Velia winced as Diana treated the cuts and bruises on her face. The sounds of pain escaped her lips despite Diana’s efforts to clean them as gently as possible.
“We should report this to the apartment management, Miss. That woman needs to be reported,” Diana said.
Velia shook her head softly, accompanied by a faint smile. “There’s no need to make a big deal out of it. It’s just a minor injury. It’s just a waste of time.”
Diana’s eyes widened. The red marks on Velia’s cheek and the bruise on her slender neck were clearly not minor injuries. Not to mention the cut on the corner of her lip. It was undoubtedly an assault.
“This isn’t a minor injury. We should–”
“No need, Diana,” Velia interrupted quickly, trying to reassure Diana as she nodded repeatedly. “Besides, I’m not in too bad of a condition.”
Diana knew that Velia was lying, but what could she do? In the end, she could only feel regret. She should have arrived earlier so Velia would not have experienced all of this.
“I’m fine.”
Velia repeated for the umpteenth time, trying to convince herself as well. However, it was unclear who she was emphasizing that statement to. Diana or herself?
A sad thought crossed Velia’s mind. She would not be able to do anything if it involved Lucas. Velia could not fight back. Her body seemed frozen and unable to move.
“Can you cook lunch, Diana? I don’t know when Lucas will come home, but he’s preoccupied. I don’t want him to be late for a meal and fall ill.”
Diana nodded after finishing treating Velia’s wounds. “Do you need anything before I leave?”
“No, I just want to rest. I want to sleep.”
Diana made sure Velia was comfortable lying down. She left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Velia alone in silence.
Eyes closed, Velia tried to calm her heart. She attempted to push away all the recent unpleasant thoughts.
I’ve tried to avoid Lucas, but I can’t. I don’t want to fall in love with him again, but…
Warmth seeped from the corners of Velia’s eyes. She clutched the blanket, trying to contain the tumultuous emotions that overwhelmed her. They were intense, so intense that it almost suffocated her.
It was a torturous rest. The silence that engulfed Velia did not bring comfort, but rather the opposite. There were sad sighs and painful moans accompanying every breath.
Velia did not sleep for long. The discomfort woke her, greeted by confusion. Her position had shifted, and a pair of arms trapped her.
“Luc.”
Lucas lowered his head and gazed at Velia with a melancholic look. He remained silent for a moment. All he did was stare at Velia as deeply as possible.
“When did you come home?” Velia asked. “Have you had lunch?”
Lucas cleared his throat briefly. “I came home about an hour ago. I found the unit empty and looked for you. Turns out you were sleeping. So, of course, I haven’t eaten. How could I eat when you’re asleep here?”
“You should have woken me up.”
The smile that curved on Velia’s face made Lucas feel uneasy. He could barely breathe or speak because of it.
“Disturbing your peaceful sleep?” Lucas asked, shaking his head quickly. “Impossible.”
Velia smiled again, making sure not to show too much of her face to Lucas. She arranged her hair as best she could to cover the parts that bore red marks and wounds.
“I wondered while waiting for you to wake up.”
Lucas’s voice sounded heavy, causing Velia to close her eyes. His next question made her tense up.
“Why is your face so red?”
Apparently, Lucas had already seen it.
Impossible not to when it was Lucas who adjusted Velia’s sleeping position. He had seen every bruise and scrape that remained.
“It’s nothing, Luc.”
Velia exhaled deeply. She inched closer to Lucas, shaking her head.
“You don’t need to know.”
Lucas’s face hardened. “Ve–”
“Hold me.”
Velia’s whimper melted Lucas’s face. Velia’s strengthening embrace shattered his heart.
“Please, Luc. Just hold me.”
Lucas blinked in an attempt to dispel the heat in his eyes. He held his breath to ward off the stinging sensation. Sadness surged. The pain could not be put into words. In the end, all he could do was hold Velia as tightly as he could.
“Don’t let go, Luc.”
The embrace tightened. The hug grew deeper. Lucas nodded quietly.
“I’ll never let go.”
The body still felt sore. The wounds still throbbed. But this time, Velia could feel peace. She felt calm and light. Everything felt alright as long as Lucas continued to hold her.
Velia fell asleep again. Lucas took the opportunity to reach for his phone and call Vlora.
“How did it go?”
“It’s all done, Sir. Just as you expected. I apologize for being forward. Are you not going to withdraw this?”
Lucas looked at Velia in his embrace. Determined, he answered, “I will never withdraw it in my lifetime.”
*
On Monday morning, Lucas was neatly dressed in a business suit while Velia, on the other hand, was still in her pajamas.
“Just listen to what I say. Just rest,” Lucas said.
Velia nodded. “Of course. I’ll happily relax here. You don’t need to worry.”
Lucas felt relieved by her response. However, it was not enough to make him immediately get up and leave. Instead, time continued to pass as Lucas cherished the sight of Velia’s face longer than usual.
Lucas’s hand reached out, gently caressing Velia’s slightly swollen cheek.
“Do you know what I want right now?” he asked.
Velia lifted her face and gazed at Lucas. “What?”
“I just want to protect you. I want to make sure no one can hurt you anymore.”
There was an implied meaning unknown to Velia. Something completely unpredictable that made her smile widely. And praise.
“That’s so sweet.”
“Anyway,” Lucas continued. “I’ll do anything for you.”
Velia could feel it. Not just the firmness in his words, but the sincerity radiating from Lucas’s eyes. With that in mind, she held on to Lucas, tiptoed, and gave him a brief kiss on the lips.
“Be careful on the road.”
Lucas did not say anything. He hurriedly left and headed towards the car waiting in the apartment building’s courtyard. However, the office was not Lucas’s destination that morning.
“We’re going to my parents’ house.”
Will glanced briefly through the rearview mirror. “Alright, Sir.”
Lucas arrived at his family home on time. Jeff and Sandra were chatting in the living room, discussing various things related to the company and future plans.
Lucas’s arrival surprised his parents. Especially Jeff, who did not expect his son to come so soon after their argument a while ago.
Sandra felt the same way. Her forehead creased as she wondered.
“Why are you here so early, Luc? Aren’t you going to the office?”
Ignoring his father’s question, Lucas approached Sandra instead. His face was a mess of mixed emotions.
“Forgive me.”
The first words Lucas uttered only deepened Jeff and Sandra’s confusion. They exchanged bewildered looks.
“Why are you apologizing? What are you suddenly apologizing to Mama for?”
The confusion did not end there. A moment later, Lucas dropped to his knees. He clasped Sandra’s hands tightly.
“Forgive me, Mom. I sincerely apologize.”
It was not just the apology that made Sandra more confused, but Lucas’s expression. He looked distraught. His jaw clenched, and there was something that left Sandra stunned as she looked into his eyes.
There was pain. Sadness. It was filled with suffering.
“Luc, what’s wrong with you?”
Jeff’s unease grew. “You look troubled this morning, Luc. Maybe it’s better if you rest first. Calm your mind.”
“I have to end all of this, Dad. I can’t let the woman I love suffer because of my own mother.”
Sandra froze, a sudden coldness washing over her. Lucas’s words made her heart seemingly stop beating.
The woman he loves? Has to suffer because of me?
Desperation tore apart every hope Lucas had ever built. Prayers and pleas seemed useless when fate could not melt a hardened heart.
“I’ve thought countless times about how to end all of this, but I never wanted it to come to this.”
Lucas shook his head. His eyes turned red as logic and emotions battled in a lump of reality that would never change no matter how long it lasted. Not even doomsday could alter the fact that Sandra was his biological mother.
Sandra was the woman who carried and gave birth to Lucas. She nursed and raised him with love. She had always been a good mother, and Lucas loved her. But…
“I have no other choice, Mom,” Lucas whimpered helplessly. He was truly unable to bear it when everything exploded in a single sentence. “I don’t want you to hurt Velia again.”
At the mention of a name, Sandra stood up abruptly from the sofa. She pulled her hand away from Lucas’s grasp and moved away.
Sandra’s shock shook Lucas’s world. It was like bait for the next explosion. He could no longer pretend and let out all his questions.
“Why, Mom? Why did you have to do all that to Velia? Don’t you see how she has suffered because of everything you’ve done to her?”
Sandra shook her head in confusion. She tried to take a step, but her body felt stiff and trembling. She swallowed saliva while her hands clenched each other.
“What do you mean, Luc? I don’t understand.”
Lucas’s accusations and Sandra’s shock intensified Jeff’s discomfort. But no, Jeff believed it was just discomfort. It was only a feeling of unease.
Still on his knees, Lucas turned his body. He looked at Jeff with profound pain.
“Mom.”
There were thousands of needles that suddenly appeared and pricked his heart simultaneously. The air he breathed felt like toxic gas choking his lungs. In Lucas’s eyes, the world no longer had any shape. Everything shattered into pieces when it all spilled out of his mouth.
“No!”
Sandra’s scream rang out. She gasped and denied everything as Jeff choked in disbelief.
Did Lucas’ words make any sense? That Sandra was the mastermind behind the major accident that took the lives of Velia’s parents. Including a series of attempts to also get rid of Velia from the face of the earth.
“Your joke this morning went too far, Luc. This is not a good joke.”
Jeff rejected all of Lucas’s words. He shook his head with a pale face. Shock was present and easily disrupted his breath.
“You shouldn’t make jokes like this.”
Lucas growled, explaining that it was not a joke. Shock and disbelief also hit him. He was trapped in a state that made him completely helpless.
Lucas squeezed his hair with all his might. He thought the pain could alleviate the squeezing agony in his heart, but it did not.
All that suffocating feeling is still there. Not reduced one bit. It got worse when Sandra denied all of Lucas’ accusations.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Luc! I have never done what you accuse me of!”
Sandra’s denial paused. Panic emerged within the shock that struck, giving rise to accusations. Her hand rose, pointing somewhere.
“D-did you see, Luc? That’s what that damn woman did! She manipulated you, and you fell into her trap! You dared to slander your own mother just to be with that slut! You dared to slander your own mother! The mother who gave birth to you in this world!”
Lucas closed his eyes as tightly as possible. He shook his head repeatedly while still squeezing his hair. Just like Sandra, he wanted to reject that reality even though it was clearly impossible.
All the hidden evidence and facts had been revealed. Lucas knew everything from the beginning, so he was sure that there was no single loophole that favored Sandra.
“Can’t you see it now, Jeff? That whore named Velia has brainwashed our son!”
“Mom!” Lucas exclaimed. Pain and helplessness filled his gaze. “Please, stop it. Don’t refer to Velia like that.”
“After what she did to you?”
Sandra shook her head. Disgust and hatred emerged as she imagined Velia being with Lucas.
“No! You’ve seen it, haven’t you, Luc? She’s trying to sow discord between us, my love. She wants to deceive you. She wants to separate us, mother and son.”
Lucas’s defense had reached its limit. His fortress collapsed. Sandra’s words were like a bomb explosion that shattered him into helpless pieces. Like a rusty dagger stabbing his heart and tearing it apart until it was unrecognizable.
Lucas gave up. Tears fell and wet his cheeks.
“I beg you, Mom. Don’t make me suffer any more than this. Don’t try to deceive me.”
Lucas clenched both fists tightly. So tightly that his knuckles turned pale. It was as if there was no more blood in his life.
“I can’t pretend anymore like this. I have to hug you when I know you killed the parents of the woman I love. I have to kiss you when I know you is planning to kill her!”
Lucas screamed as loud as he could. The piercing cry filled with pain and anguish was heart-wrenching.
“I thought I would go crazy because of your actions!”
Sandra swallowed her saliva. Taking a small breath, she slowly approached Lucas. Her hand reached out, trying to reach her son.
“Velia is not a good woman for you, Luc. Do you see this? She’s trying to ruin our relationship.”
Lucas pushed away Sandra’s hand. Drops of pain continued to flow from his eyes, signifying deep wounds.
“No! Do you know how much it hurts me to eavesdrop on you all this time, Mom? Do you know how much it hurts me every time I hear you orders to Ricardo? Do you know how much it hurts me to know that you ruthlessly beat Velia without any mercy?!”
Lucas clenched his fists even tighter. The drops of pain flowed continuously from his eyes that reflected deep wounds.
“I can’t bear it anymore, Mom! How can I do that to my own birth mother? How can the first woman I loved do something so despicable?!”
“You! You’re heartless to your own mother, Luc!”
One blow after another made Sandra lose her sanity. She became a bewildered person with vacant eyes. Her gaze wandered as if unfocused and then stopped at a vase of flowers.
Sandra took a step forward. She grabbed the vase and in an instant, it flew through the air.
“All because of that woman, you’re willing to do this to me!”
Lucas remained motionless. His eyes closed, and he did not flinch when the vase hit his forehead.
Skin tore. Blood flowed. Strangely, there was no pain.
“You should have just killed me. It would be better than you ruining Velia’s happiness!”
Jeff was taken aback. Not prepared for all the revelations, he witnessed Sandra attacking Lucas with her own hands.
“Sandra!”
Jeff struggled to get up. He pulled his wife with a stern gaze.
“Do you realize what you’re doing?!”
“I just want to make sure that what belongs to me remains mine,” Sandra growled, unwavering in her delusion. “Velia, that bastard’s son, will never have my son. Not ever! I will make sure Velia never finds happiness!”
“I beg you, Mom. Let Velia live in peace. Don’t hurt her anymore.”
Sandra shook her head, a faint laughter emerging behind her sardonic smile. “No, Luc! Velia must suffer as long as possible. Just like I did!”
There was no hope left. It was pointless to plead. Lucas knew there was only one thing he could do.
“Forgive me, but I won’t let Mama hurt Velia anymore.”
It was not just an ordinary statement. It was not empty words.
“What do you mean, Luc?”
“This is the only way I can be sure that you won’t be able to hurt Velia anymore. I’ve asked. I’ve pleaded for you to accept Velia, but you didn’t give me any other choice.”
Tears flowed more heavily. The remaining path left for Lucas was not something he wanted to take. He tried to avoid it, but unfortunately, Sandra did not give him a choice.
“I love you, but I also love Velia. I don’t want her to suffer because of Mama.”
Sandra tried to comprehend Lucas’s words when a panicked house assistant entered hastily. She panicked and ignored the chaos that was happening.
“Sir and Madam, there are police officers outside.”
Immediately, Sandra understood Lucas’s intention.
“No, this can’t be happening.”
Sandra tried to deny the reality. She screamed, but she could not do anything.
Sandra’s fate had arrived. A fate brought about by her own flesh and blood.
*