CHAPTER SIXTY ONE

"Liana told me who her brother is," Leo told Lia.
"That's good news. Now we can find him and she can go back home. Who is he?" Lia asked with a smile.
Leo clenched his fists and said,
"Gideon"
"Gideon who?" Lia asked.
"Black," Leo said and Lia's smile turned into a frown.
"You are joking?" Lia laughed.
Leo's face remained the same letting Lia know that he wasn't.
"How is that even possible?" Lia said again.
"I too would love to know"
"I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for all of this" Lia said.
"Diana said that Liana was in danger and that is why he kept her away," Leo said.
"See, there is an explanation"
"That is no excuse for what he did, he has to pay the price of breaking my trust," Leo said.
" What are you going to do to him?"
" Kill " Leo gave a short reply.
Lia didn't take his word seriously and decided not to press further.
" Did she tell you why Liana was in danger?" Lia asked.
" She has refused to speak"
" Maybe I can coax her into telling me"
" Don't stress yourself so much" Leo said.
" I'm just going to talk to her Leo. It's the least I can do" Lia said.
...
" Diana, it's been so long," Ben said as he eyed Diana with so much love.
" Ben" Diana gulped.
" I have waited so long to finally see you again," Ben said as he patted her hair back and forth.
Once he saw that Diana was beginning to relax, he took a fist full of her hair and pulled on it hard, so that her head would bend backward while he spoke to her with an unfriendly tone.
" Ah" Diana groaned in pain.
" Why did you leave?" All playfulness in Ben's tone had completely disappeared.
" I..." Diana tried to say something but Ben didn't let her. He tugged on her hair harder so she would keep quiet.
"You are good at hiding, don't you think?" Ben said through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry" Diana apologized.
"Come back with me," Ben said sternly.
"N..no, I can..can't, " Diana shakingly said.
"I wasn't asking, Diana"
"Please let go, it hurts so bad" Diana cried out.
Ben didn't let go, he only brought his face closer to hers as he whispered in her ear,
"Did you see her?" He asked.
"Who?"
"Your daughter, The dead girl" Ben replied with a smirk as Diana began to tremble.
"You took her away from me" Diana almost yelled.
"Shh... someone might hear you, Diana"
"Why did you do that to me?" Diana asked.
"Because you broke your promise. You promised me that you would stay by my side forever, you took away my happiness when you left me. So I took your happy life, your husband, your daughter ( Mabel) and I will take the other one away from you, if you do not cooperate and come with me" Ben threatened.
" I..."
" Dad"
Lia called from a distance. Ben immediately let go of Diana.
Lia came closer to them and looked between them and then she smiled.
" I hope I wasn't interrupting anything, it looks like you guys were catching up"
" Not at all, I was just saying goodbye to my dear sister," Ben said and smiled.
" Alright dad, goodbye," Lia said to her father and hugged him.
" I trust that you would make the right decision," Ben said to Diana before leaving.
Diana wiped her tears away and saw that Lia was staring at her as if she wanted something.
" Can I help you?" Diana asked.
" I want to introduce myself to you," Lia said.
" Ok?"
" I am Ameliana, Ben's daughter," Lia said.
So he gave her the same name as my daughter, Diana thought.
"I already figured, you look so much like him"
Lia looked more like Ben while Liana looked like the exact copy of Diana's younger self, but despite that, he hated Liana and Mabel because of their father's blood running in their veins.
" Really?" Lia asked.
"Yes, now if you don't need anything else I would like to take my leave," Diana said.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you about something you said earlier, about Liana being in danger. What exactly do you mean by that?".
"Her life was on the line," Cynthia said stating the obvious.
"From what?" Liana asked.
"Your father," Diana said and Lia frowned.
"What does it have to do with my father?"
"It's best you if you don't know," Diana said and hurriedly walked away not giving Lia the chance to ask any further questions.
Lia stood on that spot for a while before going to meet Leo.
"Did she say anything?" Leo asked her.
"No. Nothing at all"
...
Mr. Black waited anxiously for Mabel's return. He prayed that she had not gone through with Ben's order and done something that would damage her completely.
The door was slammed open.
"Ma..." Mr. Black paused once he saw that it was only Ben that came in. There was no sign of Mabel anywhere.
"Where is she?" Mr. Black asked through gritted teeth.
"Probably in hell," Ben said non-challantly.
" You knew whether or not Mabel killed Lia, she would never be able to walk out of Leo's territory alive" Mr. Black yelled.
" So what if I knew? She was supposed to die doing something good for once in her fucking life. But that stupid girl ruined everything" Ben cursed Mabel under his breath.
" Why would you suddenly want Lia dead, the last time I checked you were so fond of her," Mr. Black said.
" It wasn't Lia I wanted to kill, it was that disgusting thing you call your sister," Ben said already disgusted thinking about Liana.
" Fuck you. You are just a coward, why didn't you do it yourself? why did you have to send her?" Mr. Black yelled.
" Of course, it's because I have to maintain my image. I would love to kill her myself" Ben smiled at the thought.
" You killed Mabel," Mr. Black said.
" I don't see why you are complaining. Don't tell me you fell for that tramp in these few weeks you spent together" Ben mocked him.
" Is all of this just a joke to you? She was your daughter"
" Daughter?" Ben laughed.
" Was that what she told you? I guess Mabel remained stupid till the very end. I don't have a daughter like her" Ben said the last part seriously.
" How can you even say that?"
" Mabel is not my daughter, Lia is," Ben said to him.
" That is not true, Lia is the second daughter of Diana"
" Believe me or not, I have already told you who my daughter is," Ben said.
" Diana and both Lia's have the birthmark on the same spot," Mr. Black said.
" Lia doesn't have the birthmark" Ben stated.
" Leo told me that she does"
" You are smarter than this, the mark doesn't prove anything. I engraved that mark on her skin myself" Ben said.
" Why would you do that?"
" Well of course it's because, if Lia was going to replace my Diana then she had to look like her"
" Tell me, was that the reason you switched the baby with a corpse? Just so that you can replace her?"
" You are catching up fast, I figured that if I was going to let Diana go then I would need a replacement. A new Diana who would never leave my side"
" Then why did you go back for her," Mr. Black asked referring to Diana.
" No matter how hard I tried, Diana could never be replaced and to make matters worse that girl grew up to look more like her father" Ben bitterly spat out.
" Where did Lia come from?" Mr. Black asked.
" I got to find out that a whore kept my child. When I saw Lia at first I thought it was Liana, but then I found out otherwise. Lia looked more like Diana than her daughter (Mabel) did"
I guess God was on my side because on the day I went to take Lia back with me, that crazy bitch had poisoned her and was about to take her own life but thankfully, I was there in time to stop the poisoning before it became too serious and of course, I killed that whore with my bare hands" Ben smiled at the memory.
" Aren't you ashamed of killing your child's mother?" Mr. Black said.
" Not an ounce of regret. I even gifted Lia, the gown her mother wore when I killed her, claiming that it was the woman's favorite dress. Lia looked so happy when i gave it to her " Ben said and laughed.
" You are sick" Mr. Black spat.
" I guess I am"
" What did you do to Lia to make her not be able to remember anything?" Mr. Black asked.
" The poison worked to my advantage. Lia was always a weak child plus the effects of the poison, her mental health couldn't handle it. So when she woke up, she couldn't remember anything.
I mended Lia to my taste and she became my little Diana. But still, she wasn't enough for me. Only Daina can satisfy me, so I decided to make Lia as bait to bring Diana back and that was another reason for me to want to kill Liana aside from my undying hatred." Ben said.
" So that there would be only one Amelia," Mr. Black said.
" Correct"
" Your plan was so perfect, did you plan your heart disease too?" Mr. Black said.
" Oh no, it took me by surprise"
" If only I knew that it was you, I would have killed you the moment I found you in the hospital," Mr. Black said.
" And that's why you didn't"
" You are just like your father" Mr. Black said.
" I am nothing like him," Ben said seriously.
" You did to Mabel what your father did to you and Diana. Aren't you afraid you would end up like him"
" I killed my father. Just a little drop of ... In his and his wife's cup of coffee and they left without saying goodbye" Ben said and laughed.
" And as for me, who is going to kill me. You?, Don't forget you are chained up to a chair" Ben mocked Mr.Black.
" Why don't you release me then?"
" Don't be silly, you know full well that I am no match for you" Ben said.
" Bastard" Mr. Black silently cursed him.
" Enough play time now. Diana is back, so that means I don't need you or Lia anymore" Ben stated as he brought out a gun and pointed it at Mr. Black.
" I'm sorry, you couldn't get the satisfaction of killing me yourself, I am sure that was what you wanted more than anything," Ben said.
"..." Mr. Black said nothing and maintained a straight face.
"Goodbye Black"
***BOOM***