18 The Truths Unfolding

Andrei's confusion is eating him that he turns to his mother for an answer. She sighs and nods. In tears, she tells him the story.

"Madeline is your dad's first and lawful wife. I was just a lowly servant who happened to fall in love with him. I did everything to turn his attention to me. And if I say everything, I mean everything. I killed her after I found out that I was pregnant with you."

"What?" Andrei says in disbelief.

"Kill? That's an understatement! You tortured her. You made her insane that even her husband despised her. Your greed, your jealousy, and insecurity, they consumed you!" I correct her story. "All my mother wanted was to be a good wife, a mother, and a lady of the castle."

"How could you?!" poor Andrei asks his mother in pain. "I thought you're a good mother!"

"I'm sorry! I was madly in love with your father, I guess!"

I laugh frantically. "Father?! So, Andrei still doesn't know the truth?" I mock. Andrei's forehead, where fresh and dried blood is, furrows.

"Know what?"

"Please! That's for me to deal with!" Mrs. Martin pleads. But Andrei turns more determined to know the truth. Perhaps sensing the oddity of his mother's change of demeanor.

"What the fuck should I know?! Tell me now! Whatever it is! No more unanswered questions, mother!" his voice is determined more than ever. Despite his trembling and frail naked body, he moves closer to his mom and shakes her shoulder.

The masked stranger and I sit on the sofa beside the bed and enjoy the drama that we are watching--- only now, it's in reality, theatrical-ish.

Mrs. Martin takes a deep breath as she keeps being choked by her tears. When she seems a little calmer, she looks at her son.

"I'm sorry," she starts.

"For what?"

"For making you believe in so many lies," she adds. "You... are our son! I had a miscarriage at the end of my first trimester so I had to pretend pregnant because I didn't want to lose your father."

"What? So I am... adopted?" he asks weakly.

"I'm sorry..."

"Stop lying..." I warn. Andrei turns to me. His bloody face turns even redder due to his anger. I smile. "That's just the first part of the story."

"Mom!"

"Okay! You were not adopted... you were... abducted!"

"What?!"

"It happened that my friend and I had the same due date. And... I guess you can already predict what actions I did next. But I did love you as my own. I gave you a house to live in, I clothed you with the most expensive brands. What else could you possibly ask for?"

Andrei can't believe what he just heard and what he's hearing. I can see the grim expression in his eyes. I sympathize with him and urge him to speak up.

"You were a good mother, is it?" he asks firmly in an icy cold voice that even Mrs. Martin shivers. She knows that at this point, Andrei is consumed by his fury. Being paralyzed doesn't stop him from hitting his mother.

"Good mother?! Now, I've realized why my father was so cold towards me. He probably had doubts about my bloodline. And you? You clothed me, yes. Gave me a roof to live in, yeah. But that doesn't mean that you were a good mother. Now, I know! I understand the unfathomable circumstances that happened in my life! How you pimped me to your pedophile friends and told me that you're just sharing me and not giving me away because love is sharing!" Andrei yells in agony and anger.

Mrs. Martin is speechless. Ever so confident to have his son's support all throughout, this is making her crazy.

"That's not true. I love you... you are my son!"

"I am not!" he shouts, trembling in rage. I gasp when he suddenly chokes his mother. Mrs. Martin writhes. "I am not your son! Never! You used me! Bitch!"

The stranger jumps and lashes Andrei's back, causing him to let go of his mother's neck and holds his stinging back.

"That's not how to seek revenge, baby," I say. "Sign the transfer of deeds and I will let you have all your mother's properties!"

"Don't do it!" Mrs. Martin warns and pleads.

Andrei glares at her then stares at me unconvinced. "All I wanted is to reclaim what's rightfully mine. The other assets, they're yours to keep. It's all in the paper. You can go through them first if you like," I add. Despite Mrs. Martin's disagreement, Andrei takes the pen.

I hold my breath as he signs the documents transferring Neverland Castle to my name, including all its assets, meaning the school, a hotel downtown, and a resort in another city.

"You will regret this!" Mrs. Martin shouts. "Andrei! You're a coward fool!"

"Don't listen to her!" I shout.

"They're fooling you because you're a gullible piece of shit! They're taking advantage of your stupidity, you imbecile!" she continues mocking him. Andrei becomes more and more agitated.

Before he even signs the documents, he turns hysterical. Papers are scattered on the floor and he holds the pen tightly. He is screaming, punching, and tossing everything his hands touch. He is hitting his head on the headboard.

Mrs. Martin smiles at me. Of course! I am fully aware of what she's doing. Andrei being a product of abuse and brainwashing, becomes susceptible to her superiority. She knows how to make him crazy and she's beaming.

"Stop! Andrei, stop!" I yell.

"Oh! You can't stop him, I'm afraid. He's under my control you see," she teases.

"Shut up or I'll kill you!"

"Oh, you don't. If you kill me, he'll kill himself. And you won't be able to get what you want," she smirks. She's right. She's smart after all. She knows her cards very well.

"Andrei, listen to me! Do you want to see your family? Your real family?"

Andrei stops and looks at me. I smile in a friendly way. "You heard me right. I know where they are!"

"She's lying! Your family is dead! Everyone you love is dead!" Mrs. Martin yells.

Before Andrei turns into a maniac again, I take my chances. I hold his hands gently and look into his eyes.

"Trust me! I know where they are. And they can't wait to see you again. You and your sister! Your parents have been waiting for this moment to arrive," I whisper.

"S- sister?" he asks.

"Yes!"

"Don't listen to her, Andrei! She is just using you because they know how stupid you are!" Mrs. Martin mocks.

"Shut the fuck up!" For the first time, the masked stranger speaks. At the end of her sentence lands the whip on Mrs. Martin's lips.