Mara's POV
Thinking back to my sister, I could only smile as I wondered if she would approve of my situation at the moment. I was being held captive by someone I had earlier thought was my mate but right now, I didn't know anymore.
And I was mad at my parents for leaving me in the hands of this monster. Could they not attack him and get me out? This was beneath them. I expected more from them but this was very disappointing.
I walked to the window to stand as I started to narrate my relationship with my sister to this strange man.
"Layla and I were very close to each other while we grew up. I didn't have any trouble with her and I even trusted her most of the time with secrets I could not tell anyone. She was my best friend. No. She was my only friend."
I stared into space for sometime before looking back at him.
"That's something I'm not sure you will ever understand."
He nodded, looking away as he asked me his next question.
"Do you think that the relationship you both had was strong enough to stop you from killing her?" I was taken aback by that question and he could visibly see it. "I'm sorry if that came out wrong but I'm trying to understand if you had any hand in her death."
"For the last time, I didn't kill my sister," I said with a frustrating sigh. "I loved her. I couldn't hurt her. If there was anyone I would kill it wouldn't be my family. It would be an outsider. But my own sister who had been with me through thick and thin I would not do that."
I stayed silent for a while as he stood up and excused himself.
He arrived with a box of munchy snacks which he handed to me to tear open as I sat down and we started to talk.
That was the beginning of our beautiful relationship.
For the first time in weeks since I arrived at this place, he was asking the right questions and I was happy to explain to him how innocent I was.
I had tried explaining my innocence to him but it was clear he didn't want any of that and he had instead pushed me in prison, that alone had made me enraged and I hated that, but being with him now while he asked the right questions calmed my raging soul.
I wanted him to keep asking me questions about my family if it would make me feel better and I answered without any guilt. I answered without thinking of him as an enemy.
"So there you have it. I could never kill my sister because she was the best thing that ever happened to me. You blaming me for her death and putting me in prison without even investigating is wrong and I hate you for that.
"You not only slandered my name but even when I was still hurting over my own fucking sisters demise, you decided that the best course of action was to throw me in prison. Why didn't you throw my parents in prison? Or her guards? Or the cooks? Nope.
"They would never kill her. But her own sister would. That makes so much sense. I can see it from your angle. You're such a genius that you decoded that I would be the culprit. I can see it now."
He could tell from my sarcastic tone that I was too angry to even talk to him straight. All I could do was maintain my breathing to not explode in a fit of rage.
During the conversation, we had been sitting side by side and the snacks had finished. While talking about the relationship I had with my sister, he listened attentively which was a first. It was better than how we had started, which had been on each other's throat.
***
Klaus's POV
While she spoke about her sister, I started to understand something about Mara.
For one, I had not even known that she had been locked away for twenty years. That was a crazy thing. I would lose my mind if I ever had to stay cooped up in a place for twenty years.
That alone had created a special bond between her and her sister which would last her name from being the one who had killed her own sister.
I knew there was more to that story than I had earlier heard. I felt bad for judging her harshly without even knowing who she was or what she had gone through.
The second one was how she spoke of her sister. She was smiling anytime her sister's name left her lips. This showed admiration.
I was floored by how much she apparently loved her sister. This made me know there were other forces at play here.
I started to question myself if there wasn't more to laylas death than I was seeing.
There was clearly something going on here and someone framing her from afar.
Because I didn't buy the story of Mara killing Layla from day one, but the evidence given against her was so much I could not see myself ignoring it.
I was at fault here for not investigating thoroughly before going ahead to have her humiliated.
No wonder she was mad at me. If I was in her shoes I would be mad too.
She kept on telling me about her childhood and her family and I was surprised at how she was treated.
She wasn't that bad when it came to having conversations. She was good with the way she explained everything.
Plus when I thought about it, this was the first time we had a full conversation without it ending in a fight.
This made me smile as I was impressed that she was capable of holding out for this long without wanting my head on a platter. It was progress.