CHAPTER TWELVE

MALIA STARED INTO THE nothingness the house was surrounded with. The house and she were so similar in so many aspects, both empty, both blank and both yearning for the return of the youngest owner. Having not left her daughter's room in weeks had left her detached from reality.  However, she did not mind, for what good was a reality if her daughter was not alive and breathing. Instead, her mind, numb from thinking about her actions in the past decided it was best to shut down. She watched as her hand aimlessly floated in the air, with no response from the brain. It was as if everything had a delayed response in her body. Having skipped meals and neglecting water, or any form of betterment had locked her in a closet of constant guilt and shame.

"Ms. Wilson," someone called out, but she did not look up.

Her eyes were focused on the popcorn ceiling above her, wondering how Venus slept peacefully in the same spot she was in months ago. She waited for the tears to come but they never did. The smell of fresh toast and eggs had alerted her mind, and in an instant, her stomach grumbled aching for one bite of food. Malia wondered if she deserved food. What mother deserves to eat when they're the reason for their child's death? She heard the hushed commands from servant to servant, before the scent of the food her body craved disappeared the second the door shut.

Once again she was left alone, again and again, how many more times could she survive being left alone?

"I miss you," she whispered out, begging for the tears to come so that she could allow her shoulders to relax.

Ever since she buried her daughter it was as if she had stopped knowing how to breathe. Each time she inhaled it was never enough as if she were drowning in her own sins and shortcomings. Her gaze drifted from the ceiling to the wall where there were stains on the pure white wall. Her eyes shut instinctively trying to imagine the party, trying to imagine her daughter getting dressed for her annual Halloween party. At the thought of Venus dressing herself Malia's eyes jolted open, her hands clenched then unclenched the fabric on her body that seemed to be suffocating her rather than protecting her nude body. 

An ear-piercing scream rang throughout the room before reaching her ears once again forcing her to cover them with her cold and dainty hands. Her ragged breaths became more frequent as the unfamiliar stinging in her eyes failed to allow her to see clearly. Her eyes bounced from corner to corner as she got up on her knees looking around the blank wall, searching desperately for the one thing. To her dismay, there was nothing but blank walls, her past words ringing clear in her mind.

"Venus, you dare not put anything up on my walls, you get your own damn place and trash it however you like, but this is my house and you will follow my rules!"

"Why, why, why?" Malia's vocal cords were burned out at this point, her throat aching to the point where it was ready to fail her once she opened her mouth to talk.

Although, that did not stop her from letting out another frustrated scream. Her hands once again rose, but not to cover her ears from the sudden sound of her voice that had been absent for days on end, but to claw at the skin that seemed to confine her in a body she was suffocating in. Her sharp nails dug deep into her skin, forcing her to let out another scream except in response to the pain she was inflicting on herself. The pain she felt didn't alert her body to stop, you're hurting yourself, her body screamed but her mind finished the thought, good, a mother like you is a stain on motherhood.

"Ms. Wilson!" Multiple voices yelled in shock as unknown hands held her hands away from clawing out her own eyes that were forced to wake up to see yet another day where she couldn't see her daughter roll her eyes at her.

The same hands that stopped her from wanting to cover her ears forever because she could not hear her daughter's voice again.

"Let me go!" Her voice was that not of a human, it was the voice of someone that lost everything they thought they couldn't lose.

Malia Wilson was no longer a human, she was a ghost that wandered this planet longing for her daughter.

"I can't..." Was all she managed out over the voices that yelled above her.

All Malia could make out in her dazed state was that she was bleeding, perhaps that was what the metallic taste in her mouth was. Once they had successfully pinned her down she was forced to look at the ceiling once again. They talked around her in a hushed tone but Malia could not decipher a word, her mind only was capable of thinking one thing. One thing she tried so hard to voice, desperate for help. Her ego shriveled inside her, dying by the minute as it watched the once powerful business tycoon succumb to a casualty. Malia Wilson was no warrior, she was just a sheep in wolfs clothing.

"—My baby," it burned to talk, making her wonder if they could even hear her but she continued. "I don't know what she looks like," finally, the one thing she was waiting for had arrived. "What type of mother doesn't remember what her child looks like?"

One teardrop, two, and soon the tides of tears her body had refused to shed due to her ego controlling her were released. She was free. But did she want to be free?

"Ms. Wilson," the unnamed woman's tone was thick with pity and sympathy which made her skin crawl, her ego burned within her and Malia felt each and every bit, letting out a pained cry.

"Give me my baby back please," Malia begged, if she could she would interlace her fingers and fall to the ground ready to bow to whoever would bring her child back.

" — Ma'am, there's someone here for Ms. Wilson,"

"Can't you see she can't meet with anyone today," the woman hissed her grip on Malia dared not loosen afraid her boss would surely gouge out her eyes that were now adorned by scratch marks.

"He said — Sir!"

"Malia," a familiar voice said, and she couldn't help but snap out of her trance.

"You care more about your fucking drugs than you do about your own damn child!"

It didn't take long for the blood rushing through her body to begin to boil, as she struggled to be held down, refusing to look weak in front of the very man who ruined her life. She shot one look at the woman who held her down and her wrists were released. That one look could kill thousands. She knew what it meant, I am Malia Wilson, go against me and you surely won't live happily. Malia rose from the bed and blinked exactly four times not sure if the person who was standing in front of her was really there or if it were a figment of her imagination. She looked him up and down. He looked different in a business suit, he looked respectable, someone she wouldn't mind having dinner with.

"Mommy, daddy's friend always touches me in weird places..."

"Get out," her voice held no emotions, it was her eyes that did the talking for her. Filled with rage and disgust as she looked at the devil in human skin.

"Malia, please," he said, trying to force out emotions but Malia was not her past self, she could see a phony from miles away.

"Don't you dare say my name," her words were filled with venom, wanting nothing more than to strangle him then and there.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat as an indication for the servants surrounded in the rooms to leave them be.

The servants looked over to Malia whose eyes were trained solely on the man that stood in her daughter's room. She felt disgusted, how dare he stand in the bedroom of the girl he neglected. Her gaze shot at the servant for a split second and just like that the room was empty besides a ghost and the devil.

"Get out of my house," she repeated, her voice once not wavering despite the constant burning in her vocal cords warning her.

"Drop the fucking act, babe, you don't have to act all high and mighty in front of me. Don't you remember where you came from?"

She watched as he pulled out the chair that was tucked under the dresser before settling on it. Watching him so easily sit on her daughter's things knowing exactly what he did to her  surely was enough for Malia to be alright with a murder charge.

"Are you mute now?" The once sincere tone the servants had fallen for was gone, but Malia was not surprised. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here right?"

"You ruined my Venus." This was not Malia talking anymore, this was a mother, and the man that sat across from her was the very person that destroyed the innocence of her child.

The tone in her voice shocked him, his eyebrows raised before a smirk appeared on his face. His dimples were hidden under his beard, but she knew that even the slightest smile was enough for them to be visible.

"Oh cut the crap, Malia, I didn't do shit,"

"You ruined my daughter." Her voice was stagnant as she watched him like a hawk.

The minute he broke away from her piercing gaze she pounced, yelling as she tried to wrap her hands around his neck trying to give him his punishment on behalf of her daughter who rested six feet below. It was as if she were on him holding him by the throat one moment and then on the ground the next holding onto her cheek as it ached from the force he had used to get her off of him. Her gaze remained on the ground as she tried to regain composure but he did not allow even that much decency. Instead, he grabbed her by her thin hair and forced her to look at him. His eyes wild and filled with fury, whereas hers were filled with determination and vengeance. The moment she tried to wriggle out of his grasp he tightening his hold around her, a gasp escaping her lips due to the force he used to hold her in place.

"Now you're going to listen to me, you crazy bitch," he spat, droplets of his saliva falling onto her cheek as she held back tears of frustration. "You don't get to act like the victim once she's not here to tell her side of the story, news flash, babe, we're both the fucking villains."

"Venus, why would your Dad's friend want you to sleep over, please, is this another way to get me to come back home? Venus, I'm trying to give myself  — you a better future."

"Mommy, please believe me."

"Venus, please I have a meeting, I'll call you later."

"Please take me away from Daddy, he's mean to me."

"Daddy is only doing what's best for you, Venus, he loves you."

"But he forces me to do things  —"

"Get away from me," Malia struggles in his grasp but he keeps her in place not allowing her to look anywhere but his eyes.

"You knew damn well what happened behind those closed doors," he continued aching for a reaction from her as he forced her to listen to him. "You still stayed with me, you want to know why?  — because you care more about fame and power than you do your own damn child, at least I fucking own it instead of acting like a good father. I'm Timothy fucking Wilson, I'm untouchable, that's why you never changed your name because you knew."

"Don't you dare talk about my Venus, you bastard," she screamed.

"My Venus this, my Venus that," he mocked. "Stop the grieving mother act, I see right through you."

Malia watched him at a loss of words. Was this really all just an act? Was she truly sorry? She looked at him and the second she saw his smirk she knew she had lost, once again, she had lost to him. He got the best of her, he got in her mind, he won. No matter how long she had been in the industry he was someone that was bigger than her, better than her, and more powerful than her. The second he loosened his grip on her she started to scurry away only to let out a surprised shriek when he wrapped his hand around her neck forcing her to look him in the eye, only centimeters apart from his lips. Tears filled in her eyes, not because of fear but due to the lack of oxygen. His smile only deepened until he finally flashed her his pearly white teeth  — the same smile she had fallen for decades ago.

"Now, Ms. Malia Green, shall we discuss Venus' life insurance? Perhaps that autopsy report you've been hiding from everyone?"

"Mommy, I'm bleeding down there."

"Down where, Venus?"

"Daddy's friend kept touching me there, and now it's bleeding, you said he could sleep over."

"Venus, I need you to call 911 okay? Where's Daddy?"

"Daddy won't wake up. Mommy? — no, let me talk to my mommy! — MOMMY!"

       What had started off as her being the predator ended with her being brought down to earth by the one man who ruined her from the core outwards. Sweat instinctively formed under her arms at the mention of Venus' autopsy report. Malia couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that her daughter had become one thing she despised the most, she couldn't let him know the sweet angel she called her daughter had stumbled down the path of drugs. Malia wasn't stupid, that autopsy report wasn't for him to review how his daughter died, it was blackmail.

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OH BOY!!! it's picking up guys hehe, of course the infamous father had to make an appearance! How did y'all like the chapter? i personally LOVE writing in Malia's pov bc her regret is so clear in her voice and actions, it truly hurts to write about her :( but part one of the novel is coming to an end, and part two is about to start i hope y'all are ready! i hope everyone is enjoying the novel as much as i enjoy writing it hehe! please remember to vote and comment any feedback or advice, this is a first draft and i'd really appreciate any sort of feedback!!