Chapter 110 BRING IT ON
"Ahh," Eric scooped the spoon to her lips. "Eat. You look so thin."
Ixora laughed. "Come on, father, I'm still the same." She ate the food.
"I know what I'm saying, you should eat very well," Eric said.
"Fine, I'll eat, but I can feed myself." She picked up her spoon.
He snatched the spoon away from her hand. "I will feed you, Xora."
Ixora raised her hand in defeat. "Fine."
"I didn't know you could cook. My dad is the best."
"And I have the best daughter, too," Eric said with a slight chuckle.
He kept feeding her, and they ate while laughing, chatting, acting like two young teenagers.
"So, tell me, how's my little actress doing?" he asked, wiping the stain off her lips.
"Dad, I can do these petty things by myself. If you keep treating me this way, I guess I'll become lazy," Ixora said with a pout.
"Let me pamper you. I didn't get the chance to do it when you were still a child. I wasn't there with you, so don't stop me. I'm happy doing it," he said, getting emotional.
Ixora hugged him while sitting down. "I love you, Dad."
"Love you too, princess."
"Right," she broke the hug and adjusted on the chair. "Hazel and Nikita didn't suspect anything. They are under the impression that they have me in their control."
"That's why I said you're my little actress. You know, when I first saw you, I thought Felix failed to do his job. I thought I had lost you for good, but guess I underestimated him. I'm glad I saw you when they brought you to Costa Rica."
"I'm also happy. They thought they had the upper hand, but didn't know they had helped a father and daughter unite," Ixora said. "And if not for Felix, I'd have been a puppet to them." She went down memory lane, recalling everything that happened.
\--
\[FLASHBACK\]
Soft voices, almost like a noise. Ixora's lids slowly lifted as she blinked, adjusting to the bright light. At first, her vision was blurred, but it cleared, and she saw two ladies before her. One she didn't recognize, and the other one who looked exactly like her. Her carbon copy.
She tried to stand, only to notice the robes tied around her.
"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I tied up?" she asked, her voice rising with panic.
Her carbon copy walked towards her, a smirk playing on her lips. She held Ixora's chin and lifted it to look at her face.
"How could you have forgotten who I am, old friend?" Hazel dragged the last part of the word.
Ixora shook her head out of Hazel's grip.
"What are you saying? Why do we look so alike?"
"So many questions. I'm not surprised how you've forgotten so soon. You wouldn't have in your wildest dream thought of seeing me alive."
Ixora's brow thinned with confusion. She can't remember having anything to do with somebody who looks exactly like her.
"Let me refresh your memory." Hazel stepped away from her to have a clear look at her face. "22nd February, All-star bridge."
Ixora's eyes went to her face, thinking about what happened that day. Her pupils dilated with shock, lips parted as if trying to say something.
Hazel nodded her head with a smirk, noticing she had remembered.
"H-Hazel," Ixora stuttered, shocked.
"Surprise," Hazel laughed. "I'm alive."
"B-But, how... We saw you fall off the bridge that day. The acid destroyed your face, and you were shot..."
"With a gun. Glad your memory is still intact, friend," Hazel cut her off.
If anything, she enjoyed the look Ixora had on her face.
"Everything happened to me, the acid, gun and falling off the bridge. But one thing that felt off was that I was never confirmed dead. My body wasn't found, and you all took it as if I was dead, but here I am... alive."
"Want to know how I survived? It's all thanks to Nikita."
Ixora's gaze trailed to the other lady who was in the room. The lady gave her a cold stare, almost murdering her with her eyes.
"The water carried me to the shore, and she brought me out. Fortunately for me, I was still breathing, and she took it upon herself to bring me back to life. She heard my story; similarly, she's also out for revenge, and we both teamed up," she winked at Ixora.
Ixora couldn't wrap the whole thing around her. How did she end up here? And why did Hazel look like her?
"For your looks, you destroyed my face with acid, and the best thing was getting your look. With your appearance, I can get my revenge on both you and Drexton. I can pretend to be you and steal everything you have. Fun, right?"
"The acid was an accident. I didn't do it," Ixora managed to speak despite the shocking truth.
Hazel snapped her cold eyes at her and forcefully grabbed her chin.
"If you hadn't held the acid, my body wouldn't have been ruined. You've always been so envious of me, Ixora, and that's why you saw that as an opportunity to destroy me."
Ixora sulked in a deep breath before giving her a smile despite the harsh hold.
"You are worse than I thought. I used to blame myself for the reason why you had to go, but jealous of you?" she gave a bitter chuckle. "I've never been jealous of you. I did everything to make you happy, even compromised myself, but what did I get in return? Betrayal. I treated you and your mum as family, but you both betrayed me. I was ready to forgive you, but you tried to ruin my face. Karma is a bitch and will always be a bitch."
Hazel released her chin with a hard glare, almost suicidal.
"What happened?" Ixora asked with a smirk. "The truth is bitter after all. In my life, I've always loved and treated people equally, but what do I always get in return? Fake love and betrayal. You know my worst regret? Not being able to kill you the day I had the chance. I thought you'd change and have a little bit of sympathy. Guess I was wrong. If I did back then, I wouldn't be here talking to you while looking at myself," she said through clenched teeth, staring at Hazel with nothing but regret in her eyes.
Regret of ever calling someone like her a sister, for being a fool the whole time, and for having the slightest thought that she was ever going to change. She should have known once a devil, always a devil.
"Regret all you want, sweetheart, because by the time we are done, you won't have a single memory of your regrets. Trust me on that," Hazel winked and stepped back.
Ixora's eyes flashed at her, wondering what she plans on doing to her.
She wriggled her wrist, trying to release herself.
Nikita walked toward her.
"Who are you?" Ixora muttered through tight teeth.
Nikita laughed, slowly but cruelly. "Why don't we start from where you are, or maybe how long you've been away?"
"What are you saying?"
Nikita clicked her tongue. "So clueless," she shook her head and took out her phone. She pressed the side button, and it shone with light.
"Why don't you look at the date?"
Ixora's eyes went to the date, and her eyes widened. She quickly flickered her gaze at them to see the dirty smirk that played on their lips.
"T-Three months?" she stuttered unbelievably.
"Exactly." Nikita put her phone away. "You've been out of this world for three whole months, isn't that amazing?"
"Where am I? What do you want from me?"
"You are in Costa Rica."
This time, Ixora didn't act shocked or surprised. Since she came around, they've been shocking her with news. The least she could do now was find out the reason why they needed her.
"And the second answer." Nikita leaned in, keeping her face apart from Ixora's. "We want you to be our puppet."
Both she and Hazel shared the cruel laughter, which Ixora found annoying and disgusting. At this rate, she shouldn't be expecting anybody's goodness. No one is good.
"I'm not ready to be anybody's puppet," she said defiantly, cutting them off their laugh.
This time, it was Nikita's turn to grab her chin.
"Come on, sweetheart, you have no choice."
Ixora smiled amidst the hard, aching grip on her chin.
"I've always had a choice," she replied. Eyes daring, tone defiant, smile spiteful.
And as predicted, it did spite them. Nikita increased the hold on her chin, locking her gaze venomously with Ixora.
Ixora expression didn't for once lessen her gaze. The grip was painful, but no worse than the look of defeat in their eyes.
"You have no idea what we planned to do to you," Nikita said in a cold, venomous voice. One would think she's a snake woman at this point.
Nikita's nails dug into her chin, sending pain all over her.
Ixora didn't flinch nor did she break the contact. She opened her mouth to speak, the next word pushing them to their impatient limit.
"Bring it on."
"That's it," Hazel said and took a gun from the drawer.
She stepped forward and pointed it at Ixora's forehead.
"What did you just say?" she seethed, throwing murderous daggers at Ixora as her finger curled around the trigger.
"Bring. It. On," Ixora repeated.
Same tone, same locked eyes, same calm demeanor.