It was one thing to suspect that something was wrong when Liam easily agreed to meet up but for this to actually happen, Angela was caught off guard.
Ximena had dragged her right into the kitchen and shut both doors leading out, and was currently making a fresh pot of coffee. She was even offering cookies with a sweet smile as though they were long-term friends. The woman was creepy in every way.
Angela touched her phone under the table but was yet to peek for the speed dial when Ximena caught sight of what she was doing.
She dove right to the mini dining set where Angela was sitting and grabbed her phone. "We won't be needing this. Let's put it aside for now, yeah?"
There goes all hope for survival.
It didn't take a genius to figure this woman out. Angela eyed Ximena from head to toe. She was enchanting, had a beautiful voice with a hypnotic feel to it but that would only fool men—and women. Those who had not been trapped in a kitchen by her, at least. She fished the bacon out of the fridge and waved it at her. "I don't know what you like to eat. Is this okay?"
"That's breakfast." The words slipped out of her mouth in disgust.
Ximena slapped the cold packaging onto the granite counter. "It's 7am somewhere in the world." Her voice was sweet and coaxing for a moment before it turned ominous. "At the same time, it's 10pm in other places—where some women think it's the right time to sneak into men's houses and seduce them when they think their girlfriends aren't gonna find out." She smiled as though there wasn't much meaning to it before she eerily added, "And 4am in some. You know, the hour when death often knocks at your door—or the legitimate wife at the mistress's, once she finds out what the latter has done."
"What do you want?" Angela asked, her voice lowered in a tremble she didn't realize was there.
"Nothing. I'm not Liam's wife." Ximena winked as if to assure her, all before making a dramatic turn and swiftly opening the knife cabinet. She checked out different sizes of knives under Angela's watch.
"Too short, too small…"
"What are you doing in his house?" Angela questioned. "Does he know you have me imprisoned here?"
"Perfect!" The knife that Ximena had chosen dropped on the floor in a way that made Angela's blood freeze, before the former picked it and stabbed it right into the packaging of bacon. Angela's breath cut off for a few beats as she broke into cold sweat.
Ximena smiled sweetly. "Oops. I lose my cool sometimes in the face of flesh. You were saying?"
"Nothing." As if there was anything one could say to a potential psychopath. She was definitely one, and a creepy one at that.
She remained silent and let Ximena do what pleased her—making coffee, serving her freshly made bacon and a cake slice, scaring the crap out of her by pointing the crap out of her by pointing the dessert knife right at her neck for a few beats before placing it on her left. It was annoying the hell out of her, but she knew better than to fight.
She had never learned basic self defense moves and the woman before her was way beyond the level of untrained fighters. She was much stronger than expected of her graceful frame, and her swiftness nearly made her lose her dinner.
"It appears you don't enjoy your breakfast, Angie." She cooed.
"You have the wrong idea! I love it very much." She stuffed cake into her mouth to prove her point. She hated strawberry flavored cake much more than she hated bacon, and black coffee was a nightmare. Ximena had given her a combination of all. Was it a coincidence?
"We can talk once you've had your breakfast." Ximena took her own seat far away from her, as if the latter was a plague. Angela was far from offended. She was overjoyed to be away from the demoness.
"We can talk now." Angela demanded. When she saw Ximena's expression darkened, she quickly changed her mind. "After breakfast is fine."
"You are so cute." Ximena chuckled, before crossing her legs at her knees. She was idle, so she pulled something from her belt and started playing with it, spinning it against the table so fast it was a blur. Was that a gun?!
A clear look at it made Angela swallow hard. If she ever got out of this alive, she was taking Rosaly and fleeing to the North Pole. Our South Pole. Wherever was far enough to never bump into this woman.
"I take it you're done?" Ximena's gun came to a halt before she grabbed it and shoved it back to her belt, where it was covered by her leather jacket before.
"Let's talk about what a nightmare you have been to my best friend."
"Desmond doesn't have a woman for a best friend." And neither did Liam. Was this woman mistaken?
Ximena looked unamused. "I thought a heart was all you lacked. Turns out you don't have a brain either. Poor Rosaly, it must be awful to have an awful mother." She clicked her tongue.
"You have no right to tell me what kind of mother I am!" Angela yelled, the puzzle finally starting to piece. It must be Zaria! Angry psychopath or not, the woman was going to kill her nonetheless, so she might as well die after speaking her mind. "That bitch! Why is she so concerned about my daughter? She can have her own damn kids if she wants to! What, is she infertile or something?"
Ximena's eyes glinted. She shut them for a second at the reminder but when she opened them, all that was left in them was bloodlust.
"Since you want this so badly, Angie, I'll satisfy your wish."
Angela was grabbed by her hair, unable to fight back against the strength of this monster in disguise, and by the time she figured out where she was being dragged to, she was choking on water that got in through her nose and mouth. She flailed her limbs and scratched at whatever her hands could reach in protest.
Ximena pulled her head out of the bathtub filled with water before pushing it right in.
"Stop!" Angela cried out in a hoarse voice when she was pulled out and managed to breathe again.
A slap landed on her face. "Shut up!" Ximena was enraged. She should have cut her tongue off when she had the chance.
Hurried footsteps heading for the open bathroom door were like the straw that Angela needed, and she screamed at the first chance she could get. "Help!" freewebnov(e)l
"Ximena!" Liam rushed in seconds before Zaria did.
"Let her go!" Zaria was horrified by the scene she had just walked into. Ximena neither took notice of them nor their words, dunking Angela's head right into the tub for the third time.
"Liam, stop her!" Zaria yelled, but she didn't need to because he was already halfway to her. He pulled Ximena away and right into his arms, giving Angela the chance to stumble out of the bathroom, coughing profusely.
Zaria considered following her but chose to be careful—if Angela knew she was pregnant, things might get ugly. So she held Ximena's hand and let Liam stop Angela instead.
"What was Liam thinking?" She facepalmed. "Never mind. How are you feeling, Xim?"
"I want to kill her." Her eyes watered. It didn't take long for Zaria to guess what had gone down. According to Liam, Ximena was only going to threaten Angela and intimidate her into never returning. For her to actually try and drown her in the tub that was only meant to scare her, Angela must have said something that poked a sore spot at Ximena.
Zaria pulled her in for a hug. "You can do that."
"Seriously?" Ximena suddenly perked up as if she couldn't wait to take up the chance.
"Yes. And you'd earn a free ride to the police station and to prison." She added. She knew that Ximena didn't mind going to prison if she did something like that, but she did. "You probably don't care. But I do, Ximena. I can't lose you."
Ximena wrapped her arms around her friend. "I'm sorry. Everything was going on well and she would probably cower from all this but I let my anger get the better of me. All she did was point out that one thing."
"You cannot blame yourself." Zaria smoothed her hair. It had gotten disheveled from fighting and wet from Angela's attempts at getting out of the water.
"Let's get you out of these wet clothes. Do you have anything to wear here?"
Ximena stood still, not moving from her spot.
Zaria took her hand. "It's not your fault. It really isn't. You cannot beat yourself up for it forever."
"I know. It just made me realize that the sooner I tell Liam about it, the better it will be for us. If we were to get into a relationship and his parents found out the truth, what would happen then?"
"Ember would still adore you. She is a lovely woman." Zaria assured her. freew(e)bnove(l)
"And his mother nonetheless. Let's be real. The Preston family is like a royal family. They will definitely want him to have a biological son, or sons. They will never let me get together with him if they know I can't help with that. If he has to choose between them and me, he has a lot to lose."
Zaria rubbed her hand comfortingly. "It will be okay. And I'm sure he will think so too."
"Will Angela pin the blame on you?" She steered away from the topic.
"No. I took care of her." Liam answered, having just arrived.
Ximena exchanged glances with Zaria. How much had he heard?
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