001

Lucy's gaze locked onto the tall standing mansion, its grandeur stirring up a hurricane of emotions within her... Hope, fear, and a dash of desperation. All swirling together in a toxic cocktail that threatened to swallow her whole.

Arizona's voice piped through Lucy's mind from behind bringing her back to consciousness.

Arizona's hand slipped into Lucy's, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Mommy, who lives here?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You weren't listening before, were you?" Lucy's eyes interlocked into that of five years old with eyes that sparked with innocence and rendered anyone powerful.

The hushed breath that had gathered in Lucy's chest rushed out. She hesitated. Wondering how she would make the heart-stomping reveal once more.

"We're seeing a special friend, sweetie. Someone that I have known for a while and I would love the both of you to be best of friends." Lucy's words felt hollow, as she tried to reassure herself once again.

She should have done this already. Introducing her hidden daughter to her fiance. However, Lucy was afraid. Afraid of making the same mistake that she made years back.

Afraid of having her heart shattered once again. She needed to be sure that Gerald was the right one.

However recently, Lucy could see that only her fears held her back. Gerald was caring, loving, and compassionate. What other sign could she ask for to know the perfect person?

"Let's not keep our friend waiting!" A reassuring smile greased her face and Arizona hooping approached the massive entrance.

"Mommy. I think your special person might be playing a game I haven't heard of inside!" Arizona announced.

"Oh god. F**k the life out of me Gerald." The loud feminine moans filtered into Lucy's hearings.

A cold sensation prickled from Lucy's skin right through her heart leaving her frozen on the floor.

Her lips trembled and her body quivered. Lucy's world came crashing right before her, the loud sound of their moans boring painful holes into her shattering heart.

She tried to move. To run. To scream. But it seemed as though she had lost control over the will of her own body, as quivering feet remained ruthless to the floor.

"The game sounds nice. Sounds to me like they are really enjoying it. Mom.. will you teach me!" The light weight of Arizona's heart that was supposed to cut through her chaos. However, it tore right through the shreds of her heart.

Lucy's breath remained stuck in her lungs as she sank deep into the overbearing sea of despair.

"That's not a game Arizona. That's evil. This was a mistake. I never had a friend here!" Lucy's voice was void. Her face flushed with emotions as she jerked the child off from the floor.

"We're leaving Arizona!" A strand of tear escaped from her eyes, quickly pushing it off so that the child in her hands would not catch a glimpse of it.

*********

The high-standing building mocked the return of Lucy's despair, after taking her daughter away from the height of the scene of corruption, back to where she had been hidden all these years.

Lucy never wanted to return. Staying away from the one that had shattered her world without pity.

But her heart said otherwise. Even though it seemed she was broken beyond repair, her eyes baggy with emotions and her face running pale, she wanted an explanation.

It was all that he could offer after all. After confessing his unending love a month ago and slipping a ring into her figure only to be caught with a whore.

The door was opened. A whirlwind of emotions crushed into the heart of Lucy. She made her way straight towards Gerald's room.

But the sight that met her sent her back in her steps. Her eyes widened with disbelief. However, each second more than she was made to look at them bore deep into her spirit tearing her apart.

She opened her mouth to speak. However, only a whimper, coated by the pain of her heartbreak was voiced out, sending the heat of their gaze boring right through her skin.

"My bitch is just in time to take care of the bedsheets. I was getting frightened that I was going to get my hands dirty!" Linda's voice, Lucy's sister by adoption was coated in icy ruthlessness as she moved away from the bed.

"What do you want for a slave? Do you need someone to teach you your job?" She snapped the next second that there was no response from Lucy.

However, she was ignored once again as Lucy's eyes remained interlocked with that of Gerald, the pain rising steeply through her blood.

Her knees buckled, and her legs felt like jelly. Her breath caught in her throat, and her lungs burned. Her heart racing, she stumbled forward, her eyes streaming with tears. The sound of her heartbeat was deafening, and the rush of blood in her ears made her feel dizzy. She felt like she was drowning in a sea of despair, unable to catch her breath. Her arms wrapped around herself, and she stumbled backward, collapsing to the ground. She cried out in anguish, her voice echoing off the walls. “How could you do this to me?” she begged, her voice cracking with pain.

Linda's face squeezed into a deep deadly frown. Her face was flustered with hatred and anger.

"How dare you keep me waiting and speak to my man in such a tune?" Manicured nails lodged at Lucy, ready to rip a hole right through her face. However, Gerald stopped her.

Her face burned bright red as her eyes interlocked into that of Gerald and her brows were arched in a questioning manner.

"It's between the both of us!" Replied Gerald.

"You feel you need an explanation?" Gerald returned to Lucy as he approached her with a sinister gaze on his face, devoid of emotion and blank of pity.

"Are you going to blame me that I didn't find interest in a boring woman like yourself? Who's always so yes sir and can barely make decisions on her own!" Her spat, a sour taste rising through his throat.

His words stab right through the heart of Lucy, causing her to fall backward in her steps.

Her face was pale with the disbelief that it was the same man that had expressed his love for a submissive woman and she was ready to do anything to please him.

"If you didn't love me, why didn't you just cut me off... Instead of making me believe that I could trust you!" Lucy almost yelled, her spirit was gradually breaking as her heart sank into the bottom of her despair.

"Obviously because I wanted a taste of you! But you are so protective. Not when you aren't even a virgin!"

"More like a whore?" Linda with a mocking tune.

"But there's always someone out there to give you what you want!" Their lips dug right into each other, their tongue deep into softening each other.

It was as though a metallic hand was squeezing right into the heart of Linda.

"Don't forget to attend our wedding ceremony. We are still trying to fix a date!"

"Oh. Sorry, Hon but she will be doing dishes. So she can't afford to steal a bit from the cake!"

The bitter sense of disgust came rising through the guts of Lucy, watching the man that she had fallen in love with again.

There was no need to talk to them anymore. However, no matter how much she tried to control herself, she could not deny the itching and unmovable pain that remained stuck in her heart.

Her hands sped off towards the engagement ring that the betrayer had slipped into her fingers, in an attempt to pull it right off.

Before she got the ring off her hands, a voice sent chills running through her body, causing goosebumps to come running all over.

"There would be no need for you to pull the ring off from your hands. He might not be willing to get you a ring tomorrow. That would be a sign at least that you are married!

And you won't have guys strolling after you. I'd like you to try closing those legs and stop us raining over with disgrace again." The voice dripped with an excessive amount of coldness and Lucy didn't need a soothsayer to tell her who was speaking.

Who could not be other than her ruthless mother?