I was sitting in between Max and Charlotte in the car while Zack was in the front passenger seat with his arms crossed as he glared daggers at dad who was driving the car.
Damien, Liam and Celine were in the other car with mom. Zack threatened the two to take us to our parents' house which was in another city.
All this while when I thought that they were on business trips, they were actually enjoying their lives, living in our parents' house.
I still can't believe that I spent 17 years of my life living with the monsters who took everything away from my parents just because of their greed. And the worst part? They never showed an inch of guilt.
I felt like it had been hours since we were driving. I was just drowning in my own thoughts, staring out of the window. The scenery outside had changed from huge buildings to open green spaces of land with trees on either sides of the road.
The car stopped and we all got out. The others arrived shortly after us. I didn't pay attention to the mutterings and gasps around me as I stared wide eyed at the magnificent white mansion in front of me.
It was huge and so, so beautiful. It almost looked unreal. I felt a pinch on my arm and I flinched, wincing. "What the hell, Max?!" I hissed at him.
"Sorry, I was checking if I was dreaming... I am not." He sheepishly grinned.
"You should have pinched yourself then?" I glared at him.
We slowly made our way towards the mansion. I felt so nervous. For the first time in my life, I was actually at home.
The one that didn't have my parents inside anymore.
I felt the tears returning and I wasn't even walking anymore. Zack was holding my hand as he pulled me towards the entrance. His hand was so warm and it felt so comforting.
The doors of the mansion were opened by an elderly lady. She stared at everyone in confusion before her gaze landed on me.
She loudly gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Nina?!" she whispered and quickly shook her head.
She was staring at me with watery eyes. I gave her a nervous smile. She slowly turned to look away from me at Max. A tear slid down her face as she stared at him.
Everyone was quiet and we were all just staring at each other, not knowing how to react.
So I decided to break the deafening silence.
"Hello. I am... Jennifer." I softly said and her already widened eyes, widened even more.
She threw her arms around me and engulfed me in a tight hug as she cried on my shoulder. I hesitantly hugged her back.
"My dear child. Jennifer! It's you! You.. You are alive. Where were you all these years?!" She was shaking from all the crying.
"I am sorry." I felt my own tears rolling down my face.
She pulled back and kissed my forehead, holding my face between her hands. "I knew you were alive... Oh my dear lord, you look just as beautiful as Nina. Those same ocean blue eyes." she softly whispered.
She then turned to look at Max. "Hey.. I Um.. I am.. Max.. Kyle?... Jennifer's twi-"
"Kyle!?" She gasped. She stared from me to him and back at me. With teary eyes, she went towards Max and cupped his cheeks.
"But you were announced dead. With Andrew and Nina. That awful car accident. It destroyed everything." She closed her eyes as more tears rolled down her face.
"I am not dead. I am here, with my sister.. At my home." Max whispered. The lady kissed his forehead too and wiped her tears away.
"Simon! Jessica! Natalie! Come here! Quick!" she yelled and three more people rushed out to us.
The old man, who looked like to be in his mid fourties, who I assume is Simon quickly rushed to the lady's side, looking at her with concern.
The other two women gasped when they looked at us and all four of them were staring at us in pure shock.
"Jennifer, Kyle. I am Isabella. This is Simon, my husband. She is Jessica and that's Natalie." The lady introduced.
Natalie appeared to be in her early twenties. Jessica and her looked almost similar but Jessica was much older. They must be mother and daughter.
"We all used to work for your parents.. And have been taking care of this house even after their....passing. Oh! how stupid of me, I haven't even invited you inside. Sorry, please come inside.... In your house."
I gasped when I saw the interior of the house. It looked so glorious and magical. Everything about the mansion screamed rich in capital letters. I can't even describe the beauty of this house in words.
(Neither can the author :') sorry.)
Isabella made us all sit comfortably and ordered the other servants to bring out snacks and juices.
Everyone was staring at Max and me as if we were ghosts.
Zack took the responsibility of telling them about how we got to know about our parents and the truth about ourselves.
Isabella and Jessica looked absolutely furious when they found out that Rose and Matthew, our parents' 'best friends' were the cause of everything. Simom just looked livid and ready to murder them.
"Oh how did I not see how much of snakes those two were! That Rose! That witch of a woman! I wish I could just strangle her with her dirty hair! And that Mattew! That rotting piece of dog shit! I just want to blow his head off! Chop off his-"
"Okay, Isabella! That's enough. There are kids sitting here with us. Control." Jessica cut her off of her ranting.
Isabella kept cursing profanities while Jessica tried to calm her down. Simon was sitting quietly with his eyes shut, one hand covering his eyes while the other was clenched into a tight fist, as if he was trying to control his anger.
"They've been living here in all luxury like some king and queen, controlling Andrew's company like their own. Laughing and enjoying their lives to the fullest after taking everything away from them! And these poor kids! What did they do to deserve this!? I can't believe it was those fu- shitters who had taken Jennifer away! Jess, you remember how dead Nina used to look? I can't believe something so terrible happened to them. Andrew and Nina were the nicest people I had ever seen." Isabella had tightly wrapped her hand around Jessica's wrist as she kept cursing.
After sometime when their anger had cooled down a bit, Isabella and Simon made me and Max sit in between them on the sofa as they kept awing at us. They have been treating us like little kids.
Like their own little kids.
Isabella and Jessica had made a lot of food for us for dinner with so much love and I was so overwhelmed. The dining area of this mansion was just as splendid.
They gave us a tour of the whole mansion and my mouth was hanging open throughout.
"You can ask us for anything, kids. We will give you everything. Everything that you deserve." Simon said to us.
"Can you tell us about our parents?" Max asked quietly. Simon looked away from us but nodded.
Simon and Isabella took us to a big hallway, at the end of which, was a huge portrait of two people.
It was our parents. Mom was in a beautiful red gown while dad was in a suit. Mom's hands were resting on her lap while she was sitting on a throne like chair. Dad was standing beside her, with his hand on her shoulder. Both of them had black hair, mom's eyes were blue just like Max and me. Dad had brown eyes. They were lovingly smiling at the camera.
Mom was wearing a beautiful big diamond ring on her finger. Dad had a bracelet around his wrist. They looked like angels, both of them looking so beautiful together.
"You literally are just as beautiful as mom." Max whispered to me. I just hugged him tightly, the tears returning again.
"Andrew and Nina met each other in high school. Andrew had fallen in love with her since the first time he had laid his eyes on her. But Nina, she was oblivious to this fact. Andrew used to do weird things just to get her attention. One time he had nearly drowned himself." Simon let out a soft laugh and shook his head, remembering the memory.
"Nina was a shy girl. She didn't have many friends and her parents were extremely strict. With time, even she found herself falling for Andrew. The both of them were exact opposites. While Nina was introverted, calm and composed. Andrew was a little... Chaotic. Sometimes really embarrassing. But both of them were a perfect match for each other. They went to the same university.
"Those snakes, those Rose and Matthew! They were together with them since high school. Nina used to treat Rose like her sister and look at what that witch did to them. That cunning fox! I wish I could just.... Sorry, I got distracted.
"Anyway. Andrew had lost his parents at a young age of 20. Nina was there to keep him together. She always supported him in everything. Together they had started their own company and were successfull. Andrew proposed to Nina for marriage and she was just so over the moon. However, her parents did not approve of their marriage and that was the first time when she had taken a stand against her parents... For your father. Her parents had cut off all contact with her, but, Andrew was always there for her.
"After two years of their marriage, Nina had two lovely twins. You two." Isabella put one hand on my cheek and the other on Max's.
"She was just so happy and Andrew was even more happier than her. He used to spend so much money, buying gifts, toys and clothes for you even before your birth. Both of them used to spend nights talking to you when you were still in Nina's womb. I remember how Andrew was literally jumping in excitement when one of you had kicked for the first time. He had even scolded you for 'hurting' Nina." Isabella chuckled cutely and then sighed.
"And then, when the day of your birth had finally come, he was such a nervous wreck. He was continuously asking me if he would be able to be a good father to you both. If you would like him as a father. He was just so silly.
"I remember him crying tears of joy when he saw you both lying beside Nina in the hospital. Jennifer, your father was more excited to meet you than he was to meet Kyle. I still remember his exact words - 'My son would feel so jealous of his sister because I won't be able to control to love my mini Nina more.' "
I looked down at my feet as my tears fell on the floor. Max rubbed my arm, comforting me. "Don't worry I am not jealous.... I guess." he teased and I laughed.
"Nina just couldn't take her eyes off you both. Your parents loved you to bits, children. But then... Jennifer was kidnapped. Nina had like.. Lost a piece of herself. Andrew had nearly gone insane. He did everything in his power to find you but he couldn't. It was like.. You had vanished from the face of this earth. It was so devastating for them.
"He treated me like his sister and one night, he had come to me. He cried like a baby, looking so hopeless. It was killing him from the inside... What happened next, you know." Isabella was choked by her own sob and Simon rubbed her back, calming her down.
"Guys!" Charlotte yelled and we all stared at her. "Where are Rose and Matthew?!"
"Shit. They left and we didn't even notice!" Zack yelled.
*****
I was sitting in my room upstairs that Isabella had shown to me. The room was already well decorated and just as beautiful as the rest of the house. I still can't get my head over the fact that all my life I have been living a lie. I loved those monsters who were the cause of my parents' devastation.
Why are humans so blinded by their greed? That they don't even hesitate to kill someone? Is it that easy to take away someone's life? That easy to destroy someone's life and don't even feel an ounce of guilt about it?
I was hugging my knees, sitting on the bed, as tears freely flowed down my face. I didn't even try to control them this time.
Someone knocked on my door and I looked up to see Zack walking in, coming towards me.
I broke down on seeing him. He immediately came beside me on the bed and pulled me to his chest. He made me sit on his lap as I cried on his chest and he caressed my hair. I have cried so much in the last 24 hours that I am surprised I didn't run out of tears.
"Please, don't cry baby. I can't see you so broken like this." Zack softly whispered.
"How can they be so cruel, Zack? They- they didn't even think before killing them? They didn't even care for Max who was in the car with them.." I sobbed.
"Don't worry, Jennifer. I promise you that once I find them, I'll make sure that they suffer something worse than hell."
We stayed like that for a few minutes. My head was pressed on his chest and I could hear his heart beat and somehow, it was really comforting. I felt my eye lids becoming heavy as sleep slowly started consuming me.
I let out a low yawn. Zack chuckled lightly and kissed my head.
"You're sleepy. I'll leave now." And he started getting up but I tightened my grip around him. "Please don't leave me." I looked up to see in his eyes. He stared back into my soul before slowly nodding.
He put the covers over us and put his arm around my stomach as I kept my head on his other arm. He pulled me closer and I wrapped my arm around his torso. His scent was so good. He was slowly and softly running his hand through my hair and we cuddled each other to sleep.