Her

I

t was Annette. I could not believe my ears. I whipped my neck around so fast that I have a suspicion I may have injured it. She was standing there, with the same cloud daze covering her eyes. She stood there in a long coat, blue jeans, and a white shirt. Her emerald ring was shining on her fingers.

Her turquoise heels were prominent in the dark. No. This cannot be right. No, no, no, no, no! What is happening? This cannot be right. Maybe she is at the wrong place at the wrong time. But why would she be visiting a grave in the dead of night? My grip on the knife faltered as I stared at her frame. She stood tall, looking down at me with so much hatred in her eyes that I forgot who she was for a moment.

How could it be? Was it her all along? “Surprised to see me?” I could not speak. My tongue was tied. Is she the one who killed Andrew? Is she the one who gave me irreparable emotional damage? How? Why? “Annette.” Her name. That was all I could say. Her name was all I could utter. “Why?” I just stared at her face for any hint of guilt or remorse. Nothing. It only had hatred. “Why? WHY?!!” I flinched at her tone. "You ruined everything. You came along and ruined everything. Me, Mum, and Dad were happy; you just had to come and trigger Mum's illness, no? It is all your fault, all of it. I cannot believe you just asked why.

You are the reason I had to grow up without a mum and a dad. You are the reason I used to be the kid with no parents who show up for career day. You are the reason I spent countless nights blaming myself for my parent's absence before I found out the truth.

You are the reason I had to become the person I am today. You are the reason for Andrew's death. You are the reason Anthony is where he is right now. You and your wretched father, Tsunoda." My what? I looked at her with shock evident on my face. Am I Sophia? Seeing my expression, she began to laugh.

But it was not her usual laugh. This one sent shivers up my spine. "So, let me get this straight, you ruined my life, and you have no idea? Oh, I am going to make you suffer so much. You have no idea what is about to happen." “Where is Anthony?” I asked the only question that could keep me sane at this moment. What is happening? I have no idea.

None of this is making any sense. I felt sweat dripping from my eyebrows even though the night was cold and chilly. How could Annette be the one behind everything? None of this makes any sense. “Once again, my dear Victoria, Anthony should be the last person you should be worried about. Wait.” I sat up straighter as her tone got sharper. “You know what.

I just figured out what I want to do with you.” She abruptly sat down and was at eye level with me. I have stared into those eyes countless times, but, at this moment, I could not recognize those orbs. There was no sense of familiarity or warmth in them. They were cold. “First, I will kill Anthony right in front of your eyes. Then, I will kill you.” My breath hitched in my throat. She laughed again. "You seriously did not believe I called you here to let you both go back happily? Oh, Victoria, you are smarter than that.

You have made a dumb, dumb choice. Even I was surprised when you decided to come. With a whole force to protect you, you chose to put yourself in danger and play right into my hands.” Just then, my phone began to ring loudly. Its shrill tone cut like a knife into the silent night air. Ring, ring, ring. “Pick up and put it on speaker. If you don’t, they will suspect that you are in danger.” I pulled the phone out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID.

It was Nathan. “Pick up, go ahead.” With shaking hands, I attended to the call and put the phone on speaker. "Hey, Victoria. Sorry for calling this late, but this is urgent. Where are you?" "I am at Mrs. Waltham's." It took everything in my power to stop my voice from shaking. "I have some really disturbing news for you. You should probably sit down for this. I, myself, am so shocked right now I have no idea what to do." "What? What is it?"

"Remember that location the assailant gave to Anthony? I knew it sounded familiar when Detective Ocon told me the address, but I just could not figure out how it sounded familiar. So, I was going through some of the files which contained a list of Taylor's properties, and guess what?

She owns that place."  I felt my blood run cold. If only he had called an hour ago. Just an hour. If only. I saw the smile on Annette’s face as Nathan said, "Victoria, I think the assailant is Taylor. For a moment, I even thought it could be Annette, but that could not be possible. So just be careful." "Okay." I cut the call. The smile on Annette’s face depicted pure malice.

She looked like she wanted to rip her cheeks with how wide she was smiling. "Poor Nathan. Is he really suspecting that bitch Taylor? She could not kill a fly if she had to. It is all pretending with her. What a joke. But this also proves that I am a good actress.

What do you think? Should I become an actress?" How can she be talking this nonsense right now? “Now, come with me.” Before she could grab my hand, I pulled out my knife and slashed the palm of her hand before getting up to run. I had only one thought in my mind. Run. I counted my breaths as I ran as fast as I could.

I was filled with adrenaline. One, two, three. I could hear her scream from behind me as she began to run after me. It rattled my bones to their core. I was starting to get tired, but I pushed myself to run faster and faster. Before I knew it, I heard a loud noise and then a shooting pain running through my head. I was falling.

––––––––

What is happening? I willed myself to get up, but my body would not listen to me. The pain in my head was making it hard to open my eyes. Something warm was oozing from the back of my head. I could feel myself losing consciousness as Annette’s voice screaming at me began to fade. No. No. No...

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