Ch 3: Shock

She hails a cab and heads straight for her mother’s house in Manhattan. Her mother, Isabella, visited her quite a few times after the trial but Scarlett forbade her from visiting. She doesn’t want Isabella to worry about her and jeopardize her health. After all, one of Isabella’s feet is upside down and her mother has to walk in a limp. Seeing her worry makes Scarlett feel guilty.

The cab stops in front of an upscale apartment where Scarlett used to live with her family before her marriage. She gets out of the cab and stares at the building.

It hasn’t changed a bit. The unique architecture has been created by her stepfather, James Swanson, who was a renowned architect. Isabella had fallen in love with the lonely widower and they bonded over their partners.

Scarlett never knew her dad because he left her and her mother before Scarlett was born. For the first fifteen years of her life, she was raised by Isabella. They weren’t rich but they had each other. When Isabella fell in love with James, Scarlett was apprehensive. She didn’t bond well with Elle and hated the girl from the bottom of her heart. Even though she warmed up to James later, she couldn’t help but resent Elle.

Everyone else loved Elle. She was the pure one, angelic and innocent to a fault. Her naivety captured Hector’s heart in high school but Scarlett remained unaffected. All throughout their childhood, Scarlett kept Elle away from her, not wanting to be near her at all. Scarlett was in love with Hector but he never looked at her that way. This enraged the young eighteen year old Scarlett and in her hysteria, she tried to kill herself.

Living without Hector was impossible for her and she couldn’t take her defeat. So when she recovered, Hector was forced to marry her and leave Elle. But he wouldn’t touch her and their marriage remained unconsummated.

Instead, he kept on having an affair with Elle. Scarlett knew it all but kept her grasp on Hector. He needed her expertise to run the business. Scarlett, eager to prove herself to him, gave up college and entered his business. Thanks to her sharp acumen, she rose up the ranks quickly and turned his loss making venture into a profitable one.

But it all came crashing down when she was sent to jail. 

I wonder if mom is doing okay, she sadly thinks. Taking a deep breath, she heads for the entrance.

A guard stops her. “Who are you and where are you going?” He sneers at her.

Scarlett is aware that she’s wearing an old t-shirt and rundown jeans so she must be looking shabby.

“I’m Scarlett D’arcy,” she says. “I’m here to meet my mother, Isabella D’arcy. She lives here.”

“Isabella D’arcy? That criminal’s mother?” The guard scoffs. His words anger Scarlett but she maintains her cool.

“I want to meet her,” she quietly demands.

“You can’t,” he says. “She killed herself two years ago. Jumped from the roof and died.”

….

Scarlett is sitting on a bench, lost. The people walking past her are a blur and her mind is fizzled. She cannot comprehend anything, her heart numb. Even during the worst times in jail, she didn’t give up her ferocity. There was always hope, a hope that she’ll be reunited with her mother. That the ordeal will be over and she’ll punish the ones who wronged her.

And now the hope is gone.

She feels empty inside, with nothing to hold on to. Her grief is overwhelming but she doesn’t know what to do. Tears aren’t coming, the gravity of the loss too heavy for her to hold.

She killed herself. Jumped from the roof and died.

These words are swirling in her head. Her mother is dead. There’s no one left for her to fight for.

A paper flies towards her and lands on her feet. Two familiar faces are smiling in it.

One is a blonde man who’s around thirty years old. His face is beaming with joy and his arm is draped around a girl who’s around Scarlett’s age. She has long dark hair with pearly white skin. Her aura is angelic and there’s no doubt that the couple are deeply in love. 

They look so happy that Scarlett is sickened by it. She hates them but she is patient. 

“Hector Hawkins, heir to the Hawkins Group, is going to be engaged to Elle Swanson on the 18th of March 20XX at the Grand Sire Hotel,” Scarlett reads.

So Hector and Elle are going to be engaged tonight? She thinks. I should convey my wishes to them then.

…

Ryder is in his mansion, reading the newspaper. Katerina approaches him, reading the newspaper from the back.

“Are you sure about this?” She asks. “Will that girl agree to your conditions?”

“She has to,” he sighs and puts the paper aside. “She has no choice.”

“I’m curious, brother,” Katerina goes on. “What are you planning?”

Ryder is about to reply when he’s interrupted by someone squirming. They glance to their side only to find a man who is in rags. The man is on all fours with a haggard expression and a disgusting stench coming from him. He has lost a significant amount of weight and one of his feet is tied with metal chains. 

“Wa…ter…” he whispers. The pitiful sight of the man doesn’t make the siblings flinch at all.

“It’s in the dog bowl in front of you, Anderson,” Ryder simply says. 

Anderson rushes to the dog bowl and laps up the water with his tongue. Katerina winces at the man’s state but she has no pity for him.

“Don’t waste even a drop!” She snaps at him before turning to her brother.

“Well?” She demands. “What the hell are you planning? Why are you so adamant on making her your wife?”

Ryder hands the paper over to her. Katerina takes it and reads the article.

“That b*tch!” She snarls. “How could she-”

“It’s a fair exchange, right?” Ryder says in a cryptic tone. “One year. I just need one year to take down the Hawkins and Scarlett is the key to it.”

Katerina shakes her head. “Are you really gonna let her get away with this?” She asks. “After all, she broke your heart!”

Ryder doesn’t say anything but keeps on staring at the man who is lapping at the water. The man was one of his old enemies who had dared to try and kill him. But Ryder had him captured and he is now Ryder’s slave.

“Which is why I’m gonna marry Scarlett,” he murmurs. “I don’t care about love. I just want that woman to suffer.”

Katerina can see the dangerous glee in her brother’s eyes. Hector Hawkins and Elle Swanson are gonna suffer and he’ll make sure of it. 

And he must do it within one year.