Who Am I

Cora

Hello everyone! I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Sadly, there's no Matteo and Lotte fluff, but it's just as important. It's very dramatic and reveals some new information. I hope you guys like it and please, comment and vote! :)

*The picture above is Ivan

"He just snatched the book away from you?" Blaire lowered her gaze. Cora turned to Ivan. Ivan grasped her hand. Blaire's fingers curled around his.

"Blaire, do you think it's safe to stay?" Blaire whipped her head up. She nodded quickly.

"Of course. All marriages have a few disagreements. It's fine, really." Cora stabbed a strawberry.

"Are. You. Sure?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, Blaire, if you ever need help, you can always stay with one of us," Ivan said. Blaire swallowed before slowly withdrawing her hand.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Don't worry." Cora stabbed a second strawberry.

"Do you know the reason why I never liked your husband?" She asked.

"No.." Cora bitterly smiled.

"Well, now I feel much regret for not telling you before you married him. I'm sorry. You see, Jason is not just a cor-"

"Cora." Cora frowned at Ivan.

"Anyways, not only is Jason a corrupt businessman. He is-"

"Cora!"

Ring!

Ring!

Blaire picked up her phone. Her glassy eyes looked up at the friends.

"I. I have to go." She stood up, walking slowly out the restaurant. Ivan turned to Cora, jaw working. Cora glared.

"Why did you stop me?"

"Why would you tell her that?"

"She needs to know, Ivan. This is not just some trivial action. That Jason Moor is a-"

"Sh! Not here," Cora gave a glaring survey around the silent room.

"Well, what are you all staring at?" She asked, eyes flashing. The polite guests startled, turning around. Comcersations slowly resumed. "That's better. Now, Ivan, what were we talking about?" Ivan let out a frustrated breath.

"Cora, come on. She doesn't ever need to know. She's happy. Isn't that all that matters-"

"Excuse me? Blaire can't even know about Jason's previous, serious relationships? She didn't even know about Sonya until the investigation. She needs to know the truth now, before she starts having children or some other baggage."

"We can just warn Jason-"

"Warn? Are you kidding me. If he finds out we know, we will be killed."

"You don't know that-"

"Oh yes, I do. What exactly do you think happened to Amara?" Ivan stiffened. Cora bared her teeth.

"Yes, yes. You remember? She told him she was pregnant." Ivan grabbed her wrist, dragging her out the restaurant. The two sat in his car. Ivan took a deep breath.

"She suffered a miscarriage and committed suicide because of it."

"No! No she did not. You do not know my sister. In the hours I hugged her, she would look at me. You, Ivan. You who have seem the world and documented the cruel realities and lush paradises. You have never seen fear. Amara looked at me, looked at me. And she said in a deathly whisper, as though she thought the very room was bugged, he killed it. It. Then she would bawl again, all while saying im that deathly murmur, he killed Andre. He killed Andre." Ivan put his head in his hands.

"Did she commit suicide?"

"Did you ever know what her last words were?" Silence. "On that day, she was normal. We talked for a long time. I spent a whole day with her, yet I couldn't get a smile out of her. She looked at me when I told her I had to go. She said, "Today, Andre would have been here. How strange. He has the same birthday as his father." The maid found her body later, all broken and stuck in the cliffs of Lake Garda." Cora took in a shuddering breath. A tear fell in the corner of her tan face.

"I can never forgive him. He is a monster."

"But Blaire-"

"No! We are not going through this. If you truly loved Blaire, why do you wish to hide the truth?"

"Because I want her to be happy." Cora let out a choked laugh as tears freely flowed from her eyes.

"You call that happiness? You are no different than the people who never told Amara that Jason got married. Did you see her face? That broken expression?" Ivan flinched. Cora looked outside. Rain hit the car, sliding down the cold shield in sheets.

"But to tell Blaire with this investigation about Jason-"

"Oh? You think it's too harsh, too cruel to finally tell the truth? Will you postpone it until the moment she dies? Will you stand by her deathbed and be unable to tell her the truth? Will you let her pass on thinking her husband was an innocent man?"

"Why did you guys never sue him?"

"Because we didn't have enough evidence! The maid left our service that very day and we have never heard or seen her since. Jason has done far more than what he did to Amara. And you know it." Cora took a deep breath, wiping her face. She glanced at Ivan. Tears ran down his face. She opened the door. The silence was suddenly interrupted by the violent pounding of rain.

"Where are you going?" Ivan asked.

"I'm leaving this country. Lake Garda."

"Why?"

"I promised her I should come to her for her birthday. I said I would always be there. And death will not sever that promise." The door slammed close. Ivan stared into the gloom as Cora opened an umbrella. Her lithe form disappeared behind the gray backdrop.

Ivan held his head in his hands. Tears ran through them.

"Blaire," he whispered.

******

"This place is filthy." Cora toed a piece of plastic with her black Louboutin. The woman watched from the wall.

"I'm amazed you're not wet," she replied. Cora lifted her chin as her eyes narrowed.

"Were you following me?" She said coldly. The woman snorted.

"Of course not. I have other clients you know. I am far too busy." Cora looked around the dark room.

The white, circular living room was bare except for a desk. Chords nestled around the wooden legs as computers crowded the surface. Monitors silently guarded the thing.

"Do you have the evidence?" The woman asked. Cora tossed a silver flash drive. The woman caught it.

"It's years worth. How long do you think it will take?" Cora asked. The woman inserted the flash drive into the computer.

"A month."

"That's too slow. Another person promised me half a week." The woman glowered.

"Well, just so you know, any 'hacker' that claims so short a time immediately is not a good hacker. The person would probably be traced immediately." The woman paused as she unplugged the flash drive. Her eyes scammed the files. "Two weeks."

"I'll pay you triple if you can-"

"If you want this to be a good job, don't bother with money proposals. Any hacker who thinks with money and not logic is doomed for prison." Cora pressed her lips together.

"Fine." She turned on her heel. "This will work?" The woman's eyes sparked as she read a file. She turned off the computer.

"Definetely. One file alone would be disastrous. A few thousand never hurt, right?" Cora smirked as she walked out the room.

"Indeed. The filthy bastard certainly deserves it."

Dramatic, no? Where do you think this hacking business will go? Jason? Cora? Ivan and Blaire?