[chapter 7. Mirage she created]
Selena closed her laptop and looked at the new phone Liliana had bought her the day before.
It drew her gaze to the closet, which was barely occupied but held enough value to purchase a mansion. It made her sigh. She despised the amount of money they lavished on her. She did not want to owe Mariano's family anything, ever. It made her feel awkward.
Maybe I can pay them back, she thought.
Yeah, by revealing your true identity, her subconscious scoffed.
Selena paused for a moment. That was right. She would rather die than let Marinos know she is- or was.
They could never know.
She wanted to leave this house after graduating from Imperial Academy and move somewhere safe in the name of pursuing a master's degree. Somewhere far away from everyone who knew her.
A small space where no one knew her and she could begin again. Free of all troubles, in the freedom she had always desired.
She couldn't stay with her biologicals for long; she needed to be sure they were dead before getting close to anyone.
She decided to contact Big Brother. She was willing to give up her life for the man who raised her. "Big Brother," she said with a genuine smile, not a calculated or manipulative one, filled with pure bliss. Her eyes brightened, and her voice softened.
"Малeнький," the timber voice said in glee. It made her heart swell with emotions. (malen'kiy: Little one)
"Big brother, I have a question," she began speaking in Russian. The call lasted a few minutes before being terminated.
"To whom were you speaking?" Her head turned when she heard the gruff voice. Maxim's eyes flashed with curiosity; she did not appear surprised, as if she had long recognized his presence. Selena slipped her phone into her pocket with a polite smile and a fiery glint in her eyes and turned her attention to him.
"My family," she said before she could mince it into something mellow. Selena was surprised to see a look of hurt in his eyes, but she brushed it off. She explored his eyes again but found nothing.
Maxim Mariano was one of the coldest people on the planet. The man was incapable of feeling anything. I don't think he feels anything because he didn't even smile in the presence of bright Liliana, Selena speculated. But again, after years in business, he must have mastered the ability to conceal his real emotions.
"Let's go to dinner," he grumbled, waiting for her to join him. Taking a chair next to him, he helped her settle in and sat alongside her. Selena acknowledged his chivalry and muttered thanks.
Selena cast a glance around at everyone who appeared dumbfounded. Did something happen?
Liliana smiled as Samuel rolled his eyes; her gaze darted as she watched him grip the glass of water until his knuckles turned white. Angered, annoyed, she noted.
Then her gaze was drawn to Theodore, who appeared unphased, but his pupils dilated. She noticed his lips twitching and how he hid it by wiping the corner of his mouth.
Was he amused by the situation?
Her gaze was drawn to the man beside her, her oldest brother. He was staring at her as if he was studying her. Hope you graduate, she sneered in her mind.
Maxim evaluated his long-lost sister.
His sister did not have a buoyant temperament and was not apathetic either; she got along well with his mother. But he sensed a barrier around her, refusing to let anyone in and only allowing everyone else to see what they wanted to see.
It was as if she'd conjured up a mirage. Allowing thirsty people to beg for a drink of her reality only to experience the illusion she created. Allowing those yearning individuals to suffer through the tortuous wait for reality before releasing a single drop of a lie, which they would greedily accept as truth because they were desperate for anything.
For a split second, he believed her innocent smile. Her dimples and doe eyes made his heart clench, and she was just as adorable when she was born. A pang of remorse struck his chest; they had failed to protect her.
What has happened in the last fifteen years? What has happened to his baby sister?
The servants set the table with a wide range of foods ranging from continental main courses to Swedish desserts. It caused her to salivate and her stomach to grumble and dig into the delicious food.
Her phone dinged and the screen flashed. It was Hayate's message.
"The Crescent Club. Tattoo of an eagle."
Bloodlust engulfed her eyes, her grip on the fork toughened, and she felt a flash of white light pass through her mind. Sweat trickled down her back as she pressed her left foot against her right toe, allowing the pain to jolt her awake.
"No phones on the table," Theodore said, his olive eyes peering into hers, daring her to disobey. He had labeled her a delinquent because she had not been raised with the love of a family, and rebellious traits were common in children who had not been properly raised. Punching a teacher was enough.
Again, she amazed him by flashing an unscrupulous smile and blinking at him like a dutiful girl. "Alright, Father."
His pupils were constricted. He detected a hint of mockery in the word "father," but decided to ignore it. He will gradually unravel the enigma. Selena Mariano. A daughter who he lost.
----
A man with dead eyes and a scar down his face entered the bar. His steps were heavy, and he walked against the wind. The guard's eyes widened as he frantically spoke into his earphone; he reached for his gun.
The man shot the guard dead in the head.
He never even waited for his body to die or the blood to drain from the round wound. He walked over to the dead body.
No emotions on his face, and his shoes splat over the warm blood.
The bar was loud and daring. The neon lights, music, and the laughter and giggles of women; men and women grind on each other while indulging in various drugs and alcohol.
It was the heaven of vice.
The round man with gray hair laughed as he watched the young girl pour him a glass of whiskey while they talked with his friends. The glass of whiskey slipped from his grasp as he watched the man with the rifle walk in.
"Liam," the elderly man said, pushing the woman on his lap away. Panic erupted in his chest. "Listen, we are aware that we have lost-"
He shot the older gentleman.
Everything came to a halt as the bustling came to rest. The women dancing screamed and fled. Everyone ran for their lives.
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The armed man walked with a rifle in his left hand, raised it, and pointed it at the round table. His hand recoiled as multiple shots rang out over the running man, each of whom died with blood pouring from their bodies.
The death and destruction of bullets rang out throughout the bar as it shifted to an eerie silence.
Fifteen minutes. Forty-eight men. All of them were dead.
~~~~
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