Chapter 112 Beside Mom
Kira’s POV
Miranda’s scream cut through the graveyard like a chainsaw.
She pointed straight at me while still screaming, finger shaking so hard it looked like it might snap off.
“She’s Kira! Why is she alive?! She’s supposed to be dead! We killed her…we pushed her off that balcony! Why won’t she stay dead?! She’s a ghost! A fucking ghost!”
The whole crowd froze as murmurings and more gasps erupted. More phones shot up as cameras flashed. The reporters I’d tipped off earlier pressed further like sharks smelling blood.
“Miss Summers, did you just confess to murdering Kira Summers?”
“Push her? You said you pushed her…can you repeat that for the camera?”
Frederick and Evelyn rushed forward, faces white as sheets. Frederick grabbed Miranda’s arm, yanking her up while Evelyn patted her back like she was soothing a toddler having a tantrum.
“Our daughter is unwell,” Frederick barked, voice cracking. “She’s in shock…she just misses her younger sister terribly. This has been a traumatic period for my family and I. She doesn’t know what she’s saying…she’s unstable mentally!”
But Miranda wasn’t done. She thrashed against them, mascara running in black rivers down her cheeks. “No! It’s her I know it. She cheated death! We pushed her hard enough…she should be gone! Why is she here ruining everything for me? I hate her! God, I hate her!”
Evelyn’s voice went shrill as she slapped a hand over Miranda’s mouth and laughed awkwardly. “Darling, please, you’re hysterical. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Frederick motioned frantically to their two security guys hovering at the back. “Escort us out…now!”
The guards shoved through the crowd, forming a wall around the three of them while reporters chased after, shouting questions the whole way.
“Did you push Kira Summers off the building?”
“Is this a family cover-up?”
“Mr. Summers, care to comment on the murder confession?”
“Is it true that Miranda is your biological daughter, and not the late Kira Summers?”
They half-dragged, half-carried Miranda away, her screams fading into the distance as cameras followed like hungry wolves and Frederick kept screaming ‘no comment,’ as they left the venue.
I stood there, not moving a muscle, one hand resting on the fresh dirt of my own grave as the workers started shoveling it in. Thud. Thud. Thud. Each clump of earth hitting the casket felt like a nail in their future.
I will destroy them. Little by little, I will bury them and laugh over their graves.
Victoria stepped up beside me without a word and handed me the flowers I’d asked her to buy earlier.
I took the white peonies first…my favorite. Soft, delicate, the ones I used to steal from the garden and hide in my room because they made me feel less alone. I knelt and placed them right on top of the fresh mound.
You dressed me in yellow like it was a joke. You laughed behind my back every time I begged you not to. You made me think I was worthless and ugly. You made me believe that I’ll only get to be successful by being only near Miranda. You tried to kill me. But I’m still here. And you’re about to lose everything.
My chest ached so bad I could barely breathe when I thought about how they caged me.
I moved over to Mom’s grave, just a few feet away. The headstone was simple, the one I’d picked before they took that from me too. I laid her favorite pink carnations against it…soft and sweet, the ones she always kept in a little vase on the kitchen windowsill.
More tears poured out, hot and unstoppable. I pressed my forehead to the cool stone and whispered, “Mom… I’m here.”
I felt someone coming closer and bent to my level. It was Adrian.
He touched my arm, gently. “Princess—”
His phone rang sharp and loud just then. He glanced at the screen, jaw tightening. “Victoria, watch her with your life. I have something urgent I need to handle right now. The driver will take you both back to the hotel safely.”
Victoria nodded once, all professional, like she has trained all her life to be a bodyguard.
Adrian cupped my face, thumbs brushing the tears off my cheeks. Then he leaned in and kissed the wet spots, slow and soft. “I’m going to make them pay for hurting you like this. For making you cry. For what they did to your friend. I’ll squash them, princess…gently at first. Let them think I’m their only hope, their savior. Then I’ll drop them from so high they’ll shatter into a million pieces. No one makes my girl cry and walks away whole.”
For some stupid reason, those words wrapped around me like a blanket. I felt… relieved. Like maybe, just maybe, he really would burn it all down for me.
I took one long look at my mother’s grave and then let Victoria guide me to the car afterwards.
As we pulled away, I kept glancing back at Adrian’s tall figure standing there in the fading light. Then another shadow stepped out from behind a tree and joined him…someone in a dark coat, moving like they knew each other well.
Who could that be? But before I could turn around properly, the car took a corner and I couldn’t see more.
We drove in silence for a few blocks until I spotted it through the window…our favorite little café, the one Mom and I used to sneak to every Sunday after she’d pretend to be “running errands.” The glass case by the counter still had the strawberry shortcake slices on display, fresh and pink and perfect, exactly like always.
“Stop the car,” I said suddenly.
The driver pulled over and Victoria raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue.
We stepped inside. The place was packed…chatter, clinking cups, the smell of sugar and coffee hitting me like a time machine. I walked straight to our old corner booth by the window, the one with the cracked red vinyl seat. Same spot.
“Princess…” Victoria started, but I motioned for her to keep quiet with my finger.
I ordered two of everything…two slices of strawberry shortcake, two vanilla lattes with extra foam. One for me. One for Mom.
We sat down and I stared at the second plate like it might talk back. Victoria just watched me quietly, questions burning behind her eyes but she didn’t ask.
I picked up my fork and took a tiny bite. It tasted exactly the same…sweet, fluffy, a little tart. Tears started spilling again, silent ones dripping onto the table. I didn’t wipe them. Just kept eating in the middle of all those happy strangers while my heart broke all over again.
Victoria must have felt uncomfortable just watching me cry because the next second, she excused herself politely. “Gotta pee. Be right back, Princess.”
I nodded, still staring at Mom’s untouched slice.
That’s when I felt it…a sharp little prick on the side of my neck, like a bee sting but colder. My hand flew up, but my fingers were already going numb. The café lights blurred. My head lolled to the side.
I didn’t even have time to scream before everything went black.