Page 37 of TAINTED by TWINS

:) Would you like to know what 2:49 from Charli XCX's party 4 u feels like?

Knock knock. "Mina!" She opened it eagerly, only to stand face to face with a charming Khalid Deveroux with his cane and a sophisticated shopping bag. She gasps, frozen on the spot.

The moment she looked down and tried slamming the door close, he calmly blocked it with his cane. "Now don't be rude, Lei Ann. Is this how you greet an old lover?"

She is frozen, unable to speak, barely breathing. She backed away, holding back her fearful tears.

"Wow... you look untouched by time, beautiful after all these years," he reached for her face, but she turned away, tears in her eyes. "Don't act like you didn't expect me. Staying in a hotel two nights in a row, you are simply waiting for me, my darling."

"Don't touch me—" she slaps his hand away, but he grabs her arm and pulls her to the suite's living room where she is forced to sit down.

"I simply want to talk about our son's future. Don't you want to listen?" He says, sitting down himself and when Lei Ann tried to run, he blocked her legs with his cane threateningly.

Her fear was what caused her to blurt out: "I know what you do, you twist minds! I won't listen to anything you have to say!"

"Then would you listen to your own son?" He pulls out an old school tape recorder and pressed play to reveal their private conversation.

"Would you like to have dinner with her?" Khalid's voice came from the tape.

"I'm busy trying to run Maison du Rouge." Lian's voice made Lei Ann cover her own mouth and sob. "I don't need distractions, father. I barely have dinner with you, let alone her."

"You can tell her that yourself. It saves her the effort."

"Oh. What a good idea... I wouldn't want to bother her, though—" Khalid stops the tape, presenting a sophisticated bag on the table between them. "I have brought a gift; a rare Rouge bottle, a one of a kind. Drink with me?"

"..." ever since being with Velomina... I have forgotten what wine tasted like. The real world is more colorful with her, and without that.

"I suppose that's a rude no. Well, excuse me, I'll be having a drink of my own," He poured the wine right in front of a trembling Lei Ann, who refused to look at the glistening blood red of the alcohol.

He held the wine glass by the stem, smelling the aroma of his own power.

"Mmm... 14,000 USD a bottle. I recall having sold one at an auction for 210,000.

.. the rarer it is, the more sought after by the elite.

Wasn't that your beauty once upon a time, hmm? "

"What d-do you want..." Lei Ann whispered, never daring to look at him.

"I thought the phone call could be enough, but Velomina still came to try and kidnap him to bring him here. However, my wonderful son wouldn't go with her, because he knew of his responsibilities and he knew he wouldn't have a future if he stays with you."

Lei Ann couldn't even look at him... or herself.

"I support you and Velomina's relationship. I've always did, didn't I?" Khalid casually says, "Unfortunately, if she leaves my household I will have no choice but to clean up loose ends."

"N-no..." Lei Ann quietly cries, "Master, please..."

"Velomina chose you," Khalid smiles at her, "And if she leaves, I'll kill her."

She finally looked at him, eyes glistening with tears which made Khalid sigh in admiration.

"You don't think I'm serious? Oh come on... the woman who almost killed my heir on the stairs, gave me twins to raise which aren't my own, and helped in hiding my son from me... now hiding you. Did you really think she'll get out of this alive?"

"I..." Lei Ann wants to speak. "Master, please. I love her. I love Mina, I always have... I... if it weren't for me she'd..."

Khalid leans in daringly. "And now because of you, she'll die. I have no use for her. I already got my heir. Now... do your son a favor and disappear like you did years ago. He is fine without you. He was never even fine with you."

The man laid the wine glass on the table before standing up. With a gentlemanly bow, he stepped out of the living room, leaving Lei Ann to sit in silence. But he turned towards the base of bloody red flowers and pulled one of them to admire.

"I thought I could come here to kill you. But I could never turn a beautiful woman into an ugly corpse. It's best for you to stay alive and watch as these roses wither." With that, he threw the rose toward her and walked out of the room.

"..." Lei Ann breathes in,

The young woman who brought Lady Deveroux apologized, "S-sorry sir, but she's really—"

"Ugly and rude, I know—don't intimidate my girls, mom. Excuse me gentlemen, I believe we're done here, Kayla will escort you out." Jade stood up to pull his mother into a private office. "What are you thinking coming here? What if you get followed?"

"I need to talk to Lian. Not through the phone, but in person. If you can't arrange it, Jonah can."

Jade sighed frustratedly, "You can join the gala tomorrow. As a Deveroux, you have automatic entry. Unless you took off father's name after the divorce?"

"He's the one that doesn't want me to take it off, so I'm gonna use the hell out of it. Could you be less of a grouch and call Jonah for me?"

"He's in a meeting," Jade checked his phone to show her that Jonah and Lian are busy, only to find a text that horrified him. "... and Lian is in the hospital."

"That's enough, you've been beating yourself up ever since we arrived... Jade is on his way," Jonah calmly says. He looks at Lian who has a bandage across his head, covering his eye specifically. He was cut, and it needed a few stitches. "Are you gonna be okay with a little scar?"

Jonah didn't want him to feel guilty. "Save your sorrows for after the gala, Lian. You shouldn't worry about anything. I will handle the police, it's a simple case of self defense. You killed the Petrovna heir, but their family is not as powerful as the Deveroux."

Lian looks at him in disbelief. "How could you be so—"

"Heartless?" Jonah cuts him off, "If I was full of heart Lian, I would've lost you to Uncle Chris long ago. I focus, I push my emotions away to accomplish objectives. Father is the same as I, and if you want to be CEO you're gonna have to control your own emotions as well."

"I thought after Khalid dies, we are finally free to be ourselves, why should I have to...?" Lian recognized... the cage. "What if... I don't want to be like you?"

"The world is cruel, to survive you must be like us. Look at what happened to you... extorted, taken advantage of, beaten down. You want to be stronger Lian, you said so yourself you don't want to be a doormat. Make up your mind."

Just then, Jade came to the hospital with Lady Deveroux. "Lian! My boy!"

The woman immediately rushed to his side and inspected the damage. Lian looked at her lost, confused, and Velomina cried in concern at her little boy, hugging him.

"Are you hurt? Are you blind? Did Jade touch you inappropriately, tell me?!" She inspected all of him.

"Jeez, he's gonna stink like Chanel No. 5..." Jade grumbles, before noticing the tension between Lian and Jonah. "What happened?"

"It was a mere assassination attempt by our good friend Sasha Petrovna," Jonah answered. "No worries, he's dead. Not in the way I planned, but we got rid of him nonetheless. I just didn't think he'd try to drag Lian along."

"Lian is hurt, but it's good because your target is dead?" Jade whispers to him, before looking at Lian, still being coddled by Lady Velomina. "You're unbelievable, Jonah..."

Jade made his way to Lian and held his hand, kissing it. Velomina was still taking him all for herself when she noticed Jade's hand and immediately swatted it away. I do not approve, Jade!

"What did you want to talk to him about, mother?" He asks.

Velomina doesn't want to hurt him anymore than he is right now, but... "Your mother, my love. She said you didn't want to see him. You didn't mean that, did you?"

Lian teared up even more, shaking his head while holding her hand. He wants his mother, he wants her even more now.

That made Velomina smile, "I knew it. Khalid made you say those nasty stuff."

"The gala's tomorrow night in the original vineyard. He'll name me the CEO. A-after that, my mother will live with me," he says. "You should bring her to Austria—Jonah, we have a house in Austria, right? Already under my name, not to be inherited?"

"Yes, it is yours..." Jonah confirmed, "You want me to arrange a flight to Austria for your mother?"

"We will meet her there. After the gala, I will fly to meet my mother in Austria. Mother," Lian tells Velomina, "Bring her safely there. Please, mother. I will stay with her there, she'll like it. There's a huge garden with a vineyard, I can work from there."

She has a big smile on her face, holding his hand against her cheek. "We'll be there. Ohh... she'll be so happy."

"I'm happy you're here, mother," he says, snuggling against her hand. "I've been feeling so lost lately. I don't know what to do, I don't know who I am. I thought I already knew, but..."

"You've known who you are, you are Lian Deveroux.

.." Velomina whispers to him, trying to keep it private from her sons who can still hear her.

"You are the young Lian Deveroux, still young!

At your age I was still figuring out if I liked men or women.

My love, it's okay to not have everything figured out.

.. you just have to get through challenges without forgetting who you were before. That's all that matters."

"What matters..." Lian thinks, What matters is...

"The gala," Jonah says, and this time Jade can't disagree.

The dark haired twin lifts Lian's hand to his lips, "After the gala, everything will change. You will have the world."

Jade's mouth hung low in disbelief, "Mom, you're such a polka dotted cow—"

Velomina walks past him but not before grabbing her son's collar and threatening, "I've seen those eyes you were giving him—you're giving him nothing else but peace and space."

"I—" Jade was about to air their dirty little secret, but Lian glared for him to shut up. Jonah is just holding his laugh, waiting for his mom to pass through the door. So Jade just kissed Lian, "I'll be back. With my hands all over you, and we'll film it for the bejeweled barnacle to see..."

"Jade..." Lian rolls only one of his eyes, but admit to being cheered up by their visit. When she left, Lian looks at Jonah after a massive breath taken. "I'm gonna be Maison du Rouge's CEO. And nothing's stopping me from getting that position. All for my mother... and also for me."

"I never bough you this car, did you buy this yourself?" Velomina asked.

"I bought this for my girls... so they can be picked up and brought home safe instead of those slimy Ubers," Jade mumbles, referring to Nightingale dancers. Velomina gave him a look and Jade had to tell her, "It's fully paid, I did not take any loans, geez."

"You really did take care of Nightingale, huh..." Velomina nods, a proud smile on her face that Jade cringes at.

"The hell you smiling at? Creepy woman..."

"What, I'm not allowed to be proud of my successful son?" Velomina pulls up a cigarette to light it, but Jade rudely snatches the lighter away.

"No smoking in the car, you'll make it stink," Jade says, "It's funny how you're so proud of me now but you used to call me an unruly thug when I started managing this club."

"Drugs and women are a very shameful business, you are profiting off their bodies," Velomina says, before looking around the car. "But I can see you take care of your girls. And you accomplished a lot, Jade. I see all of them... even though I don't approve for some."

"Not as good as Jonah... he's gonna be Valedictorian."

Velomina speaks up, "Lian told me you think I'd choose Jonah over you at any given moment. Is that true?"

"Why would that be a question," Jade scoffed, "You only look at him when we talk about family business. It was all Jonah when it comes to family business. It was Jonah who was your perfect little boy. You just tell me to play outside and leave him alone."

"Jade..." Velomina took his hand, engulfing the heavily ringed digits with her own.

"You get to play outside. Jonah didn't. You get to do anything you want; Jonah couldn't. I thought I had given you the freedom I couldn't give your brother.

I was worried at the tattooed and pierced gorilla you turned out to be, but I am still very proud of you. "

"..." Jade just looked at their hands together.

"Please forgive mommy about her neglect.

I had thought leaving you alone was for the best, I thought it was what you wanted.

But I couldn't even watch the two of you properly.

I raised Jonah as an heir, barely my son.

You two grew up the same when it comes to my attention. I've never regretted anything so much."

Velomina recognizes the humor he's using to cope.

She moves closer toward her son, "From now on, I'll be here for you both.

I'll make it up to you—we'll have fun in Austrian!

Whatever the hell you call me, I'll always be your mommy.

And you'll always be my... weird-tattooed and pierced little gorilla. Hmm?"

"Disgusting," Jade squirmed away from her when Velomina tried to hug him. "Geez, what did Auntie Lei do to you? She changed you so much."

"It's love, my love," she sighed dreamily, a bit successful in hugging him although he's a still trying to tear her off. "When you find someone you love—that isn't my precious Lian—you will know how it feels."

"Uhm... mom..." Jade knows exactly how to make her pull away from the hug. He slowly and comprehensively tells her...

"WHAT." She tore away from him so fast and slapped his arm. "I FORBID IT—"

"JAYDEN JOHN DEVEROUX!" Velomina shrieked, "You cannot be serious!

He is pure, he is innocent, he is a proper CEO!

You are a night club pimp who is involved in the mafia drug trade!

Tainting a good young man like that—I bet you were the one that turned him gay, good lord Jesus.

He should've been gay for someone like a Christian Louboutin, an Yves Saint Laurent, not a Pablo Escobar! "

"Him, innocent? Tell that to—"

"You will not be telling anyone!" Velomina shushed him. "Good lord, Jade... of all people, it has to be. God, I hope Jonah picks a better lover."

"Yep-puh."

"Do not compare your disgusting love affair with my lovely Lei Ann and I!

" The mere mention of her name calmed down Velomina.

"I know a thing or two about secret love affairs.

They always get found out, they sometimes end up bad.

But if you push through it, fight for your love. .. you'll end up back together."

"24 years, huh..." Jade mentioned how long Velomina and Lei Ann were apart. "No wonder you went asylum-insane. I wonder if we'll be the same with Lian."

"Those two are a troublesome pair..." Velomina joked, "Always driving people mad with their beauty, driving us into a dangerous pit when in love.

It's not just her beauty, too... it's her heart.

Her eyes. How she's always looking at everything with a sparkling innocence.

She's kind, and cares about people more than she thinks. "

"Is it true she stopped you from committing suicide?" He said, "I heard from the maids. When I was 12."

"I'm sorry, my love..." Velomina apologized, "But yes, I wouldn't be here if she didn't cut the thing around my neck. I owe my life to her. She owns my heart, even if she didn't want mine."

"Huh..." Jade thought about it. Has he always been okay with being owned by Lian, even when Jade doesn't own his heart? "You surrendered yourself to her, huh."

"That's true love. Lust is when you pluck the flowers, love is when you use your corpse to fertilize the soil they're growing on."

"Mom, you're being weird again," Jade sighs at her, but Velomina giggles because it's true. Both of them knew what it's like to truly fall in love.

"And if you love Lian enough to do the latter..." she sighed, "Then I'll be fine with your disgusting affair. As long as you take care of him."

"I'm not spending the night, I have mafia representatives to take care of in Nightingale. After that, I'll watch over Lian and make sure he isn't being psychologically tortured by the son you dropped as a baby."

"That was you honey, you fell off the bed while you practiced sitting up," Velomina sighed, "Fine. Go do your business. Pick us up first thing in the morning—9am sharp, after hotel breakfast—for Austria. Love you, honey."

"I prefer you cold and mean, this is weird." Jade shuts the windows and the car goes away.

Meanwhile, Velomina rushed up the elevator to tell her lover the good news. Lian will be living with them to Austria!

"Lei, I have good news! We have to pack, we're going to Austria and your son will meet us there, you can finally see him—!" it was then she realized the hotel room was now empty.

Two fallen chairs, four bottles of wine, nine flowers scattered on the floor. Velomina's wide eyes are stuck on the air, unable to move as if paralyzed and trying to wake up from a living nightmare. She can't even blink, the air is drying out her eyes but her tears took care of them.

It has to be a dream, right? Oh, if only they remained a dream. If only everything was a dream...

"Lei Ann?" With trembling hands, she reached up to touch a still white dress. "... please wake up."

"Velomina... please wake up, don't die! Mina... Mina?"

"D-don't die... Lei... Lei Ann?" Velomian's heart seemed to stop beating when there was no other that breathed air in the room. She hugged the hanging dress and cried against her legs.

"Don't leave me, please..." She begged in a voice that could only come from a broken heart, "Why would you do that to yourself...? Why would you hurt yourself... there are people that love you—I love you. You're the reason I'm alive and you just..."

"L-Lei..." Velomina looked up at her, sobbing her eyes out.

The mistress stood on the stool she jumped off of and held her face, forever frozen in the beauty she last breathed from.

"Lei... please wake up."

The hotel room was empty except from a pained scream of a woman who just lost everything—Lei Ann was her everything.

Nothing else mattered, not status, not her name, not even her own life.

.. and yet her purpose hung there lifeless.

If only I had stayed as dream. If only we didn't meet in reality...

It was the hotel staff who heard the agonized scream that called the cops—and when they arrived, they witnessed Lady Velomina on the floor hugging a cold corpse as if trying to warm her up.

Her body was rocking back and forth, trying to comfort Lei Ann and shield her from the pains of the world.

Or to comfort herself, using the body to shield herself from the pain.

"Ma'am..." she didn't hear them. It hurts so much, imagining what Lei Ann could've gone through on her last moments.

Did she feel alone? Did she feel unloved?

Did she feel as if everyone she loved left her? All her life, she wanted nothing but peace and Velomina couldn't even give her that.

Velomina sobs while embracing Lei Ann her choked gaze landing on a rare Rouge bottle on the ground, "I will make it up to you... my love, wait for me, for one more day... I will..."

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