mother couldn't breathe after the poison got to her.
I was suffocating her. My mother was suffocating just like that.
"L-Let go o-of m-me." Chuckles echo into the empty room again but this time they belonged to me. What she and the Stanley's caused my mother, what he made Elijah to go through was being released into strangling her.
"You're going to die and so will the Stanley's," I never let myself speak with anger but for the longest time now it's been hidden and now was the time to release it, "I will watch you die, the way you made me watch my mother die." Stopping every tear welling up in my eye, I didn't realise my fingertips were pressing tighter than I should be until someone pulled me away.
Letting out a grunt, the officer holds me back as I try to attack her again. "Miss Ester, you need to calm down. I'm sure you don't want to be arrested yourself." Pushing him away, I fix my hair and attire before walking out of the room.
Taking a deep breath, I press my head against the chilled wall, calming myself down before I do something irrational again. I'm so sorry mum. I promise you that you'll get your peace. Squeezing my eyes shut, I suddenly feel my body shutting down—like everything is shattering into pieces over again.
"Miss Ester, I suggest you go home, or you may be able to visit Mr Miller in the time we investigate the nurse."
Walking away without saying a thing, I decided to go home back to Dalia since I promised her. I was tired of everything. How can I stay strong when my mother's gone and Elijah's away in prison? How am I able to stand up in court to defend him now when I've lost every strength in me?
"She has to be charged with first degree murder. If the judge doesn't confirm that, I won't hesitate to come back and do the same shit I did just now." Before walking away, I threaten the officer who immediately lowers his head down.
As I leave the station, I grab a cup of coffee, holding it loosely as I begin to walk the wet streets of New York. A stifled groan escapes my lips as I start feeling tears well up in my eyes again. My ears draw into the loud beats coming down from the club not far from me, music of happiness and a night of enjoyment yet hear I am, dwelling in pain.
The voice of my mother plays in the back of my head, replaying every moment we've had together, and it was that, that makes me felt a life to live and though it tortured me every second, I still let myself remember every moment. Don't cry for me, Scarlett.
Don't cry for her. How can I not? The only woman in my life who taught me everything was gone and I just to act like it never happened. Seeing her being put into a casket was never in my mind and just when I had hope of her becoming better, everything turned around.
It's like everyone that I love, everyone that I care for was separated from me. Elijah is here but he's not. I feel his presence in me, but I can't see him. His love is buried so deep in my heart but he's not here to make me feel loved.
Just when I wanted some quiet, a stranger bumps into me making me drop all my coffee over my dress. Scoffing and seething at the same time, I quickly wipe the coffee off and make eye contact with the person.
"Watch it." Scowling at him, he immediately looked terrified, biting his lip like he was ashamed.
"I-I'm sorry, miss." Rolling my eyes at him, I take out tissues from my purse and wipe the droplets of coffee on my chest. Being angry already was helping me in this situation, I press my lips together before I say anything else.
"Sure, you are. Just get out of my sight before I say shit to you," He hurries past me, apologising once again. I let out sigh realising that I wasn't being myself, "Wait!" Calling him again, he quickly turns around.
"Y-Yes?"
"Listen, I'm sorry for speaking to you like that. I've just had so many things on my mind lately." I didn't know why I was telling this to a stranger but at the same time it felt like I needed to get it off my chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this, you probably have somewhere to be."
"I was just going home but um you can talk to me if you'd like. A stranger to a stranger." He walks over to my direction, I push my hair back as the breeze hits my face, "I apologise again for spilling the coffee on you."
"It's fine. I'm not having the best of days which is why I spoke in a rude manner. I should be the one apologising."
"Want to talk about it?" He asks and maybe—maybe I was doing the wrong thing but speaking to someone who doesn't know anything might clear my mind. But was it right to tell him about Elijah?
"My mother passed away just a couple of days ago and I just met with the killer at the station." I stopped myself from tearing up because at this point, I was thinking of what use would it bring. If my mother didn't want me to cry for her, the least I could do is put on a fake smile and get through her mourning period.
"Oh...I'm so sorry for your loss," He lowers his head, but I wasn't telling him to gain some sympathy but to just get my thoughts out. "Can I ask how she died? You don't have to answer it." I hear the gulp from his throat, yet a lump gets stuck in my mine.
"Poison. It's a long story." Saying that out loud to someone was wrenching. My gut twists in pain as that wipe foam appears in my head and the way is spilled out of my mother's mouth. "She was already hospitalised previously and a different nurse to her usual one came and caused her death."
"Shit, that bad huh?"
"And I'm trying to get my boyfriend out of prison. It's more than bad." Looking at him, his eyes widen, like he knew who I was.
"Wait, you're not Scarlett Ester, are you?" He clears his throats, squinting his eyes and pushing his hands into his pockets. Shaking my head, I was the one to lower my head this time and look away. "You were the one that was kidnapped..." He lets out a small whisper—wait everyone knows that?
"Yes, I'm Scarlett. Um, does everyone know about the kidnapping?" Letting that lump swallow in the back of my throat, no one ever told me that this got to the news, not even Jocelyn did.
"It was all over the news because of the law firm you work at," Oh. Gulping, my eyes land at my hands which were fidgeting with one another.
"So, everyone must know who saved me?" I wanted to know if they knew about Elijah, if they came up with false stories about him because knowing the media, they like to stir things up.
"Elijah Miller, right? Yeah, we know who saved you."
"He's innocent." Blurting out, our eyes meet in an instance, and it looked like didn't believe me for a second until he hummed in agreement. If people were talking shit about Elijah, I'll stand up for him, I'll prove to everyone what kind of man he is multiple times just so I can see his name in the clear.
"I never said he wasn't, Miss Ester," The stranger beside me sucks in his breath, pushing his hair back as he speaks, "We all know that he saved you and if people are still going to think he's the bad guy, let them believe that. What matters is most is that you trust him more than anything, that you have belief that he's a good man."
I was struck by his words. I didn't expect a man—a complete stranger—to speak good about Elijah. I know for a fact that the Stanley's have portrayed Elijah as the villain in the whole case, but little do they know, he's just a man wanting to get away from the life he's living right now.
"I—wow, thank you. I thought you would've said he is the bad one and I'm doing the wrong thing of helping him."
"No, in fact, you're doing the right thing," He gives me a cracked smile making me press my lips into one too, "I'm an open-minded person, Scarlett, I think the world is messed up and everyone always think bad guys are going to bad guys. The world doesn't know what Elijah is like but there's always good in people." My heart trembles for a second that it makes me want to get him out of prison right now and tell everyone that he's not the bad guy.
Because he never was the bad one. He was just manipulated into thinking he was the bad one, someone weak who was never going to get out of it. Elijah was the victim of a vicious game. He was just an innocent boy who never got treated with the right type of love.
"I like the way you think. I agree with whatever you just said." Letting out a deep breath, all I can think about is the day I see Elijah walk out of that court free from everything he's accused off, "He never was the bad guy and I'll make sure everyone sees that."
It was a promise to myself—a promise that I've always made from the beginning. It's a promise of my soul, one that if I break it, it could be the end of Elijah and me. It was a matter of winning now, it was a matter of keeping our love enacted and a matter of keeping our hearts strong.
And if I lose, I betrayed everything he ever wished for.
a/n:
I feel like this was such a boring chapter but oh well. Next chapter might be a less boring one!