Chapter 23: Chapter 23

“Wow, Mommy, I’m exhausted!”

I smiled as I wiped her body because they had stopped swimming after soaking for a while in the pool.

“Did you enjoy it?” I asked. Carrie nodded and smiled.

“Yes, mommy! Uncle Rios taught us how to swim!”

I smiled and kissed her nose bridge. They seem to have had a good time and have forgotten what happened earlier.

I took Carrie and Agustin’s hands in mine so that my cousins and I could go to the living room together.

“Oh, come join us next time, Scarlett,” said Lux. I just chuckled and patted her on the back because they seemed to enjoy it as well.

“Yes! F-ck! Rios is still annoying. He’s drowning me! He thought I didn't know how to swim!” said Ara, slapping Rios, who just smirked at them.

“You can’t even swim!”

“I can swim! You stupid asshole!”

I shook my head and laughed, but we all came to a halt when we heard a noise coming from the living room.

“Wow! I’m overjoyed, daddy! Thank you!”

My cousins and I exchanged glances, and then I looked at Carrie, who had lost her smile and was resting her head on my shoulder. I hugged her, and we went inside, but we ran into Sophia and Dominic and their child.

“Oh, hello cousins. Say hello to your uncle and auntie, Tara,” Sophia smirked, pushing her daughter closer to us.

“Hello, uncles, and aunties!” said Tara.

Rios smirked and sneered. “I'm not your uncle,”

We turned to face him. “Rios!”

He raised his brows at us. “Carrie and Agustin are my only niece and nephew, right, baby?” said Rios as he stroked Carrie's hair and smiled, then hung the towel over his shoulder and went up to his mansion room.

“Stupid Rios!” said Lux and Ara behind me as I scolded them.

“Are those bastards your niece and nephew?”

When Sophia spoke, my two female cousins fell silent and stared at Sophia, who was swallowing.

“Watch your mouth, Sophia,” said Erin before following his brother, stroking my children's hair.

“S-Scarlett…”

I looked at Dominic, who seems to want to explain what he had done to my children, but I ignored him. I gave him a chance, and he wasted it.

“Scarlett, I’ll take care of the kids,” said Mother Lydia as she took Carrie from me.

I smiled and kissed Carrie on the cheek. Mother Lydia held Agustin, and they eventually made their way up to their room.

I sighed and looked up at Sophia, who had raised her eyebrows.

“What’s the deal, Sophia? When are you going to stop messing with me and my kids?” I asked. She smirked.

“What I said is true. Your children are illegitimate, and you are a disgrace to the family,” Sophia chuckled.

“Sophia!” said Dominic.

Sophia did nothing but roll her eyes.

“It’s true. She's a disgrace to our family; she went with another man and then got pregnant, TSK,” said Sophia, shaking her head. “I’m sorry about you, my sister,”

I just laughed and raised my brows. “How about you, my sister? You got pregnant by a married man; in other words, you’re a mistress,” I said.

Her fists clenched, and her eyes widened. “I’m not a mistress; Dominic has never married!”

I turned around in case someone heard us fighting, but it seems we are the only ones in the living room currently, so I’m looking back at Sophia.

“Oh, really?” I asked, smirking. “It turns out you like to hit on married people; you’re like a leech that squeezes to get everything,” I smirked. “Why don’t you fix your life, so you can do something with it? Then you won't mess up other people’s lives, and you won't waste your precious time just for me,” I said. Lux and Ara whistled and laughed.

Sophia couldn’t respond, so I looked at her before going up, but what she said stunned me.

“Your children are illegitimate; they have no right to live here.”

My vision went dark suddenly. I’m not sure what I’m doing anymore; I just attacked and choked Sophia.

Their eyes widened, and they yelled my name, but I couldn't hear them.

“Repeat what you said,” I screamed, tightening my grip on her. “Repeat it again!”

I could see the fear in her eyes as she smacked my hand, but… I wasn't feeling anything…

“Let me go!”

I smirked and gripped her neck tighter.

“Sophia, don’t say that word again.” I put my mouth to her ear. “I can kill you right here… right now,” I said, my nail pressing against her neck.

My vision became dark, and all I could think of was killing Sophia.

“F-ck! Scarlett! Enough!”

Lux and Ara were holding me away, but my body was getting hotter and darker around me… I just came to a halt when we heard a scream.

My eyes widened when I saw Sophia gasping for air, and I let go of her and gripped my head in pain.

“What’s happening on here?!”

I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip because I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I just took a step back and looked at Lux and Ara, who were standing by my side.

“She almost killed me!” said Sophia, pointing at me. It took aback me and frowned because I was unable to understand what she was saying.

I looked at Lux and Ara, who were both looking away, so I kept my mouth shut. Was what Sophia said true?

“What? Who are you referring to?” the chairman asked, and I bowed.

“Who else? Scarlett almost killed me with her empty eyes! She’s evil!”

The chairman came to a halt and frowned at me, but I averted my gaze from him.

“Lux and Ara? Is that true?”

They shook their heads as they faced the chairperson. “No, that’s not true; Scarlett will never do that,” said Ara to the chairman. Ara and I exchanged glances, but she only smirked and winked at me.

“Yes! She’s lying!” said Lux, staring at Sophia, who was now seething with anger.

“What? No! I’m not lying!” said Sophia as she approached the chairperson, asking for pity. “What I said is true! She strangled me! Look!” Sophia pointed to her neck, where a red hand mark remained.

My eyes widened, although I was far away from Sophia… I saw the mark and refused to believe it was my hand.

“What the hell!” yelled the chairperson, turning to face me. “Scarlett, what did you do to your older sister?” he asked. I bowed and exhaled.

“I don’t know!” I shook my head, unable to remember what I had done.

“You’re lying! You’re the one who attacked me! I'm not hurting you, but you just attacked! You’re a murderer!”

I clenched my fists and bit my lower lip, but it took us surprised when Ara slapped Sophia.

“You’re the one who lies about Scarlett’s children! After all, you’re the one who has no right to live here!” Ara clenched her fists and glared at Sophia. “You're not only a slut, but a liar!”

Sophia laughed and smirked. “I am not a slut! He chose me, therefore, accept it!”

F-ck. I’m uncertain whether I’m going to keep them or not. Ara is difficult to wean. I’ve known them since then. When they were in high school, they were involved in riots.

“Ah, you really won’t stop, huh? I've been holding you back for a while!” Lux yelled, about to attack Sophia, when the chairman yelled again.

“Enough!” said Grandpa. “Deluxe! Arabelle! What's the matter with you? I'm right in front of you, but you're acting like kids!” The chairman glared at us, so we just remained silent. “She will take my place, so respect her as your cousin!”

As I clenched my fist, I noticed Sophia smirking. Is this what you want?

“Scarlett Venice!”

When the chairman called my name, it startled me, and turned to face him.

“Can’t you respect me as your grandfather? I let you stay here with your children for everyone’s peace!” He asked. I bowed. “You’re turning into a rebel! You went out with a man, and then you come home like this? I thought you were smart? Why did you break the law?!” he asked.

I closed my eyes and clenched my fists, which were shaking not from fear, but from the horrible words he was saying. Damn it.

“What are you saying to my daughter, chairman?”

I just felt my mother hug me, so I smiled at her.

“You’ve spoiled Venice to where she’s becoming aggressive; she even planned to steal Dominic from Sophia and attempted to kill her!”

It took mom a back, and she blocked me from the chairman and glaring at him. “Chairman, with all due respect! You’re speaking to my daughter! Your granddaughter! Lady Josephine’s granddaughter! I don't think it’s right for you to blame everything on Scarlett!” she said. “I think you’ve forgotten who Sophia is in this family!” said Mom to the chairman, who remained silent and averted her gaze.

“Grandpa, Sophia started the fight, and she deserved it!”

“She is right!”

Grandfather closed his eyes and exhaled. “We are family here! Respect each other! I’m done with this!” said grandfather before returning to his room.

When Grandpa went upstairs, Mom hugged me.

“You bitch!”

Lux ran at Sophia, who backed away, so I tightened my fists and grinned at mom before heading to them.

“Sophia, you have drained my respect for you as my sister; I don’t have enough patience with you.” I bit my lower lip. “Stop this nonsense! If you don’t want Grandpa and the rest of the family to find out who the real traitor is,” I said. I turned away from her to go up to my room, but I hadn’t even taken a step when mom spoke.

“What’s going on with you two? Is there anything we should know?”

As I tightened my grip on the stairs and looked at mom. “I’m sorry, but… I’m exhausted.”

Mom shook her head and approached me, saying, “No, tell me the truth! What’s going on with you two?!”

I exhaled a sigh. “Please, mom…” I shook my head, not wanting to tell her yet.

“No, Scarlett. Please tell mommy the truth.”

I took a deep breath and bit my lip as I looked at Dominic, who had said nothing and hadn’t noticed his crying child for a while.

“Sophia and I are no longer siblings,” I said. Mom’s eyes widened as she looked at Sophia, who’s remained silent.

“W-what?”

I smirked as I wiped away my tears. “When she became my husband's mistress, we were no longer siblings.”

Mom’s eyes widened as she turned to Sophia, who shook her head confused.

“N-no! She’s lying! That’s not true!” said Sophia, but no one listened.

“This isn’t a joke, Scarlett!” said Mom, shaking her head. I could tell she couldn’t believe what I was saying.

I laughed, stroking my hair. “Am I going to make a fool of myself in this situation, mom? Do you think I’m going to make a fool of myself just to make up a story?” I asked as I smirked and took a deep breath. “Ha… Mom, this is the truth; I will not make up a story just to gain attention.”

I looked over at Dominic, who’s already bowed.

“Yes, I had a husband when I was still in college, and we kept our relationship a secret because we both know what the law is in our family, and we also didn’t want to disappoint grandpa, so we kept the fact that we were married and had children a secret,”

Mom covered her mouth, stunned by what she found. “Oh, my goodness! You mean…”

I nodded. “It’s not true that I went with the man; you know I can’t do that; I ran away from everything because I would rather not add more troubles to our family's situation,”

“Why did I leave and run, mom?” I asked and laughed as I bit my lip. “Because I can’t be with my husband, who is having an affair with another woman and pretends like nothing happened.” I stroke my hair.

“I love my husband, mom, but I stayed away from him while I was pregnant because I couldn’t take it any longer, and do you know who my husband's mistress is?”

I smiled as my tears flowed once more because I remembered everything.

“My sister, she is the same woman as my husband’s mistress. I saw them naked in our bed, so since then… I finished my relationship with her as my sister,” I said. Mom burst into tears and hugged me.

“Oh, my god! Why didn’t you call me? I'm your mom, Scarlett! I did not know my daughter was going through something!” she sobbed as she hugged me.

“Y-you’re lying!” screamed Sophia, who was about to attack me when mom turned around and slapped her.

“Mom? You believed her?” asked Sophia. Mom laughed and smirked.

“Yes. No wonder where did you inherit from?” Mom, wiping her tears away and glaring at Sophia.

“Mom?”

“Don't call me that!”

Mom gave me a hug and stroked my hair.

“Mom, I’d like to be alone first,” I said. She smiled and nodded.

“Tell me about your life in the province, okay?” she kissed me on the cheek, and then I stood up, but I returned my gaze to mom.

“Mr. Stone is my ex-husband,” I said before heading up to my room.

I leaned against the door and took a deep breath when I entered my room.

Scarlett, you made the correct decision. That is your mother, not someone else. I can’t keep everything from her because I know she’s concerned about me.

I just rested my head on my knee, since I didn’t know what else to do.

***

SOPHIA’s POV

Damn her. When Sharlene slapped me, I grabbed my cheek. F-ck!

“Did you learned anything yet?”

I turned to face Lux, who was smirking at me. They’re another one; if it hadn’t been for Grandpa, I’d have pushed them.

“If you’re going to make up a story, please don’t do it in front of us,” she smirked. “I know you’re just acting in front of Grandpa, but if you make up a story again, make us all believe you,” said Lux, as she patted my shoulder and went upstairs.

“Yeah, maybe Scarlett will kill you for good one day; you don’t know how she moves,”

I just rubbed my neck and looked at them. They are right! She almost killed me!

“What exactly are you doing?”

I raised my brows. I no longer considered her a mother because she was on Scarlett’s side.

“What? What did I do?” I asked as I rolled my eyes.

“You have already inherited that behavior from someone,” she smirked. I clenched my fist. “Oh, it is no longer surprising. Lux is right. You’re great at acting, Sophia,” she said as she turned away from us.

I just stared at her, although she couldn’t see me. F-ck!

I stroked my hair and turned to face Dominic. “Did you see that? They don’t respect anyone!”

“Enough already, Sophia.”

“If not—”

“I said, enough!”

I fell silent as he glared at me.

“Stop this nonsense! You already know the truth: Scarlett's children are my children, so stop!”

I irritated it when I looked at him. “What if they’re your children? They’ll still be illegitimate when we marry!”

He just shook his head and sighed. “There will be no marriage! If you don’t stop, I won’t let your daughter near me!” he yelled as he stormed out of the mansion.

“Daddy! No!” Tara yelled as she pursued Dominic, but he didn’t even look at our child.

As I picked up Tara to go to our room, I screamed in annoyance.

I need to figure out how to get Scarlett out of the palace.

“Do it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I smirked as I hung up the phone. Let’s see how far Scarlett can go.