Chapter 70

“Will you let me know when you’ve gotten to your sister’s?” Harvey locked Mia’s door from his side as she went for the handle. She pulled on it two times before she realised it was locked.

“I’ll give you a call tomorrow once everything is settled down.” She assured him, her feet tapping on the floor as she waited to exit his car. The longer she thought of Amiyah with Marina the less patience she had. The less sanity.

“I can live with that.” He couldn’t. He wanted to get news as it happened or else he’d be driven crazy with worry. A part of him wanted to follow her along to ensure she got to her sister’s house safely, but he knew she would never allow it. Mia had her own affairs to deal with; there was only so much he could expect be involved in. He was learning he couldn’t control everything.

“Thank you, Harvey. I wouldn’t have…” she begun, unable to meet his eyes. She was overwhelmed with emotion. She was finally able to get away from Gabriel and yet her daughter was in their clutches right now. There were so much mixed emotions but once she got Amiyah she would be relieved. She knew it.

“Hey, hey.” He leaned closer and took her hands in his as the tears rolled down her cheeks. “Don’t mention it.” He placed a kiss on her cheek and let her out of his car. He watched carefully as she entered her car and drove off before leaving himself.
Mia could think of nothing more than reaching to her daughter. Amiyah wasn’t safe with anyone of Gabriel’s family and Mia had only blamed herself. She’d trusted the wrong people and it had kept her trapped. She stopped off at the house to gather a few of her and Amiyah’s clothing until Gabriel left the country.
Her mind was racing that she hadn’t realised when exactly she pulled up in front of Marina’s house. She left her car idling, she hadn’t planned on staying long at all, and walked up the pathway. Mia knocked on the door and was told to, “come in.” from a voice on the other side of it. She pushed the door open frantically and stormed in.
Marina was in her kitchen preparing dinner. Mia bent around to catch a glimpse of Amiyah. She wasn’t here. Usually Mia would be casual about it but today all the revelations she’d just heard caused her to fall into an instant panic mode.

“Where is Amiyah?” Her voice was cracking despite her best efforts to remain calm. Marina noted the change in Mia and immediately ceased kneading flour. She was making Amiyah some stuffed dumplings for dinner.

“Amiyah just fell asleep.” She replied cautiously. “She’s in the living room.” Marina followed Mia out as she all but ran out into the living room. Marina was tracking flour around her house in this chase. She couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Something was definitely amiss. She almost questioned whether Amiyah was actually there.
She watched as Mia knelt close to Amiyah and sighed, brushing hair away from her face. Amiyah didn’t stir. She was a strong sleeper.

“Amiyah is always safe with me, you know that, right?” Marina questioned in response to Mia’s strange behaviour.
Mia gazed back at her standing in the doorway and let out a shuddering breath. “No. I don’t know that.” Mia responded rebelliously.

“Darling you are confusing me.” Marina begun walking closer. Mia had never shown her any hostility before and now that she was faced with it, Marina felt a sharp tinge in her chest. Mia was the closest thing she had to a daughter; she didn’t understand why she was behaving in this manner.

“No!” Mia rose out a hand to stop her. “I just need to head home.” Mia responded, looking back at Amiyah and contemplating if to wake her or if to try to lift her up while she slept. Chances were that Amiyah would be awoken by the movement.

“Mia just tell me what happened.” Marina probed, she had been looking forward to dinner with them tonight and now that was on the brink of ruination. “Did I do something?” Marina asked again when Mia didn’t answer. She was busy packing up Amiyah’s toys from around her.

“I think you know the answer to that better than me.” Mia responded vehemently, draping Amiyah’s bag over her shoulder and staring into Marina’s eyes. Marina’s concerned expression shifted slightly but she secured it in place. She couldn’t operate on assumptions.

“No, I don’t.” Marina modulated her voice to mimic that of an apprehensive caregiver.
Mia scoffed in equal parts disbelief and disgust. Now she knew where Gabriel’s penchant for denying until the very end came from. She’d often wondered why Marina’s children ended up the way they did when their mother seemed to be the epitome of motherly-love and stern parenting. For she always voiced her disagreement with Gabriel’s behaviour. However, it had been an act. The children didn’t just turn out bad apples; they were groomed and allowed to be that way.

“I had trusted you, Marina.” Mia’s entire body shook at this betrayal. Having lost her own mother so young she’d looked to Marina to be that figure for her and she was stabbed in the back. “but you never cared about the perils your son dragged me through, you preferred to tell him everything I confided in you.” Mia couldn’t keep the words back any longer.

“Mia…” Marina tried to calm the frantic tone she was taking.

“You sabotaged my plans to leave him.” Mia swallowed the tears in her throat, “You told him everything, and how could you make me trust you? How could you pretend to be on my side?” Mia was trying her hardest not to yell, Amiyah was right next to her but her voice came out shrill and unyielding.

“I wasn’t pretending.” Marina interrupted her. “I wanted my son to have a perfect family and you were able to give him that, I couldn’t let you slip away from us. I loved you too.” Marina all but screamed. “He’s my son. I wanted the best for him, of course I would do everything to make that happen.” She said as if Mia had been the only one at fault. As if it was her blame alone to have trusted Marina.

“And what about my perfect family? Huh? The best for me and Amiyah?” Mia questioned hysterically, the tears were rolling down her face non-stop. She didn’t think Marina was also this cruel, she would sooner have watched her very own granddaughter grow up in such a toxic household than berate her son.

“He’s my son, Mia. I’d do anything to make him happy.” She said again, her eyes lowering. “How did you find out?” Marina questioned.

“I think I know how.” He’d come out from his hiding place to stand next to his mother, his eyes trained on Mia uneasily.

***
Gabriel had advised the meeting start without him, tonight He needed to discuss the matters with his mother. He waited for Amiyah to fall asleep before removing her head from his lap and making his way to his mother in the kitchen. He’d explained what Nylah told him and the subsequent conversation he had with Anderson Porter.

“Sounds like the Regal family wants to use your marital discord against our family.” She considered everything she heard.

“I thought so.” Gabriel responded.

“Well the only person that could potentially be the nail in the coffin is Mia and that won’t happen. She knows that Amiyah’s life can only be sustained by you and the family businesses.” Marina responded.

“I still would like to talk to her, she needs to be careful in what she says to who.” Gabriel had made up his mind. They had to approach this as a family.
“She’ll be here to pick up Amiyah in a bit, why don’t you wait and we can have that family discussion over dinner?” Marina persuaded him. Gabriel had been trying lately to be a faithful husband, whether Marina believed it would last or not was beside the point.

“Sounds good.” He agreed.

“Your phone has been vibrating nonstop since you got here. Are you not going to answer it?” Marina’s patience had been wearing thin from the constant noise.

“It’s Taylor. I have no idea what she wants and I do not want to answer it.” He was honest. He’d thought she’d call one or two times and give up, instead he probably had over a dozen missed calls on his phone from her alone. He couldn’t switch off since he was supposed to be in a meeting and would need updates. Marina looked at the phone on the counter.

“Looks like she left a voicemail.” She said and instantly another call was coming in. At the same time a knock on the door sounded, they both knew it had to be Mia.

“I suggest you answer it in the next room before Mia notices all these calls from another female.” Marina instructed and in the same breath, “Come in.” she yelled out.

“Fine.” Gabriel agreed and scurried off upstairs to answer the call.

“What do you want?” he growled into the phone.

“Mia has been cheating on you.” Taylor wasted no time. She had a whole conversation planned out in her head, but that was ten unanswered calls ago, now she was just happy he answered.

“Do not be trying to cause trouble.” He replied. Mia wouldn’t dare and how could he believe Taylor. She clearly had an ulterior motive.

“I am not, and it’s with Harvey Regal. I saw them having sex in his car today.” She said insistently. Gabriel’s jaw tightened.

“Leave us alone, Taylor.” Those were his final words and he hung up the phone. He kept hearing that name today and it was driving him crazy. Taylor knew how much he hated that family and he would have been more inclined to believe her if she’d named someone who wasn’t his mortal enemy but Harvey Regal? It seemed to manufactured for him to believe her.

He made his way downstairs, hearing arguing. He hid in the corner, away from both their sights. What could his mother and Mia possibly be in a fit about? Then he heard
it. Mia had found out that his mother was on his side the whole time. She knew that he’d been pulling the strings, but how?
He gazed back at the phone in his hand and his grip tightened. It couldn’t be true.