49

I stare at the suitcase with all my valuable belongings. This is it, I am about to break free to start over.

Anthony, the bodyguard, brought documents earlier. Quinn had to accompany his father after he tried to fake a heart attack which was reported few hours ago. Quinn instructed for him to pick me up seven in the evening as he will be waiting for me at the airport. Here I am it is an hour to seven. I have texted Kelly and Oliver my goodbyes. I have had several visit to the bathroom, I am anxious.

There are many ways I imagined my life but eloping wasn't one of them. Other than his sister, his family doesn't know about his plans.

My doorbell rings and I exhale.

It is the beginning of a new life. I carry my bag and pull the suitcase with me. I place it by the wall as I open the door.

My bag drops to the floor.


"A..An...Andre." I stammer.


"You didn't tell me you were planning to travel." He pushes past me and walks in.


"What are you doing here?" I can feel my heart about to escape from its cage.

"Don't mind me, I wanted to check if your leg has healed." He says.


"Not fully, but I feel much better." I breath. " Can we do this some other time I am running late."


"We both know there is no other time, you are running away with Quinn." He walks back and locks the door and I take a step back.


"You should leave." I say.


"The truth is out now why don't we face it instead of running away from it." His eyes have this evil flicker in them that I never realized before. "You took something from me." He says.


"You killed Ryan's mother. You should be glad I haven't gone to the police." I say.


"Because you want to protect yourself." He smiles.


"Why did you lie to me all this time?"


"I never lied you just didn't see it. "


"Why?"


"Sit and I will tell you a story." He says. I don't, I remove my phone, I can sense the danger around me. He grab it from and smashes it against the wall. "Sit! " He orders.

Quinn's words in the forest come to me, 'Whenever development invoke your fight or flight response, take a deep breath, look at whoever or the thing is threatening you, that moment will help get over the scary phase and then you can think what to do next, don't act before the scary phase unless it is a matter of life and death, if you can delay it, please try until you know your enemy. Don't fight to win, fight to survive.


I sit.


"You asked why? And I will tell you why. Your mother caused a lot of pain for my mother. She was my father's mistress, as if that wasn't enough, she befriend my mother and always brought you along with her to rub on her face what she couldn't have. My father said he never wanted another child with her and went and ahead to sire you. How do you think she felt every single time she saw both of you?"

The romour I heard and gave them a benefit of doubt were true, Andre's mother is a nutcase.


"It is not your battle to fight Andre and I am not interested in your father. I am willing to leave you will never see me again." I plead.


"He is not good enough to measure to Cooper? He removes a gun and I take a deep breath. " You think I will let you leave. I am not like you, I don't give up on causes I start."


"Did your mother have anything to do with my parents death?" I ask.


"Your father? No. She kept who you were from me until that fateful night. She is an opportunist something I learnt from her. Your boyfriend's father killed Cooper with the help of your uncle. So my mother thought why not take an opportunity of the crisis and do away with her enemy no one would suspect her. She asked me when we visit your house I steal your spare keys and corrupt your security system afterall I was and still a genius. I didn't know why until I followed her that night to your parent's house. I watched her stab your mother to death. I saw you and your brother get away. I let you survive that night. " He walks to sit on the table to face me as he points the gun to me, it has a silencer. Seems like he is not done with his confession and all I want aren't answers it is just for all of this to end. ".... Remember days after escaping people were looking for your remains and you seeked our help to come out, my mother staged the attack to look like your uncle, the message you send to him that you were alive, it never got to him after all he would have done what we did, the guy that attacked you at your apartment? " I nod " My mother had sent him to kill you, I saved you and killed him. I wasn't yet done. And Oh, that time your lecturer, Mr. Marcelo attacked you, I watched with joy, Those intimate details with Quinn that leaked to the public? You are welcome."

I can't believe what I am hearing


"I trusted you."


"Never trust anyone, you should have also taught Oliver that."


"What have you done to him?"


"It is what will happen to him, You see Nimo is just an ordinary call girl I hired from the internet. She seduced him, and pressed all the right buttons until he was eager to please her and live beyond his means and that is where I come in. My stories will have this question, 'remember when?'" He places the gun on my cheek. I am no longer scared all I think is how to survive. He continues, "....Remember when the garage Oliver worked for burnt down? He burnt it to hid that he had been stealing from it to finance Nimo, I helped."


The way he casually says help, I am sure it isn't something good he did.


I shake my head, this can't be happening, I know all these stories don't have any pleasing end. "Just stop! You have won, if you wanted to watch me beg, please don't hurt my brother. It is me and my mother that hurt your family."



He laughs and I see a tear drop.


"She is the only one that ever loved me, without her I am left with a monster of a father who hates me. Your mother robbed her sanity, I watched her daily lose it, the sight of girls is a reminder of pain my father caused her, the youth she lost in the hands of my father. I lost my mother long time ago and because of your mother. " He says.


"I am sorry." I say.



"You aren't, you are just like your mother, the same thing you are doing with Quinn. Homewreckers."


"Please, think of those years of friendship." I try to delay my inevitable.


"I just pretended."


"You must have at least cared." I try to lower his guard.


"Stand and walk towards your bedroom." He orders .


I do as asked, I feel the gun poking my back.


"After you kill me, what next?"


"I will be happy. Oh! I forgot to mention that I did set your brother up, it will look like his dealers killed you for revenge. He will be arrested, and he will suffer the same fate as your illegitimate father. Catherine, The girl we bought your identity from will assume your identity and I will take everything your father build."



"You had this planned for years."




"Yes. Infact in an hour she will go live, coming out as Cara Cooper, the sole survivor of the Cooper family. "


I start to drag my injured leg hoping what I am about to do will work. Where are you Quinn? Anthony?



"Keep walking."




"I can't, my leg has numbed."




"This is still a good place to die." I can feel him relax like he is sure I can't fight back.



God, you saved me once, please.... I close my eyes before turning back and charging full throttle on him. He is caught off guard and the gun falls on the floor.



I fall on top of him and the pain that had subdued on my leg returns. I wince in pain.


"You bitch!" He tries to push me off him.


I must survive.


My hand looks for anything near me to defend myself. My elbow stays by his neck attempting to suffocate him and render him helpless.



'you need your pain.' I hear Quinn's words. The rage I had buried comes to the surface with a force of hurricane. I lift my head and hit his head with mine, blood starts to ooze from his nose. His rage triples too as he pushes me and I hit my head against the wall. Everything starts to spin. I see him as he tries to reach for the gun. I lift my bandaged leg and kick the back of his knee and falls on his face but much closer to the gun. I jump on top on him and reach for the gun before he does. We both stand at the same time. I am quick to load the gun ready to shoot.


"We both know I am good at aiming. I beat you every time." I point the gun at him.


I see him try to remove something from his back pocket, it a small pistol. I fire without thinking and I slowly see him fall. I drop the gun and rush to him.


"Andre.." I call out.


No, I aimed for his heart.


There is blood coming out of his mouth, he coughs some out. I place my hand over where I shot him.



"Please don't die, please..." I cry. I attempt to pump his chest and stop his bleeding with some clothes from my bedroom.



He coldly stares at me, no words, like he found the peace he has been searching for. He takes his last breath with a smile on his face. And I slide to floor, burying my head into my hands. I turn when I hear the front door open.



Catherine walks in with a computer on her arms.



"What is taking you long, we are..." She stops when she sees what is before her



I take the gun and point at her.



"Call the police." I say.



"You don't want to do that. It will be the end of you and your brother." She says. "He warned that this may happen that is why he left me outside."



"You are not going live, " I say.



"He had hacked all broadcasts in the country and I would come out ."



"You can't impersonate me."


"But you can impersonate me?" She asks.


"Carefully place that computer on my bed." I instruct.


She jumps over Andre's body. The computer has a count down, five minute to go live. How do I call Quinn? What am I going to do. My phone is destroyed. I stand confused.



"I can help you." She says.


I need to think and I neither have the time nor the space.


"Your brother has been arrested, you know how you can save him."



The countdown is getting closer. One minute, forty second, ten seconds. I have bloody clothes. I cover my upper body part with a bed sheet and place the laptop so that only my face is shown, I wipe the blood on it.


"Hello, my name is Cara, My parents were Raymond J Cooper and Marie Lureen Black. The world has thought of me and My brother Zac Cooper dead. We are not. We had to hide our identity because our lives were in danger. I am here to say that The Cooper siblings are alive and it is time we take what belongs to us. My father told me, life doesn't get better, you get better at it. Life shines us up and wears us down. It does both whether we like it or not. It is about accepting we pick up the scars along the way.... I continue to talk, I don't why, I can't stop, my heart can't stop beating rapidly when those minutes Andre had assigned to the confession ends. I release a long breath.


Catherine is still watching me.



"Who are you?" I am now sure this isn't the same girl Andre's mother bought the identity from.



"The less you know the better." She walks to me and gets the gun. "Just take a walk all will be fixed like nothing happened here." She instructs. "In fact your brother needs you."



This is my fate, there will never be peace and I accept what my life was meant to be. I look at the time on the laptop. I am an hour too late from happiness that would have been.


Goodbye Quinn.











End of Book 2.