Ashes Of Her Name

For A Greater Cause

I locked the my apartment door tightly behind me as I hummed happily. This might just be my happiest day. Yet. I plopped down onto the sofa and started taking off my heels just in time for my burner phone to ring. The grin that stretched onto my face was unstoppable.

“ELENA f*****g BISHOP IN DA BUILDINGGGGGGGGG!!” She screamed as soon as I picked up, making me laugh.

“Isn’t the baby sleeping?”

“Oh s**t, right. Now tell me. How did it gooooooo?”

“Very good, Leila. Oh my God. You should’ve seen him. He was this close to shitting his pants.” I heard Leila chuckle.

“I bet he was. That’s what his ass gets for being a stupid motherfucker.”

“Leila. Language. Please. You know Maya picks up stuff easily. We by so you want me to keep telling you this?” I picked up my bag, but left my heels on the floor before moving into the bedroom.

“Girl, this is not the time to be thinking about languages. s**t just got real, you know?” Leila retorted.

“I know. I just can’t believe we’re really going through with this.” I let out a sigh as I finally got this dress off my feet. I sat on the queen-sized bed in just my underwear now.

“Are you starting to have second thoughts? If you think things are going to go sideways, we can just end it-“

“No, no, no. Leila, no. I didn’t come all this way just to come back defeated. I don’t want to fail them” I know she was coming from a place of love but I couldn’t just let them down.

“You’re not failing them, Iris. There are a lot of other ways to-”

“You don’t get it. I have to do this. I need to” I insisted, laying down on my back.

“You don’t have to do shit.”

“But I want to. And I just need my best friend to trust me when I say I’ll be absolutely fine”

“You are so stubborn. I don’t even know why I try most of the time” she finally gave up.

“Because you love me” I teased, trying to ease the conversation.

“Whatever” she mumbled. I could tell she was clearly upset.

“Anddddd, I saw his twin today, Silas. At the mansion” I gave her the new piece of information, playing with a strand of my hair as I stared at the white ceiling.

“Really? How was he like?”

“I don’t know. Okay, I guess? He just rattled me a bit earlier”

“What do you mean he rattled you a bit? Okay, now I really don’t want you there”

“Leila, calm down. He didn’t try anything. His face just threw me off for a moment. They look really alike, like you can’t even tell the difference. Just that he has a beard”

“Get your ass back here, Iris. I don’t like you being there. You’re basically throwing yourself to the wolves” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m going to be fine, I promise”

“You better stay alive. At least when you die, it should be for like a greater cause or some s**t like that. Not this mess.”

“This is a greater cause!” I exclaimed.

“No it’s not”

“You don’t know how grateful I am to have you”

I really was. Leila had been my backbone ever since the incident happened. She has been the one taking care of me ever since Roman happened and eventually Maya.

“Okay, now he’s going to start being suspicious of you. Make sure you leave no stones unturned. You’re just Elena Bishop who lost her husband back in Cleveland and recently relocated to New York for a fresh start. And unless you really f**k up, he is not going to find anything even with years of digging. Iris Delgado died seven years ago, that’s all he’ll come up with.”

“And I need you to be careful, do not get too close and definitely do not trust anyone around that family. Anyone at all for that matter, please. Just focus on why you’re there and do not get sidetracked”

“Okay” I nodded even though she couldn’t see me.

“And if he ever finds out about Maya, we leave. I am not joking with you Iris. We will leave without you if it comes to that. I don’t want Maya being dragged into any of this s**t”

“I know. I promise”

“Good. I should leave you to get some rest. Love you.”

“Love you too, talk to you later. And kiss my baby for me”

“I will. Bye”

“Bye Leila”

I couldn’t help but feel bad for getting her upset and worried like this all the time. I knew she didn’t support what I was doing at all but she had no other choice. It’s either I did this with her help or I completely threw myself to the wolves blindly.

But one thing I knew for sure was that I would have gone through with it anyways. With or without her help. Roman Sinclair had to pay for his crimes, and I was going to make sure of that.