Chapter 59
CHAPTER 59
Heath
It feels like the floor has been ripped out from underneath my feet.
That dead woman was her mother?
She wouldn’t kill her own mom. No way.
“Wait, is that true?” I mutter in disbelief.
Ivy nods. “He hurt her.” The tears began to roll. “Over and over. Every single day. She only stayed with him because of Cora.” She bites her lip. “I couldn’t take it anymore, so I took Cora and ran.” Cora suddenly runs up to her and clutches her thigh. “Away from my own mother just to keep us both safe.”
Stefano laughs even though he’s wounded. “That woman was my wife.”
“No. I know the truth. Ivy signed it at me. You killed her,” Max says.
“No, she pulled the wires out of the machine that kept her alive!” Stefano growls.
“To save her from you!” Ivy screams, silencing everyone. “You wouldn’t even let her die in peace!”
“When I left, she wasn’t in that bed. She was still walking, still able to talk,” she says, her voice fluctuating. “He dragged me back in there and locked me up with her brain-dead body kept alive by machines. Just to punish me.”
“What the f—what kind of a deranged fucker would do that?!” Silas yells, incensed, and it’s impressive, knowing even a psycho like him thinks that is going too far.
My hand balls into a fist as we get closer to him, keeping Silas from falling by supporting him with my shoulder. But I have to get closer. I have to put a wedge between Stefano and Ivy so he doesn’t kill her too. I would rather die than let that happen.
Stefano raises his gun. “That’s close enough.”
Still, I move in, unafraid of the gun’s barrel pointing in our direction.
All this time, I thought she stole someone’s child, but it turned out, she was protecting Cora from him . Even after all the torture she endured, she still stands tall, and I feel so fucking bad for ever doubting her.
God, if only I would’ve trusted her.
I’m sorry.
Silas
For a long time, I thought I had no conscience, no emotions, no heart.
But seeing how much this fucker has hurt her, not just physically but mentally too, has awakened a deep-seated hatred inside me that I didn’t even fucking know existed until now.
My jaw is clenched together, words escaping my grasp as I would love nothing more than to chew my way through his neck and tear out his arteries and rip him to shreds with my bare fucking teeth.
But only one fucking thing stops me.
Her.
Because if I do something now that only ends up hurting her more, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“Are you her fucking father?” I growl at him.
He laughs diabolically. “Fuck no, I wouldn’t dream of being the father to a sewer rat like that.”
I raise my gun right back at him. “Good. I’m so glad you’re not her fucking father, so I don’t have to feel bad for her when I take your life. Because now I get to tear your fucking head off for calling her that.”
Stefano laughs at me. “So what, are you going to kill me in front of my kid?”
Cora hides behind Ivy, and I don’t know why, but it stops me from pulling that trigger.
Fuck.
“You’re a lying piece of shit,” Heath growls. “You never wanted your kid back. You just wanted to punish Ivy for trying to take her away from you.”
“She had no right,” Stefano grits.
“I had every right to keep her safe and away from you!” Ivy’s voice croaks through the room.
Stefano glances at her over his shoulder. “You know, there is only one thing I regret. That after knocking some sense into your goddamn mother, I spared you.”
The pain in her eyes is immeasurable, and it’s like a fucking knife straight to the heart. A heart I didn’t know was beating until I laid eyes on her.
“Fuck you,” Ivy grits. “You don’t deserve my mother or Cora.”
Stefano roars, “She is my child, and you took her from me!”
“Oh my f—my head …” The lady who owns this house is slowly recovering, and she squeals the second she sees the gun in Stefano’s hand.
“Shut the fuck up,” he hisses at her.
Suddenly, he turns around and grabs Ivy, pushing her in front of him, then placing the barrel of the gun to her head.
“You want her so badly, then you’ll get her back in a body bag!” he yells at us.
“Put the fucking gun down,” Heath growls, keeping his gun pointed at him. “You’re not going to get away.”
“Let her go, Daddy!” Cora begs, wrapping her little hands around his leg.
He kicks her aside, and she falls to the floor, crying her eyes out.
Something snaps in Ivy.
She grabs the knife stuck in his thigh, rips it out, and thrusts it back into his crotch. The scream that leaves his throat is nothing short of pure satisfaction.
She stumbles away from him, directly into Heath’s arms, right as Stefano aims his gun at her. “You bitch!”
Heath moves in front of her, shielding her body with his. “Fucking shoot, then, because I’ll take a million fucking bullets to keep her from harm.”
Shock riddles Stefano’s face, but then he reaches for Cora and holds her in front of him, putting the gun to her little head instead.
“No, don’t!” Ivy screams.
“Move, and I put a bullet in her,” Stefano grits.
“That’s your own fucking daughter,” I grit.
“Let her go, you fucking monster!”
“You think I’ll let you kill me? Fuck no,” he spits back.
Ivy’s face is like lightning in a bottle, and she reaches for my pocket, takes out a knife, and aims, just like I taught her.
A twig, when broken, turns into the sharpest weapon.
THWACK!
Before he can even fire the weapon, the knife lodges itself between both his eyes. They roll back into his head as he sinks down onto the couch, squirting blood from his forehead.
WHAM!
The lady lying on the floor slams a frying pan against his head so hard it puts a dent in his skull. Permanently.
“Would you fucking shut up already?” Mrs. Schwartz says. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
“Amen,” Max mutters while little Cora immediately runs to Ivy.
“You sure have interesting friends, Ivy.” Heath snorts.
Max sinks against the wall and breathes a sigh of relief. “Thank fuck that’s over.”
Ivy’s breathing wildly as she wipes his blood off her hands. I stumble inside, ignoring the pain in my thigh because right now, all I care about is making sure the only fear I’ve ever felt in my life is instantly quelled.
“Are you okay?” I ask, tilting my head.
She sucks in a sharp breath, swallows the rest of her tears, and nods briefly. Then she turns around and goes to her knees in front of Cora. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
But all I can think of is how she chose to run, fight, and steal just to stay safe, knowing full well that fucker would come after her.
This fucking girl.
I clutch my chest as the same tightness I felt before takes hold.
She smiles at Cora like everything will be okay.
Just one fucking smile…
And it finally all clicks into place.
Ivy
Heath helps Mrs. Schwartz up from the floor. She groans but abruptly stops the second she spots all his muscles. “Oooh. Now, who are you, Mr. Handsome?”
Heath laughs. “Maybe we need to get that head wound checked out.”
“Oh no, I’m fine. Perfectly fine,” Mrs. Schwartz replies. “But if you want to check me out, I have a bathroom to the left and plenty of fun stuff in there.”
“I take it back. No amen for you,” Max mutters, making us all laugh.
Cora hugs me tight, and the tears roll down our cheeks, not from fear but from happiness of finally being free.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter to her.
“Is it over?” she asks.
I nod. “Your dad … he’s …”
I can’t bring myself to say the words out loud.
“I don’t want him to be my daddy. He hurt Mom,” she says, hiccupping. “And he hurt you.”
I hug her tighter. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Cora. I wish I could make it all disappear from your memories.”
We cry a little more, and after a while, she breathes out a sigh and says, “I love you. You’re my big sister.”
“I love you too, sweetie. And I promise I will never, ever let anyone hurt you again. No matter what happens, I will always be there for you.” She hugs me so tightly that it hurts, but the pain is worth it.
“This is too beautiful,” Max mutters, coughing before wiping away a tear.
“Are you getting all emotional on us now?” Heath snorts before he slaps Max on the thigh. “Enough crying for today.”
“I got shot. Twice. I think I deserve a few tears,” Max retorts.
“No, Heath’s right,” I say, standing up. “Stefano’s drained enough happiness from our lives as is. We’ve given him enough.”
“True,” Max says, eyeing the body. “Is he even dead?”
While we’re all still staring at Stefano’s body, waiting for him to spring back to life to try to attack us again, Bagel casually prances out of the cluttered bedroom and hops onto the couch to sniff at him.
Then he sprays him …
Literally sprays him with piss.
And Stefano still doesn’t react.
“Guess he’s as dead as a Dodo,” Max says.
Heath checks his pulse. “Yup. Dead.”
Mr. Squiggles, her wiener dog, prances out of the bedroom like it’s no one’s business but stops when he sees the cat. Mrs. Schwartz picks him up and hugs him tight. “Ivy, why the fuck did you bring this stinky cat into my house?!” Mrs. Schwartz says, wafting her hand in front of her wrinkly nose. “Even Mr. Squiggles is scared of him.”
I laugh so loudly that the whole building could probably hear, but I don’t care.
I haven’t laughed so freely in a long time, and the feeling overwhelms me with joy.
“Good job, Donut,” Silas says, clapping his hands before cringing from the pain in his bullet wound.
I abruptly stop laughing and glare at him with a raised brow. “ Donut ? His name is Bagel .”
Silas awkwardly stares back with a stupid grin on his face. “Not anymore.”
“Uh-oh,” Max mutters while Heath begins to snigger.
My brows furrow suspiciously when Bagel jumps down onto the floor and begins to curl his tail against Silas. “What have I missed?”