(Theme Song of the Chapter: Mind Games - Sickick)

Sophie◆Cruz

WHEN I WAS little, I never asked Santa Claus for toys and trivial joys as any kid would—I was asking him to bring my mother back home for the holidays.

It was like clock work for her. She would come back, play house, and "parent me" for a couple of weeks before vanishing to Punta Cana or another tropic for months with a brand new live in boyfriend.

She would rarely call or ask my grandparents for updates on how I was doing. These trips would stretch from months to nearly a year. She would leave her job behind and abandon her role as a mother. For those six months, it was as if I didn't exist.

At 23, I no longer believed in Santa, but if I did, my wish wouldn't be for her to come back home. In fact, as I glanced at the headlines and articles my friends and acquaintances sent to my phone, I couldn't have been happier that she was far away, lost in some tropical paradise too distracted to care about American media.

Because on this Sunday afternoon my face was everywhere, walking hand in hand with the devil himself.

Aiden Accardi With New Beauty Around His Arm.

Aiden Accardi With New Summer Fling Get into a Heated Argument Inside of Club Midnight Oasis Before Reported Drive By Shooting.

Aiden Accardi and Mystery Girl Leave Club Together.

Drive By Shooting and Fire Take Down the
Beloved Midnight Oasis Club.

"As we know, 12 people have died, but most clubgoers managed to escape as chaos erupted inside. Reports indicate that bullets struck pipes, igniting a fire that burned the club to the ground," said the reporter on a pop media news channel. "But on a lighter note, the social fire storm that erupted after billionaire socialite Aiden Accardi was spotted with a new woman—"

I clicked off the video.

This was unbelievable.

Again, Aiden and his men went unscathed. The police were ruling the club incident as a drive-by shooting, potentially linked to unnamed gang activity. Investigations were still being conducted, but with Aiden's power, I knew it would never be traced back to him.

They staged the crime nicely.

And they set fire to any tangible evidence.

I sat in the kitchen of the Accardi mansion, staring at the freshly made omelette on my plate that Walter had whipped up. The old man hummed to himself as he mixed more eggs in a bowl.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, glancing over at me. "You've barely touched your food."

I ran my hands through my hair, scratching my scalp in frustration. "I have a headache."

"I can whip you up some herb tea," he offered.

I shook my head, giving him a kind smile. "No worries, I left my work bag in the old workout room upstairs. It has some meds in it."

As I hopped off the stool and began to make my way out of the kitchen, Walter's voice entered my ear, gently halting my steps.

"You know, I used to make this very same omelette for my daughter when she was a kid," he said, almost to himself. "She hated it cold. I'll keep it warm for you."

I turned back to look at him. His smile was gentle, almost paternal, and in that moment, it was oddly comforting.

"Thanks," I said with a small smile before whipping my head around. I walked down the hall, my thoughts still lingering on Walter's words, when I nearly collided with Aiden.

He was dressed in a sharp black suit, his expression such a focused intensity. In his hand, he held a bouquet of flowers, the vibrant colors contrasted to his dark attire. He looked to be in a rush.

"Why the hell are you here?" he questioned.

"Well, every time I leave your estate, your men follow me in their cars," I spat back, looking at him while batting my lashes. "It gets a little exhausting trying to go to a diner for breakfast only to have two rugged-looking men sitting across from me watching my every bite. So I thought I'd have Walter make me breakfast this morning."

Aiden shook his head in frustration. "Sophie, I really don't have time for your whining today."

"Maybe I'd stop if you'd order your guards to leave me alone," I retorted.

He let out a low huff. "I'm not making you stay here. You're free to go about as you please."

"You have people spying on me..."

His eyebrows furrowed, and a smirk replaced his stoic demeanor. He closed the gap between us and he looked down at me, his eyes flickering with something illegible. I backed up uneasily until my back pressed against the wall. His deep, chocolate eyes holding me hostage, and goosebumps spread across my skin as my body tensed.

"Think of it like a witness protection program," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

He took a strand of my hair between his fingers, studying it intently.

I scoffed, trying to hide the hitch of my breath. "Protecting me from what? Law enforcement?"

"Nah," he barked. "Protecting you from fucking around and finding out."

With that, he brushed past me and walked towards the foyer and out the door. I took a deep breath, collecting myself.

As I made my way upstairs, still fuming from my encounter with Aiden, I spotted something that made me stop in my tracks. A woman, completely naked, was casually walking down the hallway with such confidence and nonchalance.

Her hair was wrapped in a towel, but her body was exposed as she brushed her teeth, music played from the bathroom down the hall. Her hazel eyes snapped to mine before they widened, and she darted back into the bathroom, only to reappear moments later in the hall, still unclothed but with the toothbrush now out of her mouth.

She smiled at me with a knowing expression before her eyes fell to my shoes, and her face dropped as if she had just witnessed an atrocity.  "Oh Dolcezza, those are so spring 2023. Too dated for you to be wearing and too early for it to be vintage." (Italian| Sweetness).

My mouth opened as I struggled to find a response, but all I managed was a series of silent, futile attempts as I forced my gaze to stay on the woman's face, resisting the pull toward her bare body. She stood a couple of inches taller than me, her eyes narrowing as she looked down before a smile of realization spread across her lips.

"Oh sorry, where are my manners?" She extended her arm. "I'm Chiara Mancini."

I shook her hand absentmindedly, completely bewildered by what was occurring at the moment.

"You must be Sophie." She said gleely, her accent quite thick. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

How did she know my name?

She watched my eyes before she looked down at herself and let out a gasp of acknowledgment. "I take my lack of clothes is off-putting to you—I forgot how weird Americans get over public nudity."

She turned around and made her way back into the bathroom, her hips moving side to side and her slender legs trotting down the hall. I took that as my chance to make a bolt to the workout room, but she returned again now adorned in a towel.

"I was heading somewhere..." I muttered awkwardly.

She nodded her head slowly, a smirk now present on her face.

"She speaks." She commented.

I let out an awkward breath before spinning on my heels and heading down the large staircase my headache being the least of my worries now. Who the hell was that woman and how long had she been living with Aiden?

And as I stormed out of the Accardi mansion, I felt the familiar green-eyed demon creep its way up to my mind. A strange and hollow way to feel towards a man who was responsible for uprooting my life and plaguing me with the sins of his moral-less world.

But was it so surprising when I still got flashbacks of the way his hands played my body like instrument, unleashing my pleasure bound tones and all the erotic primal urges that succumbed the human body.

Aiden's touch had plagued me with something worse than bearing witness to his crimes.

A hungry seed of something-something I still couldn't quite understand.

As I got into my newly fixed car, "courtesy" of Aiden's people, I could feel the eyes of his men watching me like hawks. My mind swirled with thoughts until a voicemail notification from an unknown number caught my attention amid the flood of texts on my phone.

"Hi, Sophie. This is Detective Vargas...Listen, I know the district attorney and police are fooled by Aiden Accardi, but we both know the truth."

I paused the voice mail. My heart quickening. My nervousness paraded all over my body as I looked out the windows of my car in suspicion before lowering the volume and pressing resume.

"The Accardi family is behind many heinous crimes in this town, orchestrated by Aiden and his circle. I believe you have evidence that could finally put him under arrest. Listen, I understand the man is dangerous and probably has you wrapped up in something, but I can help. We need something undeniable to incriminate him. Please, call me back. Together, I believe we can bring him down."

Tae.

◆◆◆

As I pulled into my apartment complex my mind was in deep thought. How in the world did this detective find my number and what made him so confident he could take Aiden down with my help?

I checked my rear view mirror to see the same solid black cars that followed me on daily basis. I sighed before pulling into the lot of the apartment building and parking my car.

I idled in my car annoyed and watched as the two solid black cars parked adjacent to mine. I sighed laying my head back on the leather seat of car. I couldn't continue to live like this.

But my heart dropped at the familiar car that is parked across from mine.

Lola

My heart sank and I stiffened in my seat. Why was she here? Had she seen the news? No. Lola didn't watch American news outlets. But still. Why was she here?

I stepped outside, and as if on cue, grandma's Honda Civic opens up and she exits the car. Her kind eyes meet mine as she walked towards me.

"Lola, what are you doing here?" I asked nervously.

I looked up and stared at the cars belonging to Aiden's guards. The engines had stopped, and although I couldn't see them through the dark, tinted windows, I knew they were watching.

I instantly began to fear for my grandmother. They would report back to Aiden and the last thing I needed was Aiden knowing of Lola—this could jeopardize her safety.

"Hoping to finally run into my grandchild."

I chuckled sheepishly. "You know how hectic things have been at work. I'm working even longer hours now."

My grandma stared at me for a couple seconds.

"I know, so I decided to show up at your job to surprise you with some Lumpia." she said.

My heart dropped.

"And to my surprise, I was told that you were no longer an employee there." She trailed off. "I refused to believe it, of course. I almost caused a whole scene denying what they were telling me—they were saying you quit."

I swallowed hard as my grandma's eyes pierced into my guilty ones.

"Lo-"

"Because if what they were saying is true," she said cutting me off. Her knowing eyes twinkled with disappointment. "That would mean my Sophie lied to me."

"Lola, I can explain..." I breathed out, but suddenly the engine of one of the solid black cars revs up and the headlights flashed.

It's like they were giving me a warning. I was on their time.

"I'm waiting, Sophie." Lola pressed.

I shook my head, the shame I was feeling was intense, so intense my eyes began to burn, and my frustration caused tears to threaten my eyes.

"I just can't explain right now." I mumbled.

My grandma's face now held a level of sadness that broke my heart. She frowned before shaking her head at me.

"What's happening to my sweet girl?" She questioned before she walked away from me and got inside her car and drove away.

I let out a shaky sigh before turning around and making my way to my apartment door. I fumbled my hands around in my purse finally finding my keys and unlocked the door.

But I am in complete shock at what I see.

My apartment was completely empty. All furniture, all decor, all necessities were stripped away from every room. It was as if I never even lived there. It was unlivable.

Empty.

And there was one man who I knew was responsible.

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