Return Gift

Ivanna Pov's

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I flinched when the sun's rays fell on my face. I looked outside of the window after sitting straight, only to realise I cried the whole night.

"Your love always makes me vulnerable, Stefan. I cried the whole night." I chuckled and wiped my tears then took a deep breath.

"It's enough Ivanna. There is no point in crying over a person who destroyed you mentally" I muttered to myself and took off the shirt I was wearing. I again look at all of Stefan's belongings before locking them inside the box.

"I don't know when I will get relief from the pain you give me, Stefan. I thought your apology would heal me but it didn't. Your insulting words still haunt me as a nightmare" I sighed and kept that box inside the cupboard then got up to live another unwanted day of my life.

I was having my breakfast before leaving for the office. That's when my brother entered the dining area. I didn't even bother to look at him and resume my eating, ignoring his presence.

"Where were you last night, Ivanna?" His question reminds me of last night which I spent with that stranger and my lips curved into a beautiful smile.

"You're smiling" I look at my brother who is looking at me shockingly as if two horns pop out of my head.

"Why are you looking at me as if I committed the biggest crime by smiling? I'm human and it's normal to smile" He shook his head negatively.

"I haven't seen you smile in the last three years," This was my time to get shocked. He was right, I hadn't smiled in the past three years but that stranger brought a smile to my face in a few hours.

"I was furious when I entered your house as you weren't picking up my calls but after seeing your smile, I can't express how ecstatic I am" I didn't reply to him and resumed my breakfast.

"What happened to your left cheek? Why is it swelling?"

"A goon slapped me," I replied.

"What?" He yelled. I closed my ears in response.

"Stop yelling… You will make me deaf"

"A goon slapped you and you're telling me to stop yelling at you" He frowned. I rolled my eyes.

"Your enemies attacked me last night," I said and started narrating everything that happened last night except the part when I kissed my lunatic stranger.

"Ohh god. " He clutched his hair frustratingly.

"Someone attacked you last night and you didn't even care to inform me" he growled. I drank the water after completing my breakfast, ignoring him completely.

"Don't act like you care about me," I muttered after wiping my lips with tissues. "If you're so worried about me then why don't you leave this stupid mafia world" I scoffed.

"If I left this mafia world then they will kill me and rape you to get their heir" he gritted his teeth.

"They can get any woman to give birth to their heir. Why me?" His face drained after hearing my question. His reaction was enough to put me in distress. I knew from the start he was hiding something from me. His enemies are not behind me just because I'm his sister. 

"I know you don't care about me because I'm your sister." His eyes widened with my words. "Just wait for the day brother. the moment I came to know what you're hiding from me and what disastrous you did with my life, I will kill you" I said in a threatening tone before leaving for my office. The moment I came out of my house, my eyes went on Stefan who was standing at the door with a flower bouquet in his hand.

"The drama never ends in my life" I groaned frustratingly and sat inside my car to drive towards my office, ignoring Stefan completely.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel when Stefan's upset face came in front of my eyes. I can feel he is sorry for what happened in the past but forgetting him is not easy for me. I parked the car in the parking area and closed my eyes then took a deep breath to calm myself. I can't let my emotions ruin my present. I should focus on my work instead of stupid people.

I was about to hop out of my car when I received a message from a stranger.

"You asked me to stay away from you. I will follow your command but in return please keep smiling and never let those tears fall from your eyes" I squeezed my eyebrow after reading that message.

"I asked Stefan to stay away from me. Did he send this message to me but where did he get my personal number." I thought and hopped out of the car. The whole day I kept myself busy with work, trying not to think about Stefan and the message he sent.

"You should take a break, Ivanna. you have been working for eight hours straight." My best friend, Sia, who is also my assistant said.

"I'm fine," I replied and opened another file to read it but she snatched and closed the file.

"You will get ill if you keep working like a robot without eating anything. First, have food then you can continue your work"

"Sia"

"I'm not asking you but ordering you"

"Did you forget I'm your boss?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"I'm sorry" I shook my head and took a file from her hand to work again. Till night I got so exhausted that it became difficult for me to even open my eyes. I closed my laptop and bowed my head on the table. That's when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in"

"Someone sent a lunch box for you, ma'am" I looked up at the peon and then the lunch box in his hand.

"Who?"

"Delivery boy didn't mention the name of the person who sent it."

"Keep it on the table" He nodded his head and left the box. I opened it to see any note or to find any clue who sent it.

"Aah" a horrifying scream escaped from my mouth and the box fell to the ground. It has the chopped fingers of a human. I looked around and then at that box which also had a letter with it. I covered my nose with my scarf and picked that letter with a shivering hand.

"Your brother killed my man who slapped you and in return, I killed one of his loyal bodyguards. I sent you his fingers as a present. Tell your brother to think twice before messing up with me: Satan"

I gulped and again looked at that box then wiped the sweat from my forehead. It would be a lie if I said I'm not scared. I searched for my phone and dialled my brother Kane's number.

"You killed Satan's man who slapped me and as a return gift he sent me your loyal bodyguard fingers," I said the moment he picked up the call without doing any greeting.

"What?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your mafia things away from my office?" I yelled and looked at those fingers. I was fuming in anger and at the same time my soul was shivering from inside.

"I didn't kill any of his men. I don't even know the person who slapped you.." I scrunched my eyebrow at his words.

"If you didn't then who killed his man?"

"I don't know." I look at the letter and those fingers again.

"He slapped you," My lunatic stranger's words roamed in my mind. He grabbed that person's neck to kill him but his companion saved him. Could it be possible that my mysterious man killed him? I shook my head negatively remembering how his hands were shivering when he wiped blood from the corner of my lips. A person like him can't kill someone.

"Ivanna.. Are you there?" I came to my senses when my brother yelled from the other side of the phone.

"I'm sending some more bodyguards to pick you up from the office. If he can kill my man then there is a higher chance he will try to harm you as well." He said, almost panicked with the thought of his enemy harming me. Now I realise why people call me his weakness and want to harm me to target him.

"Don't worry, Kane. Your sister knows how to protect herself" I cut the call without waiting for his response and picked that box in my hand to burn it before anyone saw it. I went to the corner of the parking area and burned the box with the help of kerosene and a lighter.

"Destroying the evidence of murder?" My eyes widened when I heard a familiar voice. I turned only to find my stranger standing there wearing a black hoodie looking at me with a smirk on his lips.