Chapter 35 - Unexpected

“Let me go!” Isabella shouted from the top of her lungs.

She was struggling to release her hands from the ropes encaging them behind her back. It was useless, there was no result other than making her feel all weak and pathetic.

“W-what is this place? And what are you talking about? M-my sister is fine!” Her voice was breaking as her heart thundered erratically against her chest.

‘Luisa must be safe! Please, God, let my sister be safe!’

Alec checked his watch and shook his head in disapproval. “By this time, my most trusted and highly skilled man should have already embarked your sister and Edmund’s brother on their trip to Hell, or Heaven, it really depends.” His lips shaped into a devious grin while speaking nonsense.

“W-what? No, that’s not true!” She screamed, panic invading her already shivering figure.

“Oh, trust me on that!” He assured her, full of confidence. “They were trouble, how dare they survive the car accident that I perfectly plotted, raising no suspicion at all!”

His fist smashed the table that stood between the two of them, and Isabella flipped, only in that moment noticing the gun placed on it.

‘So it was not an accident, it was him behind the car crash. How can someone do something like killing his girlfriend’s cousin and his wife? How?’

“You’re a monster!” She spat.

Tears were forming in her eyes, she fought to contain them as an effort to deny him the pleasure of seeing her hurt, yet she felt the first tear rolling down her cheek.

“This is where you’re wrong, the Starks are the monsters!” Multiple emotions were crossing his features, hate, rage, hurt, all together. “They destroyed my family! You don’t know what they do, no? How they treat others.” He asked, waiting for her to react, his lips pursed by suppressed fury. “If you have no idea, how dare you take their side?”

She glanced at him confused. Though it was difficult to admit to herself, Edmund’s brother seemed like a nice man, he was not at all what she expected him to be. She was wrong about him, the same way that she was wrong about the reason why Luisa left home.

‘Please, God, I need my sister! I need to apologize to her, I need to make up for the years we lost! I need to let her know that I’m sorry, that I love her!’

Then her mind traveled to Moira… poor Moira… She was such a lovable and naive person, Isabella was scared that her heart and soul would break into pieces the moment she would find out the kind of person she was in love with.

As for Edmund, Isabella believed that once one got past his arrogant, entitled and sometimes possessive behavior, he was captivating, ravishingly alluring, and even affectionate.

‘My man. My husband.’

In the life and death situation, she could not deny her feelings for him. Not that she wished to do it, she realized them from the start.

“What did they ever do to you?” Isabella questioned, though the look on his face made her regret it.

“What did they ever do to me? WHAT DID THEY EVER DO TO ME?” His voice was dripping with venom. “Ohh, dear girl, I don’t even know where to start.”

She swallowed her saliva, afraid of the answer.

“They made my family’s business sink, we had to file for bankruptcy when they snatched our contracts! My mother left my father, and he committed suicide. All because the Stark family has no ethics in business!”

“D-did you try to talk to Edmund about it?”

“Talk to him? TALK TO HIM? Do you think that the Starks care about the others? Plus, I changed my identity, he doesn’t know anything about my past!”

“Then w-what about Moira? Are you planning to kill her as well?”

The ridges on his neck became dangerously pronounced. “Don’t mention her!” He threatened.

‘I knew it. His feelings for her seemed real.’

“That’s why you made Moira fall for you? She’s a woman that sees you as her moon, sun and brightest star. Do you really feel nothing for her? Do not lie, I’ve seen the look in your eyes when you gaze at her!” Isabella demanded, hoping to have struck a nerve.

Her mind was racing, trying to come up with a strategy. Appealing to that side of him that cared for Moira might work.

‘I hope it works, or else… Or lese, I’ll die here.’

“You love her, don’t you?” She pushed forward.

“You might say I have some feelings for her. At first, I believed she was just beautiful, with no brain attached, a mere pawn on my chessboard. But she grew on me, she has that way of making you feel good about yourself, special as a human being and also blessed to have her beside you.” He uttered nonchalantly, and there was something in his eyes she could not place.

“What would she think about you killing her family? Do you plan on killing her too?” She demanded again.

He cracked his knuckles loudly. “That was my initial plan, marry her, murder her entire kind while making everything look like an accident, then get rid of her too and inherit all their wealth. It’s a good plan, no?”

“But this is no longer a valid one, isn’t it?”

“Of course, it’s not! We have a common goal!” A voice she knew too well, from a person she really cared for.

Horror lashed through Isabella as she registered the other person stepping into the room.

“I really tried to spare your life, Isabella, I really did. But you had to fall in love with my cousin. If you would have moved on as I told you, you would not have gotten in the middle of this. You should have granted him the divorce and leave, go somewhere far away. Maybe go back to your country and live your pathetic life.”

‘Moira? Why would she do something like that? Was everything she told me a freaking lie?’