HEART BOUND

WALKING DEAD

(Season 1)

CHAPTER 39

The lawyer took a step back, like he was trying to exit a danger zone. Mrs. Brown's voice was a terrified whisper.

"Ruben , no... I..."she stuttered.

"You wanted me dead. And you got me dead. Now... do you think you'll get away with it?"Ruben's voice dropped to a whisper too, but it was pure venom.

Mrs. Brown's face crumbled, her composure shattering like glass dropped on stone. She took a step back, hands up like wards.

"Ruben, please... I didn't... it wasn't like that..."Ruben's expression didn't flicker.

"Like what, Dorothy? Like you didn't orchestrate it all? Like you didn't push?"

"P-perhaps we should... uh... take a break..."The lawyer, clearly out of his depth, stammered. But Ruben wasn't listening. His eyes were on Mrs. Brown.

"Tell me. Did you think I'd stay buried?"he growl

"I... I panicked... Liora was... and you... you left..."Mrs. Brown's voice was a broken whisper.

"I left? Seriously..... You killed me, remember? You tried to silence me!!!" Ruben's voice cut like a scalpel. The room pulsed with rage. Mrs. Brown looked like she'd implode.

The accusation hung in the air, heavy with the weight of years of secrets and pain. Mrs. Brown's face twisted, her eyes flashing with a mix of fear and defiance.

"You can't talk to me like that!" she spat, her voice rising. "You, who abandoned us, who left us to deal with the fallout!"Ruben's laughter was low and menacing.

"Abandoned you? You were the one who chased me out, who pushed me to the edge! You and your schemes, your manipulations... you drove me to the brink, and then you threw me over!"The lawyer took another step back, his eyes darting between the two like he was watching a tennis match.

"Perhaps we should... uh... reconvene when emotions have cooled..."But Ruben wasn't having it. His gaze pinned Mrs. Brown to the spot.

"Tell me, Dorothy, did you think you'd get away with it? Did you think I'd stay silent forever?"

Mrs. Brown's voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "You should have stayed silent. You should have stayed dead."The words hung in the air like a challenge. Ruben's expression didn't change, but his eyes seemed to gleam with a cold, hard light.

"You think that's a threat?" he asked, his voice low and deadly. "You think you can scare me, Dorothy?"

Mrs. Brown's face was a twisted mask of anger and fear. "I'm not scared of you, Ruben," she spat. "I'm the one who's been holding everything together. I'm the one who's kept this family afloat."

Ruben's smile was a thin, cruel line. "You've been holding onto your secrets, you mean," he corrected. "You've been holding onto your lies." He took a step closer to Mrs. Brown, his voice dropping to a whisper. "You think you're safe, Dorothy? You think you're untouchable? I've been dead for years, and I've seen things. I've heard things. You can't hide from me."Mrs. Brown's eyes darted around the room, like she was searching for an escape route.

"You don't know what you're dealing with," she hissed. "You don't know what I've done." Ruben's laughter was low and menacing, sending a chill down Mrs. Brown's spine.

"Oh,Dorothy," he said, shaking his head.

"You have no idea what I've seen. And you have no idea what's coming." He paused, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "I'd like you to meet someone," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "I'd like you to meet Liora... and Kalen."Mrs. Brown's face went white, her eyes widening in horror.

"No," she whispered, taking a step back. "That's not possible. They're... they're..."

"Dead?" Ruben finished for her, his smile growing wider. "Oh, I think you'll find they're very much alive. And they're waiting for you."Mrs. Brown's eyes darted wildly around the room, like a trapped animal searching for escape. Her breathing quickened, panic creeping into her voice.

"You... you can't... Liora's gone. Kalen's gone. I saw to it."Ruben's smile didn't falter.

"Saw to it?" he repeated, his tone mocking. "You mean you arranged it. You orchestrated it all, just like you did with me, just like you did with Hannah." He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"But they're not gone, Dorothy. They're right here"Richard's words hung in the air like a challenge. And with that, the door behind Mrs. Brown creaked open. She turned, her eyes widening in shock as Liora and Kalen walked into the room.

Liora's expression was cold, her eyes filled with a quiet fury. Kalen looked... different. His smile was small, but his usual indifference expression was on. And it was terrifying.

"No... how..."Mrs. Brown's face crumbled, her voice a broken whisper.

"Hello, Mother."Liora's voice was like ice.

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FEW DAYS BACK...

Liora crawl to a conner in the room and hugged her knees in fear. one of her leg was chained and her face was covered with bruises from all the hit she got from her step mother when she refused to sign the papers she brought.

Liora sat there all drain of strength and will to fight. She thought she could keep up but she couldn't....... When her step mother and the man she finally found out was Micheal had asked her to make a call, she had no strength left to refuse. She wasn't just been tortured emotionally any longer but physically........ It was like she was back to the days when she used get beaten up for every mistakes she made.

She felt very guilty and scared...... If the brothers come, their lives will be in danger and it would be all her fault. This Michael just wanted to use her as a bait to get to the brothers. He knew they would come for her. In as much as she wanted to escape and leave she would not want her freedom to be at the cost of the people that cared about her.

Her step mother still wouldn't stop asking for the real document to her mother's properties...... She made liora sign some of the papers but they were still some other important files that were hidden in the box George gave liora...... But Liora swear to die than to let a scheming woman like Mrs brown gets her hands on those documents.

After sitting there thinking of how miserable her life has become and how all the people around had always been her enemies and betrayers. Liora heard a loud bang outside the door..... She frozed thinking it was the Michael's men that have come back again to continue with their cruel torture....... But then the door wash pushed open and kalen stumble in.

Sh stared at him with relief that someone actually came to save her and in horror because he actually came.......

"k... Kalen!..... You....." this was a trap and she badly wanted to tell him to leave and go away, but he cut her off.

"Are you okay?" his voice was not warm or caring, just the usual cold and detached tone. But she was happy that he actually care to ask....... She nodded in responses.

Kalen's graze moved to the chain that was on her leg. He clenched his fist beside him, but he did not say a word. He held the chain and before liora knew it, the chain was shattered into tiny pieces. Her eyes widen shock. How on earth did he do that??

He helped her up and was about to head towards the door but liora refused to moved. He turned back giving her a question look.

"This is a trap Kalen..... The.... The moment we step out he would kill us and if we don't the bomb will go off soon..... We are trapped" she said in tears. Him coming wasn't really helpful at all because....... They won't make it out alive.

Kalen stared at the time for a while, it was already reading thirty seconds . That was enough time for him, he thought to himself. He turned to the blank wall and pushed it........ Revealing another door. Liora gasped in shock, but she did not have the luxury of understanding what just happened because Kalen dragged her into the door, at that very moment the timer went off.

TBC