Bloody payback.

"Your wife?" She taunted.

"Aren't you just a player, my dear Oly? Why did it have to be Howel of all people?" 

"Now you'll see her die slowly by slowly before you today!" She threatened him.

"Get up, faster!" Olivia commanded Howel, still holding her at gunpoint.

They both stood up from the dusty ground.

She lowered the gun but held it firmly in her hand.

She walked over to the portrait that was covered in white cloth on the wall. She pulled the cloth as more dust flew through the air; making them sneeze frantically.

"Ma!" Howel put her hands over her mouth.

"Don't you dare call her that!" 

"What do you mean? I'm her daughter!"

"The hell you are Howy!"

"Believe me. I'm telling the truth."

"You left her here to die! Do you see that place?" She was pointing near the corner where Howel hid, 

"She passed away... two years ago, on such a day… in my very arms... because of you! Because of you Howel." Oliva was weeping.

"That very day you came...I pleaded with you to help her, but what did you do? You walked away, you never even came back, not even to ask about her! Did you even know she is dead? Yet you still have the nerve to call her your mother!" 

Oliva stared blankly at them; he was confused. 

"Iss... Issabelle...?" Howel was stammering.

"Impossible!" Oliva voiced, his pain seized for a second.

Howel stared steadfastly at Olivia and she stared back. 

There was a lot of hatred in her eyes. There was no flinching, no blinking. Only bullets of hate from Olivia's to Howel's eyes and Howel's to Olivia's eyes. If their eyes were machine guns, they'd have riddled each other with thousands of bullets.

"B...but... you ca... can still for... give..." Oliva wasn't done speaking when Olivia interrupted him.

"Shut up you ungrateful scoundrel!" 

"The seventh of July two thousand and seven, does it ring a bell?" 

She turned to him holding the pistol to his head. 

His leg was bloody and swollen but he managed to stand because his life was at stake. 

There was fear in his eyes, and one big word written all over his face; agony. He must have been suffering terribly.

"Does it ring a bell?" The latter had nothing to say. 

He just stood there like a dummy, suffering and shuddering in the cold chilly breeze that swept into the cabin. 

His teeth were chattering with fright. He was losing a lot of blood. Olivia didn't care. He could lose all the blood in his body for as much as she cared. 

She would love to see his dead body beside Howel's. Olivia was getting impatient. Her manner was agitated. Somebody was wasting her precious time. All this while, Howel stood still; transfixed to the ground, trying to get a full comprehension of what was going on.

Olivia repeated the question slowly but threateningly; close to his left ear, "Seventh of July two thousand and seven. Does this ring a bell in your head?" Still, he didn't respond, and Olivia hit his hurt thigh with the back of her pistol.

"Ow! Ow!" He whined like a dog and fell to the ground. Howel rushed to support him.

"What a pity Howel! Is this the reprobate you married?" She mocked her.

"How stupid I was to wait for you on that day Oly. You never showed up! You canceled our wedding a day before the material day! Was I not pretty enough? Even after you'd spent 90% of my money in your own way, I never complained! Yet, you still canceled the wedding... But that was good... yes it was. I wouldn't want to spend my life with a scumbag like you. Howel deserves you more. You are destined for each other; two scoundrels!"

Howel stared furiously at Olivia. 

"That was what… like five, six years ago!"

"Damn you Oliver!" She kicked his thigh with her boots and he scowled on the ground writhing in severe pain. "And do you know what hurt me the most? You didn't even say goodbye!"

"Today… This day shall go down in history! Had we wedded, today would have been our anniversary, but instead… today is mother's death anniversary. And today is the day you also…"

 "We can sort this out in a more sensible way Issa." Oliva pleaded.

"Were you sensible enough when you made away with my money in your own private bank account? ... Was Howel sensible when she let ma die?"

"But…" Howel was tongue-tied.

"Who do you think was behind you losing your job? A very committed IT indeed!" 

She kicked his thigh and he groaned more and lost his balance. 

"You even dared to ask me out!" 

He kicked him again and he groaned even more. 

Howel stood up and began to rant, "You want to kill us? Do it... do it now!" 

She was provoking her, 

"I don't care what happens, do it." She whimpered. 

"Just kill us already." She wasn't being defiant, she was begging for her death.

"I have nothing against you Howel… but… but…You killed mother! You killed her!" Olivia muttered and pointed the gun at Howel. 

She stared at her squarely in the face. 

She painfully recalled and narrated how she had run in the rain to get medicine only to get back and hold her dying mother. 

"I wasn't mad at you when you made away with her fortune, but her death! It's unforgivable. I didn't even give her a proper send-off, you know." 

Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

She took Howel by her right hand and held the gun in the other. She mercilessly dragged her to where she buried her mother.

"Ma, I promised to avenge your death." She knelt and scooped some earth from the ground and threw it at Howel, 

"Here is where you deserve to die!" 

She pulled the trigger but what happened at that time as far as their overwrought minds could judge was unexpected. Time did not exist. Olivia could swear she had shot. 

However, Howel didn't fall to the ground. She just stood there; numb and frozen in fear. 

Her eyes were wide in horror. Olivia had shot or did she? Yes, she had shot, but why didn't Howel scowl in pain? Why didn't she bleed? Olivia had shot into the air. The birds perched on the trees flew away.

"Drop the gun now!" Oliva was armed behind her with a piece of the broken glass which he held to her neck. "Now!" He had profound stamina as if his pain had vanished into thin air. 

"Hands in the air." He kicked the gun towards Howel who without further ado, picked it up. 

"Let me tell you something, my dear Issabelle... or should I say, Olivia? You chose quite a good name. Olivia - Oliva! Were you pretty enough then? You weren't bad to look at really, a bit dumpy around the stomach perhaps but a more enjoyable "job" than working in some office or on a building site. I'd be your fiancé' for as long as it took to drain your bank account. I loved it when you walked or stuck around to be my servant, I didn't care which. But once I found my next mark...

"You'd just be gone with my cash in your private accounts." Olivia interrupted.

"Yes, I canceled our wedding and so what? That wedding thing was just a lie! I would put it off and be your fiancé' for as long as it took to drain your bank account. Ha-ha-ha!" He laughed. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! I never knew it would be that easy but..." He continued laughing.

"So you rejected my advance just for that inept Conrad? Ha?" He held the broken glass closer to her neck. 

"No! For someone more deserving than you bastard!" She dared to speak up.

"And who could this unlucky person be?" 

Out of nowhere, a dark figure appeared and pounced on Oliva then wrestled him to the ground. 

"That unlucky person is me, mister!" He took off his face mask, revealing his face.

"Arnold?" Oliva was shocked.

"Yes. Unlucky Arnold Parker, I am!" Arnold knocked his thigh thereby letting him go of Olivia.

"We've made quite some profit with the data transfer thing. Haven't we darling?" 

"Yes we have, Arnold."

He hit Oliva's head, knocking him out.

"I followed a trail of blood here." He explained when Olivia looked at him inquisitively.

"Tah!" Howel fell to the ground. This time it was real. She was shot right in her head. Olivia turned her head. 

"She was going to shoot you!" Oliva interposed. "Hurry, let's get out of here. 

"What about the car?" Olivia posed.

"It's Oliva's. The police won't suspect arson. Let's leave now. They'll be here anytime soon." He planted the gun in his hand on Oliva's hand before both of them fled away.

  *********************

Having changed her appearance and identity, Issabelle Fernandez posed as Olivia Lopez. She wanted to forget about her past life but the thirst for revenge couldn't let her. She had sworn to avenge her mother's death. Could she let that go? This is what she had planned and it worked. Oliva was arrested for Howel's death and neither Issabelle nor Arnold got to be suspects. As a matter of fact, she gave her stepsister a decent burial; to avoid any kind of suspicion whatsoever. She also married Arnold Parker on the seventh of July two thousand and twenty-three.