Chapter Four
860 Words
Chapter Four
Mila Ortega
As the rain poured down, soaking us both, I made a silent vow to myself; I’d find the truth of this matter. No matter what it cost me.
If it turned out that Nikolai was a liar and a manipulator.
Then I, the wife he so desperately wanted, would kill him myself.
“He’s not guilty…” mother’s voice broke into my thoughts, as we settled into the boys quarters of the mansion.
“What?” I asked, slowly turning towards her.
“Nikolai, he wasn’t guilty…” mother repeated, and for a second I thought my head was about to crack open.
“You don’t know that,” I managed to mutter, “You don’t know that mom.”
Mother swallowed hard, dashing her gaze away.
“Sure, the Ortegas and the Moreiras were not the best of friends, but when Nikolai succeeded his father as Massimo, he never troubled your father.
In fact, he called for a peace treaty which your father refused….”
“No,” I objected, “Not my father. He couldn’t have…”
“He did, Mila. Your father had always felt threatened by Nikolai…”
“Nooooo!!!!” I screamed, pushing down the cosmetics lined up on the table.
Tears streamed down my face like the rain pouring outside.
“Dad, why? Why would he do this to us?” I sobbed. I felt betrayed and in pain.
My mother didn’t move to comfort me. She watched me silently, a mix of sorrow and guilt etched on her face.
“Mila, your father was a good man, he was just… prideful.”
“What?!” I turned to face her, my eyes glaring with anger. “Prideful? You call sending an innocent man to prison prideful?”
“He just… he had his own way of thinking. He believed conflicts was the only way to keep control.”
“Then why didn’t he stay and have the conflict to his satisfaction?! Why did he kill himself like a coward?!”
“Watch your mouth, Mila!”
I paused, looking at my mother like she had grown two heads. “You’re defending him? He got us into this mess and you’re justifying it?!”
“I’m not justifying it, Mila. I’m explaining it. He made mistakes, Mila. But everything he did… he did for you!”
“No!” I shouted, slamming my fists against the table. "He did it for himself! For his selfish interest and hunger for power and you supported him. You can’t tell me he did it for me!
He did it for you, Mother and himself! You both ruined my life to satisfy your desires!”
SLAP!
My mother’s palm met my face.
The stinging feeling lingered on the left side of my cheek, itching and tingling.
The silence in the room was damning. The air heavy and suffocating.
Everything began to dawn on me clearly.
I was wrong about my parents. I had been lied to my whole life.
The Moreiras were not the power-hungry ones. It was us, the Ortegas— my father, my mother— and they had sold me out. They had given me out as a sacrifice to tame Nikolai’s wrath.
I had given up my life to save my mom— the very person who brought this upon me.
“Be smart, Mila.” She finally broke the silence, “You can get us back on our feet. Do anything you must…”
Her words pierced through my rage like shards of glass. I wanted to scream, to cry, to deny everything she was saying and wake up from this nightmare.
This wasn’t the mother I knew for twenty-three years. She wasn’t this cold hearted and selfish.
“You…” I tried to steady my voice, “You want me to get the Ortegas on their feet. How exactly do I do that?”
“You’re going to be Nikolai’s wife. Find something on him… it’s your only way out. End him, and gain back our family. You must avenge your father’s death.”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
My mind was already spinning, trying to piece together the reality that had come crashing down on me.
If I was hearing her right, she was asking me to betray Nikolai again.
She was asking me to double cross the same man they had betrayed.
And then what? An endless cycle of revenge and strife that would take innocent lives, just like it had taken mine.
I released a deep, shaky breath, wiped the tears from my face realizing I was alone in this world.
Just then, the room resounded with a soft knock at the door, interrupting the most shocking encounter of my life.
“Massimo calls for his wife.” The guard announced.
Wife. The mere sound of it made my heart ache. But seeing Nik would be better than being in the same room with this woman I could not recognize.
“You should leave,” I told her, before turning away.
“Don’t forget everything I’ve told you… your father would be trusting in you.”
- Writer
