River Rose | ✓

5

Thunderstorm
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Nepenthe (n.)
Something that can make you forget pain or suffering.

••••••
River Autumn Rose

"Time for your punishment, daughter" I tense at the sound of his voice. He's sitting on my bed, whip in hand.

Oakley is now asleep and I'm holding him in one hand, both our bags on the other. It's hurting my wrist but with the cast it hurts a little less.

"Let me put Oak to bed at least" I say and he doesn't answer so I just go into the walk-in closet and lay him down on the crib. I kiss his little hand and go back to the room trying to keep the shaking at bay.

"Where did you get the cast?" He asks. I can't tell him it was Nikolai he'd kill him. I know I'm gonna pay for it but I answer..

"That's none of your business"

Valenciano's brows raise and he stands up. "How so?" He asks "how wouldn't it be my business? Don't you think I deserve an answer to a simple question after all I've done for you? After what you took from me?"

"I didn't take anything from you" I say with clenched teeth.

"You killed my son!" He yells

"You have no proof of that! We all know his own racing addiction killed him!" I whisper-yell back for Oakley's sake.

"I'm gonna prove you did it. I'm gonna prove YOU set that car on fire because I know for a fact the crash wasn't the one to light it up with him inside" he says. He can't know that..can he?

"Oh yeah? How would you know that?" I taunt.

"I have my sources girl"

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but those 'sources' are wrong. I won't say I'm sorry Xander is dead because he got the ending he fucking deserved" I say. Pure venom in my voice.

"I don't care what he did he was still my son and you took him away from me. YOU KILLED MY CHILD!"

"AND HE KILLED MINE!"

Fuck fuck fuck. As soon as those words leave my mouth I want to take them back. He wasn't supposed to know. It gives him proof that I had one more motive to kill Xander.

"It is not my fault you two were having unprotected sex and he didn't want another kid. He did what you should've done but you stubbornly refused to get an abortion" I take a step back

"Y-you knew w-what he did...about the miscarriage?" I say in a broken voice.

"Of course. I helped him plan it, it was my plan all along. I got the idea after torturing this man, I was ripping the skin off his abdomen when he yelled 'I wish someone had poisoned your mother before you were born so you were never brought into this world' so I mentioned it to Xander and the rest is history" he says and I see red.

I grab a lamp from my bedside table and smash it on his head. He was a professional fighter but he didn't even see it coming. Of course he reacts as soon as his brain connects with what's happening though.