Chapter 117 LIES
\[NELLY'S ROOM\]
Nelly brought the spoon close to her lips but dropped it with a soft sigh. Her arm aches a lot, and at the same time, she's worried.
Slade had gone to see Maddox. That's a disaster. She's aware of how much they dislike each other. What if things don't turn out well? What if Maddox annoys Slade? What will Slade do? Nowadays, he's heartless and wicked, not the Slade she dated.
The forceful slam of the door brought her back to the present.
Slade walked in, faster than she had ever seen. Blood on his face as if he had engaged in a fight.
She had barely gotten time to process it when he grabbed her chin and kissed her.
She brought her palm on his chest to push him away, but he bit her lips, hard.
"Argh!" She winced, and that gave him the chance to probe his tongue into her mouth.
Her arm was hurting, his grip was tight, and his kiss was rough, but maybe not rough like somebody's own.
Gathering all her strength, she pushed him away and landed a slap on his cheek.
"What has gotten over you?!" she yelled, glaring hard and breathing heavily.
Slade smiled, meaningfully.
She searched his face for a reason but found none.
"You belong to me, Nelly." He grabbed her shoulder and buried his face in the crook of her neck, closing the space between them.
He bit hard, sucked like he was trying to draw out her skin, and nibbled, all while trying to mark her.
"S-Slade, you're hurting me," she said at the brink of breaking down.
Slade released her shoulder, the smile growing larger.
He had done it.
He has marked her as his. Now, she belongs to him.
Using his thumb, he rubbed the mark possessively.
"You can't be with anyone else," his voice cut through, stating his claims on her.
She opened her mouth to talk, but instead her hands flew to his cheek again.
"I hate you!" She said, wishing she could get away from everything. The clan, the present, and out of the Morozov's life.
"Hate me all you want, Nelly, but I don't need your permission. I take what I want." He took a few steps away from her, eye boring into her soul.
"What if I don't want to be yours again? What if I've moved on from you? I want to be free from your madness and your father's?" Nelly asked, glaring hard at him.
Slade burst into laughter as if she had just cracked the most ridiculous joke ever.
"This is all because of Maddox. You've fallen for him, right?" he asked.
Nelly's expression softened, and she became speechless. She didn't know the right word to say.
"Leave Maddox out of this."
"I will." He grabbed her chin, lifting her face to mirror his. "But his fate now depends on you. He's ready to leave the clan. If you try to act smart, I will end his very existence," he threatened darkly, and left her chest.
She stared at him with a pained expression, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.
"You weren't like this, Slade. You were nice, cheerful, not wicked and heartless. You used to hate the sight of blood; now you derive happiness from seeing blood. You hated your father back then; now you are worse than him. Tell me, why did you change so much?! Why!" Her tears rolled down her cheeks.
"You were the one who changed me, Nelly!" He nodded. "Yes, you did. I loved you with all my heart. I gave you everything. I left my father to build a future with you. I admit I wasn't this way before. I was nice, I spread love and happiness everywhere I went. But what did I get in return? Lies. All you ever fed me was lies," he said, eyes red like he'd cry any moment from now.
Nelly shook her head. "That's not true. My love was pure and true. I didn't lie to you."
"Then, what about Nashira?" He cut her off, voice broken. "You know how much I hated violence, blood, killing, anything that had to do with it. That's why I hated J.K. But you... you were part of a gang. Violence, guns, knives, blood, and taking people's lives, you were them all." He drew in a deep breath, letting the tears fall.
Nelly's face had been filled with tears, and she was shaking her head.
"Slade," she called, lips quivering.
"We wanted a simple future together, just you and me. You betrayed me, and I had to find out in the worst way ever. My loving girlfriend, whom I thought was the world's best, was busy preparing to fight with another gangster while I was painting our future together."
"I'm sorry," she sobbed heavily.
"Somehow, I found you and your members. You knew how hurt I was, and I broke up with you on the spot. You came after me, but your lifestyle almost took my life. I was shot, and why? For dating a gangster," he sniffled, and wiped his tears.
"Slade, I-I'm sorry. Deeply sorry," she cried.
"Didn't you always want to know how I survived when I stopped breathing before your eyes? J. K was the one who saved me. My life, which your lifestyle took, my dad gave it back to me. What did you expect? That I would come back to be the sweet-loving boy? That version died the day I was shot. If my girlfriend were a gangster, I too could be one, since she loves it," he paused. "A lot," he said, dragging it a bit as if rubbing it in her face.
Nelly crumbled to the floor, letting the tears flow.
He was right. She blames herself for everything that happened to him. If she had returned his love with the same kind of energy, then he wouldn't be this way. She ruined his life because of her selfishness. She wanted to be wild and dangerous, but ended up destroying somebody's life. It's all her fault.
This was the guilt that had refused to leave her, no matter how much she tried. It has haunted her in every possible way. It affected her to the point where she had to see a therapist.
She graduated from high school at the age of sixteen, almost took Slade's life at eighteen, and finally entered college at the age of twenty.
"S- sorry."
What else could she say other than apologize?
Slade was about to talk when a knock on the door interrupted him.
He wiped his tears, making sure to leave no trace before opening the door.
"The prisoners' food," a maid said with her gaze buried on the floor.
Slade was about to snap, but changed his mind.
He glanced at Nelly and took the tray.
"Leave." He closed the door.
He went and crouched down beside Nelly.
She looked at him with her teary face.
"It's Maddox's food. Don't you want to give him his food?" Slade said, returning to his normal mode, if not worse.
"I..."
He opened her hand and forcefully gave her the tray.
"Go and give it to him," his eyes went to the mark he gave her on the neck. "And don't you dare think of hiding your neck," he warned and stood properly.
"I will send a maid to attend to your injury," he said and left, leaving her to her tears, shame and regret.
\[NEW YORK, A SHORE\]
The cold breeze hit Drexton's skin as he walked on the shore. His shoes left a shoe print on the sand. Crickets sang their night song, and trees flapped their branches.
He stared at the water before him. The same one Hazel had fallen into.
He had come to find a glue that would give him the answer he sought.
Hazel's death wasn't confirmed. Yes, she was shot and even bathed herself with acid, but her body wasn't found. The search team only found her slippers, and when he himself went to find out about her, he found nothing leading to her possibly being alive.
But now that he thinks about it, the person has the same features as Ixora. Only a person that close to Ixora would be able to pull it off. The person knows Ixora's life, friends, and even her love life.
Hazel was Ixora's best friend, who turned greedy and jealous.
He knows about Hazel's financial status. She was poor.
The imposter wants to get close to him, and that can only mean one thing. She stole Ixora's identity to get to him. She wanted revenge, and using Ixora was the only way she thought she could do it.
The answer is clear:
"Hazel is the imposter pretending to be Ixora."