Heartless People

TWENTY-SIX

The family that mourns together

survives forever.

⚠️ : this chapter talks about strong topics that may trigger some readers.

MICHAEL

It was déjà vu. No father ever wanted to watch his daughter suffer as she had. Our sons and daughters were supposed to move forward. Make new mistakes. Forge new paths and conquer new mountains. Yet Lauren was fighting my battle. I should have killed off Vance years ago. I should have prevented all this, but I failed. Allowing the smoke to fill my lungs, I stared up at the sky.

"Michael . "Jumping at the sound of my wifes voice, I looked back to find her glaring at the joint in my hands.

"Sorry," I whispered, preparing to throw it out, when she simply took it from my hands and took a long drag.

Smirking, she handed it back to me. "Only tonight. After today, it should be allowed."

This reminds me of college. Smoking on the roof after a long, hard day of sex. There was some studying every once in a while also, but still.

"I was pregnant, remember? I couldn't smoke."

"Oh, right." I laughed as she hit me, but I just held on to her.

"Will they be okay? Can they get through this?" she whispered.

"I don't know. Its only the first day."

LUCY

I really didn't know how I got to the maternity ward. I was simply walking and next thing I knew, there were babies as far as the eye could see. They were all
enchanting and peaceful. Looking at them almost made me forget that the world sometimes sucked.

"They are cute, aren't they?" Veronica whispered next to me.

"Shouldn't you be guarding Mila?"

She smiled. "Chris, Daniel, and Monte are all standing watch."

I said nothing, and she looked at the babies.

"I keep trying to wonder what ours will look like. Lauren was so happy. She was kind of high all time.

Again, I said nothing.

"Lucy—"

"What Veronica?" I snapped. "You want me to give you the time of day because you sat outside my door and played music? But you wouldn't give me
the time of day even after I let you fuck me any way you pleased."

She took my hand and kissed it before taking a step back, not speaking any longer. When I looked through the glass, a few of the babies were crying.

"See what you did?"

VERONICA

I couldn't help but smile at her. Even now as she cursed me out, as she should have, I smiled. She had killed someone. She was in the east wing when the
bombs went off, and she fought her way to the safe room. A knife right in the motherfuckers throat. If I didn't know better, I would say I was falling in love
with her all over again. But the truth was, I had never stopped loving her. I never could. I could wait her out. I could take every jab as long as I got her in the end.

MINA

Staring at my phone, I read Chris text message over again. It was all that was keeping me together right now.

"I love you and the moment I can, I will be at your side. Im so sorry I wasn't before."

I tried to breathe. I tried to think. But all I could feel were the hands of those men. I almost fell out of my seat when Adriana took a seat beside me.

"You were raped once weren't you?" she asked me, and I did, in fact, stop breathing.

"What? Why would you say—"

"Don't insult me by lying."She smiled sadly. "I know what a rape victim looks like, and I also know what it feels like when Camila saves you from it. She takes you and she makes you unstoppable. She gives you your power back. She brings you back to life. So the next time a guy thinks he can ever lay a hand on you, you can show him what it feels like to piss off God himself." With that, she left me wondering who her Harvey was and what had she done to him.

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Quick filler!!!!!