Mr. Petrov raised his brows, his left eye twitching as he watched Adeline intently.
"Have you lost your mind? What the hell is wrong with you?"
Adeline smiled innocently at him.
"You really want to know what's wrong with me?" She pinched between her brows, shaking her head. "I don't even know. I think I need answers from you."
"Yes, I need you to explain to me why you killed my mother!" Her lips curved into a smile, and she stared at him, waiting for a response. "Go on, explain to me. Tell me why!"
"Your mother was useless! And I get rid of useless people like her. Sooner or later, you'll be next and-"
"You gave your word," Adeline interjected, swallowing the painful lump that had built up in her throat. "You promised my father before he died in your son's place! He took the blame for what Dimitri did and got killed in-"
"Your father is a dead man," Mr. Petrov cursed. "Get over it."
"Oh?" Adeline's eyes dilated, her chest heaving up and down in shaky breathing. "It all feels so easy to get rid of them like they are trash, doesn't it?"
"She was everything I had, all I had left, but you killed her. First, it was my father, and now...you took my mother too." She laughed, raising the stick, ready to smash into the car window.
"I dare you, Adeline!" Mr. Petrov's eyes were quick to shift to the limousine, and his voice was cold and deep. His teeth were gritted, watching her keenly.
"Oh?... Do you think I won't do it?" Adeline asked, tilting her head to her side. Her face lit up with a smile the instant she realized so, and she clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "You really don't know how far I'm going to go."
"Try me then, like your stupid mother always had," Mr. Petrov dared, very certain she wouldn't do it. As crazy as she could be sometimes, she knew what to do and what not—
The entire front window of the limousine cracked before his eyes with a heavy hit from Adeline, and he didn't even have time to process it because she had delivered another and another, shattering the window to smithereens.
"What did you say again?" she asked, eyes blown wide.
Everyone saw Mr. Petrov instantly quiver in visible rage. "You fucking bitch!!" he yelled with gritted teeth, harshly grabbing her by the arm and sending a backhanded slap to her face.
Its impact caused Adeline to fall to the ground, and the old man snatched the gulf stick from her.
She clutched onto her reddish cheek and stared at the floor, suddenly tasting blood in her mouth. A look of amusement ensued on her face, and she clicked her tongue, not even fazed at all.
"I warned you, didn't I?" Mr. Petrov dragged his eyes over to her, a sadistic smile emerging on his lips. "Listen here, be thankful to your useless father, because he is the reason you are still alive. I wouldn't bat an eye to fire a bullet through that empty skull of yours!"
But Adeline cackled at his words. "Really?"
"You're such a terrible liar, and you suck at it!" A deep, heavy breath fled her mouth. "You and I know that you are not keeping me alive because of my father. No, you just want that file from me. What was it called again?"
"Ah!" She gasped, her teeth bloody. "PTVs777."
"Shut your trap!" Mr. Petrov punched her, causing her nose to bleed.
However, Adeline wouldn't stop, not yet.
"It is that file my father stole from you—the one that holds the record of all your crimes! You planned his death in prison because he wouldn't give it to you or tell you of its location." She spat out the blood in her mouth. "You found out he gave it to me, so you couldn't kill me anymore because killing me would be game over for you."
"Whoever is with this file can decide to release it, and once he or she does, poof!" Adeline blew on his face, chuckling. "You and the entirety of this stupid mafia will be destroyed. It'll be your downfall!"
"SHUT UP!!!" Mr. Petrov screamed at her, sending kick after kick to her stomach. He didn't stop, not even when he saw her begin spurting blood. "Where is that USB? Where the fuck is it?!"
"Even if you have a knife to my throat..." Adeline coughed, spitting out the blood in her mouth. "...I won't spill it!"
"Do you think I didn't know it was the reason why you forced your son to marry me? Haha, you thought, no—you believed you could pry the location out of me, however, you forgot my father was your consigliere. I'm sure if I were stupid, he wouldn't have left such a file with me."
Mr. Petrov snatched her by the collar of her bloody shirt and furiously slapped her across the face. "Good, Adeline, good!"
"You're right! I can't kill you just yet," he admitted. "But soon, soon enough, I'll get that USB from you, and when I do, you'll be done for. I'd like to see you run your mouth by then."
Adeline spurted the blood in her mouth and turned her gaze to him. With a deliberate smirk, she gave him the middle finger. "Fuck. You." She threw her head back in hysterical laughter, her body slumping in exhaustion.
Mr. Petrov's grip on her collar tightened, and he roughly grasped her hair, slamming her head into the concrete floor. He stood up, stepped away from her, and extended his hand out for a handkerchief to clean himself.
Adeline groaned in pain, coughing out a mouthful of blood. She smiled at her pitiful self one last time before dropping onto her back, blurry eyes halting on the dark sky.
"Ha...hahaha." Her laughter was hearty, and the anger that had been building up for quite a while now was slightly satiated.
She felt her vision deteriorate for the worse, and it was only a matter of a few minutes before she lost consciousness.
Mr. Petrov stared at her still body and looked at his men. "Take her and-"
"Dad!" Through the opened gate, none other than Dimitri rushed in. He was all sweaty and disheveled, his hair a complete mess.
"Oh fuck!" His eyes dragged across the broken windows of the car. "What the… "
He didn't need to be told to know it was Adeline's work.
"Have her moved to the basement. She'll be in there until I decide otherwise." Mr. Petrov adjusted his suit, storming away.
Dimitri breathed, his eyes flickering rapidly. His gaze shifted to Adeline, who was curled into a ball on the floor, and a disgusted, peeved expression emerged on his face.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Adeline? Huh?" He approached her, squatting down to question her, "Do you want to die? Is that it?"
"I told you, all you have to do is sit your ass down and behave the way you are told to! What are you being this way for? So what if my father killed your mother?"
Adeline looked at him with half-opened eyes. "Get away from me." She choked on her breath, struggling to breathe.
"I really can't stand you!" Dimitri shook his head and stood up to his feet. He shoved his hands into the pocket of his pants and glanced around the compound in utter anger.
"You are a horrible person." Adeline's words were barely audible, but they were enough for Dimitri to hear.
Dimitri cackled, amused with eyes that were burning with contempt. He said quietly, "Don't give me that crap, Adeline. You are the problem!"
"I proposed to open our marriage to save the both of us, you know. But you are not even grateful at all. You still think that I'm the issue and that I'm being awful to you."
Adeline covered her bleeding nose, her eyes hot with tears that had yet to fall. "I hate you," she snarled, almost sounding like a feral beast. "I fucking hate you!"
"Hate me all you want, I don't care." Dimitri shrugged and smiled at her. "You have been such a handful, and you've been irritating me a bit too much lately. Perhaps you can meditate on what you've done for the next three days you'll be in that basement, locked up, starved, and alone. If I forgive your actions a little bit, I might consider bringing you water and some food."
He turned around to walk into the mansion but came to a stop the second Adeline spoke.
"You really amuse me, Dimitri." Adeline cackled and grunted in pain.
Dimitri turned his head to look at her. "I don't like it when you play the victim card. It doesn't suit you. It's very ugly behavior from you." He laughed as he walked away.
Adeline lay there on the floor, breathing slowly and unsteadily. Her vision was distorted, and her pupils were blurry, clouded by what she couldn't even make out. Gradually, she shut her eyes, slowly drifting out of consciousness.