The next morning, Mariana bought some flowers to take to Micah. She was going to visit him with Leilani and Miguel and couldn't wait to see him after the everlasting hours of the night. She was unable to have a peaceful night's sleep until she sees him alive.

When she got out of the hotel, the burning sun shone down on her forehead, giving her a slight headache. She shaded herself from it as she ran to the other side of the road where Leilani and Miguel were sat in the car.

"Hey guys," she greeted.

"Hey Mariana, how was your night?" Leilani asked, taking a sip of her water.

"It was fine, couldn't get that much sleep though."

"Oh, I hope you're alright now."

"Yeah, I guess, but I just want to see if Micah is okay."

"Yeah, me too."

Miguel then started up the engine and they drove off into the distance. Mariana felt comfortable despite the mild nauseous feeling that erupted from the pit of her stomach and her vision slightly wavered.

"So, Mariana, how long have you known Micah?" Miguel asked.

"Not long actually. Even though it has been a couple of days, the time we spent together has gone so quickly that it feels like it's been a year."

"Aw, that's nice, how you two meet?"

"Well long story short, through Xavier."

"I can see you don't want to go into details." Leilani turned back, smirking.

"Nope."

"Fair enough, Xavier is just annoying and his agents; Except Micah, because he's just sweet."

"Yeah, that's true."

When they reached the hospital, they parked at a side road and Leilani and Miguel got out the flowers that they had also bought for Micah.

They entered the hospital and a nurse guided them to the ward Micah was staying in. Their footsteps clacked against the tiled floors as they heard beeping noises and wheels whirling around.

"How is Micah doing? Is he going to be okay?" Mariana asked.

"Well, he's currently stable. He's still unconscious but so far, he's doing well and should wake up soon."

Mariana's face lit up and a heavy sigh escaped her lips. She felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders from hearing that Micah was alive. Having to look at his still body, his breaths hollow and weak, made her realize that death was not far and that every new day had to be treasured because you never know when your last day will come.

The nurse continued speaking. "However, he is still very weak and will need surgery to repair some broken blood vessels and any organs that were affected by the bullet."

They finally reached the room Micah was kept in and the nurse opened the door.

They saw him lying there in his hospital bed with his eyes closed. They each pulled up a chair up to Micah's bed and settled the flowers down beside him.

"He looks so peaceful," Mariana whispered and stroked his cheek gently. "I'm so happy he's alive."

"Me too, I was a bit scared that we won't make it to the hospital in time," Leilani said.

"Yeah, same here," Mariana murmured as she continued to stroke his cheek.

"I wonder who could've done this," Leilani wondered.

"Did you see anyone targeting you Mariana?" Miguel asked.

"No... I was too in the moment to notice anything..." she flushed.

"We'll have to check the security cameras to see who done it," Leilani said.

"Yeah, but there were so many people in the crowd, it will be difficult to spot," Miguel said.

"Yeah, that's true," Leilani sighed. She wanted to catch those people and put them behind bars, hopefully, she will catch them on camera.

"Miguel, did you see any toilets while we were coming here?"

"I think I saw one just down the hallway."

"Can you take me to it please?"

"Okay, my love." he got up and took Leilani's hand.

"Mariana, we'll be back in a few minutes, I just need to use the toilet."

"Okay, that's fine."

After they left, Mariana leaned closer to Micah's serene face. She was really glad that he was sleeping peacefully rather than the frightened look of death from his cadaverous face.

She then bent closer to his ear to whisper something. "Micah, I don't know if you can hear me but... I just want to say that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Even though we have only known each other for a few days, but Micah these past few days have been the most amazing days of my life all because of you. You have made me smile through my distress and rescued me out of danger many times. And because of that, I cannot thank you enough. I hope you wake up so I can show you how grateful I am. I'm sorry you have to be in this state because of me, but Micah please wake up soon."

She planted a kiss on his cheek and wrapped her arms around his.

Little did she know, Micah heard every single word echo through his dreams. The soothing sounds of her words flowed through him like the sweet scent of honey, causing tears to brim in his closed eyelids.

Hearing her gratitude made him forget the pain that coursed through his veins.

As Mariana continued to rest on Micah's shoulder, she heard a faint ping in the background. She looked around and saw a dim light near a blue chair.

She walked towards it and saw that it was Micah's phone and on its screen was a message that intrigued her.

Hey Micah, I found this while we were searching through Mariana's house and I think you might want to show her.

Mariana picked up the phone and then opened the message. It was attached to a picture of a letter that looked like it was from her mother due to the cursive handwriting.

Mariana's fingertips shook as her lips dried up like the Sahara Desert. She had no idea what she was expecting to find when she read it, but she had a small idea that it could be linked to Xavier.

To whoever finds this letter...

Hello, my name is Isabella, I don't have much time to write this but I'm in desperate need of help. My parents have been the head of the mafia since me and my brother have were born. They were the most feared Mafia in the town but that all changed when our father died when I was six and Xavier was seven.

Mariana wiped her eyes as she read. Her mother always spoke of her grandpa but never spoke of her grandmother and perhaps, this letter was answering all her questions.

Our mother acted devastated but just a day after the funeral, her new boyfriend moved in with us. It turned out that she was having an affair and cheating on our dad while he was still alive.

After this, things began to take a turn for the worse.

Her boyfriend mistreated and abused us, sometimes in secret or front of her, but she didn't seem to care. It was like she considered us as strangers and not her own children, her own flesh and blood.

Sometimes, she even joined in when he hit us with anything he could find. Whether it would be broken glass cups or hitting us repeatedly against the wall. Some days she would tie us up and burn us with a with a lighter while smiling for her own sadistic pleasure. And lock us in the oven and turn the temperature up high. I actually thought she would go all the way and cook us alive, but I would never forget the wicked laughter that came out from her throat, I can still hear it ring in my ears.

She did this to Xavier while her boyfriend had me tied to a stick and turned me over a raging fire as if I was raw meat. To this day, I can still feel the scabs across my back and how the tail of the fire scraped at my skin. Simple cuts are temporary, but the wounds inflicted by a mother are everlasting.

But the worse part came when she chose him over us. We knew he was only with her for her money but instead of listening to us, she left us in the middle of the night to fend for ourselves.

Mariana's heart was pounding and beating out loud for her poor mother. Having to fend and defend yourself with no parent must've been so hard and frightening, especially at night when the dangers of the dark come out lurking in every corner.

But before leaving us, she tried to kill us by starting up a fire with us still inside the house. I managed to get downstairs and call the fire brigade while Xavier tried calling out to our mother from the window. She was stood on the other side of the street, watching us run around for help as the fire grew. Xavier then jumped from the window, hoping for her to catch him, but she just let him fall to the ground.

Our mother did eventually pick him up and for the first time, she had the most angelic smile on her face. It was the first time in months that I had ever seen her glow. Her cheeks that were pale like death, were rosy again like petals, her heart-shaped lips that were drained of color, finally rose and her smile made up for it.

However, something still seemed unnerving, but Xavier thought otherwise and tried hugging her. Surprisingly, she let his head rest against her chest, letting him hear her motherly heartbeat, the gentle rhythm that we get accustomed to as babies, the sound that's supposed to calm us down when we're upset, and I can tell by Xavier's face it did just that, and that must have been the first time he felt her love in ages. The way his blue eyes glimmered, his lips turned into a smile of security. He really did seem like he could feel safe in his mother's arms again.

But in a split second, her warm, tender expression turned dark as what she muttered out made the whole of his body freeze.

"Mi piacerebbe sentire l'odore della tua carne che brucia da quelle fiamme." (I would love to smell your flesh burning off those flames).

She then launched him back into the house and he landed straight into a ball of fire, and got trapped under wood until I had to pull him out. When I saw his face, the scorching fire was eating his skin, he screamed in agony and when those eyes opened, I saw the hope of childhood disappear instantly from his eyes, replaced with tears of pain.

It never returned.

When we were finally adults, we got my father's mafia back and Xavier was the main one running it with me alongside him. He worked hard but he still had some pent-up anger and betrayal inside that was yet to be in full blaze. He hated our mother for what she had done and vowed to get revenge.

Weeks turned into months and months into years. We never heard from our mother and we were both fine with that, except one day, he finally snapped.

I tried to get him to come to therapy with me but that one session he finally agreed on, which is what made him go mad and lose touch of reality. He ended up recalling the night of the fire, but at the end, he became enraged and shouted:

"I will find her. I'll slash out her heart and I will squeeze out every drop of blood with my fists, while setting her body on fire. Just like she did to me."

He hated that she got away freely while we were left to suffer as helpless children. As a result, he was back to heated vengeance and in turn, made him very sick and he grew very aggressive. He told me he started to get nightmares of what our mother put us through, which only fueled his anger.

Even though I love my brother very much, I had to cut ties with him for the safety of my daughter because I could see what was coming as she grew.

But just for one day, I went to visit him to see how he was doing, and now he's got me locked in this room.

Please help, because the person downstairs, is not my brother anymore...

But a whole different being...

A/N: HEY! HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPPP!!!

How was it? 😃😃😃.