Page 25 of TAINTED by TWINS

Lady Deveroux took me home after a day of shopping, and she hands me a box from the backseat. "Don't forget to give this to your mother, apologize for returning home late—the woman must be very worried for her only child."

"Yes but uhm... ? Cupcakes? I thought this was for you?"

"You thought wrong, silly boy," she obviously said, unlocking the doors. I smile at her, but she stopped me from getting out for one more moment. "Don't tell your mother it's from me, alright?"

I looked into her eyes, and I never thought I'd see this woman look uneasy and nervous, but she reached out to touch my face like a proud mother would, saying, "They'll always try to pluck the most beautiful flowers in the garden.

Regrow, and don't let them tear off your roots, Lian. Flowers are beautiful, and strong."

"Thank you, Lady Deveroux..."

"That name means nothing to me. A name from a man I've hated my whole life. Call me Mother Mina. As if I was sort of like... a godmother."

I giggle at her, "Alright... Mother Mina."

A smile lit up her face, and I left the car with the box she gave me. I looked at her fleeting car with a box of cupcakes, before going inside my home.

I didn't think much of the motorcycle parked in the front, until I went inside to see my mother laughing while pouring someone's drink.

"JADE?!" Both of them jumped when I yelled out his name; and there he was in a tight black shirt and baggy pants, eyeliner and piercings in full display while my mom sat with him on the couch, a bottle of wine I've never seen before between them.

"Ahh, Xiao Lian, my pretty Lian—isn't he pretty, Jade?" My mother proudly coos. "When I feel like a failure, I look at him and feel happy I almost tore my vagin—"

"Indeed Ms Miller, he is beautiful," Jade drank his alcohol before scanning me with a smile, "Good evening, Mr. Miller."

Eii, goosebumps. Don't look at me with those eyes...

"Hehe, look Lian, he's handsome! Isn't he such a handsome man? Eiiii, he should have my grandbabies!" She squeals.

"What are you doing here, Jade?" I asked while hurriedly taking off my shoes.

"I said I'll pick you up..." Jade scanned me from head to toe, appreciating what my mother created. "Your mom asked me to come in because she couldn't open a wine bottle. I told her I'll buy a better, more expensive brand that she'll like."

Alcohol is a way to my mother's heart, I rolled my eyes, before giving my mother the box. "Here you go, mom. I got you cupcakes."

"Ooh! Yehey!" She seemed too happy opening it and shoving one in her mouth, wrapper and all. I had to pull it away and start peeling the cupcakes one by one.

I caught Jade looking at the box of cupcakes with a raised eyebrow. I asked, "Is there something wrong other than you being in my house?"

"No?" He was cringing, "How could you afford those cupcakes, they're $150 dollars each? My mom buys from that shop."

Actually, I said it about the both of you.

Jade's expression softened up. "You... went against Jonah?"

"Why wouldn't I, he's acting like an ásshole—"

"Handsome man, why don't you join us for dinner? Lian my love, cook something nice for the very handsome gentleman.." My mom giggles, truly admiring how good Jade looks and is even holding his nose and bending it left and right. "Mmm yes, very handsome gentleman..."

He's a gangster, mom! "Uhm, there's no need—"

"Of course, Ms Miller. I couldn't deny you," Jade took my mom's touchy hand and kisses her knuckles while winking at me. The act made her blush and laugh happily that I rolled my eyes.

Now I can't kick him out without upsetting my mom. Brothers, indeed. Jade even manipulated my mom.

I was cooking a simple rice and spam, hearing my mom sound so happy for the first time in a while. She didn't even laugh like this when I graduated—she didn't even go out of the house when I finished school. But I see how Jade is making her genuinely laugh, and I want to see her happy.

"Dinner's ready..." I call out, approaching the living room.

"He ate soap, maybe that's why his immune system is very high... hehe, look at this!" My own goddamn mother was laughing so hard because she's showing Jade my baby pictures!

"MOM what are you doing?!" I look at them horrified, diving in to grab the album from my mom but Jade took it first and stood up, making my mother laugh even more.

"Wasn't he adorable?!" She squealed.

"This is my favorite—" Jade showed me an angry red-faced 3 year old with a frog hat that I still hate to this day. I went to grab the album, but Jade climbed over the sofa and landed on the other side to escape me. "Awww, look! You tried to stab the camera with a popsicle stick..."

"Jade! Give it to me!" I chase after him, but he ran to the kitchen.

"This is you with a frog onesie and crying? I'm so gonna give you an adult sized one..."

"I HATE FROGS—give it to me!" I chased him around the kitchen with nothing but my mother's cackling in the background. The woman even stood on the couch and cheered for Jade! The betrayal!

"Awww, you're crying in the bath with your little pp! Don't worry Lian, it'll grow—"

"JADE!" I managed to grab the album, but I couldn't wrestle it away. He simply held my waist and pulled it off of me like I was some kind of stuffed toy.

"What a nice 1st grade outfit—you look like a girl here, not gonna lie... and not a cute girl either..."

"Jade, please!!" I held him by the neck and begged with my eyes watering, "Please don't... I don't want anyone to see that... it's private, filled with special memories!"

His eyes softened and his grip on my waist loosened. "D-don't cry, Lian... I'm sorry—"

Anyway, I joined them for dinner where Jade was smirking at me the whole time, and I know for a fact the frog clothing is all he can think about. I don't even want to know what when in my mother's head making me wear stuff that made me cry.

"Mmm, this tastes good!" Jade says while smiling at both me and my mom.

"I just fried spam," I tell him.

"What's that? Emails?" I look at him weirdly as my mom happily gives him three more pieces as if her own son isn't planning to eat more.

I just angrily shoved rice in my cheeks, rolling my eyes at him.

At least he has the manners to actually join me in the sink to wash the dishes. I snort at him, "So you don't know what spam is, but you know how to wash dishes?"

"We wash the glasses in our bar, sweetheart. It's the same process with plates, is it not?" He suddenly kisses me on the temple to distract me from the fact he stole my sponge to wash his own plates.

But, I find myself smiling. A big bad gangster is in my kitchen washing our dishes, and I feel like a proud teacher.

Suddenly he says, "I didn't come here to sleep with you. I just really wanted to see you, school isn't enough."

There wasn't silence between us because of the running tap water, but my smile was so loud. "Well, you got to see me now, Jade. And I get to see you washing dishes."

"I also saw you bringing in my mother's favorite cupcakes," he mumbled, raising an eyebrow at me. "One cupcake is a treat... but a box of $750 cupcakes? Plus, you smell like old rich grannies in hotels."

"Okay fine, Lady Velomina took me to get cupcakes..." I confessed, taking the plates he washes to wipe it with a clean towel. "She was very sweet..."

Jade sighs, maybe a bit frustrated I'm talking nice about the mom that he hates. "I don't really know what's going on with her, either."

"Look behind you," Jade says, and I did, finding only my mom reading the ingredients on the wine Jade brought, while drinking it herself.

"She's being nice to you because she wants to get back on good terms with your mother.

I don't know how she gave birth to us, because the way she was obsessed with Ms. Miller, I'd never think she'd like men. "

I find myself laughing, "My mom must be so beautiful to have a woman like that obsessed with her."

"It's not hard to believe," Jade says, scanning my face as if to make a point. "Is it?"

"Oh, please..." I looked away from him, "Nothing good ever happens when you're too beautiful. They always want to pluck the prettiest flowers."

After getting uncomfortable from how Jade is staring at me, I laughed at him.

"Dry your hands, handsome man... you did good cleaning up," I meant to push him away from the sink, but he trapped me between it and his body instead. I gasped, immediately spotting his motive of cornering me for a kiss. "Jade..."

"Shhh, just a reward for washing up, please?" He chuckled.

"I cooked you dinner!" I whisper-yelled.

"You just fried spam," he sassily snapped at me, and I couldn't contain my smile so much that I let him lean in to kiss me on the mouth, licking my lips and sucking in my tongue as if I were dessert.

He said he didn't come here to sleep with me... but... no way, I'm not showing him my bedroom!

Unless I can keep the lights off—Ring! Ring!

He didn't break the kiss, but I pulled away because of the noise in his back pocket. It made my mom look at us, so I immediately stepped away from him. "Uhm... Jade..."

Ring! He pulled out his phone, his expression suddenly dropping. I wondered why, until he picked it up to answer, "Yes, Jonathan?"

Jonah. I took some paper towels to wipe the table and keep myself busy.

"I'm not at home, I'm at—" Jade paused, and I gave him a panicked look. "I'm at Nightingale. Well, it's silent because I'm outside, you're not on speaker. No, I'm not lying—what do you want, Jonah?"

I hear Jade sigh as I feel disappointment from the fact we had to stop making out. Gosh, I'm becoming such a harlot. Though it feels less wrong because I'm at home, not at school.

"Fine, I'll see you there. You need to stop being paranoid, I'm not lying..." he ended the call and walked towards me, leaving me with a kiss on the mouth that thankfully my mother did not see. "I'm off to see Jonah."

"Can he really hear you lying through the phone?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think it's because he was breathing too close to me in the womb—Ms Miller, I have to go," he politely kneeled in front of her to kiss the back of her hand, making my mother act all giddy. "I'll see you and your son, hopefully soon."

"Make sure I see my grandchild from you as well, handsome man!" She squealed, before Jade winks at my cringing face and leaving the house. "Eiiii, he's so handsome... invite him again, Lian!"

"Mom, he literally came uninvited," I huffed with an embarrasing blush on my cheeks.

Jonah's car was already parked on the cliff overlooking the city, when Jade came to park his motorcycle beside it. "Wow, Jonah. It's been a while since we hung out here."

"You had to take someone else to our spot, it became less special," Jonah says while drinking his can of sparkling water, the blonde leaning against his car.

"Were you jealous I took him here, Jonah? When it's the first place I thought of to keep him safe?" Jade stood beside him, eyeing the beer can on the hood where he usually sits. But he didn't take it this time; he's not that depressed to be drinking anymore.

"This was our safe place, Jade... our special place."

"And Lian is special to me," Jade argues.

That sentence made Jonah scoff at him with a bruised lip. "So much for keeping promises."

"And you're not?" Jade calls out, "Jonah, you paid to touch him, you made him sell his body to you."

"He got the money."

"He needed the money, and you took the opportunity.

You had me paying Sasha Petrovna to seduce his boyfriend when Lian doesn't deserve to get cheated on.

You had me risking his life photographing a politician so I'll get closer and earn his trust. You made me seduce him so he'll sleep with you, too. "

Jonah looked at everywhere but Jade, but there's no use. They have the same eyes, he'll always be looking at his twin.

"You made me fall in love with him, Jonah. I was never meant to get addicted to him, but you introduced me to a new drug," Jade exclaimed.

Jonah couldn't stand it and threw away his can, only to open the beer meant for Jade and took a minute to devour each and every drop in one swig. Then it fell off his hands, silent.

"Yeah, Jade. I had to use my straight brother to get to him. It was a gamble that you'll fall for him, and I took the risk. I should've never involved you... it should've been easier having people kidnap him so I'll rescue him myself."

Jade rolls his eyes, "For a Prince Charming, you sure don't know how to romance. You think of the worst ways to get him to fall in love."

"Because he refuses to!"

Jonah kept silent, his thoughts running wild.

Jonah looked at his brother's eyes. They have the same eyes, and Lian fell for the same pair, but because of him they're drifting apart? They're brothers, after all. The one person Jonah can't bear to lose is Jade.

"Do you really love him... Jade? More than me, I assume... ?" Jonah asks with eyes full of life this time, looking at the same person he shared a life with.

"I love you so much, in a way that is against my will," Jade rolls his eyes, "And I wouldn't choose Lian over you. We were born together, we'll die together. So if you can't have him, then I can't, either. None of us will have him."

Jonah's eyes lowered, before a ghost of a smile formed on his lips. "Of all the people I can easily take down to have him, the one person I can't take down... is you, Jade. I love you too much... I can't die a blonde."

Is this... Jonah Deveroux, submitting? Are there any ulterior motives—

"No, I'm not trying to manipulate you this time, Jade."

"You literally read my mind, you're kinda creepy..." Jade sat beside him and wrapped one of his arms around Jonah, "Besides... we're never each other's enemies. Something is going on with Lian, and I'm sure you'll spot it before me."

"Nothing good ever happens when you're too beautiful. They always want to pluck the prettiest flowers."

Jonah's eyes darkened along with his thoughts.

"I thought so, too. He got upset with me because we took him while he was drunk.

.. but then he said something about him being young and taken advantaged of.

At first I believed it was me back then, paying him for a touch. .. but he was a senior back then."

"Do you think Sasha is lying about Lian and Chris?"

"There is no reason to... unless there's a bigger secret he got paid with to keep the truth quiet." Jonah says, "We can't trust Sasha. He only represents secrets, not truths. We have to hear it from Lian himself."

"How?"

"The reason I called you here for," Jonah answered, staring at the city lights with a tilted head. "Mother wants to throw a birthday party at Vincezza within the next few weeks. They called me because the woman forgot to leave them her contacts."

"Vincezza? That's cheap for her—wait, birthday party? For who, ours is months away?"

"Who else?" Jonah looks at him, "It's for Lian. I don't know what's going on in our mother's head, but we can use that party to coax the truth from him."

"Yes, ma'am."

Velomina took off her sunglasses upon entering the unlocked house, carrying a box. Lei Ann wasn't anywhere in the living room and kitchen, which made her drop her $45k sunglasses. "Lei Ann? Lei?!"

Once again, she hits stools and tables and sometimes hanging lights, so she took off her shoes and searched the kitchen still holding a box. The woman wasn't there, so Lady Deveroux took off her fur coat to run upstairs, fearful of what the drunk woman might have done—

She was sitting in her own son's bedroom, giggling at the old album from when he was a child. Velomina calmed down and stared at her, admiring such innocence despite the intoxicated brain.

Until Lei Ann noticed her, "Mina! Mina, look! My baby..."

Velomina cautiously entered Lian's bedroom, which smelled of fresh linen and cheap vanilla perfume. Barefoot, she joined Lei Ann on the bed to look at the album, placing the box beside her.

"My baby was so cute..." Lei Ann showed her, and Velomina took one half of the album to put on her lap. Lei Ann allowed her to flip it, slowly watching Lian grow up from infant to toddler.

Velomina can't help but smile with tears pooling in her eyes. This child... "He's precious, Lei."

She nodded proudly, "Mina... I only have him in this world. Without him, I am nothing. I could only wish you'll protect him and keep him away from Lord Deveroux... but I can only dream."

"Lei Ann, I will do everything I can to protect him, as if he was my own..." Velomina held her chin, tempted to bring back memories with those wine-stained lips, but held herself to standard. "After all... I'd like to think he was ours."

"He could've..." Lei Ann whispered sadly, looking down. "But Velomina is not so nice outside my dream."

No. No, no... Velomina pulled away to give Lei Ann the box. "Lei Ann, I have something here. You could wear this for your son... for his birthday."

"Really? When was Lian's birthday?" She is so drunk, she had forgotten. Still, she opened the box.

"Soon! Just please... take this, and wear—"

"Ohhh! Pretty!" Lei Ann exclaimed, suddenly standing up and twirling in the room with the dress in her hands, making the album and box fall. Velomina picked up the album, making sure the pages aren't damaged.

"Lei Ann, you should be more careful—" by the time Velomina looked up, Lei Ann was undressing herself. She immediately didn't know where to look, suddenly finding a random pencil on the table the most interesting. Her fluster overpowered her Dior blush. "Uhm—!! Lei Ann, have a little decorum!"

"Just a moment! Hehe..."

The Lady dare not look at the bare breasts on full display, until Lei finally pulled the dress over her chest. Velomina could finally look, and once she did, she can never look away...

Lei Ann was beautifully draped in a white gown that cascaded fluidly down the body like silk or chiffon.

With sheer fabric and soft, Grecian-style folds.

As if she was a model for Aphrodite herself, the bare back and over-the-shoulder train made an illusion of height.

Her hair was undone, messy, yet made her look like a goddess that stepped out of a painting.

It was still unzipped, so Velomina slowly stepped towards her as if she was a bird that would fly away at the slightest disturbance.

"Let me..." she offered, her fingers brushing against Lei's skin as she zipped the side of her dress. Lei's eyes were all on herself in Lian's full-body mirror.

"It's beautiful..." Lei swayed side to side, both women staring at her reflection. Velomina wasn't as tall anymore because she is barefoot, but she is still taller than Lei Ann.

She got so preoccupied with her new dress that she didn't hear Velomina say, "If only I didn't push you away.

.. I could've seen you happy in prettier dresses than this.

I could've given you everything you deserved, I could've given you everything, even myself.

But when I lost you, I felt as if I lost everything, even myself. "

Velomina had exited the room quietly, leaving Lei Ann alone with her happiness.

Lei Ann... please meet me outside of your dreams. I will take care of you, and the child meant to be ours, Velomina picked up her shoes from downstairs and was about to leave, but Lei Ann called out for her from the stairs.

"Mina?" She was confused, still wearing the beautiful dress, but even it could not overpower her beauty. "Where are you going? Did you not like the dress?"

"No, I liked it..." Velomina forced a smile, "I just hope I get to dance with you in it..."

"Hehe, why not?!" Lei Ann almost stumbled trying to get down the stairs, only to run towards a shocked Velomina whose hands are being pulled towards the living room. "Dance with me, Mina!"

This time, it isn't delusion. She took Lei Ann's waist and waltz around the small living room with her, much to Lei's delight.

"Haha! You can still dance, Mina?!" She squealed happily.

"Of course I do, silly girl..." Velomina spins her around until Lei Ann lands back in her arms, where she had always belonged. Her body warm, her smile heavenly.

She was as beautiful as the day Velomina fell for her... as beautiful as the day she fell. Their dance slowed passionately, until Velomina is just holding her in the middle of her living room.

"You never aged, LeiLei. You're just as beautiful... untouched, pure."

She looked up at Velomina with drunken, tearful eyes. "Of course, Mina..."

Velomina's smile dropped, her eyes expecting more words. Her brain, knowing better than to fool this drunk woman. She still thinks it's a dream. I treated her horribly... then murdered her. Now I'm holding her while pretending I'm a dream.

"I..." Velomina teared up, making Lei Ann wonder why she's suddenly sad. She even reached up to touch the Lady on her cheek, and she nuzzles against it. "I... I haven't changed, Lei Ann. I took advantage of my position as Mistress back then, and now I'm taking advantage of you being drunk."

"Mina?"

"Lei, I haven't changed. I still want you so much, I still want you to be mine despite everything I did. You were right to leave. You were right to escape, you were right to hide. I don't deserve you, and you definitely don't deserve to be tormented by me. I'm sorry I—I need to leave..."

Velomina tore herself away from a confused Lei, grabbed her shoes and was about to run away. But...

"You speak as if..." Lei's sad cracking voice halted her from leaving. It suspended the two broken pieces of Velomina's heart. "... as if I never loved you. As if... all those kisses were stolen, forced. D-did I not love you enough to give them to you willingly?"

Velomina turned around, watching Lei Ann's tears pool in her eyes. Like a goddess weeping, her voice could wither the flowers Velomina tried so hard to grow.

"I'm happy I could see you in my dreams," Lei Ann said, "I don't mind being taken advantage in my dreams. I get to see you kind, forgiving, loving me again. I wish you could stay... and maybe I'll have the courage to meet you when I wake up."