Page 40 of TAINTED by TWINS

With a numbed leg, an exposed scar, sleek dark wooden cane, he stood in front of his mother's open casket which was wrapped in vines and live roses surrounding her resting body.

Velomina was standing there humming a lullaby at her, arranging the roses.

After the burial, the Lady will be taken into house arrest awaiting trial for attempted murder.

"You know she used to look at me with the most beautiful smile as she laid on the grass and I surround her with roses just like this.

I would scold her if she dare moves and she'd give me the brattiest pout.

" Velomina sighs, "She never really grew up, she's still a little brat.

And you act nothing like her, thank god. "

Lian chuckles in the slightest and hugged her with one arm. "Thank you for loving my mother. I can tell she was the happiest when your innocent love was all you had. I'm sorry I couldn't be the son you wanted."

Velomina turns to him, "My dear, you're already my son, even if Lei Ann has hidden you. I am honored to be your mother—you don't need to associate with my twins, I prefer you become my adopted son instead of son-in-law, I say we ship them to Ethiopia—"

"Mother," Jonah appears behind her, making Velomina awkwardly stop and turn around. Lian was smiling in amusement as Jonah held out his hand. "Let's not assume Ethiopia isn't a paradise, because everywhere Lian is, will be heaven."

"He won't be coming with you," Velomina says with her head held high.

"He chose to stay with us, and he will choose to come with us," Jonah respectfully counters.

Velomina nudges Lian, "It's not too late my love, there are plenty of other men—"

Jonah cuts her off with a smile, "Mother, your lawyer needs you to be present in adjusting the court dates. Let's not pretend you didn't try to kill someone. Twice."

"Rude..." Velomina mutters, "So you did take after me..."

Lian can't help but hold in a laugh now as he says, "Don't worry mother, it's either the case will be dropped, or you'll be in house arrest."

"I am not worried about that, money will always serve my time," Velomina held her head high as she takes Jonah's hand. But he didn't leave yet, and instead leaned in to take Lian's hand and kisses it intimately.

Her voice fades as they exit.

I still have family, Lian thinks, So my mother did leave me with something. She left me her heart, her charm... her eyes. My own family.

Lian turns to his mother and laid a hand on her casket, silent for a few minutes until he was no longer alone. He smiled, expecting Jade to be by his side just like he always has. He can feel Jade's presence...

But it wasn't him. It was a man with similar dark hair, neat facial hair with eyes similar to Lian's. A copy and paste, Khalid Deveroux. Lian's heart suddenly felt rigid.

"Even while resting, she's still as beautiful as ever." His father turned to him, lifting a hand to refer to Lian's own beauty. "I am blessed that you inherited such looks."

Lian took a calm breath.

"Is it really a blessing when I've been taken advantage of because of this beauty?

" Lian confidently spoke, "People tend to pluck the prettiest flowers and leave them to wilt in a vase.

My mother was a flower, was she not? She was plucked for her beauty, so I do not believe I was blessed for having her looks. "

"Nonesense. You are a lucky man. People destroy themselves just to look like you, Lian. But... I understand where you're coming from. That's why you have to stay strong, yes?"

I have to stay strong. Liam lifted his head and took a deep breath. I remember who I was. And I had to suffer for who I am now. Whether or not I'm still Lian Miller, I'm not letting anyone step on either versions of me.

"You wouldn't do such a thing as destroying a beautiful flower, would you father? You only want the best for me, you aren't like them," Lian says with a ghost of a smile. Make him feel inferior.

Khalid was deep in thought. "Nobody is like me, I am like nobody. That is the difference between us, and ordinary people."

Make him come up with the answer on his own.

"You're right. I'm not ordinary," Lian turns to him, "I doubt I'm blessed with beauty, but I'm truly blessed to be your son. I can only hope I am worthy to be your heir."

"You are worthy, you are all I could ask for," Khalid pats him on the back, holding back a cough until he covers his mouth with a fist to release one. "Well... such a shame you've gotten that ugly scar, we should have it removed."

Be a threat.

"Everyone should see this scar, so they'll know my climb to power was not a walk in the park," Lian lifts his hand to touch his eye, "It took blood, sweat, and tears to get this far. I want everyone to look at it, and see how I'll do anything to sit in that position.

"Spoken like a true Deveroux," Khalid smiles, before covering his mouth to cough. After clearing his throat, he took a binder and laid it on the casket. "I don't have a doubt you will carry my legacy. You saved my life, Lian. I expect no less from a deserving son."

The contract. "Father..."

"As the new CEO of Maison du Rouge, I trust that you have more self control. Your mother had always chosen the bottle instead of you, and she chose death without regards to her own son. I trust that you'll make better decisions."

Lian's eyes snap to him with a lingering gaze. My mother hasn't been drinking since Lady Velomina reunited with her. Why would she drink again, and how could you know she was intoxicated with alcohol?

Lady Velomina... wanted to kill Khalid Deveroux because he drove my mother to death.

My mother... did not kill herself.

"I know what I want," Lian says, staring straight into his eyes with murderous intent, so deep it was itching his very core. Both versions of himself, Lian Miller and Lian Deveroux, want the same thing. "... and I want to be exactly like you, father."

Khalid Deveroux wanted to stay, but his cough was getting worse.

He turned to leave, entrusting his entire empire to his only son, Lian Deveroux.

The new CEO could barely even look at that leather binder embossed by the Maison du rouge crest. But when he did, he noticed the blood on the edge of the binder, coming from Khalid's coughing.

"I know who I am now..." he whispers to the casket before opening the leather binder, finding the signature from none other than Khalid Deveroux. "I am Lian. Always was, never once."

Jade was helping Lian out of the car with a proud smile. "Look at you, a flawed perfection. Perfectly human. You didn't even cry."

"Crying won't bring her back," Lian says.

"I'm so proud of you, and I'm sure Miss Lei Ann is, too," Jade kisses his head.

"I'll make her so proud, she'll hear screams from hell to heaven." Lian smiled after never even crying at his mother's burial as he got everything he wanted. Everything he wanted to give her, he has in his hands. Maison du Rouge, and soon... revenge.

Jade seemed to frown. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Don't doubt him, brother," Jonah lays a hand on his shoulder, "You are talking to one of the most powerful man on earth, he knows what he wants. Now let's get this powerhouse to the office."

Lian has memorized this house all too well. He can't help but say, "I was merely a tutor the first time I came here. Now you're saying I own everything..."

"Because it is yours," Jonah says, tone a bite more positive, "As I am, the same as Jade."

Lian scoffs at the statement, "I'm not like you. I don't own people..."

"You own our hearts, what is the difference?" Jonah pauses to give him a full financial report of his financial wealth. "I wasn't lying when I said I'd give you the world, Lian."

"What this?" He read is as they walked through the halls. "Maison du Rouge's net worth is 281 billion?! 27 offshore accounts with 167 billion, and I have 16 billion in undisclosed assets?! Why aren't the Deverouxs in the list of richest people in the planet?!"

"Taxes, darling..." Jonah happily says, "If the government knows how much you really earn, they'll take most of it."

"So we're not paying taxes?!" Lian is even more horrified.

"Who are the Levoughs?"

Jonah answered, "A family friend. Wealth so illegal, they don't even exist in the systems. They make us look upper middle class."

"All I heard is that Maison du Rouge is worth 13 billion," Lian says, the three of them finally arriving to Khalid Deveroux's office, now entirely belonging to Lian.

Jade snorted, "Pennies. Our mother wouldn't gift you a 100 million dollar necklace if we only had 13 billion."

"You protect it," Jonah opens the door, "You know how, right?"

"Give him a break Jonah, he just buried his mother and now you're giving him paperwork," Jade rolls his eyes.

"I handle the paperwork, he just has to sign and look pretty." Jonah winks to his brother, "And he always looks pretty, so just keep his hand working."

"Pervert." Jade takes Lian's hand and gently places it against his lips. "Whatever you do, we're here. For you. All for you, Lian."

"I..." is this really what I want? Lian entered the strange room, gold and wood decorating the place and none of it cheap. All of this... and hundreds of billions... is mine? "I'll need some time alone. Can you boys give me a moment, please?"

"Sure, darling." / "Are you sure sweetheart?"

Lian stands on his toes to kiss Jade, then turns to kiss Jonah. "I am fine. I need to clear my head."

Jade is worried about him, while Jonah knows he's putting up a face so thick, the tears won't bleed through. Still, they left him to be alone with his thoughts.

Once he was alone in the office, he looked around at everything he now owns.

12k USD Owl sculpture, 160k USD painting, and lord known what that golden egg in the corner of the room costs.

The desk was empty of papers, but there is one eagle paperweight made of heavy solid gold.

There was a beautiful vase decorated with the darkest red roses, as it had become the signature flower of this household.

Lian walks to the egg and picks it up, finding it as heavy as real gold, but not solid. "Pretty... you're mine now. Everything is... everything... belongs to me."

He smiles, before turning around to punt it right into the giant portrait of Khalid Deveroux, the egg shattering on the shattered glass. A breath of freedom engulfed him, as if he had just woken up from a lovely dream disguised as a nightmare.

"You too, I own you." He took the owl sculpture and threw it against a Chinese porcelain vase, breaking the thing and making Lian laugh.

He took the paperweight and threw it against a cabinet full of awards and plaques.

Walking over the glass filled carpet, he took each and every award and slams it on the carpeted floor, breaking it.

"Ahahaha!" He knocked over a tall column with the sculpted bust of Khalid Deveroux, and though the bronze statue didn't shatter, it did a good job breaking a cabinet full of overpriced decorative things. "HAHAHAHAHA!"

Smash! Crash! Breaking of glass...

But the bronze statue of his father remained intact.

"..." His amusement turned to anger at the bronze statue couldn't be destroyed. "Why won't you die?"

So he placed it on the carpet before walking over to the paintings. "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED FROM ME?!"

All of it, he tore off the walls. Potted plants, he slams against the carpet.

Everything in the desk, all gathered on the carpet.

He pulled off the American flag and threw it onto the carpet.

Lastly, he pulled out all papers from the desk—were they important?

Doesn't matter. Even the most important people get hurt, get torn.

Everything... except those red roses. Lian walked over to the desk and found cigars with, of course, a lighter. He pulled out 12 bottles of collectors' whiskey and slams it against the pile of destroyed rubble, all expensive, all brand new.

No wonder the rich spend extreme amounts of money on the most dumbest things. At the end of the day, they're still useless. Piles of trash on my feet.

He lit up the whiskey, burned the papers, and within one minute a giant fire erupted that triggered the sprinklers and fire alarm.

It lit up the scar on his face, making the single tear glisten as it fell.

Behind the fire was the rose bush, and in front of it was Lian crying his eyes out, finally mourning his mother properly.

"FUCK YOU!" He screams to the fire, "I didn't need to be someone else to be strong—I lasted this long, I'm still alive, it doesn't matter who I've become, I AM STILL HERE."

"Lian! Open the door!"

He couldn't hear Jonah outside, or the staff trying to break down the door. This was it, the chance for him to fall to his knees and scream his heart out, a sound drowned by the crackling flames and the breaking of his heart.

"Mom... Mommy," he kneels and cries toward the roses, "Mommy I still need you. I feel lost. I feel horrible. But I'll still stand... even if they're watching me, even if I'm being controlled. Those people watching me suffer... the one who took you away from me... the ones who tainted me..."

He cries, he yelled, he hyperventilated, he slams his fist against his chest again and again trying to break through the bones and end his pain. The smoke was filling the room and Lian was unresponsive to Jonah's call.

Finally, Jade's foot broke through the highest quality of wood, tearing the locks to bust door open.

All Lian could watch as the fire, even though the twins are pulling him out of the smoking room.

Maids and staff rush in with fire extinguishers, while Jade holds him in his arms. Jonah is trying to resuscitate him, but Lian had already lost consciousness.