1| Ophelia

35

-CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE-
OPHELIA
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(time jump: chapters from this one on take place in early January 2022)
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I yawned again before taking a bite out of my sandwich.

I couldn’t believe that I was spending my Friday afternoon half lying in bed daydreaming about Tony, who was buried in work thanks to Blake. 

I couldn’t even bother any of my brothers since none of them were free for their dear sister. Lucas was out on a date with my best friend and the twins and Harry and Elijah were out for “guys day out”, whatever in the hell that meant. Nico was at his university for an extra session and Blake and Sebastian were out for work.

The only one I could bother was Mrs. Ridley who had finally swatted my ass out of the kitchen after I annoyed her for an hour. I lazily chewed on my sandwich when a thought hit me. And I almost fell out of bed as I scurried out of the room. 

After checking thrice that Mrs. Ridley was busy in the laundry room, I quietly made my way up to the third floor. Since no one was home, poking around would be easier.

I almost made it to the third floor when my heart stopped at what my eyes saw. A camera. A freaking camera. 

I sighed and trudged back down, knowing well enough that my safety freak brothers regularly checked cameras and I would be caught sneaking around doing things I wasn’t supposed to do. 

So instead I walked around the back of the house, lost in my thought when I heard it. A faint sound, almost like a whisper. 

It sounded more like a whine, so intrigued and curious, I followed it to one of the walls on the other side. My nose scrunched in confusion as I looked at the white wallpaper. Unless this mansion was haunted, there was no way a human sound could come from a wall.

I sighed and walked against the wall, my hand tracing the patterns on the wallpaper when a small swift gust of wind touched my fingertips. I looked at the wall again and gasped. A secret door?  

A small voice in my head told me to turn around and mind my own business, but another voice encouraged me to go on, feed my curiosity. And that’s what I did. I fed my curiosity. I pushed the slightest opened door even more and was met by dark. 

Pitch black was all I could see until I turned on the flashlight on my phone. A set of stairs appeared, leading me down to what looked like a spooky basement. I gagged when a foul smell hit my nose and quickly covered it with my hands.

As I went deeper into the basement, I realised that I was walking down a hallway. A hallway surrounded by prison bars. A soft gasp escaped my lips when I saw what was on the other side of those bars. I could only see what the flashlight was allowing me to see, but it was clear enough. 

Dry red paint splattered in almost all of the cages, and my heart shrunk. What were my brothers involved in? Did they really kill Jessica?

A faint glow at the end of the hallway made me switch my flashlight off. The whimpers continued, and I realised how the ringing in my ears and the rapid sound of my heart beating had drowned out everything. 

From the whimpers of the person in that cage, to the rough voice I was very much so familiar with.

I walked as quietly as I could, my heart in my throat and a scream ready to escape. When I came into the light, my lungs stopped and my heart broke. 

There, right in the cage with two big men and a severely injured man, stood Blake. 

My sweet sweet Blake who I thought was incapable of hurting even a fly. 

But right there he stood, his eyes filled with horror and his hands and torso covered in fresh blood as he stared right back at me. 

•

Tony tried to calm me down as I hysterically sobbed into his chest. He kept his arms around me all times, never leaving once as I wept my heart out.

After discovering just how sweet my Blake was, I’d run out from there the fastest I could. My ears were still ringing with Blake’s voice shouting at me to stop. I’d managed to make it to the garage and take out my Corvette before he’d again caught up to me.

I breathed heavily as the garage door opened and I pressed my foot against gas, ready to leave this godforsaken mansion when I saw Blake standing right outside the garage.

He was still covered in blood, and the sight made me cry even more.

Blake himself had tears rolling down his cheeks as he shouted, “Lia please! Baby stop, let me explain this to you.” But I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. All I could see was Blake. Covered in someone else’s blood. 

And so I floored. I managed to get out of the property without hitting Blake and had unknowingly begun to drive to the first place I could think of. Tony’s. At least there no one would be covered in blood. 

And then here I was.

I’d managed to tell Tony everything. From the missing but dead Jessica Spade fiasco to Blake torturing someone in a secret basement on the other side of a secret door. And he kept quiet, as if he knew letting me rant was the only sensible option. And after my rant I broke hard into tears, so much that my eyes felt heavy and my throat hoarse. 

Tony kissed my forehead, “I wish I could say something to comfort you Lia, but I really don’t know. Missing cases and secret basements. This is beyond insane.” I sniffled, “It’s okay Tony. It’s not your burden to bear.” Tony shook his head, “Hey, don’t say that okay? What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine, remember?” 

I looked at him as my eyes filled with tears, “Thank you for everything.” I noticed his breath hitch. “You’re the only person that I know hasn’t been lying to me this whole time,” I said as I pushed away a stray curl from his forehead. 

Tony looked away from me, his throat bobbing before he looked back, his expression anew. “You deserve the truth Lia,” he said. I smiled, “I do. I can’t believe they would do this to me. To their own real sister.” 

I saw Tony frown. “Lia baby. Didn’t they tell you?” I shook my head, “Tell me what?” Tony hesitated but I pushed him further, “Tony tell me what?” Tony looked down at his hands before taking a deep breath and looking at me with sympathy. 

“You’re their half sister. Not their real sister.” 

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