REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

CHAPTER 25 & 26.
SHAKEN.

Kracus was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door, and he momentarily glanced at Tesiera before quickly turning his attention to the interruption. He remembered instructing Clinton and Bose to prevent any interference.

Harvey reported, “Good evening, Mr. Kingston. I believe there is an intruder. One of the wires has been tampered with, and one of the watch-chips has been stolen. Are you all right, sir?”

Kracus was puzzled. Was it another intruder, or was it still about Tesiera? “Check the perimeters and the CCTV cameras. I’m fine. There have been no disturbances here. I’m sure Bose would alert me if there’s another invader.”

“Alright, sir. I’ll make rounds and also send the guards hunting, just to be clear.”

Carter Walter would be foolish to send one of his petty assassins here tonight, Kracus knew that for sure. So he nodded.

Turning back to the assassin, Kracus found an empty room. His eyes swept the room, scanning for Tesiera Rinderson, but she was nowhere to be found.

He took a deep breath, not surprised. When he was unchaining her, he knew it was only a matter of time before she escaped. But, she was so professional that it only took a split second of his diverted attention for her to escape. He was impressed.

As he walked out of the room, Bose and Clinton straightened up when they saw him. “Have you heard from the marketing director? Where are the Chinese investors?” Kracus asked Clinton.

“Yes, sir. I heard Marshal is keeping them entertained in the VIP lounge. Few business associates came to look for you earlier, but we told them you weren’t to be disturbed.”

“That’s good. Let’s join them before the commissioning speech.” Kracus led the way.

“But what about that killer, sir? We’re going to leave her tied up there all night?” Bose’s tone was filled with satisfaction.

“Not exactly. I untied her, and she has escaped,” Kracus answered nonchalantly.

Bose and Clinton stopped abruptly. “What!?” they exclaimed at the same time.

Kracus simply shrugged, unsure of how to explain it. He still wasn’t sure he had done the right thing by letting her go, but only time would tell.

Bose gritted his teeth in anger. “If you’d given the order, I would have killed her earlier.”

Kracus continued walking. “Not to worry, Bose. I don’t think she will attack again.”

“How can you be so sure, Boss?”

He wasn’t. Before tonight, he had been convinced that Tesiera was a monster after seeing footage of her torturing people. But the emotions he had seen in her eyes tonight…

Well, only time would tell. The deed had already been done.

*************

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

As Tesiera stumbled into her apartment in the wee hours of the morning, the quietness that had once comforted her now seemed suffocating.

The tension hung heavily around her like a lover’s arm, as she tried to push the night’s events out of her mind. She was completely exhausted and desperately in need of sleep, but the prospect of a good night’s rest seemed unlikely. Mother Nature was always too cruel on that aspect.

It’s either she was wide awake until morning. Or the nightmares came to attack. The worst enemies are always those you can’t see or touch.

With the bathroom door closed behind her, Tesiera undressed and stepped into the shower, hoping the hot water would ease her frazzled nerves. However, as she emerged from the bathroom thirty minutes later, and didn’t feel any different.

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

An hour later, she bolted up from the bed, her lips open in a scream. She felt a sharp jolt of pain run through her body, waking her up completely. The nightmare she had hoped to forget was back, replaying the events of that dreadful evening twenty-years ago in her mind like a wild tsunami. Not only that, her horrible life for two excruciating years after the death of her father replayed itself too.

The emotional pain was all too familiar, and Tesiera clutched her chest tightly, hoping to suppress the feelings that threatened to overwhelm her. The voices in her head echoed like a broken vinyl record, taunting her with their hurtful essence.

Desperate to silence them, she reached for a small knife from her bedside table, bared her thigh and made another clean cut on one of the thin scars. She almost moaned at the physical pain. It was a blessing because it numbed the ones she didn’t want to feel. she calmed as she watched the open injury and the blood trail down her thighs.

She had a pounding headache. This house was too quiet.

She got out of bed and ambled to the other side of her room and took an aspirin from the top of the shelf. She downed the tablet with a glass of water and walked back to her window, gazing out at the night sky.

Her mind constantly reminisced about her conversation with Kracus. It was hard to forget, it was hard to simply just eject that whole episode from her brain.

The most prominent ring in her head was the fact that she had almost killed an innocent man. Feelings she’d never had in a long time—so long that they seemed alien flooded her. Guilt. Regret. Self-doubt. Shame.

She hated them, but she couldn’t make them stop. You almost murdered a man the same way your father was killed.

“I thought we agreed that we don’t believe him…” Tesiera’s innermost thoughts had escaped in a low whisper. “I thought we agreed that he might be lying.”

She sighed again, burying her head into her palms.

This house was way too quiet.

**************

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

Big Cat was sound asleep when a loud alarm abruptly woke him..

It was the trigger alarm on the second floor that indicated the presence of an intruder in the mansion. In a split second, Big Cat was on alert.He grabbed two guns that were neatly tucked in the pockets of his night robe and dashed out of his room.

As he made his way down the hallway, he met with one of his Captains who informed him that all the soldiers had been deployed and were searching for the intruder. Big Cat could see the soldiers scurrying around the mansion, determined to apprehend whoever had broken in. He decided to remain upstairs, ready to pounce with his guns if anything threatening occurred.

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

A few moments later, the alarm stopped blaring, and his Captain returned with news. “Sir, it’s the Torturer,” he reported.

Big Cat was taken aback to hear that. “Alright. You can go to bed now.”

He took the elevator up to the second floor, where he found a door open. Stepping into the room, he realized that the lighting was damaged and he could barely see anything. However, he noticed a figure with signature red hair seated on the other side of the bed, staring out into space.

For a few seconds, he simply watched her. She always came through the door, always did the security check ups nonchalantly because she simply doesn’t care enough to object. As far as she was concerned, the world could burn around her as far as it doesn’t disrupt her peace or her mission.

But tonight, she’d taken the risk of climbing his walls—risking electrocution and being gunned down if sighted by any of his security forces. What the hell was going on?

He walked deeper into the room, and sensed a different aura from her—an unusual one. Big Cat approached his niece and observed her distressed features. He sat beside her on the bed as she looked away from the night sky and faced him.

He could see the unfamiliarity boldly imprinted in her eyes – a new look that he had never seen before.

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

After a while of silence, Big Cat asked, “I didn’t see any news broadcast about Kracusian Kingston’s death, nor have I heard anything regarding such. It’s either you didn’t carry out the mission, something got in your way, or you failed.”

Silence.

“What exactly happened out there, Sierra, do you want to talk about it?”

As expected, Tesiera said nothing in response to Big Cat.

He exhaled. She was always stubborn and kept to herself more than she shared with people. He rose from the bed, about to give up but her voice stopped him.

“I keep telling myself not to believe him. I keep telling myself he’s lying. But the truth is that I think I’m the person lying to myself,” she said in a whisper.

She might as well be speaking Taiwanese to him.

“I know I believe him,” she paused to touch her chest, clutching it slightly. “Maybe that’s why I feel so uncomfortable here.”

“What happened?” Big Cat asked and seated down again on the bed.

She took a moment before answering, and then she faced Big Cat and said, “I almost killed an innocent man. Kracus Kingston didn’t kill my father.”

Big Cat grimaced. He’d previously suspected something of this nature. Apart from seeing the man’s records, it had simply felt odd to him. The man didn’t big out that vile vibes he knew so well.

“Investigations can be wrong sometimes. That is why it’s better to keep a clear head so as to recognize the loops when they appear.”

“I know that. I—“ she breathed deeply, “I was so sure it was him. If not for that picture, a part of me would still disbelieve his claims.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Tesiera,” he said reassuringly.

She snorted, “You think I don’t know that? I don’t even want to beat myself up for it. But I can’t seem to let it go. I unleashed twenty-years worth of rage on an innocent man. I was going to gut him like a fish, the way my father was killed, and he was not the bad guy I was looking for. I came THIS close to killing him.” She stated, bringing her thumb and her forefinger so close that they were almost touching.

“I’m deeply sorry.”

She shrugged, looking away and returned back to observing the darkness.

Big Cat could sense that Tesiera was putting on a facade, pretending that she was fine and unaffected. But he knew her well enough to see that deep down, she was struggling with a lot more than she was letting on. He wanted to be there for her, to offer her comfort and support in his own way.

“You know what? You can sleep here tonight. For you to come here, that means you don’t want to stay alone in your home,” He offered half-heartedly because he knows that Tesiera would not take him up on the offer anyway.

“I always want to stay alone in my home,” she retorted.

“I know,” he said softly. “However, you are welcome to stay over if you’d like. You can sleep in this room, your old bedroom, or anywhere of your choice.”

Tesiera remained silent, her gaze fixated on the view outside the window.

Sighing, Big Cat got up from the bed. “Goodnight, my dear,” he said, patting her on the arm before leaving the room.

Tesiera stayed in the room for a while, lost in her thoughts. Her mind was a mess and her head wasn’t any better. But deep inside her, she was happy she’d came here. This familiar surrounding made her feel better.

Eventually, she made her way to her old bedroom. As she entered, she switched on the lights, and everything was just as she had left it. Untouched.

Turning off the lights, she removed her clothes and got into bed, pulling the blanket over her body. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over her.

Sleep was elusive. She twisted and turned, trying to find a comfortable position, but her body felt restless and her mind was racing. She has killed countless people before, and she’d never felt like this. Why was this so different?

But she knew why. This case was very personal to her, and she almost unleashed to an innocent man. She might not give shit between right or wrong, but she’d never killed a man that didn’t deserve it. All her victims were crime bosses, who’d committed many unspeakable acts.

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

Time passed, her mind continued to race, and her body felt heavy with exhaustion. She knew she needed to sleep, but her body refused to cooperate. She tried to calm her thoughts, focusing on her breathing, but it was of no use.

But then, she remembered something. Reaching over to the bedside table, she opened the drawer and pulled out the only thing there. An old music box.

It was the only thing left her father had given her. She avoided it because of the memories of the past that came with them, but tonight it couldn’t hurt. She was already a broken vase.

The delicate, rickety device emitted a cracking sound when she pressed the button. But then the music started to play softly, filling the room with a serene melody.

Tesiera closed her eyes and listened to it. It didn’t take long before the music began guiding her into a peaceful slumber. And before she fell asleep, she knew she didn’t want to wake like this. Didn’t want to live like this.

There has to be a way to make this stop. There has to be something she could do, to bury all these uncomfortable feelings and get on with her life.

Maybe she would pay the doctor another visit.
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REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

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