Mimi was left desolate by the incident. No, she was traumatized. How could he do that to her? If anyone had told her that Victor whom she has come to trust so much would betray her like this, she would never believe that.
How could the same person who killed Charlie for her and saved her from the hands of Draco be the same person to shatter her heart into a thousand pieces.
What pained Mimi the most was that he manipulated her parents into thinking she was working overtime again – he sent a text to her mother through her phone. If she had died last night, her parents wouldn’t even know. They would likely cover it up with their connection.
Boohoo!
Mimi turned her face into the pillow and cried the more. She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. It now dawned on her why she had been employed in the first place.
Although she hadn’t been awake during the whole thing – yet she couldn’t erase the feeling of being assaulted. Mimi couldn’t tell what Victor did with her but she could tell she had been gagged and tied up – she felt the throb around her mouth and hands. Victor afterwards “kindly” told her that Arianna was back.
Mimi was smart enough to put two and two together and was able to figure out that they used her to threaten Arianna. She was the only one that mattered to Arianna, not even her uncle’s family came close to her heart. Just the same way she would go to hell and back for her, Arianna would do the same unconditionally.
She then accused Victor of Marcel’s plans concerning Arianna. If Marcel lays a hand on her friend, she was never forgiving him in this life. No, she would never either of them for this.
Mimi thought they employed her for her coffee-making skills but who knew she was nothing but a pawn in Marcel’s games. She was to be used against Arianna to keep her in line and Mimi hated being a deadweight above all other things.
.....
In one word, Marcel and Victor not only broke her trust, but they shattered her dreams. She was not employed because of her skills, but her usefulness – as a collateral – and the training had been nothing but an excuse to keep her busy.
She would not forgive them for this.
When the doorbell rang, Mimi stumbled to make herself presentable. She was not expecting any visitor, hence that could only be her mother.
Her mother Hannah often had a habit of forgetting things and would rather come back for it than send a staff. So Mimi knew she was in deep trouble when the doorbell continuously rang.
“Shit!” She cursed as she dumped the whole thing in her makeup purse on the sink’s countertop.
God, where was she going to start? Her eyes were red and swollen. Her mother would raise hell if she saw her this way. Mimi had planned to spend the rest of the day at her aunt’s place before her mother returned – that one had a tight lip and wouldn’t say a word to her sister. Unfortunately, she returned earlier than usual.
This was bad.
But she set to work immediately. Mimi added a lot of concealer on her face and was about to use the eyeliner when the ringing stopped.
“Huh?” Did her mother leave?
Not if she had a spare key.
Oh no.
Mimi knew she had to lock her door before the woman barged in and demanded the reason she didn’t answer the door. Her mother doesn’t really understand the need for privacy.
With lightning speed, Mimi rushed out of the bathroom to go lock her door only to halt halfway because Victor was standing in the middle of her room.
What the.....
The both of them stood staring at each other without saying a word. If Mimi didn’t know better, she would have thought he was apologetic with that forlorn look on his face.
Suddenly, white-hot anger filled her. How dare he return here after what he did to her? Does he think that little sad look on his face would touch her and then she’d forgive him and they would move on like nothing happened. Well, he was in for a loss.
She, Mimi, never forgives betrayal! Especially not from people who call themselves her friends!
“Were you the one ringing the doorbell all this while?” She asked flatly, her voice devoid of emotion.
He didn’t answer her, no, he didn’t need to reply to her because the fact he broke into her room was proof enough.
She rolled her towards heaven in disbelief and then turned those glaring eyes on him,”Why are you here?”
“Mimi, I -” He took a step towards her but Mimi took one back.
Mimi was clearly scared of him yet she denied that by wrapping her arms across her chest defensively and Victor didn’t push her either. He
He gave her every reason not to trust him anymore. Right now, he had to do damage control, not to scare her further.
“I had no choice,” Victor didn’t bother to give her an apology because he knew she wasn’t going to take it. He had to give her a reason then. Neither did he put the blame on Marcel, that was how loyal he was.
“Exactly, I didn’t know I was friends with someone who didn’t have a choice,” Mimi’s voice was taut and taunting.
Victor ran his hand through his hair, messing it up. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy but he hasn’t been treated to this kind of situation before. This was the first time he was begging a woman – aside from his mother.
“It won’t happen the next time, I promise you, no, I swear on my life,” He said to her desperately.
But Mimi shook her head, “That’s the problem, there won’t be a next time,”
Victor didn’t care about scaring her anymore because he invaded her space and grabbed her hand before she could stop him, “You can not give up on me, Mimi” he pleaded with her, “I know I messed up but please, give me a second chance, Mimi,”
But she slipped her hand out of his and looked him straight in the eyes saying with a lump in her throat, “You could have warned me! At least, give me a heads up, I would have been more prepared and it won’t hurt as much as it does now,”
“You wouldn’t have listened, Mimi,” He told her.
“Says who -”
“You turn irrational when it comes to matters concerning Arianna. What would you have done if I told you, ‘Hey, Mimi, could you help pose as a kidnap victim just so Marcel could use that to threaten your beloved Arianna?'” He gestured animatedly.
Mimi didn’t answer.
“I guess so,” Victor saw the truth in that silence.
“It’s good this happened then because it just shows we only keep hurting each other in the long run,”
“No, no, no, Mimi -”
But she kept on speaking even when Victor was pleading with her, “It hurts much because you were my friend and I had many expectations, but if we didn’t have such a close relationship, I would expect nothing and hate you with all that I have,”
“Don’t you even listen to me!” Victor shouted at her when she wouldn’t stop drowning him out.
Mimi stopped but there was no softening in that hardened gaze of hers. He sighed and placed both hands on her shoulder, rubbing her skin soothingly as if that would calm her down.
“I thought friends stand with each other in the good and bad?” He tried to reason with her, “You are the only female I’ve opened up to in a long time. And I feel completely scared that I can never find what the both of us had in another female. No, I don’t want to. So please, reconsider. If it’s time, I’ll give you one, Mimi. Just don’t say it’s over between us. ” Victor was close to breaking down in tears.
She could sense his vulnerability in the way he held her – his hands were trembling – and Mimi had no doubt he would agree to anything she wanted at that moment – even if it included his head. He was loyal to a fault.
“Yes, friends stand with each other, you are right in that aspect,” Mimi acknowledged. “However, that bond stands until one betrays the other.”
“Mimi...”
“Let me speak,” She told him and he obeyed instantly.
“As long as Marcel has my friend in his custody, we are going to clash constantly. And I seriously can’t look you in the face without remembering this incident. So please, don’t make this harder than it is already.
“You don’t have to worry about me quitting work though, as long as Arianna is there, I’ll be there by her side to protect her no matter what. However, our closeness from now on would be restricted to a working relationship only.”