Aurelia giggled but stopped when she felt the urge to vomit. Her mother laughed once more as she ran to the bathroom.
๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐
The marvelous four-story mansion stood alone at the end of a winding, tree-lined driveway in Nevada, bathing in the soft glow of the afternoon light. It was quiet and still.
In the stillness of the mansion, the sudden sound of a loud cry shattered the silence like glass breaking, echoing through the grand hall and reverberating off high ceilings.
Inside, Sarov was lying in his beautiful bed peacefully, ready to fall asleep, but winced at the sound of the deafening scream slicing through the stillness like a sharp knife, a stark contrast to the calm that had enveloped the space just moments before.
Who the hell... he thought.ย Was thatโ
"Alena!"
Sarov threw his plush blanket off him and jumped out of bed before running out of his large bedroom and racing down his crystal stair so fast, he almost fell. Following the sound of the cry, Sarov sprinted into his lavish living room, expecting to see his wife lying on the ground with blood all over her face, unable to get up.ย
However, he should've expected the unexpected because he only saw a woman on all fours, crying at the sight of her phone. Sarov stepped towards his wife.
"Alena? Moya lyubov, what seems to be the issue?" he asked his love.
Alena was so distraught that she started blabbing in Russian. "Just look at what they're saying about us!"
She handed her phone to Sarov. Confused, he looked at the screen to see what she could've been so upset about. When he read the headline, his eyes widened.
"Alena Morozova Attacked at Jim Burton's Wedding! ...By His Bride!!"
He almost threw the phone. "Chto!"
Alena sat on her knees as her husband bit his fingernails, a look of worry reflected on both their faces.
Now it was Sarov's turn to start blabbering in Russian. "I thought that stupid excuse for a wedding was a private event!" he stared at the news article in shock. "And it even has a little video of the fight attached! Which genius thought of writing this damned article?"
"Look at the name of the person who published it," Alena sighed as she stood up. "If they even dared to mention it."
"There's no name," Sarov replied. He hugged his wife's waist with his left arm while holding her phone in his right.
"No baby, look at the news station," Alena said, her hand on her husband's muscular chest. "Nevada News."
Sarov frowned and switched to English. "Isn't that owned by Jimmy's friend?"
"Yes. I still remember his stupid name." Alena replied, still speaking in Russian. "Joel Riggins."
"I'm going to beat the shit out of that guy," Sarov replied as his hand tightened into a fist.
Alena stomped her foot on the ground. "And I'll kick him in the balls!"
Sarov laughed. "Awe, babe. You're still cute even though you're closer to being dead than twenty-five."ย
"Shut up, old man. I'm still young."
He patted his wife on her head. "Yeah, young for a fossil."
"Take that back, dickhead," Alena said, speaking in English. She put her hands on her hips. "I'm only fifty years young!"
Sarov laughed even louder. "You're so cute when you're mad."
"Don't try to flatter me with that bullshit. Sit your ass on the couch."
"Yes ma'am," Sarov replied as he sat on a luscious forest green sofa.
"I'm going to serve myself some vodka so I don't flip out," Alena told her husband. "Want some, moy kotenok?"
"Never call me your kitten. Ever," Sarov said. Alena giggled. "Yes, I want some. After all, I need to put up with your name-calling somehow, hm?"
"Sure..." Alena replied. "Moy kotenok."
Sarov rolled his eyes as his wife laughed even more.
Alena went over to a thoughtfully designed kitchen with rich, dark wood cabinets gleaming with a polished finish. She walked over to a large central island, topped with gleaming white quartz.
I hope Sarov cleaned this table since the last time we were on it, Alena thought.ย I didn't tell him to but he should know to clean his... mess.
She walked to a large, sleek refrigerator and opened its door. Inside were various juices, fruits, vegetables, meats, and cheeses. However, despite the healthy food options, her hand went straight to the vodka.
With the large vodka bottle in hand, Alena grabbed two glass cups and set them on the central island before sitting on a plush bar stool and pouring a fair amount of vodka in both cups. She then put the vodka back into the fridge, held both glasses and walked to her husband.
He looked up from his phone. "Mm, you're back."
Alena handed a glass to Sarov before sitting next to him. "Duh."
"Spasibo, moya lyubov."
"You're welcome."
Sarov took three large gulps of his drink. "I hate the fact that we try our best to please people, and then they do something like this to us!"
"Exactly," Alena replied. She sipped slowly.
"I was being nice to him, no? That dickhole even said that he feels important!"
Alena laughed. "Dickhole?"
"Yes, dickhole. Did I say that I want to beat the shit out of him?"
"Yes, you did."
Sarov set his glass down on a small table as his gaze darkened. "We need to do something about Riggins. We could sue him."
"Or, we could kill him," Alena replied cooly.
Her husband's eyes widened as his eyebrows raised in shock. "Kill? Are you on your period or something?"
"Are you stupid?" Alena hissed. "I can't get periods anymore."
"Oh yeah, I forgot..." Sarov said. "Old woman."
Alena raised an eyebrow, not amused. "Why do you keep calling me an old woman? Is that a kink or something?"
"Why do you keep calling me a kitten?" Sarov laughed.
Alena blushed. "Tch. Close your mouth and listen to me before I strangle you."
Sarov zipped his lips with an imaginary zipper and threw away the imaginary key, making his wife smile.
"You're silly," she said, "but we need to be real now. I'm serious about killing Joel. We don't know if Jimmy formally addressed his wedding as a private event, and if he didn't, there would be no point in suing Riggins because we would lose. After all, he was just doing his... stupid little journaling job."
"You're right-"
"I know."
Sarov glared at his wife as she giggled. "As I was saying before some old woman interrupted me, I think killing him is the only way to take care of everything. We can call it..." His voice darkened. "Plan Revenge."
Alena snorted. "Y'know you can be such a nutjob sometimes?"
Sarov frowned. "What?"
"Plan revenge? Do youย want me to make fun of you?" Alena started laughing. "And you even deepened your voice like it was cool or something!"
Sarov's face flushed. "I-... Ugh, just shut up."
"Anyway, we need to punish Jimmy, too," Alena added, still subtly laughing. She took another sip of her vodka and stared at her husband's veiny hand caressing her thigh.
"Why, malyshka?"
"That stupid old man was so careless. He didn't even think to announce that his wedding would be private and let some geeky journalist take notes on it."
Sarov chuckled. "You're one to call him geeky. Didn't you graduate at the top of your class?"
"Yeah, but I'm not an irrelevant nerd like he is. I was popular, and people actually wanted to be friends with me, unlike him."
"Oh, Alena," Sarov laughed. "Continue with what you were saying."
"Hm, where was I?" Alena put her index finger on her chin. "Oh yes, I was saying how we should punish Jimmy as well."
"How would we do so?"
Alena smirked as her gaze darkened. She looked into her husband's eyes. "I know exactly how."