Chapter 64

"Once again, thanks for coming, Vivienne," Frank uttered, as they stepped out of the cemetery.

"You're welcome, Frank," Vivienne said. "Once again, please accept my heartfelt condolences."

A few minutes ago, Mr. Adrian had been committed to mother earth amidst wailing and silent sobs from his family and friends.

Throughout the whole funeral ceremony, Vivienne couldn't bring herself to shed a single tear because she had cried so much yesterday that she doubted the fact that she could produce a single drop of tear.

"You okay, baby?" Magnus gripped her waist gently as he whispered.

"Yeah," she nodded, darting him a small smile.

Despite her aggravated paranoia, Vivienne had left the twins back in America with their Nana, feeling they were too young to witness a funeral.

Magnus waited by the car while Vivienne spoke to Frank and his family. Frank confided in her that he intended to move back to Canada and establish a law firm there.

Afterward, Magnus and Vivienne headed back to the hotel where they had checked in some hours ago to rest and prepare themselves for their flight home tomorrow.

Vivienne’s bequeathed estate was quite far from Mr. Adrian's place, so Magnus and Vivienne had opted to spend the night at the nearest hotel.

"What would you like to have for lunch?" Magnus asked, as soon as they stepped into their hotel room. "You haven't eaten anything for the past twenty-four hours, and I'm worried, babe."

"Nothing," she muttered. "While I appreciate your worry, I'm not exactly in the mood. I also don't have an appetite."

"Well, you have to eat something, Vivienne," he stood akimbo as he regarded her, worry obvious in his grey eyes. "Just take a look in the mirror and see how emaciated you have become. Do you think Mr. Adrian would want you to starve yourself?"

Something like a time bomb went off in Vivienne's head, and she glared at Magnus.

"I'm not a fucking kid, Magnus. I said I am not hungry!" she snarled. "Pardon me for feeling like this after losing someone dear to me. Pardon me for not having a huge appetite to celebrate his gory death."

Without waiting for his apology, she brushed past him to the adjoining bathroom and locked it behind her.

"Baby," his voice was full of remorse as he knocked on the door. "I'm sorry for bringing up his name like that. You know how stupid I can be at times. Please forgive me, Vivienne. I won't bother you anymore to eat."

Sighing, Vivienne pressed her back to the door and raked her fingers through her tresses.

"Fuck," she muttered, not sure why she had blown the whole thing out of proportion.

"I would like to be left alone for a while, thank you," she uttered, in the most clipped tone she could muster.

"Okay, my love. Once again, I’m sorry." He gave the door one last soft knock before his footsteps receded, followed by the door slamming shut.

Magnus was just trying to be a good and sympathetic partner, yet here Vivienne was, throwing a tantrum like a petulant toddler.

How mature of her. Real mature, even.

Her phone chose that moment to vibrate in her pocket. Exhaling heavily, she retrieved the device, only for her to see two messages from an unknown number.

Her heart pounded with something wary as she swiped her phone open and clicked on the iMessage icon.

Swallowing harshly, Vivienne opened the messages. A visceral gasp forced itself out of her lungs as she digested the messages one by one.

They read:

"So, did you like my surprise? That’s what you get for acting like an idiot and failing to comply with simple instructions. I asked you to meet up with me, but you decided against doing so. Instead, you went to the authorities and I had to change my fucking phone twice in a week because of you, dumbass. You caused me to kill an innocent man because of your stubbornness. If you fail to adhere to my instructions again, you will be attending the funeral of your useless children next."

"H-How can someone be this evil?" she whispered, cupping her mouth.

So Elena had orchestrated Mr. Adrian's death and had made it seem like a careless fire accident.

Just then, another message entered.

"If you love your life and that of your little bastards, meet me at the Oriental restaurant by 3 p.m. sharp in two days."

Before Vivienne could read through the string of vitriolic messages again, Elena deleted them and blocked her.

What should she do now? Should she inform Magnus about it and risk losing the twins? Or should she keep mum and do as Elena said?

Those were the rhetorical questions that floated through Vivienne's mind as she gazed at her phone.

Elena’s lips were curved with a pleased grin as she pocketed her phone and averted her focus to Eric. She was currently sitting on the kitchen counter after texting Vivienne while he made dinner.

She couldn’t be more elated than she was at that moment as she thought about how this would end soon.

In two days, Vivienne would be lying cold and helpless in a pool of her own blood while Elena towered over her, watching as she took her last breath.

"You seem really happy," Eric uttered, placing the diced carrots into the frying pan that was simmering with oil. "Did something good happen?"

"Yeah," Elena nodded, jumping down from the counter. "In two days, I’m meeting with someone who will improve my situation. I’m so excited, Eric. So fucking happy."

Eric darted her an odd look before his lips twitched into a smile. "Is that so? I'm glad to hear that. Is that someone an attorney?"

At his question, Elena burst into a bout of rib-cracking laughter.

Damn, just how oblivious and dumb could Eric get?

"Did I say something funny?" The fool laughed along with her, further cracking her up in the process.

"No," she shook her head in negation as she slapped his shoulder. "I just thought of something funny."

"Care to share what that is?" he asked, adding some minced beef to the sizzling vegetables and oil.

"Not really, I’m sorry, babe."

Then, Elena retook her seat on the kitchen counter as her mind drifted away to yesterday's happenings.

Specifically how she had planned with Ambrose, Kennedy’s brother, who was a renowned hitman in Canada to take that darn Adrian Thomas out of this world.

According to Kennedy, his brother used to major in cybersecurity and all that shit until he was expelled after he was caught trying to hack into the university's treasury account.

With no university willing to let him re-enroll despite his high grades, Ambrose had decided to switch careers and become a seasoned hitman.

He had managed to hack into the security system at Adrian Thomas's place and had sneaked in to plant a bomb inside his house while the world was asleep at night. Elena was quite impressed by how swift and neat he had done the job.

The amount of elation she had felt after receiving the news of Adrian Thomas’s death two days ago was out of this world.

Hell, she had briefly considered asking Ambrose to help get rid of Vivienne while she was in Canada, but she decided against it because she wanted Vivienne to die by her hands.