Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
“Did you guys have a fight or something?” Mirabella asked softly.
“No, we all went to the amusement park yesterday. Around six, when the park was closing, Joyce mentioned she had family coming over for dinner, so she had to head back and couldn’t join us for a bite. I walked her to the alley since her folks were on the balcony, and I didn’t want to intrude. I got home, texted her to check in, called her, but nothing.”
The more they found no leads, the more Barry and Adair worried.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. I’ll have someone look into it. We’ll probably have an update soon.””Thanks, Bella.” As soon as Mirabella ended the call, a beam of headlights washed over her.
“My boss wants to see you,” a man with a ski mask said as he stepped out of the car, his voice icy, his eyes emitting a cold gleam. “Before you get in, hand over your phone.”
Mirabella fished out her cell and tossed it to him. Once he pocketed the device, he gestured for her to get into the car.
Inside, Mirabella sat in the back with imposing poise, as though she owned the vehicle.
A smirk played at the corners of her mouth. She was curious to see who was behind this and what kind of game they were playing.
“She’s in,” said the guy riding shotgun, reporting back to his boss on the other end of the phone. “Yes, got it, I’m on it.”
Forty minutes later.
The car pulled up to the outskirts of a neighboring town, halting at a derelict structure that looked like a half-finished villa, a skeleton of rebar and concrete, rising three and a half stories into the sky.
A fleet of cars was parked outside, and a small army brandishing various weapons trained their sights on Mirabella as she stepped out, wary of any tricks she might pull.
Mirabella walked in, the door shutting firmly behind her.
Joyce and Mya were tied up with ropes, huddled on the floor, while the instigator, Yolanda, couldn’t hide her smug grin seeing Mirabella arrive.
“Surprised it’s me?” Yolanda taunted, her hand wielding a switchblade that she ruthlessly dragged across Joyce’s arm.Joyce clenched her teeth, refusing to let out even the slightest whimper.
She didn’t want Mirabella to come for her; Yolanda had lost her mind. She was afraid Mirabella would suffer seeing her in this state, might even get hurt trying to save them.
“Mmmph, mmmph.” Mya’s cries were muffled by the gag in her mouth, but it was clear she was begging Mirabella to leave.
“Shut up!” Yolanda slapped Mya hard across the face.
With twenty to thirty henchmen around them, Mirabella knew she could take them down, but it would take time—time enough for them to plunge their blades into her friends.
So, Mirabella didn’t make a move.
Her composure was unfazed, her clear eyes betraying no emotion.
“Now that I’m here, we can talk,” she said.
Her laugh was twisted with malice as she glanced upwards. “What do you want?” Mirabella asked calmly, her voice steady despite the chaotic scene.
“What do I want?” Yolanda cackled wildly, her voice thick with malice. “You’ve ruined my life, destroyed my family. What do you think I want to do?”
“If you’re out for revenge, let them go,” Mirabella said calmly, her eyes locked on Yolanda’s. “This is between us. There’s no need to involve innocent people.”
“You think I don’t see through your little games, Mirabella? Do you think this is my first rodeo? Guards, tie her up!”
Perhaps fearing Mirabella might not comply, Yolanda pressed the blade of a switchblade against Joyce’s throat. “If you don’t cooperate, she dies!”
“Murder carries a heavy price,” Mirabella warned.
“Better to drag a few down with me than to wander alone as a lost soul,” Yolanda shot back.
Two henchmen stepped forward and bound Mirabella’s hands behind her back, tying them tight and secure.
Yolanda’s maniacal laughter morphed into sobs as tears welled up in her eyes. She screamed into the void, “Dad, Mom, can you see this? This wretch is in my hands now. Watch closely from heaven because today, she will pay! She will kneel and beg for your forgiveness!”
Tears streamed down Joyce and Mya’s faces as they shook their heads, their muffled cries a testament to their unwillingness to see Mirabella suffer.
Yolanda’s eyes blazed with hate. “You’re a Collins now, aren’t you? So why the need to grind us into dust? Why couldn’t you leave us a sliver of hope? That old fool left her entire fortune to you, a stranger, and not a penny to her own son or grandchildren.”She was beside herself with rage. “If she weren’t so cold-hearted, would we be in this mess? You want revenge for her, but what right do you have? You plunged us into deep debt, got my parents executed, turned me into a laughingstock. You ruined my engagement party, my future, all the happiness I could’ve had. And you? You just waltz back into town, throwing your fancy comeback parties?”
Yolanda’s hatred cut deep. “While I’m living off bread and water, you’re feasting on delicacies. I wear rags, and you’re dripping with jewels. I’m mocked wherever I go, and you? You’re the belle of the ball.
I’ve lost the family that loved me, yet you still have relatives who dote on you. I no longer have Zachary, but you have Romeo! Why? Why do you get to live better than me? Why do you get to trample over us? If we hadn’t taken you in, you’d be dead!”
Mirabella remained silent, letting Yolanda vent her fury.
“You’re a traitor, ungrateful, with the heart of a beast! You have no idea how much it hurt to hold my parents’ ashes, how broken I felt.”
“You’re wrong,” Mirabella interjected quietly. “Seeing Grannie Grace breathe her last before my eyes hurt me more than you can imagine. My pain comes from the loss of family, yours from losing the privileged life of a Melton. We grieve differently. If we must compare, your grief is no greater than mine.”
“Nonsense,” Yolanda spat out, enraged by Mirabella’s words. “Do you think I didn’t love my parents?
That I saw them as nothing but a money tree?”
“The affection was partly because they provided a life of luxury, a world you dreamed of but never knew. If we talk about pure feeling, your foster mother Yvonne’s love was no less than theirs, yet I don’t see you share the same depth of feeling with her.”
Mirabella’s words struck Yolanda like a thunderbolt.No, it must be Mirabella’s deceit!
“How can my foster mother compare to my own parents? She’s just a stranger with no blood ties! She was childless, and I graced her with eighteen years of calling her ‘Mom’. She should be grateful!”
Mirabella’s mind swirled with confusion and anger.
“If it weren’t for you wrecking everything for the Meltons, my parents would still be living high on the hog, the toast of Tranquil City. They’d have more dough than they’d know what to do with, and they could’ve tossed some her way, set her up nice and cozy. This mess is all on you!”
A cold edge laced Mirabella’s voice. “From what I hear, you cut ties with Yvonne the moment you waltzed back into the Melton family. And your so-called loving parents washed their hands of her too.
Yet she’s still taking care of you, shows she’s willing to let bygones be bygones, that she’s got a place in her heart for her daughter.”
“Cut the crap, I don’t want to hear it.” Yolanda raged, her voice laced with hysteria. “Aren’t you supposed to be some miracle worker?”
She motioned for one of her goons to bring something forward. “Drink this and I’ll let them go. We can settle our score later!”
One of the lackeys approached with a shot glass of sinister-looking liquid. Mirabella caught a whiff – it was laced with a lethal poison. She turned her head, refusing to drink.
She had once concocted a remedy capable of neutralizing the deadliest toxins, but she hadn’t taken the precaution before leaving the house.
After all, her main goal tonight was to confront Stinger at the auction. Moreover, she was supposed to attend a banquet with Romeo later in the evening, so she hadn’t prepared.
The banquet was set to start at seven, and it wasn’t quite time yet. If Romeo couldn’t get a hold of her, he would surely start looking into her whereabouts. But even if he did, it would take him at least an hour to get there.And Yolanda’s patience was clearly wearing thin.
At the moment, a couple dozen thugs were holding knives to the faces, necks, and bodies of Joyce and Mya. Edith was strung up high, the rope extending along a track into the building, presumably with the main switch upstairs.
“Don’t even think about trying anything sneaky!” Yolanda seemed to read Mirabella’s thoughts. “The one hanging there is barely breathing. The switch is on the third floor, and even if you could fly, it would take time. But make one wrong move, and I’ll off your two little friends first!”
Without warning, Yolanda viciously stabbed Mya’s thigh, causing her to tremble in agony. Mya tried to stifle her cries, but muffled sounds of excruciating pain escaped her lips, as if she were suffocating.
“Stop it.” Mirabella knew Yolanda was beyond reason; compliance seemed the only option.
“Don’t think I’m playing games with you. I want that poison down your throat in three seconds flat, or I’ll go deeper, and she can kiss her leg goodbye!” There was no room for negotiation in Yolanda’s voice.
The goons’ blades were perilously close to Joyce’s delicate neck, which was already beading with blood.
“I’ll drink.”
Mirabella’s decision brought tears to Joyce and Mya’s eyes as they pleaded with her not to do it.
But the lackey forced the concoction down Mirabella’s throat.
“Can you let them go now?”
Yolanda’s laughter was maniacal. “I didn’t think you’d be so loyal!””Today, I’m going to avenge my parents with my own hands.” Just as Yolanda lunged at her, Mirabella, without warning, spat out a mouthful of blood.
What kind of poison could act so quickly, strong enough to induce blood from the mouth of the unstoppable Mirabella.
Yolanda couldn’t believe her eyes. The once haughty and aloof Mirabella was actually spitting blood, a mix of shock and glee flickered in her gaze.
“The guy didn’t lie to me, the poison in this drug is potent indeed.” Yolanda watched Mirabella with a twisted joy, asking expectantly, “Are you feeling like your insides are being ripped apart, like you can’t hold on any longer? Don’t worry, I won’t let you off the hook that easily. This agony is going to torture you for three hours. After that, you’ll die a gruesome death, bleeding from every orifice. In the meantime, I’ll savor the sight of your impending demise, writhing in pain.”
Mirabella felt the poison coursing through her organs.
“Do you know why it’s three hours?” Yolanda taunted, “As much as I’d love to watch you suffer longer, what if Romeo and his gang come to your rescue? So, three hours should suffice!”
It was the perfect plan to torment Mirabella and yet prevent any heroics from Romeo.
Despite Mirabella’s expertise in pharmacology, always taking antidotes before starting a mission, those days were gone.
Her body wasn’t truly invincible against all poisons.
At that moment, she felt an excruciating pain tearing through her, yet aside from a pale complexion, her expression remained as indifferent as ever.
“Now that I’m like this, can my friends go?” Mirabella managed, coughing up another mouthful of blood.
Yolanda was ecstatic, “I’ve no real interest in your two buddies, but the one above has to stay. Who knows if you’ll try something sneaky.””Fine.” To Mirabella, saving even one was a victory, “I just want a moment to say goodbye to my friends.”
Her voice was clearly weakening.
“You think you can still trick me?” Yolanda was instantly on guard.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.