“I expected more from you, Arianna, and so does your mother,”
The moment Elijah said those words, “Her mother” it seemed as if a bomb went off in her head and she just froze in her seat.
Arianna couldn’t, or rather didn’t move, and began to analyze the news in her head. For starters, she never told Elijah about her mother, not even while they were still together.
The only people who knew her mother was alive were her uncle and Marcel and whoever else they decided to tell. Marcel promised to help in finding her mother, which means he must have gotten Adele involved and that also entails that Elijah must have gotten the information by chance.
Pure rage simmered inside of Arianna and she wanted to throttle Elijah at that moment. To think he would use information like this against her just to save his ass meant that he was a low, pathetic asshole.
With cold fury in her eyes, she growled, “How dare you -”
He cut her off, “Judging from the murderous energy around you, it’s safe to assume you think I’m Iying?”
Arianna narrowed her gaze at him, suspiciously. Was he being serious or was he pulling her leg right now? Because If it was the latter, she promised to blast out his brains and save Marcel the energy of killing him.
But curiosity took the better of her as she watched Elijah pull out his wallet from his pocket and he opened it before pulling out a rumpled picture and handing it to her.
.....
Arianna didn’t want to take the picture because she had a feeling that whatever she was about to uncover might rock her world, but she needed to take the risk. She can’t remain in the dark forever and had to give it a shot.
Having steadied her mind, Arianna took the picture from him and she looked at the picture. It wasn’t the five men in the picture that stole her breath, but the woman surrounded by them.
No fucking way.
She saw her.
Her mother.
All her life, Arianna always wondered what her mother would look like, it seems she wasn’t far off. You could almost mistake her for her sister if they had the same hair color. She took her looks from her mother.
It was confirmed.
This can’t be.
Arianna didn’t want to believe it. She hoped that the photo was fake or something, but she saw it with her eyes and felt it with her hands, it was not fake. It spun back years and it wasn’t until she stared at the other characters properly, that one face became familiar to her.
It was Elijah.
Or rather a younger version of him.
Instantly, ice-cold dread washed over Arianna and she looked at Elijah with horror, her hands shaking as she asked the question that came to her mind,
Arianna’s mind was full of millions of unanswered questions, however, it made perfect sense that her mother had a family already. That is if she didn’t have another family before birthing her which only explains Elijah’s age since he was older than she was.
The reason her mother abandoned her all these years was because she was born illegitimately. What had her father been thinking? Did he fall in love with a married woman? Arianna didn’t know how to feel about this news.
To think that Elijah was her brother and they had been together?! They kissed, made out, French kissed, cuddled, you name them all, and even touched each other intimately. She had been sexing her brother, well, half-brother to be precise, but they were all the same, and right now, she felt like throwing up.
How was this possible?
This was messed up.
She wanted to die right now.
“W-what?!” Elijah was dumbfounded.
“Of course not! Your mother is your mother only, not mine!” there was disgust in his tone as well. Apparently, they shared the same thoughts.
“What do you mean by that?”
“My family only rescued her from near death and she has been staying with us since then.”
“W-what?”Arianna croaked, “What do you mean by a near-death experience?”
Seeing he got her interest, Elijah leaned on the table, having her full attention. He revealed, “She was nearly killed by Daniel?”
“What?!”
If Arianna had been shocked earlier, this piece of news nearly blanked her out.
Arianna shook her head, befuddled, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me. Are you messing with me right now?” She was beginning to panic.
“Your mother and Daniel were a thing in the past.”
“Oh God,”
Arianna felt her head throbbing and her breath was coming in short. It was a lie. That can’t be true. It was too much, too much information.
“Are me and Marcel...” She was finding it more difficult to breathe and wasn’t able to finish her question.
However, Elijah must have gotten the point because he answered with disgust in his tone, “God! No! The both of you aren’t siblings! Your mother would rather end her life and yours than let you survive as Daniel’s child.”
Her mother would end both of their lives? That was all Arianna could comprehend before she felt light-headed and unwell.
“Arianna? Are you okay?” Elijah was concerned when he saw her pale expression.
“I don’t feel great... ” Arianna was disoriented and tried to stand, but that moment she only ended up falling to the ground.
“Arianna!” Elijah shouted with sheer terror when he saw her lose consciousness and tried to help her. However, that was the moment Luca returned from the errand.
Luca pushed him off her with great strength, tossing him to the side as if he were a mere doll, and picked Arianna up in his arms. With one hand, he texted Marcel about the situation and left with her.
She needed help right now and Marcel would end their lives if anything were to happen to his woman.