Chapter 31 - The park 1

SIX MONTHS LATER.

It had been six months, six months without a word from Daphne, not a single trace of her. It was as if she had vanished off the face of the earth, that was what it seemed like. Life was back to normal in the Black's household, Amelia and Xavier were stronger than before and they were preparing for the birth of their baby girl.

It was going to happen any minute, very soon, Amelia was already seven months pregnant and was getting ready for childbirth.

They didn't talk about Daphne anymore, well because there was no need to. The only person who had provided them information about her was Lorenzo and he had claimed that she left him a letter and she said she was going to leave them alone and go away forever. According to him, the letter seemed to have been sent from Mykonos. Amelia was of the opinion that Daphne should be left alone, they all believed that she went far away to grieve over the loss of her unborn child.

They were wrong.

The first few days, she had grieved, she had been gripped by pain like never before and she was numb for the following days, but her pain and her grief didn't stop there, it turned into something more sinister, like an undeniable quench for blood. More specifically, the blood of Amelia.

She pondered on an action plan for weeks, weeks and weeks on end and nothing came up, the security was too tight, Amelia and Xavier were completely paranoid for the first three months and that was when the idea came to her.

The idea to write a letter to Lorenzo and pretend as if she was relaxing and enjoying in a far away country, well, it worked like a charm especially since she pulled it off well, after that security became less tight, Amelia went out with less bodyguards everyday until she completely stopped going out with them.

But another problem came in, as the weeks drew by and her due date came close, Xavier started following her everywhere, he didn't leave her for a second and that proved difficult for her. Their staff were also new unapproachable faces who seemed to have been forewarned about her and the security around their house had been amplified, cameras lined every street and she had to use a new disguise every week she was at their street.

It was stressful and hopeless, but she didn't give up, it felt useless for her to give up her mission, especially since she didn't know what to do after it. Her career as an actress was best described as a joke, only a handful of terrible movies and bad soap operas to show for it, it wasn't like she was going to be remembered for it.
Her family was gone, the ones still alive lived in France without sparing even a thought for her and the only love of her life had been snatched from her.

All she really had left was her mission and it was draining her more than she thought it would, she was fast depleting her trust fund, her plan was to kill off Amelia and stick around to seeing if Xavier would take her back but she knew it was impossible that he would, even though a small part of her told her that it wouldn't.

But finally the day had come and she couldn't wait to make use of it.

As Amelia's due date came by, she and Xavier found themselves spending more and more time in the park. They even had a favourite spot.

"Are we inviting Mr Burnham for the baby shower? You think he'll like these things?"

Amelia asked as she looked up from her phone as Xavier parked the car and he shrugged.

"I thought you said we had a guest limit."

"Yea, I did say that, but you did say you wanted to impress him."

Xavier chuckled as he reached out for the backseat and pulled out the picnic basket and blanket.

"Amelia I don't think a baby shower would impress a ruthless business man."

Amelia rolled her eyes and managed to get out of the car with unease. She didn't know why a lot of people liked to paint pregnancy like it was a magical journey, her own had been much more difficult. And since she was in her third trimester, things were getting a little harder, especially with her mobility.

The frequent back aches and having trouble sleeping was also something she had not anticipated, but it had been happening. And she had been trying to stay positive throughout the process, reminding herself that she and Xavier had a baby girl on the way.

Xavier so far had been great. He had taken time off work just to be with her and he was almost like a body part, she simply could not function without him.

He had been helpful with his frequent back rubs, baths, helping her make food and even going as far as staying awake when she couldn't sleep. They had both been decorating their nursery and Amelia was so excited that they had made the decision to do it themselves.

"Do you have everything?"

She asked as she watched Xavier carry everything and he nodded.

"Yea, come on."

He said as he stretched out one of his free hand, he was holding the blanket and picnic basket in one hand and still had a free hand to hold her hand.

Amelia smiled as her hands connected with his. He smiled back with his eyes squinting at her under the sun.

"Thank God I brought along some sunscreen."

Amelia commented as she shielded her face from the warm rays of the sun.

"Yes, don't worry. We'll sit under the large tree."

Entering the park which was next to empty since it was a slow day, a slight breeze rustled the leaves making them fall to the solid ground one by one. The air was warm, the beams of sunlight glowing on Amelia's skin as she squinted in the sun. Flowers were vast, and they concealed the freshly cut green grass. The pathway to their secret place was nothing more than dirt littered with random rocks, but after a few more minutes of walking they reached a small clearing completely surrounded by shrubs, there was a large tree in the middle of the shrubs and a picnic bench in the middle.

Amelia and Xavier noticed it one day when they were at the park but it was occupied, they were lucky to later find out that it was rarely occupied during the weekdays and used it as their  opportunity to get some time alone and away in the sun and see some beautiful flowers.

"Did Patricia pack those cheeseburger tacos I asked for?"

Amelia asked and Xavier rolled his eyes.

"Of course she did. And just so you know, this is the third time you're asking."

Xavier said as he dropped the picnic on the picnic table and left the blanket on the table.

"I know. I know. I just wanted to be sure."

Xavier raised his eyebrows.

"Yea, and now you know. I don't know why you're so addicted to those though."

Amelia raised her eyebrows.

"Really? I thought you liked it when you tried it!!"

She explained and Xavier shook his head.

"No, I did not. My facial expressions made it very clear but you were too engrossed in the tacos to notice my face."

Amelia tilted her head in thought that can't be right, she could have sworn that he liked it. She rubbed her large belly as she settled in her chair, she wished she could rest on something, the bench had little to zero support.

"Hello?! Can I help you?"

Xavier asked as he looked at the figure approaching them, it appeared to be a woman in a face cap with dark hair, she didn't say a word as she walked closer. Xavier stood up slowly as he squinted to look at the figure, there was something oddly familiar about the figure. And also it was strange, nobody came to the park around that time and certainly not strangers in faded baggy jeans and an overlarge black T-shirt. He wasn't taking any risk, he discreetly pressed the distress button on his smart watch.

"Who is it?"

Amelia asked cranking her head to see as she stopped unpacking her cheeseburger tacos.

"Can we help you?"

She called out as she made a move to stand up.

"Sit down Amelia."

Xavier warned as the figure slowly removed her cap that had been shadowing half of her face. It was Daphne, her face was ashen and had a sickly parlor to it and her lips were almost blue in the crazy summer heat.

"Remember me?"

Daphne asked as she smiled.

Amelia gasped and Xavier's jaw dropped as he moved closer to Amelia, he was ready to protect her and his unborn child if the need arose.

"Stay where you are!"

She warned quietly as she pulled out the gun from the band of her jeans.

Amelia and Xavier froze on the spot.

Amelia's hands were instinctively over her belly, she didn't know what to do but she was more scared about her baby's life than hers. Her heart was beating so fast she felt it might explode.

Her adrenaline surged so fast she almost puked, she could taste saliva thickening in her throat and beads of sweat trickling down her brow. Her body wanted her to run as fast as she could but it was already too dangerous.

"Daphne..."

Xavier started and Daphne turned her head to the side.

"Yes? You have something to say?"

"We're sorry about your baby. It was a horrible tragedy, it shouldn't have happened."

Xavier said and Daphne scoffed as she pointed the gun to Amelia.

"What about you? Blabbermouth. Cat's got your tongue?"

She taunted and Amelia lowered her eyes. Her heart was beating so fast and loudly in her ears that she was scared she thought she would collapse from the sheer force and noise.

"We're so sorry."

Amelia murmured loud enough for Daphne to hear her.

"Oh! You're sorry?"

Daphne asked as she raised her eyebrows.

"You know, if I was still pregnant, I'd have given birth by now! My due date was ten days ago."

It was hard but it was true, she had remembered the due date and marked it down, it was the day her baby should have been born.

"Your apologies are useless. I only want Amelia to suffer the same fate as I did."

Amelia felt faint as she listened to Daphne's words, It was a personal attack on her baby not even her.

She slowly turned to Xavier who look just as horrified.

"Amelia... You don't want to do this... Please..."

She begged and Daphne shrugged, her expression was unreadable.

"My mind is made up already."

"Please!! You can't possibly think of killing a child, she's just a baby, please..."

Daphne's ears perked up after hearing the sex of the child.

"She? How precious!!"

"A mini version of mummy!!! I suppose I'd be doing the word a favour by ridding it of more Amelias."

"Please!!! Daphne. Don't do this. I'll do anything. Take me instead."

Xavier begged as he walked closer and Daphne pointed her gun directly at him.

"Stay the fuck where you are! Or I'll put a bullet in your legs."

She shouted while panting heavily, she pointed the gun at him, then she pointed it at Amelia, her heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she held on to the gun tightly. She thought she would feel empowered holding the gun, but she was frightened as hell and her heart felt like it would collapse from beating too hard.

"You didn't think this through did you?"

Xavier asked after a moment and Daphne frowned.

"What the fuck do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Are you planing to kill us both? Because there's no way in hell you're getting away with this."

Daphne laughed like a maniac. She laughed.

"What makes you think I want to get away with it?"

She retorted and Amelia felt chills go down her spine. How would they convince someone who had nothing to lose? How would she be able to convince Daphne? The situation looked hopeless and behind repair.

"Daphne please. My baby is harmless, don't do this to me please "

Amelia begged but Daphne didn't seem to be listening to her.

"Yea well you should have thought about that before killing my baby."

"What?" Amelia exclaimed in surprise, what was Daphne saying?

"What are you talking about? I had no hand in that, it was a miscarriage..."

"A miscarriage that was meant for you!!!"

She screamed and Amelia flinched.

"You were meant to use the abortion pills, you were meant to take them! You're the one whose supposed to have lost her baby!!!"

"That stupid Lorenzo! He ruined everything, he couldn't even deliver a simple abortion pill to you."

Me? What the hell was she saying? Amelia asked herself she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

Xavier on the other hand was frantic and calculative, he had to try to keep stalling, long enough for his security team to arrive with or without the police. He didn't know if it was possible that he could talk his way out of the problem but his main concern was Amelia, she was the target and she was unprotected and she looked so scared it gnawed at his chest.

Daphne's breathing had become erratic, her movements were jerky and she ran her hands through her hair and gritted her teeth multiple times. That made her even more dangerous because it only meant that she was not only frightened as hell, she was a lot more unpredictable with a gun in her hands.

Xavier quickly took the only chance he got to hide Amelia behind his back when Daphne appeared conflicted.

"I'll do anything Daphne. Just let Amelia go."

He said as he stood in front of Amelia using his body as a shield, Amelia held on to his T-shirt at the back and one hand was splayed protectively on her belly.

Daphne laughed as she ruffled her hair, ah had never felt so scared and confused in her life, her mind was in disarray.

"You see that's the problem, I want her dead more than I want to be with you."