When Mariana's eyes had the bag removed, she gasped out loud as if she was being suffocated. She tried moving her arms, but they just brought pain as if he was trapped in a vine of thorns. She was no longer at the park but instead a murky dark room, with a looming, ominous silence that crept into her ears.

The only light that provided her with comfort was the one that beamed high above her. She felt the hot heat radiating from it as if she was stood next to a heater, and it made her sweat. Not just to cool off but out of fear because she had no idea where she was. Her weak heart started beating like a heavy drum, and she came close to crying of the unknown.

"Where am I!" She screamed and cried out. She tried to get out, but with every movement she made, the bonds seem to tighten around her, squeezing the strength out of her muscles.

"Hello, my dear Mariana." A voice erupted in the darkness. Her eyes darted towards the sound. It sounded vaguely familiar, which made her more alarmed.

"Who's there!" She screamed but tried not to sound scared, even though how she felt now, that would've been an understatement.

The person stepped into the room, and the light coming from outside showed off his shadow. Even though it was faint, Mariana could see a slight upturn of his lips as he approached her, slowly and cautiously, like he was calculating his next move. His steps were loud and unsettling like he was a giant and she was a little goose. His arms slowly swayed to the sides in a dominating motion, his fists clenched, and he placed them towards his chest, rubbing them together like she was his prey.

Once he was in full view, Mariana's jaw dropped, as well as her heart like a pin needle in a room filled with silence. She felt the world had suddenly stopped turning as she looked into the dreadful, evil, and clever eyes of the one who was responsible.

"Missed me, my precious little niece?" His arms opened wide like he wanted to give her a hug.

"Xavier! What?" Mariana stuttered out her words. She had not seen him for over a year, and she was shocked that he was the one who kidnapped her.

"That's right, my dear." He chuckled and started circling her like a snake wrapping around its next victim. His slimy tongue licked around his lips like she was his meal. His dark brown eyes darkened with a wicked intent underneath as he finally had her in his hold... again.

"How are you here? You're supposed to be locked up!" She screamed, hoping anyone outside can hear her.

"I escaped," he replied in a 'duh' tone like it was obvious.

"But how...?" Mariana was so confused about how Xavier was able to break out and even managed to catch her again.

"Doesn't matter, but now I have you again, I can finish what I started." He came dangerously close to her shaking, small figure. Her curls vibrated against her swelting face, and he scooped some up in his bruised hands. "You're even more beautiful than I last saw you..." he purred.

"Ew, get away from me!" She jerked her head away and bit down on his hand. "You ruined my life!"

He yelped out in pain and snatched away his hand from her gnawing teeth. With the painless one, he slapped her hard across the cheek, leaving a faint red imprint that made her eyes start swelling again. She kept her mouth shut as she didn't want to start screaming, so he won't know how much that affected her, so she just took sharp breaths to numb the pain.

"I should've had disposed of you a long time ago..." he muttered with fury, as his voice quickly became hoarse.

"It's you that should have been disposed of." She hissed back.

"Still talks back, as usual, you got the same bad attitude as your slutty, good-for-nothing mother."

"My mother is a queen! Unlike you!"

"Oh blah blah blah, stop spitting out nonsense." He waved his hand in front of her face, dismissing and uninterested in whatever she had to say.

He started walking away, the rough lines around his cheeks rose as he began chuckling to himself, as everything was finally going his way again.

"I wish I could have you sitting on my lap right now facing me, like you used to do when you were a little girl, but unfortunately, your tied up in that chair right now." He sighed pitifully for himself. Rather, he would want her to be tied up in his arms.

Mariana's stomach began rumbling in disgust, nausea filled her mouth, and she felt like she was going to throw up at his dirty implication. What was worse was that she really used to do that, sit on his lap and play with his hair, but now he was thinking of her like that in such an innocent position.

"So I suppose you want to know how I got to you, right?" He asked out of the open air.

"Um... yes!" She exclaimed. Of course, she wanted to know because she had not seen him in over a year and now suddenly, he's standing right in front of her.

"Alright then. It won't matter anyway since after I've made good use of you, I can just kill you." He exposed his arm and started speaking into his wrist. "Honey, can you bring my two helpers up, please?" he said.

Mariana's ears perked up as she waited anxiously for who was going to show up. At first, she was shocked that Xavier was in a relationship, for who could ever love such a heartless creature that does these kinds of things to their own family.

She looked to the side as Xavier kept glancing at her with a proud smirk like he was actually happy with all that he put her through. He should've been ashamed of himself.

Soon, the two mysterious people arrived. To Mariana's surprise, although it shouldn't have been a surprise at all, Electra and Amell walked in. Electra smiled like she was the happiest person on earth, and Amell looked like he has a guilty conscience creeping upon him.

"Hello, Mariana!" Electra skipped around like a merry, little girl. She had on a flurry skirt that danced beautifully around her waist like she was a fairy granting good wishes.

"Electra? You've been working with my uncle this whole time??" Mariana screamed like she was going to faint. Even though she couldn't believe it, it explained a lot of things when she thought about it.

"Yep! And my dear brother was helping me with it!" She said, slinging her around Amell.

"Amell, how could you..." She stared at him accusingly. Her brown eyes smoked fire and resentment.

"I'm very sorry, Mariana." He kept his head low, not wanting to look at her as he awkwardly shuffled his feet.

"Oh, stop saying sorry, Amell! You sound like a wimp," Electra said and shoved him aggressively. She then turned her attention towards frightful Mariana and smirked, enjoying how she was in such a vulnerable state.

"How did you two even meet and plan all this?" Mariana asked, confusion leaking out in her voice as she darted between Xavier and her.

"Well, it's quite a long and lovely story," Xavier began in his gruff voice. He brushed back the gray hairs at the front. "After I escaped from prison, I still had my revenge in mind, so I did a bit of research. Found out that Electra is a lovely, dear ex of Micah and decided to contact her."

He winked over at Electra, giving her a thumbs-up, making her blush at the mention of her inclusion. Mariana scoffed and rolled her eyes. She wanted to break free and kick Electra off the stool she was sat on.

"I promised her the leftover money I still had stored somewhere, and she agreed. All she had to do was break you guys up, so this time, he will not be able to save you and meddle with my plans." He chuckled and grunted like a madman. He was so happy his plan actually worked, and now he's got his niece trapped with nowhere to run.

Mariana's trembled at his booming voice, he was still partially in the dark, so it made it hard to see him, which added to his scariness. But there was one thing that clicked when he was explaining.

"Wait, Electra, you never wanted Micah back?" She asked, slowly like she couldn't believe that the question that was coming out out of her mouth, after all, that had happened.

"No, I never wanted him back!" Electra expressed with annoyance. "Just needed to separate you guys, and man, it was hard." She sighed because of everything that she went through just to do some simple task.

"Xavier, next time you want me to do something for you that involves something like this, make sure the family isn't that close, because that family loves Micah too much," she said, remembering all the beatings she had endured.

"Wait, so... what happened in the bedroom?" Mariana was unsure because she was sure of what she saw on that day.

"Oh, that?" Electra said as she had forgotten it. That was how meaningless Micah meant to her. "I drugged him. He had no idea what was going on." She smirked at her brilliant plan worked and the shocking resolution that slowly came upon Mariana.

"Wait... you mean... he didn't cheat?" She stared directly at Electra as her words came out in a whisper. She pondered each one as hot sweat steamed her face, teeth chattered together, as she got a bad feeling in her stomach, of the potential mistake she might have made.

"Nope, quite the opposite actually, he was very loyal to you, even though he seemed very upset and low over something that I have no knowledge about." She shrugged, not caring at all.

Mariana then remembered what she had said to him just before she left for Milan. That was probably why he was upset. But she didn't think it would affect him that much.

"And he didn't cheat on me?" She asked again, her voice failing her at the dawn of her terrible realization.

"Nope, I was very surprised myself because since you were not there, it was the perfect time to work my magic!" Electra exclaimed, jumping excitedly, but soon her face lost its light. "Except every single time I would come near him, he would just go out and buy something for you when you came back. I found it so weird because I was expecting him to give in as he seemed so depressed and looked like he needed some cheering up."

"But, annoying as it was, he was really determined to avoid me at all costs while feeling whatever he was feeling. He really loved you, Mariana," Electra angrily muttered as she hated to admit it.

"He did that?" Mariana wanted to wipe a tear away as it sounded so sweet but so bitter at the same time, she was hearing this now after just breaking up with him.

"Yeah, he did, your so lucky, I have never seen him love someone as much as that..." Electra hissed out of spite and an undertone of jealousy. "He even made you a strawberry shortcake as a surprise for when you return!" She spat out.

"He made me a cake?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing as she wasn't expecting it. Her tears prickled out painfully like they were needles falling out of her eyes. He had done so much when she was away, and now it was all ruined.

"Yeah, you wanna see?" Electra brought her phone and then went to the photo that she took before the cake was destroyed. "Here you go, enjoy what was going to be your lovely surprise." She held it in front of her tauntingly while grinning like a witch.

Mariana leaned in closer, and when she saw it, she felt immerse guilt wash over her like a waterfall as she saw how beautiful it looked, of course, everything that Micah made for her always looked beautiful. It was rimmed with strawberries, a heart inside with pink icing, and a cookie that was in a cat shape. But the thing that touched her was what it said:

Welcome back my Mariana x
My one and only
Whom I love ever so much.❤️
Here's something I made just for you.
Because you are the only one for me.
❤️

As soon as her eyes rested softly on those last few words, lips lifted into a smile. It was the first genuine one that she had ever felt since that day. The message was such a loving thing for him to do, short and sweet. But it would've been better if she was able to share it with him. But now she can't.

"Oh, Micah..." She no longer hated him, well there was no longer a reason to, but now she wished she could give him a hug and thank him for everything.

"Pretty sweet, isn't it?" Electra quickly stuffs her phone away, only letting Mariana looking at it for a few seconds. The only reason she took a picture was to torture her of what she could've had.

"In fact, the day you came, just a few hours earlier, he was busy in the kitchen just fixing it up, ready for you. But then I spiked his drink, and he passed out on it. Honestly, I was so happy because the rest of it just flowed so nicely, thanks to you, Mariana," Electra said with relief in her tone. Her voice came out nice and airy, like doing all this made her feel happy as a cloud.

Mariana's eyes never left Electra as that day flashed clearly like a track of memories. She realized that she was the key to making Electra's plan work in the end and unfortunately, it played out exactly how she wanted. She wanted Mariana to find them together on his bed, to think that he betrayed her when in reality, he had no idea that she was there, or what Electra was doing to him.

"Oh, what have I done!" She completely broke down, her heart ached violently as she realized she broke up with Micah for no reason. All the pain she had gone through was for nothing, it didn't even need to happen. All those worthless nights, all that time she thought she was not good enough when in reality, it was the opposite. She had now lost the greatest person that had ever walked into her life.

"Yeah, quite sad for you!" Electra laughed like a maniac. "And especially for him! I think that was the last straw for him to be honest." She tried to make her tone sound sorry for him, but it just added to her joy.

"Wait.... what do you mean...?" Those words worried her. She hoped he didn't do anything stupid because of her.

"Well I'm just going to say things took a turn for the worse with him. But after you left, Micah woke up three hours later, and boy! I would never forget the way he broke down once he saw your message. Damn, Mariana, that was a bit harsh did you really mean all that you said?"

"No, I was in a state of anger and pain, Xavier is definitely the worst person I've met and I ain't changing that." Mariana scowled and glanced at his figure, who still had an infuriating smirk at her, which made her shiver in disgust to the core. He was obviously enjoying all this.

"Well, anyway, it doesn't matter now, although I still find it very funny. Just imagine! One minute you're preparing a cake for someone you love, and then hours later, that person suddenly hates you, and you have no recollection of what had happened!" Electra burst out laughing and started slapping her knees.

Mariana wasn't amused at hearing what had ensued after she left. She even found it wildly concerning how Electra took pleasure in this. "It's not funny, how are you laughing at that?"

"Eh, didn't happen to me," Electra shrugged and calmly walked away as Xavier came back into the spotlight.

He rubbed his hands together towards her like he was about to eat a delicious meal. Mariana didn't want to see him just yet, as she still had more questions on why Electra was acting so cruelly towards Micah.

"Electra, I just want to know why you want to do all this to Micah? Are you really that desperate for money?"

"Actually." Xavier smiled as he butted in. "The reason she went that far is not only I wanted you guys to break up, but I also wanted to punish Micah for stealing from me, I wanted him to suffer greatly," he grumbled angrily like a rumble from the stomach.

"You wanted to punish him for saving my life? Unbelievable." Mariana shook her head with disbelief. She had enough of listening to her uncle's delusions.

"Yep, and I came up with a fabulous idea!" Electra chimed in.

Mariana muttered with annoyance as she didn't want to hear anything more from her, but Xavier motioned to continue.

"So I was thinking, 'what would cause Micah the greatest pain?' and then I thought of heartbreak! Since it was only three years ago I cheated on him, which I could say was one of the greatest moments of my life because of how hurt I made him, so what better way is to do it again, except this time with his current relationship..." With that last sentence, Electra smirked at Mariana, making her relentlessly shiver because she knew it was talking about her.

"All I had to do to break his heart again, take away the person that's most important to him, which is you, dear Mariana." Electra walked towards her, staring at Mariana gravely, as her words dropped out like bombs. Mariana's breathed heavily, she had a feeling of what was coming next, but she didn't want it to come. She had heard enough, and now the new pain that she felt was immeasurable.

Electra stopped in front of her, smirked, and lifted up her chin, locking her icy eyes with her bronze walls, freezing their movement. Mariana felt like she was staring into the eyes of death, only this time, it was the death of her love.

Electra's glare was as cold as her insides. She had never felt so scared, so nervous, for what was about to come up of those slutty lips.

Finally, Electra softly spoke her words. It was more like a whisper, like the gentle flutter of a butterfly's wings. but the density of them was like the weight of her guilt had been dropped into her hands, like all the hope in her had wilted, like she had nothing left as she was trapped in her grasp.

"The one he loved the most."

A/N: OOOh chile I hope you lot enjoyed this! My most longest chapter but hey, I hope it was worth it😂😂. Were any of you expecting Xavier to appear in this? Well that's another surprise hehe.

Good news is Micah never cheated 😁but bad news Mariana now feels terrible about it. 😭

Electra is a whole sadist and is the reason some men say after God, fear women.😂😂😭😭.