Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
Carol dragged them to her mom’s grave, forcing them to their knees with a kick. Dennis stood with a foot pressed on Meredith’s stomach, and with a groan of pain, Meredith woke from his unconscious state.
“Hiring a hitman?” Carol struck Maureen, not holding back in the slightest, “I’m getting justice for my mom today. She died without knowing that a complete stranger could do something so cruel to her.”
“Enough, look what you’ve done to my mom. Carol, have you lost your mind? If you keep it up, she’s going to die!”
“My mom’s already dead. What right does your mom have to live?” Carol asked, her eyes blazing with fury.Caught off guard by Carol’s ferocious onslaught, Katherine was stunned. Carol was supposed to be weak and sickly, yet she fought with the ferocity of a boxing coach.
“It’s almost your turn,” Carol’s words sent a shiver down Katherine’s spine. What should she do? They were in the middle of nowhere; how could she cry for help?
She should have screamed for help when Carol shoved them into the trunk of the car and took them to this place. She should have called out, had her relatives call the cops.
Dennis was relentlessly beating Meredith, having harbored a grudge against him for ages. Meredith, terrified, wailed, “Mom, help me please, mom.”
Maureen was too preoccupied with her own pain, cradling her head and shouting, “Don’t hit my boy.”
“Mama, help me.” Meredith cowered behind his mother, trembling as he pleaded with Dennis and Carol, “The thing that happened back then was my mom’s doing, not mine. Sure, I ran someone over with my car, even stole some cash, but I never hurt you. There’s a rightful owner of every debt; just let me go. Whatever scores you need to settle, take it up with my mom.”
Katherine nearly passed out from anger upon hearing this, “Meredith, are you even human? Mom’s getting beaten to a pulp; she could die!”
“Why drag someone else down with her if she’s about to die?” Meredith shouted back, “I’m the heir to the family fortune; I can’t get into trouble.”
“Please, just spare him.” Maureen, already badly beaten, instinctively protected her son as she begged Carol, “He’s innocent.”
“Did you hear that? My own mom says it’s not my fault. Can I go now? I swear I won’t call the cops. I’ll pretend I know nothing about what happened here.”
It was then Maureen’s heart sank piece by piece, forcing out a bitter smile. To think the son she had cherished for so many years didn’t care if she lived or died. Katherine was equally disappointed in herbrother.
Carol sneered, “Mom, you see? The woman who hurt you raised a useless son and a daughter who’s more trouble than she’s worth.”
She grabbed Maureen by the few strands of hair she had left and dragged her to a gravestone, “You want me to spare your son? Bow a hundred times to my mom’s grave. And you two, not one bow less.”
Katherine and Meredith knelt down, their foreheads hitting the cold stone of the gravestone repeatedly.
“I’m sorry.” Maureen sobbed, seemingly full of regret, “I was blinded back then and I hurt you. I’m sorry.”
Carol’s nose tingled slightly, but being strong-willed, not a single tear escaped her eyes. It wasn’t until they had finished bowing that Carol slowly approached Maureen, “I want you to truly understand the pain my mom felt when she lost her legs.”
The three looked at Carol with disbelief and shock. Their apologies had been made, their bows completed, and now Carol wanted to break their legs? Was there no justice left in the world?
“What you’re doing is against the law,” Meredith’s plea was cut short as Dennis picked up a hefty rock and smashed it down onto his kneecap.
The sound of bone shattering was chilling. Meredith screamed, the sound echoing through the valley.
“Don’t hurt my boy.” Before Maureen could finish, Carol delivered a vicious kick to her knee.
“Mom,” Katherine couldn’t believe it. The once quiet and seemingly meek siblings were ruthless – far from the pushovers she had thought they were; they were downright lunatics.
After crippling them, Carol and her brother left them with the driver’s family, who, upon seeing Maureen, couldn’t hold back their fury and lashed out with punches and kicks. The chaos subsided only when thesound of police sirens filled the air and the perpetrators were taken away.
“Mom, may you find peace in the afterlife,” Carol looked at the smiling photo on the gravestone, bowed deeply, and whispered her silent farewell.
On the other side.
At 8 PM, Mirabella and Horace made their entrance at the auction.
“Which one’s Sam?” Mirabella whispered to the person sitting next to her.
With hundreds of people packed into the dimly-lit venue, spotting anyone was like finding a needle in a haystack.
“I heard he’s desperate for a kind of medicine. Whoever’s hounding after the herb, that’s him.” Horace shared, his brow furrowing in confusion, “Boss, what’s this medicine? What’s it good for?”
It was a strange name, one he’d never come across before. At Horace’s question, Mirabella’s eyes darkened, “It’s for tonifying kidney, interested?”
“Why would I need it? My kidney’s intact!” Horace replied, only to then ponder, “There are tons of kidney boosters on the market, why’s he so fixated on this one? To the point of hitting up the black market.”
“It’s not just any booster. Combined with certain substances, it can boost a man’s sexual vitality overnight. Ahem, but it wrecks the body; it’s banned. Use too much and you get hooked, just like those illegal substances.”
Horace got the gist. No wonder it was a black-market item, it had that kind of power. Wait a sec, how did the boss know all this? She’s too savvy.
The auction kicked off.
The first item up for bids was some porcelain, the kind looted from graves, the sort that couldn’t stand the light of day. Interest was scant, and the bids were even scarcer.Then came the herb. With few in the know about this medicine’s purpose, the bidding was sparse; until at last, someone snatched it up for 2,800 dollars.
It was a man in the back of the seating area. He wore a battered old cap and dressed like a blue-collar worker, utterly unremarkable. When the staff brought the payment code to him, he scanned it, grabbed his prize, and left.
“2,800 for that ugly thing,” Horace clearly felt it was a waste.
Mirabella stood up and followed, her voice low, “If that herb is turned into what I mentioned, it could rake in over 100 grand.”
“What did you say??” Horace’s eyes bulged, incredulous and yet he couldn’t help but add, “But he doesn’t look like someone who knows his way around a lab.”
“Ever heard of teamwork? Or maybe he plans to flip it, sell it to some big pharma for a high price?”
Mirabella walked down a side path, leaving the seating area behind.
Perhaps wary of attention, Sam headed out the back door after the auction. The back door opened to a field of knee-high weeds, unlit and desolate; the darkness seemed to swallow everything whole.
No sooner had Sam stepped out than figures rose from the weeds, armed and aiming at him. Steward had brought his men to catch him.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Sam didn’t know who they were, only that he was in danger and tried to flee. But Mirabella and Horace quickly caught up from behind.
“Take him,” Steward commanded, and his goons moved in.
Mirabella saw them trying to snatch Sam and immediately took hold of him herself.”You again?” Steward hadn’t expected this girl to show up everywhere, “Are you in cahoots?” Last time at the Demon Ring, this girl had caused a ruckus at the boxing match, letting Sam escape in the chaos.
Now, she had Sam in her grip. Could it be, they were really on the same side?
“Who the heck are you?” Sam struggled, shocked by the grip of the young girl. He hadn’t expected a teenage girl to pack such a punch. There was definitely more to her than met the eye!
“Boss, what do we do?” Horace was taken aback. Another crew had shown up, eager to snatch Sam from them, and they were well-armed, while they were completely unarmed.
Suddenly, a swarm of henchmen spilled out from the auction house. They were all under Steward’s thumb, working together from the inside out, all to ensure they walked away with Sam tonight.
Now, Mirabella and Horace found themselves surrounded on all sides.
“Boss, maybe we should just let them have him for now and we can nab him another time,” Horace took one look at the situation and realized escaping from their clutches was going to be nigh on impossible.
“Your friend’s got brains.” A smirk was curled into Steward’s lips, “But today, none of you are getting away.”
He’d been hunting her for two days, and now she’d waltzed right into his hands. Tonight, she was going down too!
“Talking tough, huh,” Mirabella tossed Sam to Horace and struck fast.
Steward didn’t expect to be looked down on by a mere girl. The last time they’d met, he’d been lenient, sparing her his worst out of a twisted sense of chivalry. But not this time. He had his pride as a man to reclaim!
He countered her moves swiftly, and the two were locked in a fierce battle. As the others saw that Sam was with Horace, they moved in, “Hand him over.””Boss, boss,” Horace swallowed hard, realizing all eyes were on him. They had formed a circle with him at the center, steadily closing in. He watched helplessly as they cocked their guns, barrels aimed straight at him.
Horace thought of a phrase: no way out. Even if he had wings to fly, he figured they’d shoot him full of holes.
After Mirabella took Steward down, she saw the crowd surrounding Horace. She grabbed Steward, took his gun, and pointed it at his head.
“Move an inch closer, and I’ll shoot him.”
The crowd hesitated, their nimble boss Steward, now helpless in the grip of a girl. And Steward looked beaten up, utterly pathetic.
Steward had lost face. He had never expected the level of her competence was way higher than him.
Last time someone dropped a smoke shell and she ran away during the chaos. He hadn’t really confronted with her personally, and now.
He couldn’t only admit that there was always someone better than him; he underestimated her.
“Steward.” No one dared to make a move, fearing for their boss’s life.
But Steward still had some nerve left in him, “Don’t be afraid, she won’t shoot. Today, we’re taking them all down. What are you waiting for? Move!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Mirabella pressed the gun even closer to his head, and even pulled the trigger, her presence icy and menacing.
“Buddy, I’d shut it if I were you. Our boss here, she’ll really send you to meet your maker.” Horace, holding onto Sam, offered his advice sympathetically, “Maybe you should tell your guys to back off. Wejust want this guy; no need to end your lives.”
“This guy, we’re taking him.” Steward had already botched things up last time; he was dead set on capturing them now, “Not just him, I want you two as well.”
“You’re overestimating yourself,” Mirabella pulled the trigger, the bullet whizzing just over his head, threading through his hair.
The crowd gasped, even Steward nearly lost his composure. Seeing strands of his hair fall to the ground, he felt his knees weaken.
He never saw it coming, that the girl would actually pull the trigger.
“Missed.” Mirabella pressed the barrel of the gun against Steward’s temple once more, “This time, it’s for real.”
A collective gasp filled the room as everyone instinctively stepped back. They believed that this girl might actually pull the trigger on Steward.
Horace thought he saw a glimmer of hope. He never expected the boss to turn the tables with such ease. Just when he thought they could make a clean getaway, someone made a move, charging at Mirabella with lightning speed.