❤A
NANNY
FOR
AURORA????
{The Mafia’s little princess}
By Precious Pinky
Chapter 179&180
( A/N: I HOPE YOU ALL REMEMBER THE LAST THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE PRESENT BEFORE I TOOK US TO THE PAST. IF YOU DON’T, YOU CAN GO BACK TO CHAPTER 171&172 AND READ IT BECAUSE WE ARE STARTING OFF FROM THERE NOW )
•••••
( FROM BAD TO WORSE )
«DIEGO’S HOUSE»
“Uhm, so… uhm, do you need me to offer you anything? Water? Champagne? I don’t know. Food?” Layla asked nervously.
Diego chuckled. “You look so nervous right now.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Very obvious.”
She lowered her gaze and sighed.
“I don’t know what to do or how to react to your unexpected visit. I don’t even know what to say, Diego. I feel so ashamed of myself.”
“Layla,”
“Hm?”
“Look at me,” He urged.
She shook her head in disagreement. “No. I can’t.”
“I didn’t come here to speak with you like this. We can’t have a conversation if you can’t look me in the eyes.”
Layla slowly raised her head up and they both held each other’s gazes.
“Don’t you feel irritated?” She asked.
Diego quirked his brows and frowned.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I betrayed your love for me, Diego. I…” She hesitated, tears rolling down her face. “I fuc-k ed my best friend behind your back. I have been unfaithful to you. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. Hell, I don’t deserve you at all. But can you please stay with me? Not for my sake but for our unborn baby.”
Diego stood up from his seat and went to sit beside her. He reached out to her hand and held it in between his large ones.
“Layla, if I’m honest, I am still hurt over what you did. I trusted you so much. I turned a blind eye to your closeness with Felix because of the love I have for you. You are right, you don’t deserve me. I am too good for you.” He paused. “But do you know good and bad is a better chemistry?”
Layla gave him a confused look.
“I… I don’t understand.” She whispered.
Diego squee-zed her hands lightly and dropped a soft kis-s on her knuckles.
“Did you read the letter I asked Daria to give you?” He queried.
“Uhm, no.”
“No? Why not?”
She shrugged slightly. “I didn’t have the courage to. At the beginning of the letter, you were already apologizing for leaving my side. And I felt so bad because I was the one who hurt you. I should be apologizing and not the other way around.” She explained.
He released a de-ep breath and smiled. “Thank God you didn’t read the letter.”
“Why?”
“I wrote that letter when I wasn’t thinking straight. I was overwhelmed by my emotions. Well, I wrote a lot of things and I do not remember some. However, I do recall writing to divorce you.”
Layla’s face dropped immediately.
“Wha… What?”
“Calm down. I changed my mind now. You should be glad that I really love you.”
“Wait,” She sniffled. “does this mean you have forgiven me?”
“If I don’t want to forgive you, Layla. I wouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, my God!” She squealed and jumped into his arms, crying loudly. “Thank you, Diego. Thank you so much. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for taking your love for granted. I’m sorry, my love.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Stop crying.” He stroke her back gently and placed a kis-s on the side of her head. “I love you.”
They broke the embrace.
“Your eyes are swollen. I told you to stop crying. I don’t want you to hurt our baby.” He said, rubbing her stomach.
Layla giggled, fresh tears dropping from her eyes once again. She can’t stop it.
“Our… our baby?” She repeated. “You believe me now?”
“I should believe you, right? Although, we still need to take the paternity test. Just to be sure, okay?”
“I’m ready to take as many paternity tests as you want. I don’t care.” She told him, kis-sing his knuckles as well.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I should be the one thanking you. You came back for me. Do you know what that means? I promise to remain faithful to you for the rest of my life.”
“You promise?”
She nodded. “On my life.”
Diego leaned close and planted a gentle and delicate kis-s on her li-ps.
“I love you.” He professed, kis-sing her over and over again.
She chuckled and returned the kis-s. “I love you more.”
•••••
«IN THE WARD»
Lake was dumbfounded and confused. He didn’t know what to say by the time Ayden finished the storytelling. How come all those things happened and he didn’t have a clue about it? How could they have left him in the dark?
“Babe, I know what you are thinking,” Ayden cleared his throat. “but I swear I was going to tell you about it.”
“Aside from being your boyfriend, Ayden, I am a police officer. This is a very serious case.”
“I know that. And I regret not telling you about it earlier.”
“Who is this Lottie of a girl, by the way?” He asked.
“A sick bit-ch .” Zara said in tears. “I never liked that girl for the first time I met her. She is a psychopath.”
Sean wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, soothing her down.
“She kidnapped Diamond, right? I am sure of it. There is no other person that would do something as sick as this other than that bit-ch .” She added.
“Listen,” Lake ruffled his hair as he stood in front of the friends – Ayden and Zara. “I will ask you two some questions… And you have to be honest with me. Is that clear?”
They nodded their heads.
“How long have Lottie and Diamond known each other?”
“Not for too long,” Ayden answered. “Diamond only started working for Mr. Ca-ssano a few months ago.”
“What is Lottie’s relationship with Mr. Ca-ssano?”
“How are we to know?” Zara scoffed. “And how will these questions help?”
“Babe, calm down.” Sean hushed her.
“Diamond had told us that Lottie is the sister of her boss’s late wife,” Ayden replied.
“You are asking the questions to the wrong people,” Elodie cut in.
Everyone stared at her.
“What do you mean?” Lake asked.
She pointed her fingers at Rhodes who stood by the door.
“He knows what happened from the very beginning,” She paused. “Him and that boss of Diamond. They’ve been aware of the whole thing but chose to keep quiet about it.”
“Is that true?” Zara asked Rhodes, furrowing her brows.
Rhodes swallowed nothing as he hung his head low.
“Tell them, Rhodes. Tell them the truth. What happened to my daughter? Where is she? You should know. Ca-ssano or whatever his name is should likewise know. Tell us. Tell me.” She cried bitterly.
Everyone’s gaze was on Rhodes.
The room was dead silent as they all awaited for him to start talking.
But the sound of the door opening caught their attention.
Mikhail and his right-hand man emerged.
Zara quickly approached them, her gaze solely on Diamond’s boss.
“You were the last person with Diamond. I left her with you and then went home. As you can see now, she is missing. Do you know where she is?”
“What sort of a stupid question is that?” Marcello gro-aned. “How is he supposed to know?”
“Shut your fuc-k ing mouth. I was talking to you!” She snapped at him.
“Marcello, leave.” Mikhail said without taking his eyes off the nanny’s best friend.
“Bu… but…”
“Leave.”
Marcello bowed his head before leaving the ward.
“I don’t know where she is.” He responded as calmly as possible.
“Does that make sense to you? Answer me. How can you not know where she is? She was with you last! I thought she was in safe hands when I saw you and her together. But I was so wrong.” She cried. “My best friend is missing.” Zara suddenly clutched Mikhail’s shirt collars. “Bring back my friend. Bring back Diamond, you bastard.”
“Zara,” Sean rushed to them and pulled his girlfriend away from Mikhail. “What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” She scoffed. “I want to teach the bastard a lesson. Tell him to bring out Diamond wherever he left her. I swear I will kill him. Where is my friend!?”
“Take her away from here,” Ayden whispered.
Sean nodded and carried Zara out of the ward.
Lake stepped forward and stood in front of Mikhail.
“I am detective Lake,” He stretched out his hand for a handshake but Mikhail didn’t react. Lake slowly brou-ght his hand down, seeming a little bit offended. “Do you know_”
“I am not going to answer any of your questions, detective whatever your name is.” Mikhail cut him off rudely. “You have no right to fuc-k ing interrogate me. Octavius,” He turned to Rhodes. “come with me.” He left the room afterward.
Rhodes hesitated before walking out as well.
“He is rude.” Lake pointed out the obvious.
“Stay calm, babe.” Ayden said to him.
•••••
«BASEMENT»
She remembered how she met Lottie. The deal Lottie made with the devil. How she escaped the warehouse with Diamond. How they met a man and his wife who helped them.
She remembered they stayed over at the good Samaritans place for two extra weeks until they felt better and strong enough to go back home.
Lottie’s sister and herself learned a lot from the woman during their stay there. She taught them how to make pancakes with strawberries, using a hidden secret recipe, and gave them a reason why she had used strawberries in case being asked in the future.
It was a stupid reason but Diamond Chase has always used that reason whenever asked.
How could she have forgotten all of these? There was no other explanation other than the trauma that had messed up her brain.
Even the pancakes, she actually thought it was her mother who taught her. Crazy, right? That was how messed up her brain was.
“You’re awake.” A voice said, interrupting her.
“Oh, God.” Diamond jumped, a little bit startled.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to scare you.” The soft voice apologized.
“No… I’m fine. Wait, I know you…”
“You remember me.”
“Of course. You are Aria. Lottie’s best friend, right?”
“I don’t know if you should still consider us as best friends…”
“What are you doing here?”
“Somehow, Lottie figured I was about to leave the country. She wouldn’t have it and look, here I am now.” She said.
“That bit-ch . How could she do this to you? You were her best friend for Christ’s sake!”
“I don’t think she regarded me as one, Diamond. I think I was the only one who pushed too ha-rd to keep our friendship going.”
“This is so bad.”
“I know, right?”
“How long have you been locked up here?”
“Since I left the hospital that day.”
“Oh. Really?” Aria nodded her head. “You look…”
“Like a mess.” Aria finished Diamond’s sentence.
“I wouldn’t have put it that way.”
“I know what I look like. You don’t need to sugarcoat it. Well, what do you expect from a girl who was ra-ped and molested.”
“Ra… ra-ped? What?” Diamond’s eyes went wide open at that.
“Don’t look so surprised. I am too beautiful to resist.” Aria forced a smile onto her face.
Diamond observed the girl. “Are you trying to be okay? Are you pretending not to see it as a big deal so it won’t affect you as much as it should?”
The lady hesitated before nodding her head. “Honestly, yes. I feel so filthy. The fuc-k ing bastard ra-ped me. He ignored my pleas and still went ahead to use me.”
Diamond was reminded of her mother. Was this how she felt when she also got ra-ped by the bastard named Julius…
‘Hold on a sec, Julius… Julius Santiago is the name of the man who ra-ped my mother and my supposed father. Julius is also the name of the man who kidnapped me years ago and he is helping Lottie right now. What does this mean? Are they the same person? Is my father…’ Diamond cut her thoughts off as she shook her head vigorously. ‘No. No. No. It can’t be. I’m sure it is all a coincidence just like the way Diamond and I bear the same name. I know my supposed father is a d*ck and a monster but there is no way he is the same person who tortured the hell out of me years ago. Right?’
“Diamond.” Aria tapped the nanny on her shoulder, drawing her out of her de-ep thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“I ask if you are okay,” Aria repeated.
“What? Yeah. I mean, yes. I’m okay.” She replied.
“You don’t look okay. You look so pale.” Aria noted.
“Aria,”
“Huh?”
“How long have you known Lottie?”
“Since we were kids. Why do you ask?”
Diamond scooted closer to the girl. “I’m wondering, how long has Lottie had a crush on Mikhail?”
Aria blinked rapidly. “Uh… That wasn’t the question I expected.”
“I’m sorry for going below your expectations.”
“What? No, no. You don’t have to apologize. I just didn’t expect you had asked me that, that’s all.”
“Okay?”
Aria cleared her throat. “Lottie has had a crush on Mikhail for as long as I can remember. Actually, she was the one who introduced Diamond – her sister to Mikhail.”
“How old were they?”
“Uhm, Mikhail came into their lives when Diamond was 9 years old and Lottie was 8 years old.”
“One year later after the incident…” Diamond mumbled. “That means Lottie hated her sister right before she met Mikhail. How did Diamond die?”
“Okay, why are you asking all these things?”
“I just want to know. If Lottie could have hurt me simply because I fuc-k ed Mikhail. What would she do to her sister who got married to him?”
“Wait, are you trying to imply that Lottie killed her sister?”
“Is it impossible?”
“Yes. Lottie was out of town when Diamond died. There is no way she had anything to do with her sister’s death.” Aria objected. “You were mumbling something about one year after the incident, what do you mean?”
“Well… I’ve met Lottie and Diamond before.”
“You have?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on a sec… I think Lottie has told me of a certain Diamond she met as a kid. Were you the one?”
“Yes. Did Lottie tell you how we both met?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Well, I am going to tell you everything. Including how I met her sister.”
•••••
«HOSPITAL ★ PARKING LOT»
Rhodes and Mikhail were standing opposite each other. It has been awkwardly silent between them.
Rhodes couldn’t take the silence anymore so he decided to ask the question that have been bothering him.
“Why did you leave her alone?”
Mikhail balled his fist at his side, inhaling sharply.
“You knew her life was in danger, why did you leave her?”
“Why did you hurt her?” Mikhail fired back, shooting daggers at the man throu-ghhis eyes. “Why did you make her cry!?”
“I… uhm… What did she tell you?”
“She told me about what a d*ck you are. You should have known better than to make her fuc-k ing cry.” He snapped.
Rhodes backed away in fear.
Mikhail sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What the fuc-k is wrong with me? Why am I here blaming you for it? It is my damn fault for driving away without even glancing back at her. It is my fault for running away like a fuc-k ing coward. I caused this. I had every chance to prevent it but I was fuc-k ing trying to be smart and ended up doing shit. This is my fault.” He mumbled.
Rhodes watched him closely. “What do you mean, Ca-ssano? What are you talking about?”
“You were right. I should never have left her side.” He muttered.
“Huh?”
Mikhail leaned against the hood of his car and stayed quiet for a second.
“Julius escaped.”
“Julius Santiago?”
“Just as I had predicted. Lottie must have something to do with it.”
“Oh, God. Things are about to get messy.” Rhodes gro-aned.
“They are already messy.”
“No, you don’t get it. Julius Santiago isn’t just anybody. He is the father of Diamond.”
Mikhail’s face dropped and everything around him seem to stop moving.
He pushed himself from the hood of his car, pinching his brows together.
“What the fuc-k did you just say?”
Rhodes swallowed nothing and repeated, “Julius is the father of Diamond. Lottie doesn’t know it but she is about to make a father kill his own daughter.”
Mikhail blocked off the rest of the things Octavius was saying as his head was only preoccupied with the revelation he just got.
( “Julius is the father of Diamond.” )
The man who killed his wife is the father of his daughter’s nanny. How does that make any sense?
( “I am a product of ra-pe.” ) He remembered the words of the nanny.
It was clear that Rhodes was not her biological father but instead, it was Julius Santiago.
Mikhail balled his fist in anger as his blood boiled uncontrollably.
Diamond Chase – The girl he just realized that he has some kind of affection for is the daughter of his worst enemy.
Indeed, things are about to get messy because it has just gone from bad to worse.
TBC