When Makayla got back home, she got out of the car with Mariana.

"Do you think Micah will be in?" Mariana asked.

"Um yeah, he should be, he was home when I left."

"Okay, thanks." She carried her shopping bags and slowly walked towards the mansion with Makayla. She sighed as she gazed up at its majestic beauty, wondering where Micah was within its hidden walls.

Makayla opened the door with her keys and walked off somewhere. Meanwhile, Mariana held her bags as she searched the rooms.

She eventually found him in the kitchen on a barstool. His full focus was on his phone screen as he plucked some red grapes off their vine.

She let out a sigh as she slowly placed her bags down, making as little noise as possible.

She passed Mason who was seated on the couch and walked across the counter so that she stood opposite him.

"Micah," she whispered and gently tapped his head.

His head gradually rose and he jumped back, startled by her sudden appearance. "Oh Mariana! You scared me."

"Haha, sorry about that." She grabbed a stool and then sat opposite him. "How are you?"

"I'm good, just watching some YouTube videos."

"Oh cool, can I have some grapes please?"

"Yeah sure." He pushed the bowl towards her and she started to pick some. She loved red grapes for how sweet they were and once she started, it was hard for her to stop.

Micah stared at her, noticing the number of grapes she was taking and how it was quickly reducing.

Mariana noticed him staring and realized how much she had eaten.

"Two more," she said and took them. She ate the ones that were in her hand and was satisfied.

"Are you okay Mariana?" Micah asked.

She looked at him. Could he know the reason she had come?

"No not really," she muttered.

"What's the matter?"

She sighed and then faced him, her expression turned serious as she got out her phone. "If I tell you, will you promise to be completely honest with me?"

"Um... yes?" He was extremely confused by her choice of words.

"Have you ever been in a relationship before?" She said as she tapped on her phone.

He sighed with a slight growl. "There was one woman..." he mumbled.

"It doesn't matter anymore."

"Are you talking about Electra Micah? Come on she wasn't just 'one woman'," Mason butted in.

Mariana's ears perked at that name. Who was Electra?

"Shut up Mason," he groaned and rubbed his temples, he didn't want to be reminded of that name, "and why am I under interrogation?" He asked Mariana.

"You'll soon see..." she said, swiping through her pictures.

"Micah, what is this picture?" She demanded and turned her phone around, showing him the scene in which she could barely look at herself.

Micah peered at it. At first, he couldn't recognize it because of the blurriness but when it clicked in his head, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Where did you get that picture from?" He thought he had told her to delete it, but she didn't.

"That doesn't matter. Micah, did you cheat on me?!" She raised her voice.

"No, of course not!" He exclaimed.

"So what's this picture then?"

"That picture is not even new, it's old."

He couldn't believe his ex still had it, why would she keep it after all the time that has gone by?

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Why are you two shouting?" Mason said and went up to them. "And what's all this about a picture?" He looked at Mariana's phone.

"Damn, is that Electra?" He said in surprise. "She looking good, although I'm not surprised because her body is elec—"

Micah cut him off and started to shout. "No te atrevas a deci' otra palabra!" (Don't you dare say another word).

Even though he couldn't stand her being described that way, he knew his brother's words would be more upsetting to Mariana.

He turned his attention to her who was stood there in shock. "Look, just send it to me later and then I can prove that it's from years ago," his voice got lower as he got up. He blocked the picture with his hand as he couldn't stand to see it any longer, "for now, keep that picture away from me."

He was about to walk out when Mariana stopped him.

"Wait Micah, are you upset with me?" She asked with worry. She didn't want her actions to instigate what she had been trying to avoid. She just wanted peace of mind from her burdened heart.

Micah turned around to face her. Seeing her pleading face that had a shadow of tiredness, made him feel bad that his reaction may make her believe that this is all her fault, even though it wasn't.

"No Mariana, I'm not upset with you," he replied calmly.

"Are you sure? Can't you just stay down here and spend some time with me?" Her voice had an undertone of a plea. Ever since seeing that photo, she didn't feel comfortable being away from Micah for so long, in case that stranger takes him away when she least expects it.

His body tensed up at her request. He was reluctant to answer as he would love to spend time with her, but he also wanted to clear his head from the picture of that woman and all the memories attached to her.

"We can do something together later, I just want to have a nap right now."

Mariana sighed and slowly nodded. He was just going to have a nap and then they can do something, nothing wrong with that.

Except for that taunting voice that keeps echoing inside of her head.

You're just some temporary fun until he returns to me.

He is mine, Mariana, and will be mine in due time.

Her eyes filled with tears as she watches her fear become a reality with each step Micah took away from her. She felt like he was one step closer into that stranger's arms, and that she was unable to keep him within her reach.

"Micah..." her throat painfully tightened, making her voice come out like a broken record. He stopped again, she bit her lip, hesitant to ask her next question.

"Do you love me?"

She felt her ears burn up and her hands feeling sticky as she anticipated his answer. He paused and then turned back to look at her. Even though they were in the same room, they seemed so close, yet so far, it was like an invisible box was separating them.

Yet, despite that, Micah could make out the worry that made her lips tremble, her face shadowed in the dark, her eyes seeking closure, and her body shaking as she struggled to stand straight.

He went back to her and cupped her face. Her tears started to fall at his warm touch so he dried them away with his thumb.

"Of course I love you Mariana. I love you so much that it hurts me to hear you question it," he let out his sentence all in one and took a sharp breath in.

He then stared into her honey-brown eyes that had sorrow laid beneath them. Sorrow caused by his nightmarish, devious, puta of an ex. Why did she want to go after sweet Mariana?

She was always filled with trouble he thought.

He then pulled Mariana into a hug. Her body melted into his as she was unable to hold herself up.

"Don't worry Mariana, I love you very much," he rubbed her back in reassurance and kissed her forehead.

"After my nap, we will definitely do something together, okay?" He held her hands in between them.

Mariana sniffed and then nodded. She was still a bit upset but not so much.

"Maybe you can go stay with Makayla or Mylah instead of down here," he took a glance at Mason who was still sitting down.

"Okay Micah," she managed to smile as he slowly released her hands.

Micah was relieved that she was in a happier mood and waved by to her as he went to his bedroom upstairs.

He opened his door and then flopped down on
his king-sized bed. He was having a headache at having to deal with his ex potentially coming back. What did she want and why did she want to mess up his current life?

He groaned as his head pained from the memories of the past.

"Why would you do this Electra? I loved you!" He shouted at her, his fists clenched as his whole face heated up in anger.

His face scrunched up as he rubbed his head against his pillow. His head felt like it had been wrapped tight with rope, trapping him in his agony.

"And who's to say I loved you? You were just some temporary fun for me, a play toy perhaps," she smirked with her deceptive, scarlet lips.

He turned over but it still played loudly in his head. He grabbed the pillow and covered both of his ears to try and stop the voices.

"Your not a man and you will never be one," she mocked in a taunting voice. "You're just a spoilt. Little. Weak. Brat who I can never love." She spat out every word.

"I have to say, I agree with her on that one Micah," Aidan said, scratching the back of his head.

He turned over his pillow once again and it finally stopped. The words of his father still pierce his heart to this day. He felt betrayed by him, wondering why he thought so lowly of him. He even chose to side with his son's ex, someone he didn't even know, over his own blood in the moment when he needed him the most.

Micah went under the covers, finally being able to fall asleep, because since that day, nothing has been the same.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

What do you think?👀❤️❤️

Also did you notice anything repeated to Mariana and Micah? 👀