CHAPTER 115.
Mirabelle’s POV.
A sharp, stinging pain exploded behind my eyes as I slowly regained consciousness, my head felt heavy, and my vision swam, disoriented by the dim, flickering light of the room. The first thing I noticed was the metallic smell of blood. My blood, my lip throbbed, split from what I assume was a blow.
As my vision cleared, panic set in. My wrists were tied behind me, the coarse rope biting into my skin. My ankles were bound to the legs of a chair, I tried to shift, but the chair wouldn’t budge from the floor. The cold metal pressed on my chest felt foreign, and when I dared to look down, my breath caught in my throat.
A bomb.
Wires tangled over my body, a cruel, intricate web of destruction. The timer on the device blinked ominously, though it was yet to start. My heart hammered against my ribs. The sound deafening my ears.
“No.” I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief. “No, no, no….”
My eyes darted around the room, desperate for answers, desperate for a way out, that’s when I saw them.
My children, my beautiful babies.
They were tied together on the floor, their small bodies limp, their faces pales. My stomach twisted as I noticed the identical devices strapped to their fragile chests. Wires, blinking lights, death waiting to happen.
“Wake up.” I screamed, my voice filled with terror. “Wake up please!” I pulled at the ropes, ignoring the searing pain in my wrists. The skin splitting as I struggled. “Please, God, wake up.”
Tears blurred my vision as I screamed, pleaded, begged. But they didn’t stir. They looked so small, so fragile. The thought of loosing them, of them never opening their eyes again, shattered me into pieces.
Before I could cry out again, a shadow loomed over me, I barely had time to process the movement before a sharp blow landed on the side of my head. Pain erupted like fireworks, blinding and sharp. And I let out a strangled cry, my head lolled to the side, the room spinning violently.
“Would you shut up?” A voice snapped, venemous and cold.
Through the haze of the pain, I looked up to see her, Natasha. She stood over me, a sick smile curling her lips, holding what looked like a pipe.
“Natasha.” I croaked, my voice weak. “Why…why, are you doing this?”
“Why?” She asked, her voice dripping with mockery as she crouched to my level. “Why am I doing this? You really don’t know do you?” her laugh was sharp, grating, like nails on a chalkboard.
“God, Mirabelle, you’re even more pathetic than I thought.”
My head throbbed, and my vision blurred, but I forced myself to stay conscious, to focus. “What do you want?”
“What is this about?” I asked her weakly.
Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, pure, unfiltered hatred burned in her gaze. She leaned closer, her voice dripping to a dangerous whisper.
“This is about you stealing Noah away from me you bitch.”
The room seemed to tilt as her words sank in.
“Noah?” I whispered. “You’re doing this because of Noah?”
She let out a bitter laugh, standing to her full height and pacing the room. “Of course, Noah. It’s always been about Noah, ever since we were kids. He was mine. Mine, do you hear me?”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t, my heart was pounding too hard, and fear clawed at my throat.
“I was his first everything.” she continued, her voice trembling with rage. “His first love, his first kiss, his first everything! Even after we broke up, he was still mine. He was supposed to come back to me, Mira. He was supposed to realise that no one could ever love him the way I do.”
She stopped pacing and turned to glare at me, her eyes wild. “But then, you came along. Perfect little Mirabelle, with your perfect little family. You ruined everything.”
I shook my head weakly, my voice trembling. I wanted to tell her that my family was not near good, talkless of perfect.
“Natasha, you don’t understand, my fami….”
“Don’t you dare.” She snarled, her voice rising.
“Don’t you dare tell me what I do and don’t understand. I know Noah. I know him better than you ever could. He never looked at me the way he looks at you now, he never did that, even when your cheating ass betrayed his trust, he still looks at you like you’re his whole fucking world and I’m going to change that. I’m going to get him back from you. I’m going to make him see reasons.”
Her voice cracked, and for a moment, I thought I saw something broken, fragile in her expression. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a mask of fury.
“You’re insane.” I whispered. “He’ll never love you the way he loves me.”
The words were out before I could stop them, and the effect was immediate. Natasha’s face was twisted with rage, and she swung the pipe again, hitting me square in the shoulder. Pain exploded through my arm and I screamed, my vision going white.
I was so relieved that she sedated my kids, because I didn’t want them to see their mummy being hit the way I was, it would have broken me more than I already was.
“Shut up.” She hissed. “You don’t get to talk, you don’t get to sit there, tied up and act like you’re better than me.”
I sobbed, the pain in my shoulder radiating through my body, but I forced myself to speak. “You can do whatever you want to me, but leave my children out of this, please Natasha, I’m begging you.”
She tilted her head, a cruel smile tugging at her lips. “Oh Mira, you really don’t get it do you? I’m not just going to kill you, I’m going to kill them too. And then, when Noah realises that he has nothing left, he’ll have no choice but to come with me.”
My heart shattered, the tears came in torrents. My cries echoing in the abandoned warehouse. “You’re wrong.” I said, my voice shaking. “He’ll never love you. Not after this. He’ll hate you.”
Her smile faltered, but only for a moment. “We’ll see about that,” she said, her voice icy. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a guest to greet.”
She said, checking the tab in her hands.
She walked out of the room, leaving me alone with my unconscious children. My body shook with sobs, the pain in my shoulder and head a dull roar compared to the agony in my chest. I pulled at the ropes, desperate to save my children, but it was of no use.
Minutes felt like hours, then I heard footsteps. Heavy, purposeful. The door swung open, and there he was.
Noah.
His eyes locked onto mine. Wide with panic and rage as he took in the scene before him. Natasha stood beside him, a detonator in her hand. Her smile triumphant.
“Let the fun begin.” she said, her voice dripping with malice and excitement.
And just like that, my world tilted on its axis once again.