Chapter 35

Zoey's POV:

I rushed into the hospital reception, with an eye out for Lila. Eventually I found her and went over to her. Greeting the woman beside her who Lila later introduced as her mom and a number to f the member of the Sparks, I sat down beside her.

"Hey… Are you alright?" I asked softly.

"Yeah… I think." She mumbled in reply. I sighed softly.

"Any news yet?"

"No… Not yet."

Just then the doctors came out of the theater room. We all rushed to him. Lila was the first to speak up.

"Doctor… How, how's he?"

"Well, he's out of danger, but still unconscious. He's lost a lot of a blood and we've induced him to a temporary comatose so that there wouldn't be any damage to his brain." The doctor said.

"Comatose?" Lila's mom asked.

"Well… Yes. Don't worry, he'll be fine. He'll just be unconscious for a few days. If you'll excuse me…" the doctor said and walked away.

Lila drifted away from the crowd, lost in thought. I followed her.

"Hey… Shouldn't you be happy with the news? At least Chad's no longer in harm's way."

"Happy?" She asked and scoffed bitterly. "When all of this is my fault?"

"How is it you fault?"

She took in a deep breath and narrated everything to me. I opened my mouth in shock.

"No way! I can't believe this." I muttered in disbelief.

"You had better." She muttered churlishly. I felt great pity, and then remembered the incident that happened back then in the Temporary Base when Lila was still there.

"Um… Lila? There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Lila asked, unconcerned.

I took in a deep breath and began.

"Before you let the Base, something happened that you weren't aware of and it might have something to do with what you're telling me."

I noticed as she paid full attention and continued with my narration.

"Nikita actually sent Paige to get strands of your hair the time you were still at Temporary Base."

"She did that!?"

"Yes… And I've got pictures to prove. Probably if Paige hadn't agreed and told you instead, you would have found out about yourself sooner giving Nikita an edge."

"Oh my God… Was that why she was being sneaky?"

"Yeah… I and actually found out about it the moment you left but Paige didn't want me to tell you just yet cause we really didn't know the connection between you and Nikita. But now…" I trailed off.

Lila got lost in thought for a while and suddenly started walking away.

"Where are you going?" I called after her.

"I'll be back!" She replied and disappeared.

Why is she in a rush?

***

Lila's POV:

I relayed everything Zoey told me to Natalie, not missing out on a single bit. Once I was done, I wanted eagerly for her reply. We were on the phone.

"Wow… That's a truck load of information."

"Will it help us?"

"To some extent… But we need more if we want to fully bust Nikita. Maybe more testament from witnesses. The girl who did this… Paige, she's still around, right?"

I turned to Zoey.

"Paige's still around, right?"

"Yes, she is," Zoey replied.

"She's still around," I told Natalie.

"Good… We'll hold on to this… There might be a time where her testimony will be needed. How's Chad?"

"He's out of danger, but still unconscious.

"Okay… Don't worry, he'll be fine. I have to go now. Call me if you need anything to want to tell me anything at all."

"Will do."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up. I was beyond angry with Paige. How dare she do that?

***

Nikita's POV:

Ximena walked in with Alya to my office moments later. The latter looked innocent, and that only made me even more angry.

"You know why you're here, right?" I asked, not mincing words.

"I guess so…?" she mumbled.

I shifted in my chair and held my face with the back of my hands.

"I don't know why you did what you did but whatever the reason is have it in mind that you're already part of the plan…"

"What!?" Alya shrieked, but I ignored her.

"So what are you going to save yourself?"

"I don't know…" She muttered.

"Well I do. Right here and now, you are going to get an incision on your right ear."

"What for?"

"You'll know soon enough." I replied.

"I'm not doing it." Alya announced defiantly. I smirked.

"It's not like you have a choice anymore." I began. "You should have thought of that before calling up Dean and telling him you were the biological daughter of CG. Just so you know, your dad is in this mess and if you don't join in, we should end this shit once and for all, you'll face the consequences alone. You may leave."

She turned to go but stopped midway. I smiled.

"Okay fine…" she groaned. "I'm in. What am I supposed to do?"

***

Lila's POV:

I stayed outside Chad's ward, watching him. Even though he was already stabilized, we still could not see him. I sighed sadly, I just wished he could recover quickly so we could begin talking. I miss him so much.

I heard footsteps approaching me and I turned to look at the person. It was Dean. My gaze only lasted a second before I turned to Chad. I've been avoiding him all night. We stayed like that for a while before he finally spoke up.

"Is he going to recover?" he asked.

"The doctor said he will." I muttered.

He puffed out air and scoffed. I didn't dare look at him.

"You know… All of this is your fault, right?" He asked, and I snapped my head, facing him, my expression taunt as my iris contracted. His eyes widened at his blunder, but what matters that he already said it.

"What did you just say…?" I asked swiftly, my voice coming out as a whisper.

"I didn't…" He began, but I cut him off, my blood boiling.

"You know… So I've been avoiding you all night, isn't it? You walk up to me and say and the first thing you say is that this is all my fault like yeah, I'm happy that this happened."

"I didn't mean it like that…"

"Chad almost died! Like he—" I gasped, out of breath as tears formed in my eyes again. It was becoming harder for me to continue but I needed to say what was on my mind. "He almost died fighting for me… Something no one here has done, not even you! And you stand there and complain that this is my fault! You think I enjoyed what happened? You think am happy!? Answer me!" I yelled my voice quivering.

No words came out from his mouth.

"I don't know what else to say to you… Seeing you right now just annoys me. I needed you to support me but you just blame for everything. Well of course it's my fault, isn't it?" I said and ran past him, my shoulders brushing past him. When I got to a much quieter place, I sagged against the wall and let the tears fall.

It hurts, it still hurts.

Dean appeared moments later, looking forlorn, but I ignored him. With his hands in his pockets, he cleared his throat and made to speak.

"I'm sorry." He finally said.

He looked at him and then down at my shoes.

"I said am sorry."

After a long while of being quiet, I finally glanced at him and muttered.

"Sadly, that's not enough."

***

Ximena's POV:

I watched as Alya finally left the room before turning to my mom.

"Why did you say Alya would get an incision at her right ear? What has that got to do with anything?"

"Lila has an incision at her right ear too. If we can get the world to believe Alya is the real daughter of CG, our secret of safe.

"What about the Sparks? They already know who the real daughter is."

"Yeah… They do but not the world."

"What if they try to tell on us? You know we're in big trouble, right?"

"Oh no, they won't. Once I'm done with them." My mom said and smirked.

Suddenly her phone rang, and she picked it up and looked at caller. Raising her face up, she gestured for me to leave the office.

"Can you excuse me? I need to pick up this call." She muttered.

I shrugged and stood up, leaving the office. I just hope my mom is doing is right.

***

Ellen's POV:

I listened quietly as Natalie related everything to me. Once she was through, I threw a fit.

"How dare she! She's even more callous than I thought! No, I can't take this anymore. She needs to be brought to book! I'm calling the cops on her."

"Please take it easy ma'am." Natalie gently cautioned. "This might get worse if we don't thread with caution."

"I can take it anymore! I need to end this once and for all." I said and made to call the cops.

"What's going on here?" Lyric asked as she approached, her gaze shifting from Natalie to me.

"I just relayed the incident to your mom… And I guess she wants to bring Nikita to book right now."

"What?" She looked at me. "Why? We shouldn't rush this."

"She tried to hurt Chad, which is more reason she should be arrested for it. We don't know who she is going to hurt next."

"Which is more reason we should thread carefully. Cause we don't know the next person she's going to hurt. We should wait till Chad gets better before doing anything."

"Same thing I told your mom. "Natalie affirmed, but I was having none of it.

"I don't think I can't wait any longer. Justice has been dragged for far too long." I muttered and dialed the cops.

Lyric's phone rang that instant, and she looked at the caller. A confused look crept over her face.

"It's an unknown number." She muttered, staring intently at Natalie.

"Wait, a bit… We need to record that call just in case." Natalie said back and hurriedly made preparations.

We dallied for some time until Natalie said it was okay for us to pick up the call. People and already started gathering around us.

"Hello… who's this? "Lyric asked cautiously.

"Hi, Lila Walker," Nikita's voice sneaked out through the phone. My blood began boiling, and I wanted to snatch the phone from Lyric, but Natalie quickly restrained. Lyric's hands slightly shivered as she gulped.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice coming out strong.

"I hear your mom is planning to call the cops on me, isn't she?"

We gasped. How did she find out?

"H-how did you find out?" Lyric voiced out.

"Don't underestimate me, Lila. I have sources everywhere. Well, let me warn you, if your mom doesn't stop this minute, Chad isn't the only one you're going to lose."

Lyric's face turned pale upon hearing that. I snatched the phone from her in anger and spoke into it.

"There's no way I'm stopping. You've been running around free all this while, it's time you pay for your sins!"

I heard her scornful laughter.

"And who's going to stop me? You? In case you don't know, I'm till the wife that the world recognizes, not the one that has been hidden away for such a long time. Now give the phone back to Lila do I finish my conversation with her!"

"Not happening…" I muttered through gritted teeth.

"Well, in that case, listen carefully to what I have to say. If you don't stop now, Chad's not the only one who is going to get hurt."

"Who will then?"

"I'll let her say hi to you, "Nikita muttered, and I could hear some shuffling of feet. Suddenly I heard a loud shrill cry, piercing through my body. Lyric's eyes widened, and she looked petrified as her body began shaking.

"I'll recognize that scream anywhere…" she mumbled.

"Tessa!" she yelled as well, tears pouring down my eyes.

Tessa!?