Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours!

Ewan battled with disbelief, with incredulity, with shock. Yet he knew that Fiona was speaking the truth; maybe because of the resigned tone in her voice, or the clarity, the nostalgia evident in her tired eyes.

Still, knowing this didn't make her words any easier to believe.

He had been friends with Athena.

Once. He had been close to her, had cherished her companionship enough to defy his parents, to stay away from his friend, Fiona.

He tried to remember this, and suddenly a wall shut him out. A wall and pain. He gritted his teeth, his fist clenching.

Damn it! He cursed, giving up.

His eyes found Athena then, staying. She looked as strung up as he was—less volatile though. She was looking at Fiona with what could be akin to amazement.

Hell, he was amazed too. He had been friends with both of them, at the same time. An impossibility that had been possible years ago.

Athena.

His eyes scanned her face—her lips, her nose, her long black hair, her high cheekbones—and then back to her plump lips.

Athena.

His savior.

Ewan's heart shook within him, his fist clenched the more. How could he have missed the trail?

Another part of his mind urged him not to blame himself, yet how could he not?

He unclenched his fists, splayed them on his thighs. She had saved him, and because of that…

His eyes shut of their own accord. Because of that, she now dealt with headaches far worse than his—headaches that hadn't been cured with her spectacular medicines.

Tears touched his eyelids. He didn't bother to restrain them, didn't bother to call the leaking faucet to order—it was the least of his concerns. He would rather let them run free.

Only when Old Mr. Thorne touched him gently on the shoulder did he open his eyes. No words needed to be spoken. The old man knew he was bleeding inside.

Ewan wanted to go somewhere and bawl his eyes out, punching the wall all the while… He had tortured his savior for three years… His heart cracked further, opened further, and bled more.

Athena. Cecilia Thorne.

He wondered if the old man would forgive him for hurting his granddaughter. But that gentle touch, that forgiving touch… it only served to wound him further, to open the floodgates.

"Ewan, crying?… that's a first. Not that I'm surprised. You only cry where Athena is involved…" Fiona's words broke through the haze, and he realized he had been sniffing, ugly crying in front of everyone.

Instantly, he collected the handkerchief Aiden handed to him, battling the urge to throttle Fiona right then and there.

Witch. Jezebel. Wicked woman.

There was no expletive that didn't cross Ewan's mind as he glared at Fiona with intense heat. She didn't even flinch. Days spent in the 'psychiatric clinic' had made her immune to many attacks.

"Do you want an incentive to continue your story?" Susan asked sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest, her gaze filled with distaste. She wanted to be done with this phase—onto the next; questioning Morgan.

"Actually, I do," Fiona replied, licking her lower lip sharply—suddenly nervous.

"And what is that?" Florence asked, her voice sharp as a freshly sharpened knife.

Fiona swallowed painfully; her throat was going through a major crisis. But her stomach needed something more than water.

"Is there…" A pause, as she processed her thoughts again, not wanting to overstep the little freedom given to her.

"Is there a way I can get something to eat? Talking is making me dizzy."

Florence frowned, took her upper lip in, grazing it with her teeth while contemplating, as the others did. Finally, she succumbed. Desire to hear more of the story won over her caution.

"Do you have something, Connor? Chocolate or biscuits? Something she could chew on while talking?"

Connor scowled at Fiona, thinking she was being her cunning self again, but he left to get something from the kitchen—he had no choice but to comply.

His hands tingled at the thought of another way to make her scream. Surely, they wouldn't let her leave here?

He returned with a plate of cake—his favorite cake, meant for his breakfast. He glared at Fiona as she collected it from his hands, her expression now softened, humbled by the circumstances.

Fiona's hand shook as she used the fork to cut a piece of cake, and when she finally swallowed, she moaned softly as the flavors burst on her tongue. It didn't matter that her throat hurt while swallowing the sweetness—she would endure it.

Two scoops in, and Aiden cleared his throat. "You can continue your story now."

"Yeah, sure. Thank you very much," Fiona said, tilting her head slightly toward Florence, who furrowed her brows in response.

Humility or coquettishness?

"Ewan didn't listen to his parents' admonitions, of course…" Fiona started, continuing from where she left off.

"He still kept seeing Athena, playing with her, telling her things I knew nothing of. Worse, he wouldn't let me play with them—even though Athena pleaded that I be included. She liked me, you see, Athena. I was also her only female friend. I'm not sure she had met Gianna then."

A pause, where Athena exhaled and leaned back, resting her head against the wall, sideways.

"Yet, Ewan was stubborn, and I was unsatisfied with the current situation. So I made another report. This time, a bodyguard was assigned to him. It worked for some time… but somehow…"

A chuckle. A piece of cake.

"He found his way to her. Even then, there was this irresistible pull between them. They were too…" She paused again, searching for the right word to explain her thoughts.

"Inseparable. Like butter and bread. They even finished each other's thoughts—much to my envy."

A deep exhale. A swallow of sweet cake.

"This time, I didn't bother reporting, since it was having the adverse effect. And with time, Ewan accepted me back into the group. But some days, he went to our spot without me—as if he wanted to spend time with her alone. The day of the drowning incident was one of those days. Luckily… or perhaps unluckily, seeing how things had finally turned out—I followed them…"

Fiona cocked her head, contemplating the unfairness of fate, of the universe. She chuckled bitterly and shook her head.

"That fateful day, it was sunny. The weather was bright—should have been a perfect day. But then it happened. I followed Ewan when he went to see Athena that day… and it was by a lake. The lake was supposed to be a secret place where Ewan and I, and then Zane, spent time, whenever Zane's father let him come."

A pause.

"Seeing Athena sitting on the rocks though, watching the calm stream, I felt bitter. Angry. It was obvious to me that it wasn't her first time there. Somehow, Ewan had shown her the place—maybe on one of those days he deemed it unfit for me to follow him."

She kissed her teeth, took another piece of cake. "I watched them play, watched them laugh, while simmering in anger at my friend being stolen away from me—right under my nose…"

A bitter laugh.

"I watched them point at fishes in the lake, watched them play tag. When the weather changed suddenly, and the lake's currents grew rough, I thought they would pack up and leave. They didn't, not even when the wind picked up. I'm not sure how, since I was staring at Athena—thinking of ways to keep her away from my town and my friend—but then there was a splash. Ewan had fallen into the water."

A pause, where sorrow flickered in her eyes for a second.

"I was dumbstruck, couldn't move, couldn't even shout. Ewan couldn't swim. The consequences were damning, yet I couldn't move. Not until Athena jumped into the lake. I thought she was stupid at first. Ewan was bigger than her, heavier… yet she braved the water and jumped in. The splash knocked me out of my stupor. I screamed then. But… no head rose up to acknowledge my scream… I panicked. And I ran to call for help."

A deep inhale, and exhale. A slice of cake.

"By the time I returned with the adults, Ewan was lying on the polished rocks—unbreathing…" She shook her head somberly.

"I remember thinking Athena was a superwoman—the sheer strength she had needed to save Ewan… However, I didn't see her anywhere around. And I thought she had done the necessary and maybe fled the scene, not wanting to incur the wrath of the townspeople. But then I saw her bracelet."

A significant pause.

"She had taken it off before diving into the lake—to save Ewan. A bracelet she valued more than anything. She never took it off, not even when I asked to feel it. Her reason? 'My mother says I should never remove it from my hands.'"

Fiona sighed, then ate the last piece of cake on her plate.

"So, I knew she didn't leave. That maybe she drowned trying to save Ewan. I was aghast. I was sad. I took the bracelet as a keepsake—something to remember her by, meaning to tell my people about her. But when Ewan woke up, with no memories except that he'd been saved by a girl who always wore a bracelet—"

She paused again, hands trembling now. "I had to think fast. I told my parents. And together, we came up with a plan to deprive Ewan of the truth."