"Alisha! Is that you? How long has it been? Nine years or something?" Rovena chirped, her voice annoying Alisha. "I heard you left old Aunt Gwenny behind. How did that feel?" Rovena slithered closer to Alisha, her hissing pissed her off. "You're with rich daddy now, what an upgrade! Maybe Grammy will accept you now…" Her cackles filled the air, ruining the calmness around Alisha.
"Are you done? Get out of my site." Alisha's tone was much stronger than it had ever been in the past. It managed to shock Rovena for a second. Alisha didn't stop either, she turned her body so that her eyes could glare into her cousin's. "If I wanted to, I could ruin your life. You, your grandmother, your family, your entire world could collapse and it would only take me a phone call. Get out of my sight before I force you into hiding. I didn't just leave Gwen behind, I abandoned you all. I don't care for you or your family, not now, not ever. You can all kiss my ass." She sighed and flopped back onto her rug. What a bother, she thought.
Unfortunately, Rovena didn't know the details of how rich her father was - or who he was. She assumed Alisha was simply bluffing. "Richer than us too? Lay back on your damn bluffs, Alisha. I know you have some money now but don't let it get into your head. You'll never be better than me, don't you forget that." Rovena, though older, was not any more mature than when she had been a child. She had grown in an environment where her blood and her face made her desirable which resulted in her growing up vain. She had an unstoppable need to always be the best and be nothing less than the best. She noticed that Alisha, who had talked back to her, was in a vulnerable position. She lurched forwards, her aim to return the power dynamic to what it had always been by pushing Alisha down the steep hills again. Unfortunately, Alisha had a pocket knife and was much more alert than she had ever been before. When she heard Rovena come closer, even though she knew it wasn't the best decision she evaded and defended herself with the pocket knife. In a second, the sharp edge popped from the red knife and sliced Rovena's legs diagonally. The shock resulted in Rovena screaming, losing her balance and tumbling down the Peaks. The slices weren't shallow, the result of the metal knife left blood on Alisha's face and clothes. She was shocked by her own decision to pull the pocket knife out. She was lucky that there was no one else in the area around her. She carefully slid down the hills to Rovena who had pulled herself from the freezing waters.
Alisha couldn't bring herself to care for Rovena's wellbeing, she wasn't an angel. Rovena had to splutter and cough as Alisha stood, coldly, and stared at her miserable cousin. "How dare you." Alisha grabbed her cousin by her hair, she didn't feel like being kind to the malicious girl. Though her legs were bleeding, Alisha dragged her struggling cousin to a patch of grass and pinned her down. ���You tried to push me down the same hill, did you really think I wouldn't be ready for an attack? You're the reason for your own demise. Also, you bet my 'daddy' is richer than everyone in your family. If you have a problem you can contact James Richards. Go to a hospital you conniving bitch and if I ever see your face again you can bet on your life that I'll ruin everyone in your family." Alisha sneered at the poor girl underneath her, she felt terrible because saying what she said and doing what she had done had felt good. She felt liberated in a way she had never felt before that moment. As if she was God and she had control over everything around her.
'I want more control. I want more power.' were the two thoughts that rang in her mind. After a second, Alisha had packed her picnic rug and caught a cab back to her home. She was wet from the river and covered in blood from Rovena's legs, however she knew that her cousin wouldn't be able to get her into trouble. She had already called a clean-up crew of sorts that James had told her to use in case she ever got into trouble. She wasn't connected to the family but they still stayed liable for her health - they wouldn't let a lawsuit come her way. Rovena stayed terrified after that, she didn't have a choice but to stay that way. Fear was all that could be found in her heart. The experience had left her traumatized, however what she had done to Alisha had left Alisha in a condition much worse. At least, that's how Alisha consoled the small voice in her mind that felt uneasy about what she had done. She had completely forgotten that Rovena was just a child when that had happened and could never have known what Gwen had put Alisha through her entire life.
She made sure that no one saw her and ran into her shower, suddenly her heart began pumping even harder than it had been before. The adrenaline had disappeared and a feeling of fear entered her heart. What had she done? Why did she do it? She found herself screaming internally because she was afraid of what had happened in the last hour. She pulled off her clothes, soaked in blood and water, and threw them into the bathtub next to her shower. Before anyone would realise, she produced some bleach after going to the nearest grocery store and drenched her clothes in the liquid before throwing them into her washing machine for an hour. She stared at the grey walls and found that she hated the colour, her life wasn't monotone anymore.
'This will be my little secret, something no one has to know.' She promised herself. Suddenly, without her permission, outside her control, she began smiling. Excitement from remembering what had happened filled her. Revenge, she had finally managed to exact revenge on someone that had hurt her an immense amount. She found her thought rushing to Bryan, how would it feel to make him feel the same pain? He certainly deserved it, however she believed that the Bryan in this life was different to the one she had once known. Rovena was the same bitch she had always been and nothing would ever change that.
She felt her phone ring later that evening, it was the service she had called to clean up after her mess. They had sent her a confirmation message and she grinned as she realised that her foolish father's ridiculous wealth could be more beneficial to her than she initially thought. Power and money had mixed together to create a man that was much more powerful than he needed to be, even the President had no choice but to consult him on matters related to the country. Her family owned the police and no one could stop them, they were the true leaders of the country and there was no limit to what they could do. She knew that James had a book of names that had deceased due to his actions, however he never did the dirty work himself.
Alisha had classes the next day, however she felt too bored and excited at the same time to sleep. She put on her favourite black nightgown. It was made from silk and shimmered as she walked. There was lace under her collarbones and two spaghetti straps that held it up, the long flowing silk cinched at her waist accentuating her hourglass figure. Genetics had blessed her body to have a plentiful bosom and bottom, thus clothes that were designed to fit her made her look rather sexy. She went out to her balcony with a glass of champagne she had asked a housekeeper for as she stared at the moon.
She turned to a small speaker she kept on her balcony, which was a rather large amount of space, and she decided to connect her phone to it and play her favourite song. She leaned over the white railing of the balcony, the moon-shine making her skin glow and she sang. She looked like an evil fairy and sounded like a fallen angel, beautiful and haunting. Her voice had always been a bit deep however when she sang she could still hit high notes. In perfect harmony to her favourite song, she sang the night away.
She woke up on the large circle bed that she had placed on the balcony, the covers down so that no bugs would get near her. It was sheer enough that the sun still woke her up at seven in the morning. "Good morning, world. The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing, the birds are chirping. Days like this, with people like you," she said to no one as she grinned lazily, "make me want to kill myself." She crawled out of the bed and got herself for the coming day. At the base of her stairs was, once again, her father. Someone that had never wished her on her birthdays had now greeted her morning twice. He didn't even publicly acknowledge her as his daughter, she found him to be a huge bother.
"I wonder what having parental love feels like…" Alisha laughed at her own pathetic words, scorn filling her laugh. She would never know, would she? She never even got to be a mother. She closed her eyes and saw Diana's blood covered clothes… the blood of her own baby. She would never forget the sight for she had lost the only person she could truly call her own. Just hers. Even Bryan couldn't have loved their child as much as she did, she just knew that she would never be able to leave her baby alone. The second she did, all she had was tragedy to taste.
That night, she had a bitter taste in her mouth throughout her sleep. There was no dream, nothing that prevented her sleep, however she didn't feel well-rested. She had woken up feeling more bitter than she ever had as a feeling of pointlessness devoured her soul. Even if she lived, what would she live for? She didn't want to spend her life trying to prevent the future but she had to. She didn't want to end up with Bryan but she had to keep him in her palm before he went crazy again. She wanted everything to just be okay, was that so difficult?
She went through the day, doing what she always did, smiling when she had been told she should be smiling. However, her heart felt heavy and her head felt achey, every inch of her body screamed in anger and the thrill of the day before was gone. It just left her feeling empty and painfully thirsty for excitement. The same kind she had felt before, however she knew that she wasn't addicted to it. She hoped she wasn't. Addiction wasn't easy to beat, fighting it had driven her mad for years. Though, this addiction was arguably worse than her addiction to antidepressants since others would be harmed. Perhaps it was how good she felt when she had taken revenge on her perpetrator. She would never feel joy in seeing her loved ones in pain, but she could imagine Diana in pain and it didn't hurt her soul.
Though Diana was in the same boat as Bryan, even in this life the woman had caused Alisha pain. There was no real guarantee that she didn't hate Alisha for something beyond what she had seen in her dream. At least, that's, once again, how Alisha soothed her conscience for cursing her stepmother. She knew that Diana wasn't completely at fault and was a result of her own circumstances, but something about seeing Diana feel the same pain that she had once felt made her heart bloom. It was something similar to butterflies in her stomach, a feeling of bliss.
However, there were more pressing issues Alisha had to deal with that concerned her new friend in prison. She had to stifle the power within the hands of Bryan's family - and Bryan - so that she could get her 'friend' out of prison. The first step was to collect information on the family, which she had already asked for and was waiting for her when she reached home after her uni courses.
The Montez's had various assets, however their investments laid deeply in illegal business. Their white money empire was rich and they paid enough taxes to not raise suspicion, however their real empire was one that could reckon with her own family. The underworld was powerful in ways that were unimaginable to most, the degree of control the families held over public opinion entirely through their connections would be shocking to those that would find out out of nowhere. However, to those that knew, it was all just a game. An empire could fall in a day, as it had. Her first move would be to destabilise their empire, enough that it would give her an opening to take it down without arousing their suspicion.
How would she do that? She would let them believe they had a deal with her that benefitted them whilst taking from them something that would shake the world in two months. After searching for years, the mines that their family held would hold a huge stock of diamonds and other rare crystals and metals, however this would be found after the next two months. The current price of that mine was so cheap it was laughable, thus she bought it. It took her a bit of her pocket money to buy it with her fake alias. It was this mine that made Bryan powerful enough to capture her father's greedy eyes which led to him involving Bryan into the family business that eventually led to James' random death.
She had managed to buy the mine in only a few hours as it had been on the market for a few years and the family had been trying to get rid of it for years. After buying it, she received a call from James, she answered without a greeting, just a "hmmm?".
"Why did you buy a mine?" He asked with no hesitation.
"Why do you care?" Her words shut him up and he cut the phone. "That was quick." She commented with a sigh. It was tiring to deal with someone like James because she simply didn't care for him enough to deal with his crap anymore. In the past, she did care. She cared enough to do stupid things like try to be a good student and be friends with whoever he told her to, marry the first man she had a blind date with… end up with a lifetime of regrets.
She opened a business account under her name and transferred her assets into the bank which was just a few million dollars and her new business. She had decided that she would no longer depend on the Richard family for her financial backing. She would return the money that she had taken once she was done, it was less than ten million dollars so it wouldn't be too hard.
She hired a team of professionals and told them to search the mine in the specific locations of the diamonds. She remembered where they were because she had been a part of the project in her last life as she had already married Bryan by the time he took on the project. He let her in on the plans as he trusted her, the only thing holding their relationship was his trust for her and hers within him untils she found out about him and Susanna.
A few weeks passed quickly, as they do, and Alisha received a confirmation about the miners finding the diamonds. She had succeeded very quickly in her endeavours, she couldn't wait for the profits she would reap. The mining site was actually not limited to one country. The mines were under the control of one specific asset of the Montez's, thus they were actually in a few continents, South America, Africa and Australia. There were enough diamonds within these mines to make her incredibly rich, incredibly quickly. She would be rich enough, alone, to overtake the Montez empire.
She received a call from James immediately after she found out about the news. She wondered who in her team was a spy of his. "I heard you found diamonds." His gruff, greedy voice made her shiver, however she didn't care for it.
"The mines cost me around ten million, I'll give you that money and you can be happy with it. I'm not even your daughter, isn't that right Mr Richards?" She could hear his annoyance and she laughed gleefully. Years of neglect had left her numb to his disapproval, she was no longer a child under his control. She wasn't an object that could simply be traded off whenever he felt like it. Though she had lived happily for years, her old living conditions hadn't been forgotten, she would be just as happy in a small apartment in the middle of nowhere. Well, she wasn't really happy so it wouldn't be a huge feat.
"I want in." His words made her clench her fists. However, she was no longer a blade of grass, bending over at the will of the wind known as her father.
"No."
"No?"
"Yes, no." She enunciated.
"Why the disobedience? Are you not grateful for the man that took you in from that witch?" His question hit a place in her mind that he had never hit before. She had never said no to him, thus he had never said such a thing to her before.
"I will never be grateful to you for taking care of me when my human rights were stolen from me, for doing what you should have done years ago. I will never be grateful to someone for doing their job as a parent, I wouldn't have ever existed if you hadn't been irresponsible, none of this would have happened if you had just been a responsible adult." She cut the phone and collapsed on her bed. She truly hated the grey walls of her room at that moment. She was burning with hot red fury yet all she could see was the dull grey of her life. Perhaps, that was all she deserved.
All she was, was tired.
So tired.
She drifted into a heart-wrenching sleep, one that would haunt her.