"What truth?" Fabian asks in confusion.

"The truth of my relationship...well with everyone..." Nina starts.

"It is true that I and Mara are daughters of Jerome but not Patricia. Juliana Martin. Ever heard of her?"

"The one with drug abuse?" Fabian blurts out but regrets it soon, "Sorry, I didn't...mean...it that way...."

"No, it's okay. That is what I have been hearing for the past 10 years. Sadly it isn't the truth. Hell, it's not even close to the truth." She looks down.

"We were happy in New York. I could see how miserable she was back here, but when Mara was about to be born, we went to New York. Mom met Robertto, a manager in a modeling agency and he helped us out a lot. But when Mara turned 6, we came back here. People said it was because mom was going through financial difficulties, but I don't think it was the truth. She came to meet someone here."

"I knew about a man named Jerome. Mom said he was the one who took me everywhere, took care of me like his own daughter. Little did I know, I literally was his daughter. That night, we were finally going to meet him...I mean he was officially going to get to be our 'father'. We waited for the whole night. It was raining heavily but we still had hope. We were cuddled up on the couch." She reminisces about those days.

"Sadly, mom couldn't wait any longer. She waited so many years to finally get her acceptance but the wait of few more hours was like hell for her. Yes, she was taking anti-depressants but not drugs. Yes, that night she did take a few more of those pills but that wasn't the reason why she died."

"I heard a loud crash from her room and told Mara to sit right there while I got up to go to mom. As I opened her door, I saw her lying on the floor, the pills scattered around her. I panicked and tried to wake her up. She groaned a bit. I failed to notice a hooded figure there but when I did, it was holding a baseball bat. My mom tried to wake up but the figure....she hit her. On her head."

"Mom fell down with another thud, blood oozing from her head. As a 13-year-old, I could not comprehend what I saw and fainted. The last thing I saw was the bat falling down and the tik tok of heels. You know those moments Fabian, where you forget what happened to you but not what you saw in front of you. I saw those heels. I remember them. Small black heels with lace belt. I specifically remember the sound they made."

"Next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital, Mara sleeping on the couch, and a lady staring at me. It was Patricia. She looked at me with pity. I saw Jerome too and lost my shit. I kept kicking, saying, 'Why didn't you come? You killed mom!' and Patricia pacified me. Somehow her fake affection had a great effect on me and I did calm down."

"After my discharge, we were taken to Italy. I still hadn't coped from the death of mom and the scenes of that night. But I had to be there for Mara. I was really thankful for Patricia for doing so much for us but I was wrong. So wrong."

FLASHBACK

"May I come in Nina?" Patricia asks knocking on her door.

"Yes, why not?" Nina keeps down her book. She only did three things in Italy. Take care of Mara, read books and wait for Patricia's visits. In a few weeks, she had shown them so much motherly affection. Whenever I asked her why she took us in, she always said she was a good friend of our mother and father. They were also seeing a counselor who would make them forget the incidents that happened. It kind of worked on Mara but for Nina, it was hard.

"Are you doing well here?" Patricia comes and sits beside her, caressing her hair. The sound of her heels was echoing through the silent room. Nina thought she has heard this before but couldn't really pinpoint where.

"Yes, all thanks to you." Nina replies shrugging her feeling. Why does she feel suspicious?

"I know it's a little too soon but can you tell me what you remember from that night?" Patricia asks her sweetly.

"I just remember mom lying on the floor... a hooded person...no no it was a woman...because...of the heels and then I fainted..."

"How are you so sure it was a woman? The person was hooded right?"

"But the heels..." Nina stopped. It struck her like a lightning. The sound of Patricia's heels! It was the same! She kept her silence for a few more seconds before continuing, "I think I may have made a mistake. It could be a man too." She lied. She knew it was a woman. She thought it was Patricia but she had to make sure.

"See I told you... you might have had a misunderstanding." She gets up to leave; "Now I'll meet with your sister. Don't stress much and eat your meals regularly, okay?" She kissed her forehead.

Nina, for the first time, flinches from her touch. Patricia doesn't think much about it and goes towards the door. The sound of her heels. The more Nina focused on them the more they sounded the same. She looked for its design but couldn't really make it out.

Later that night, she sneaked into Patricia's room and searched for the heels. When she found them, she turned white with fear. She couldn't believe her eyes. Those same heels. It had a bit of blood underneath it too. Nina was so engrossed in examining the heel that she did not notice that a guard was behind her, pointing a gun.

"Hands up! What are you doing in Miss Patricia's room?" He shouted startling Nina. In a reflex, she turned and stabbed the guard on his arm with the heel. When she realized what she had done she dropped the heel, blood in her hands and ran to Mara's room to take her with her.

FLASHBACK ENDS

"Mara was scared to see the blood and refused to come with me. I was dragged by guards and kept in a prison underground the house for I don't know how many months. I would scream my lungs out but no one would listen. Patricia would come to meet me and smirk, looking at my condition." She takes a long pause. Fabian comes and sits beside her, rubbing her back. That somehow gave her some relief.

"One night, the guard had accidentally left the door open, thanks to Alphie. I had no other choice but to run away without Mara. I could not risk her life. I knew Patricia would not kill her because of Jerome. She would invest all her time to manipulate her against me. It was a gamble I had to play. I wouldn't mind her hating me as long as she is safe."

"For a while, I begged around until some people took me in, trained me well. I had enough time to investigate various things. I found out the relationship between Mom and Jerome, what part Patricia had to play in this entire fiasco etc."

"I had no contact with either Patricia or Mara, but one day I got a coded message from her saying that she needs me here to protect Mara. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have come back." She takes a sigh of relief. She has finally told the truth to someone and felt right. It felt right to tell Fabian.

"But why did she finally contact you after all this time?" Fabian finally opens his mouth.

"Elections. The presidential elections. I did not know about it until Alphie told me so. Patricia is just trying to cut all the loose ends. And if a candidate's extramarital affair is found out, it would be bad for their campaign. She wants us close until the elections and promised to leave us alone after it."

"How can you still trust her after all this?"

"I can't but I have to. As long as Mara is safe." She sighs. Fabian looks at her with adoration and respect in his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that!" Nina snaps.

"Like what?"

"The look of pity. I hate it." She says with her head down. Fabian lifts her face using her chin.

"Hey look at me. It's the look of respect. I can't imagine what you had to go through at such a young age. I am 25 and I still can't cope up with my past while you have been through literal hell."

Nina smiles at him. For the first time, someone had praised her. She looks at him and continues,

"I still have a lot to do. I am confused as to why Jerome never accepted Mom. I also need more proof for Patricia."

"I'll help you." Fabian nods at her.

"How is the bonding going on?" Alphie asks. They did not notice that Alphie was in the room for 15 minutes now. They jumped to his voice and Fabian shifted away from Nina.

"Oh my god, Alphie! You have got to stop doing that! My heart just stopped beating!" Nina says clutching her chest.

"Hey, at least I was the one who made it stop beating!" He winks at her. "Drinks anyone?" he points at the carton of beer.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After a few drinks, Fabian told about his story. Nina looks at him with sympathy.

"I did not know you had it in you." She comments.

"What?"

"Love." She chuckles and playfully hits her arm.

"Well yes, she made me understand the meaning of love." Fabian's voice cracked a little. Alphie goes over to hug him and he burst into tears. "I will fucking kill them. I will Alphie... just wait and watch."

Nina was shocked to finally see the strong man break down. She holds his hand and looks into his eyes.

"We will kill them, Fabian. We will."

After a few more drinks, it was hard for Nina to keep her eyes open.

"Okay, boys..." She stumbles a little but Alphie catches her by her waist, "Alphie you are my hero. You always save me. Even when Patricia had locked me up, my only hope was you." And then she slept in his arms. Alphie picks her up in the bridal style and lays her on her bed.

"Maybe someday I will be your real hero." He kisses her forehead and turns to see Fabian leaning on the door frame.

"I am not that drunk you know." Fabian says smirking.

"Good for you then." Alphie says closing the door. His cheeks were flushing red.

"You like her, don't you?"

"What no!" He shouts at him. Fabian gives him a 'seriously dude?' face.

"I mean...it's complicated....she will never see me the way I see her. And the whole thing with Patricia."

"Maybe you should try asking her." Fabian winks at him and goes to his room.

"Maybe? Should I?" Alphie leaves the villa in deep thought.

Outside, he sees a familiar car. No, wait! It is Mr. Jerome's car. Seeing him coming out, he bowed.

"Sir what are you doing here so late at night? You could have told me, I could have escorted you." He says still bowing. Jerome holds him by his shoulders.

"No no...even my son needs a break. I just came to see my girls. I am so happy that they have you."

"Thank you dad. Please don't be worried. I will protect them no matter what."

Jerome hugs him and leaves the place.

Alphie takes a sigh.

"If only Nina could see how her dad is struggling."