"What are you planning, Mother?"
Keith looked at his mother, who was wearing a light smile on her lips since she returned home. And right now, she was sitting on his couch, going through all the information of Kiara right in front of him.
He knew that something was brewing in her mind the moment she had asked Kiara to call her 'Mother', and he was more sure of it now that she had bared her intentions in front of him.
"Why, my child?" She looked up at him right into his eyes. "Scared that I would harm your little princess?"
The young Demiliore remained silent, and they both kept looking at each other for a minute.
"You know, she looks a lot like Alicia." Venessa lightly said as she returned her eyes back to the file of Kiara. "But she's more beautiful. A perfect union of Demiliore and Angelini genes, just like me."
He did not know what she was trying to get at, and kept quiet, waiting for her to get to the point.
"Alicia was beautiful, but I always had an edge over her. Even your foolish father admitted that I was more beautiful than her." She lightly smiled. "Yet, he loved her more than me. She would rub that fact in my face whenever she got the chance, and I would keep reminding her that despite all her hopes, she would never become the lady of the Demiliore Family. Do you know why I was so sure of it?"
"Why?"
"I want to hear your thoughts." She gently smiled at him.
Keith frowned at her words and thought things over for a while.
"She wasn't as good as you in anything." He narrowed his eyes at her when he saw a brilliant smile bloom on her face.
"Yes, she wasn't. And the same went for your father." She closed the file and put in on the table. "If it wasn't for their arranged marriage that was set in stone since they were children, she wouldn't even be considered for the position of the lady of the Demiliore Family. But even then, both Familes realized that I was more likely to get that position. It was only fair that I got it, and guess what? Uncle Raizer appointed me as the future Lady of Demiliore Family on my 21st birthday."
Venessa informed him and then recalled the following events.
"You should have seen her face, Keith!" She giggled to herself. "She challenged me right in front of our group of friends that one day she will surpass me in everything. She was really stubborn, I will give her that. But sadly for her and for everyone, her father did not take too well of the news."
"It was never stated in their marriage contract that she would become the Lady of Demiliore Family." Keith sighed.
"It wasn't. But her father only needed an excuse to do what he did next." She narrowed her eyes at her left hand where she once used to wear her wedding band. "He tore up the marriage contract and gave Alicia in marriage to Falken Family." She ruefully smiled. "Do you know, Keith, your father begged me to help him and Alicia? And she asked for my help too."
Her words surpised him.
"And you did?" He felt his heart clenching.
"I did." She nodded to him. "We were like sisters, Keith. We fought a lot, but at the end of the day, we always sat together and laughed at our antics. I was never against her marrying Michael, and we both looked forward to living our lives together as sister-wives even if we had drifted apart over time."
"But things did not go according to the plan." He frowned.
"No. Nothing went according to the plan." She clenched her fist tightly.
"To break up the marriage contract between our families without a sound reason was akin to a slap on our Family's face." She coldly said. "That stupid man did not know what he was getting into, and because of his stupidity, the Business of the two families took a hard hit."
Venessa closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she recollected everything that happened all those years ago.
"My father was in charge of Demiliore Business, and he did not take too kindly of the behaviour of the Angelini Family. He was a smart man, but he only had one drawback, and that was that he allowed his emotions to rule over him at times when he shouldn't." She sadly smiled. "He threatened the Head of Angelini Family, Alicia's father, to end the farce and issue a public statement that all was a misunderstanding or else he would make them suffer and publicise everything incriminating he had against him and the Falken Family." She smiled and couldn't help the tear that escaped her eyes. "They did not take his words seriously, but he was a man of his words." There was a light smile on her lips. "In the coming two weeks, the Angelini and Falken Families lost tens of billions of Neris. They did not call him the God of Sameran for nothing, and he was just getting started."
From her words it could be discerned that she idolised her father a lot, and she was proud of him.
"You know how they killed him, right, my child?" Venessa turned to look at him and asked, and smiled she saw her son lower his head in guilt.
"They called him and asked for a delegation, and Alicia's father even apologized to him and promised to restore the marriage contract and Alliance between the two familes." She coldly said. "He fell for it and went to meet them without taking enough security measures." She couldn't help the tears that pooled out. "They killed their guest, Keith. And no matter which culture you belong to, killing your guest is a taboo."
Keith clenched his fists and kept his head lowered.
"Sometimes I wonder, Keith. Had I never asked my father to help Michael and Alicia, would he have lived? My brother, who was consumed with vengeance, would still be by my side, and have a family of his own? Would I still have my mother who was consumed by the grief that eventually killed her?"
The more he heard her pained words, the guilt that was consuming his heart raged more.
"My father had called me to inform me about his meeting, and I told him that Alicia could become the Lady of Demiliore Family if the Angelini restored her marriage contract. I was willing to give up something I always wanted, just so I could have a whole family. But with my father's death, all my hopes came crashing down."
"And even after everyrhing that happened, Michael and Alicia still stayed just as selfish."
"I lost everyone, Keith." She whispered. "And when I needed my husband the most, he decided to run away with the one he really loved." Her voice became hoarse. "It hurt me, Keith. It really did when I killed Alicia. But your father had left me no other choice, and she wanted to take him away from me, his wife, and away from you, his son, who would need him in his life."
Keith could no longer just stand there and rushed forward to hold her in his arms.
Venensa sobbed in his embrace, held tightly onto him, and her body kept trembling as waves of emotions crashed on her heart.
"I was so scared, Keith. When I learned that you two had been in an accident, I felt like my soul was my leaving my body. But do you know, in that moment, I did not care about him at all. All I wanted from God was to return my child to me, and you were returned to me, unscathed." She whispered. "And I promised myself that I would always keep you happy and safe. For I don't love anything but you, Keith. I would die if you are not there anymore."
"Mother..." He planted a kiss on her head. "I promise, I will always be there."
"I believe you." She palely smiled. "I am willing to bear all the pains just to have you by my side, Keith."
"I..." He wanted to say that he would never let her get hurt, but couldn't bring himself to say those word. He had hurt her today, and he knew it.
"I will raise your precious princess to be better than her mother. It will be my revenge against the two who sired her." She evilly giggled. "Alicia never got to hear her child call her 'Mother' but her very Child would becalling me that. I will influence her, shape her, until there is nothing of her mother left in her other than her pretty blue eyes."
Keith frowned at her words and stayed quiet.
"You have nothing to say?" She curiously asked.
"No." He shook his head and Venessa surpsiedly looked at him. "Do as you wish." He smiled at her when he found her frowning.
He knew that she was not bluffing, but he was content in his heart. From her words he knew that she would not really harm Kiara, and if she wanted to shape Kiara according to her will, he was willing to let her do it.
"I will always be there for the two of you." He reminded her, and Venessa understood what he was implying.
Not that she planned on harming the little girl, but hearing Keith make it clear that he would protect the little girl before she's harmed dissatisfied her a little.
She buried her face back in his chest, and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. And her nerves relaxed.
"Take me to bed." She softly whispered, and Keith gently picked her up in his arms and took her to bed.
It was not long before they were free of their clothes, holding each other naked in their arms.
Keith could not help his curious hands which roamed all over her gorgeous body. He clawed at her soft flesh, digging his fingers in her ass, and as his hands and the fire in his loins grew more agitated, he stoked her back and gently clawed her waist.
Venessa rolled together with him on the bed as she fought for dominance, and eventually he allowed her to get on top of him.
She kissed him fervently, tasting his lips and playing with his tongue, and when he groaned in agitation, she allowed him to enter her confines.
They both gasped in unison at the pleasure that assulted their nerves, and they started moving, establishing a rhythm that was just as comfortable as it was pleasurable.
Venessa mischievously smiled when she looked at his pleaure-soaked face, and he grinned at her when he looked into her misty eyes, and listened to those seductive moans leaking of her luscious lips.
"Kiss me..." He commanded, and Venensa leaned over him, putting her hands on either side of his head, supporting herself, and then nibbled on his lip.
Keith clawed her ass painfully, guiding her movements, and then he could no longer stay calm and started pounding her insides relentlessly.
"YES!" Venessa rolled her eyes back and moaned in his mouth, her body squirming a little at the impending orgasm.
Some clarity returned to her when she felt herself being flung over and then getting pinned under him, but waves of pleasure assaulted her when he started moving again, grunting near her ear.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, giving him better access inside of her, and started singing his name with her pleasure-soaked voice.
Every time he hit her cervix, jolts of pleasure coursed through her, and she couldn't help herself but mark him, biting on his shoulder and then sucking on his neck, leaving hickeys all over him.
"KEITH!"
She cried out his name when she finally fell off the peak, and her insides painfully clenched around him, stopping his movements.
Keith gritted his teeth and buried his length inside of her, filling her to the brim, and then let himself loose, panting her insides in his essence.
Her body trembled when she felt the heat transmit to her womb, and when she opened her eyes, she found her beloved looking back at her.
She gently raised her hand and stroked his cheek, before she started caressing his head, running her fingers through his hair.
Keith could not help himself and leaned in, planting light kisses all over her face. And a beautiful smile adorned her face as she bathed in his affection.
"You are beautiful!" He told her.
"I know." She giggled back.
"I love you!" He smiled at her.
"I know..." She teased him and then came close to his ear. "I don't want to sleep tonight..." She seductively whispered, and ignited the fire in his loins once more.
"I have no plans for letting you rest tonight, my beautiful mother." He smirked at her and started moving inside of her again.
"I hope you can stay true to yours words, my sweet child." She started responding by moving her hips forward, adeptly replying his thrusts, making them both grunt and moan in pleasure once again.
They fought hard, and fought well, but one of them was bound to tire out first.
Venessa smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair, watching him sleep soundly.
Some time later, she glanced at the clock before closing her eyes too.
It was nearly morning, and she too needed some sleep to prepare for the day.