Chapter 75: Lauren's POV

I hope Lucas is dead. I'm praying, hoping, begging and desperately pleading for him to be dead. That's my only saving grace - that dad probably killed him after he hung up. That was the plan. I would give Lucas one last chance to make the right choice. I would give him one last chance to choose me, the girl who will forsake everything and everyone she loves to be with him and to be whoever he needs her to be. All he had to do was make the right choice. All he had to do was choose me and then he would live. But he chose wrong. He keeps choosing Charlotte and this time, that choice cost him his life. He's dead. That's why the line went dead. Dad or Brian or maybe even mom killed him because he keeps hurting me over and over again without remorse. He's dead. With him out of the way, Charlotte's case will fall flat. The case that Greyson Corporation has brought against me for gross negligence and willful ignorance will also fade into nothing without Lucas. It doesn't matter what evidence, witnesses or damning reports Charlotte or Jona have against me or my family. Without the Greysons backing them, everyone will be too afraid to go up against anything or anyone with the Mitchell name on it. Charlotte will be done for. I won't even have to try to kill her. She'll wind up so hopeless and defeated that she'll kill herself. And then her baby will also die. Then this whole mess will be over and done with. If the two of them want to be together so badly, they can be together in the after life. That's all they'll get because if I can't be with the man I love, then she shouldn't get to enjoy that luxury either. Lisa will finish her off together with dad. Yes. I'll help Lisa get over the death of her baby and get over Justin and she will wipe the floor with Charlotte. Now that she won't be distracted with begging Justin to love her, she won't drop the ball again. I'll babysit those brats of hers if I have to. I'll do anything to make sure she puts Charlotte in her place. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. Please be dead. If he's alive ... he knows what I did to Charlotte ... he even knows that it was my plan to get Brian Kim involved. How does he know that? Does Charlotte also know? Has she known this entire time? I tried to shake those frightening thoughts away, but I still couldn't move my head qithout pain ebbing through my entire body due to my injuries. Charlotte doesn't know a damn thing. If she did, she wouldn't have been able to live in the same house as me. She wouldn't have been able to come home after a long day at work and cook a meal for Lucas, Christian and me as well. She wouldn't have been able to eat with me, laugh with me or help me whenever I faked those panic attacks. She would have been filled with uncontrollable rage everytime she saw me in those skimpy dresses around Lucas. She would have stabbed me to death each time she found out my towel accidentally fell while Lucas was walking right passed me. She would have refused to move in from the get go. She would have crumbled to the floor when I told her that Lucas loves me. She wouldn't have forgiven Lucas for basically shacking up with the woman who orchestrated their break up. She would have punched me the second she saw me that weekend after their s*x marathon. What kind of sick and twisted game must she be playing to endure living with me if she knew? No. She doesn't know. And now that Jona and Lucas are both dead, she'll never know. No one will ever know. "She was working with Dr Shetland." I heard a few nurses gossiping right infront of my hospital room, not bothering to whisper or at least trying to avoid looking at me. They were pointing at me, staring and talking loud enough for anyone with ears to hear them. They want me to hear them. "It's the whole Mitchell saga thing again." The full figured nurse continued snickering. "That family keeps tainting every little bit of dignity any kind of medicine in this country has left." "I never liked Dr Shetland." Another nurse said snarkily. "I always knew there was something suspicious about her. And now an innocent girl is dead because of her." The group continued talking, but they started moving away so I couldn't hear them anymore. That last part was what I desperately needed to hear more about. Charlotte said someone swapped her out with Angelique. I remember those words because they sent jolts of fear and regret rushing through my entire body before I passed out. I know she's lying. I don't know who I stabbed, but it wasn't Angelique. Angelique was supposed to inject Charlotte with a special serum that Dr Shetland gave her. That serum would have induced a miscarriage so that Charlotte's baby would be dead by the time she got to the operating room. After that, all she had to do was to keep watch outside the OR while I killed the wicked witch of the west myself. That was the plan. That was the plan that that f*****g old driver who never like me ruined. There's no way it was Angelique on that table because that would mean I killed one the few people in my life who has treated me with respect. It would mean that I killed my best friend ... No. Angelique probably ditched the plan when things got complicated. She's like that. She'll never put herself in danger for someone else's sake. She's a survivor like that. She's like her mom. She's alive. She's probably at her mother's house right now telling her how she came so close to killing Charlotte Ericsson's baby. Her mom is probably making her drink that herbal tea of hers that's meant to slow down ageing. She's probably scolding Angelique over some tea and diet cookies because she helped me despite her mom telling her our plan was too risky due to a lack of money, resources and people. Angelique will waltz inside this hospital room in a few minutes and we'll laugh at the fact that Charlotte is now a widow just like Lucas' mom. We'll laugh at the fact that, just like Lucas' mom, she will also be alone for the rest of her life and will most probably never marry or try dating ever again. Angelique is fine. I don't know who was on that table. I don't care who was on that table. I just know that it wasn't Angelique. "We only handcuffed one of her hands." I heard a deep male voice. "Her other hand is free, but that's because she has a broken arm and a broken thumb. She'll be in too much pain to try anything, but it's best to err on the side of caution." I heard low voices and saw more movement from the police officers stationed infront of my door, but I couldn't make out what else was being said or who the other people were. They were clearly talking about me. The police officers kept looking back into my room and pointing at me like I was a crazy person. "Only five minutes." The doctor said loud enough for me to hear. "She has sustained significant injuries and like I said, she is dangerous. I can't give you more than five minutes." "Of course." Her cold voice crept all the way inside my room and then I saw her appear like a grim reaper. Charlotte Ericsson. I felt the room get colder with each step she took towards me in her long, form fitting black dress that trailed behind her. She wasn't hiding her pregnancy bump anymore and it sure was a big enough bump for everyone to notice. She wants the whole world to know she's pregnant. Her dress covered her up all the way up to her neck and had long sleeves that hid her slender arms. The only thing that could be seen was her face. However, due to how her dress moved with every curve in her body and molded itself to the shape of her breasts, her belly and her behind, it looked like the most seductive dress I've ever laid my eyes on. I'm not even sure if she's wearing any shoes. That's how long the dress is. It covers her feet and pools around her on the floor in waves that she seems unbothered by. She wore her hair in a high pony tail, accompanied by silky hair and an endless ocean of curls hanging down her ponytail all the way below her shoulders. The only piece of jewellery she wore were large gold hoops earrings and, of course, her large engagement ring. I hate her. I despise her. I loathe her, but this woman is beautiful. She's so beautiful. "Lauren." She stopped a safe distance from my bed and carried an amused look on her face. "You tried to kill me." She chuckled. "Again." All I could do was stare at her. She smells good. How does she always smell so good? Black suits her. Every colour suits Charlotte Ericsson. Every dress, every skirt, ever shoe, every jacket, every shirt, every pair of pants ... they all suit her like the designers used her measurements to make everyone else's clothes. The room kept getting colder with each passing second and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. No one wants to help me here. I would be burdening them if I asked for the temperature to be increased by even a few degrees after everything that's happened. "And you dared to try and kill my baby." Her smile instantly fell from her delicate face. "Incurring my wrath is nothing new, but I don't think you've ever seen Lucas Greyson angry because it happens so rarely that most people convince themselves that he's incapable of anger. You are one of those people, Lauren. If I don't get you first, what do you think my husband will do once he catches you?" I would run if I could. I would run away from this moment. I would run away from this hand cuffed hand, from this tiny hospital room, from her evil smirk ... from her mischievous eyes. Jona has those eyes. I had to live with those eyes for months and they made my life such a living hell that I still have nightmares of him despite not having seen him for more than a month. I want to run away from my fractured hip, from my sprained ankle, from my broken arm, thumb and shoulder. I want to run away from the scrapes, the bruises and the swelling all over my body. I want to run away from Charlotte. I've wanted to run away from her ever since she came back. I just want to run. "He loved me way before he ever loved you." A small voice forced itself out of my mouth. "He told me so himself, Charlotte. He told me over and over again that he loves me. And no matter what you think, everything you and Lucas shared after you broke up with him will always be tainted by the love he developed for me after you left him. He moved on with his life after you." Confidence started lacing itself in every word I spoke. "He pulled off the biggest f*****g merger and he did it with me by his side. He bought a house that he envisions his family living in and I helped him choose that house, decorate it and expand the estate. I helped him decorate that f*****g master suite you two sleep in! I have touched and infused everything that's important to him with my very being! And unlike you, I didn't have to f**k him to be a part of his life." I was in pain, but I forced a smile on my lips because those words had shut her right up. No matter how much she lies to herself, I'm the woman who was by his side when he needed the most support. My family is part of the reason why he was able to do what he did with Greyson Corporation. These past five years are nothing but proof that he was always better off with me by his side. And Charlotte will never take that away from me. "He pulled off that merger because of plans me and him developed when we were just fifteen years old, Lauren." She said with a slight sad smile on her face. "By the time, we broke up, those plans had been fleshed out so much that there was nothing he wouldn't be able to do. I may not have been there when he excuted those plans, but for seven years, I was the one staying up late with him, doing research with him, investigating, adding, changing and perfecting those plans long before they were executed. You are the pretty face that almost wrecked those plans because everything you touch starts to rot from the inside out. If I hadn't come back, if Jona hadn't traced your mistakes, that entire merger would have still been ongoing and delayed till this day." My body folded into itself as each cruel word hit me. She's right ... according to Jona's reports, I delayed the merger by a year. If it weren't for my meddling, the whole thing would have been a done deal last year. She's right. I ruin everything. That's why mom, dad and Lisa never trust me with anything. I ruin everything. "As for you helping him buy our home and decorating it", she spat scornfully, "as you've seen with your own eyes and heard with your own ears, Forest and I baptised that entire house the night he and I got back together. We made love everywhere, Lauren and after he chased you out of that house, we continued making love everywhere so rest assured whatever you have tainted in that house, has been cleansed over and over and over and over again by me and Forest." "You saw how Forest and I got when we made love while you were playing peeping Tom, didn't you?" She tilted her head to the side and feigned confusion. "You saw how we lust after one another. You saw how we hunger, chase after one another and go absolutely insane with a primal urgency when we're making love, right?" She was smirking, enjoying how my entire body was breaking out in an agonising sweat from each word she spoke. I remember that day. I also remember the two days that followed the night I first saw them sleeping with one another. I caught glimpses of it, but it was enough to send me into a downward spiral because in just one night she was able to achieve something I worked tirelessly for for five years. They kept going at it like they would never grow tired of doing it. After she moved in, there were times when I'd hear them being intimate. I think Charlotte made sure they had s*x in rooms that weren't sound proof just so I'd hear them. I'm certain of it because whenever Christian or the servants were around, they always made sure to go to Lucas' master suite. "Heck", she chuckled behind her perfectly manicured hand, "you probably witnessed me and Forest making the baby I'm carrying right now." I cried. I didn't mean to, but I started crying. "He's dead you know." I tried steadying my voice through all my heaving. "You may think you've won, Charlotte, but you haven't. He's dead. He died the second he chose you. Now we both can't have him; except, unlike you," I looked her right in those evil gold eyes of hers, "I'll be able to move on with my life. I'll meet someone else, get married and have a life with them. You're the one whose stuck raising a dead man's baby." I don't know if those words are true, but I still needed to say them. I may never get over Lucas, but I need to hurt her the way she's hurting me. "Lauren", she chuckled again and feigned confusion in her voice, "I just spoke to my husband and Jona a few minutes ago. They're fine. The only person who died today is Angelique." Her phone was suddenly out from somewhere in that dress of hers or maybe she brought a black purse I didn't see? The tall, pregnant caramel-skinned model took long, drawn out steps towards my bed, making sure to savour each second as my lungs filled with dread. "Look." She grinned slyly before holding her phone up and showing me a slide show of my best friend's mutilated corpse. It's her. It really is her. I killed her. And Charlotte took pictures of it and made a slide show out of it ... I stabbed one of my Angelique's eye balls out of its socket. There's what I assume to be brain matter inching out of the hole where her eye used to be. I stabbed her in the forehead, the cheecks, the nose and her mouth and then it's clear from the pictures that I kept dragging that scalpel all over her face to ensure that she would never wake up ever again. I did that. I killed Angelique. I killed her. I wailed from the bottom of my heart for what did to her. I killed her. I cried. And cried. And cried. An cried. "For the record, Forest never loved you." Her voice pierced through my cries. "He was keeping you close to make it easier for me to catch you once I returned. And now that we know the Mitchells aren't above killing innocent children, he and I will show you what a miserable life truly is." She started gliding out of the room like some member of a royal family. I wanted to throw things at her ... I wanted to grab a scalpel and rip that baby out of her ... but I could barely move because of all my injuries. So I sat there while Charlotte laughed and stopped right before stepping out of the door. "I'm going to spend the rest of my life making love to him, making babies and raising them." She taunted me with a cool, defiant smile. "And this time, even if you call Brian Kim, there's not a damn thing you can do about it." She waited a few seconds while the blood drained from my face and my mouth dried up like a desert. She knows. They all know.