Chapter1
1616 Words
“Wh-What…the hell?!” Laila whimpered, her fingers struggling to grasp her phone. The situation on her screen stared back at her like a punch to the gut.
A hot drop of tear trickled down her eyeballs as she rushed out of her room.
“It can't be,” she mumbled, her voice quivering as she ran back in to grab her phone. Like a maniac, she replayed the video continuously as if the truth of the content would magically disappear.
It was a footage of her stepsister exchanging her father's drugs with some unknown substance she couldn't decipher while her husband watched out.
Being the heiress and daughter of one of the most affluent men in New York who owned Archer enterprise where they dealt with Rubber, Laila had always seen her stepsister as her role model. Now, she and her husband did this?
Three years ago, Laila had gotten married to Justin O'Brien whose status was significantly lower.
However, since it seemed like he loved her and had been nothing but all lovey-dovey towards her, Anna chose him.
However, Laila did not expect that he would go towards this extent just to kill her father.
Now, they were in this act together? Had they been pretending all these while?
This explained everything that had been happening for the past few weeks.
Everything suddenly made sense. From her father's sudden partial stroke which was probably caused by her stepsister since she was always at home with him to him being admitted into the hospital.
It felt like she was stabbed as she watched the video multiple times.
Crying her eyes out in agony, she couldn't believe that the only evidence she had just to throw them into jail was ruined.
How could they betray her this way? Was it all because of her father's million dollar company?
She thought as she hurriedly rushed out of the house, stopping every available cab she came across because her car had suddenly developed issues.
However, it seemed like they weren't ready to stop the car as they all drove speedily. The thought of her father crossed her mind and the pain he was probably going through ripped her heart apart.
She knew her old man was in danger. Tears streamed her cheeks further as her teeth clenched together, trembling.
Just then, a cab pulled over and she got in.
“Filled hope hospital,” Laila said as panic surged through her, wishing that the driver would have gotten to the destination.
Step on it, damn it!” She yelled at him, gripping onto the dashboard with tears clouding her eyeballs.
Few minutes after she got to the hospital, she rushed towards her father's private room as tears streamed her cheeks in full hope that he wasn't dead yet.
“Please hang in there, dad. I'm coming for you” Laila muttered as she took the nearest elevator.
On seeing her stepsister and husband the moment she got inside, she glared at them in anger and walked towards her father.
Gbam!
Almost immediately, she removed the poisoned IV as she watched the man's heartbeat deteriorate through the ECG monitor.
“What the hell do you think you are doing? Are you planning to kill your father?” Her stepsister yelled out as if she wanted to rip her apart while Laila turned around in anger.
She couldn't believe that this woman still acted as if she did nothing and yet, she had been foolish enough to have shown her nothing but love.
If she hadn't seen the video, Laila would have believed that she was not capable of killing her father.
“How dare you try to poison my father?” She asked instead. Seeing the woman who badly wanted to kill her father made Laila wish she could tear her to pieces.
“What?” Rika muttered as she glared at Laila.
Laila could swear that she didn't hear that right as she looked at her stepsister but however, she hurriedly replaced it with a frown as Rika hurriedly called out the doctor.
“Help! He's dying!” Rika screamed out as several medical personnels rushed in at once as Laila glared at Rika.
“Who did this?” The nurse asked.
“I did it! It's a poisoned IV and I can't watch my father struggle to death!” Laila said adamantly and while the doctor struggled to reduce her father but in the end, they all watched the man take his last breath.
“Oh no! You poor thing, you killed my husband” Rika screamed out as tears streamed down her cheeks while Laila looked at her with disgust as slow tears washed down her face. Laila couldn't believe the fake tears that streamed out of the woman's face as she clenched her fist, wishing that she could rip her apart that moment.
“I have every evidence of what you have done to my father and I will not let it go!” Laila said angered beyond measure because the pain of losing her father due to poison shook her.
“Every piece of evidence points out that you killed your father. Why on earth do you want to frame me?” The woman said softly as she kept on shedding tears.
“Are you crazy?” She found herself yelling as she almost walked towards Rika while Justin who had said nothing held her.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You just killed your father and you think the right thing is to frame another woman? Huh? We saw you do it right in our presence!”
Justin said in anger.
Laila could see his fake mask as he talked. Bunch of fools! She thought as she clenched her fist in anger and snatched her hands.
“I did it? What happened to you poisoning my father while you watched out for her?” Laila asked as she turned to look at him with hands crossed. For a moment, Laila could swear that she saw the shock laced on his face which was hurriedly replaced with a fake anger.
She couldn't believe that she had fallen in love with the wrong man!
“Are you telling me that I killed him, Laila? Your father helped me out so many times in trouble and you think I would kill him when you did it right in our presence” The man screamed out.
However, they all heard a sudden knock on the door and three cops barged in.
“Laila O'Brien, you are under arrest for the murder of your father” The cops said while Laila looked at them in shock.
“`What? No! They killed them. Listen, I have every evidence that the IV was poisoned. My father was killed by them” She screamed out in anger while everyone looked at her.
Laila could not imagine that the tables would be turned against her all in the name of trying to save her father but it seemed like they all were not ready to hear any of it.
“What the hell are you talking about? You killed your father!” Her husband screamed out again.
“Fine. I can prove my innocence. Why don't you order the nurses to check my father's medications?” She asked, sure that everything would be okay.
However, a few minutes after they had tested the medications, the result came out negative while Laila looked at the medications in shock.
She was sure that it was poisoned. What on earth was going on?
“I can't believe that she tried to frame me. You're my sister. Do you think I will try to kill my father who had taken me in from the orphanage? I didn't expect this from you!” Rika said and scoffed as she glared at Laila who stared in shock. Something was definitely wrong somewhere.
“Handcuff her, she's the real culprit!” The cops said while Laila hurriedly grabbed a nurse's hand.
“I saw them do it. If you help me prove my innocence, I will give you half of my Fortune!” Laila said hurriedly knowing that her life was now at stake as her heart raced so hard.
However, Justin had pushed her roughly and glared at her. “Don't touch my sister, you murderer!”
She heard. Laila could swear that time stopped the moment she heard that. Everything was well planned. From her father's sickness to the nurse who had prepared the test results just in case the police asked.
She had just been fooled. Tears streamed her cheeks as she watched the nurse smirk.
“Guess what? We are inheriting the entire Fortune since we have moved you out of the way” Her stepsister said while Justin laughed shortly as she watched them walk away while she was handcuffed.
It didn't take a few days before she was finally imprisoned after several trials in court and denial of her private lawyer which made her depend on a public lawyer.
Tears streamed her cheeks as she thought of the people who had probably squandered her father's million dollars while she rotted in prison.
“Inmate 617” Laila heard as she stood up. Was she probably expecting a visitor? The last time she checked, her husband and step sister would never want to come around except to taunt her. What then was going on?
She thought as the door of her cell was being opened and she walked towards the counter.
However, she stood still, shocked to see the man whom she never in her wildest dreams would see.
“Gabriel?”
- Writer
