Chapter 69

Maeve's POV

The fast beat of Michael's song 'Jam' started playing as soon as I turned on the CD-Player. Even after everything that happened between the two of us, I still find comfort in his music.

Michael left after our little conversation at swings. He made it hard for me to not get emotional, after all my mother just died, but I couldn't let myself show any weakness, she didn't deserve my tears. She was a horrible person, just like my father, she was just better at hiding it.

Nevertheless I felt like an idiot getting fooled by her. I let her back into my life, I trusted her with my children when I should've protected them from her.

Now I keep wondering if it was the right decision to accept my mother's offer all these years ago, if it was right to go back to the family that only ever seemed to betray me. My life would've turned out completely different, maybe Michael and I would still be together but who knows.

All I know is that I'd be better off NOT letting her back into my life, but afterwards you're always wiser.

My fingers pressed the button over and over again until the song I desperately needed to hear started playing.

"If you call out loud, will it get inside?Through the heart of your surrender, to your alibisAnd you can say the words Like you understand But the power's in believing, so give yourself a chance..."

Listening closely to Michael's voice coming from the speakers brought back so many memories, from the day he first sang them to me.

While reminiscing I couldn't help but blush. It felt like yesterday, that he was whispering sweet little 'I love you's while making love to me. My imagination played tricks on me because it was as if I could still feel his touch on me.

My body fell back into the mattress of my king sized bed in my bedroom as I closed my eyes, reliving the good side of the relationship Michael and I once had.

The look on his face whenever his eyes caught mine, making me feel so special. The way his eyes lit up, his cheeks blushed and he smiled.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach at the sight of him looking at me as he stood in between the angles. I was just finishing cleaning up after dinner while he brought the kids to bed.

Without saying anything else he came up to me and hugged me tight. "I love you, Michael" I whispered into his ear.

Wrapped into each other's arms we swayed in a rhythm only we could hear to the soft sound of our hearts beating in unison. I felt safe, I felt secure in his embrace.

But when I opened my eyes, I met Jared's, staring at us through the kitchen window. His face bruised and covered in blood.

"NO!" my body shot up from bed. I could hear my heart beating heavy in my chest as I walked into the attached bathroom where I splashed cold water onto my face to wake myself up completely from my nightmare.

With droplets of water running down my face, I stared at my reflection while leaning against the sink.

"He can't hurt you anymore!" I told myself. These past days I keep repeating this sentence over and over again.

"He can't touch you anymore!" I said, hoping my mind would finally catch on and stop showing me his face.

"He's dead!"

****

At Carmen's deathbed

"Do you need anything else, mom?" I asked as I helped her drink some water out of a glass.

"No, thank you" she spoke in a weak voice as I sat down next to her. She reached her hand for mine.

"Promise me, you'll take care of yourself!" She spoke, her face serious. A reassuring smile appeared on my lips, my eyes were teary, like they've been all evening.

"I will, mom, don't worry about me, you should get some rest, I'll stay here tonight."

Ever since the caretaker informed me that my mother is getting weaker and weaker, I stayed at her side since I didn't want her to be alone.

"No, little Mae! I've been avoiding this talk for too long now!" My eyes wandered down to her hand, squeezing my arm. She was weak but at the use of my nickname, I knew it was urgent.

"Okay, what is it?"

"We've found Jared."

At the mention of this name my whole body tensed and I guess mom noticed my uneasiness because she continued.

"He won't hurt you anymore!"

"Why did no one tell me?! Neither Michael nor Bill mentioned anyth-"

"Because they don't know! I let a friend handle the situation" she explained.

For a second I stared at her, my expression a mixture of relief and confusion until I realized what that meant.

A friend.

Of course, my mother knew the people my father knew. She knew what they were capable of.

As realization hit me, I ripped my hand away from her grip.

"Maeve, please, I had no other choice! What he did was wrong and he needed to pay for what he did to you! I couldn't let him walk away without any consequences."

Unbelievingly I stared back at her. Although I wanted to argue with her, I stayed silent. Part of me was relieved but still it was wrong and I wanted to tell her that it wasn't her decision to declare Jared's fate but I decided against it.

Speechless, I stood up from my chair and exited the room, completely ignoring my mother's apologies.

*****

Hours went by, it was in the middle of the night when the nurse found me on the roof of the building, where I tried sorting my thoughts.

She told me 'it wouldn't take much longer' and that my mother's vitals were sinking.

Reluctantly, I followed the nurse into my mother's room, where I found her laying peacefully in bed, her chest slowly rising every now and then.

The rest of the night, I stayed at my mother's side, until her very last breath, but at some point I fell asleep on the mattress of her hospital bed.

When I woke up again, her hand was cold, her body completely still, no chest raising, no sound of breathing.

My first instinct was to cry, but with all this new information, I wasn't even sure if I knew who she truly was, so until I haven't found out every detail I promised myself I wouldn't shed a tear.

*****

At the funeral

Michael's POV

Nervously I searched the room of this giant church in LA for what felt like the hundredth time in the last half an hour. Most faces here were foreign to me, only some of Maeve's family were familiar to me, but where was she?

A hand squeezing my knee brought my attention back to my wife next to me.

"Stop searching for her. It's her mother's funeral, she'll be here any minute now! You're behaving paranoid, people are already staring."

"Yes, that's why they're staring" I murmered while rolling my eyes at her.

If there's one thing I disliked about Lisa, it's the way she acts towards my relation to Maeve. Yes, she's my ex-wife, but does that mean I have to abandon her completely? That's not the kind of person I am and besides, I promised her, her mother and myself I would be there for her whenever she needs me.

And today is a day where she might need somebody to lean on. Something is laying heavy on Maeve's shoulders but she wouldn't let me in. That's okay. She doesn't need to, I just want her to know that I am here for her.

Just seconds before the ceremony started, Maeve finally walked in. Instead of sitting front row like she was supposed to, she sat down on the other end of the row, Lisa, the kids and myself were sitting in.

Charlotte immediately wanted to sit on her mother's lap and Maeve gladly let her while Nicolas cuddled into her side. Both children were deeply affected by their grandmother's death but they were handling everything so well.

However, Maeve seemed to be barely paying attention to the priest. Her mind was far away and in a moment of silence about 20 minutes into the ceremony, her phone started ringing.

All eyes were on Maeve and as she answered, not even saying one word, she got up slowly, kissed the children goodby and started to walk out of the church.

Some people wordlessly followed her. When the door fell shut, the priest continued.

"Michael!" Lisa whisper-yelled as I got up and sprinted towards the exit where I could feel the stares but at this moment I couldn't care less.

Outside the church, I sprinted towards the parking lot where Maeve proceeded to get into a black SUV but stopped as soon as she saw me.

"Maeve, what are you doing?" I asked as I reached her but she didn't answered.

"You'll regret leaving now!" I spoke but all I earned was a snarky laugh coming from Maeve's mouth.

Before answering, she took a deep breath. "She wasn't the person we thought she was..."

A heavy sigh left Maeve's mouth before she got into the vehicle.

"Goodbye Michael, thanks for coming." As soon as these words left her mouth, the door shut close and the car sped away, leaving me behind completely confused about the whole situation.

Maeve's POV

Bursting through the door of my office I met the eyes of the private detective I hired to help me find Jared.

All I know is that his mother reported him missing. Since then the police is looking for him.

'He needed to pay for what he did to you. I couldn't let him walk away without any consequences!'

My mother's voice rang through my head while I am still trying to figure out what exactly happened.

"I hope you have a good reason for making me come all the way from my mother's funeral" I spoke, I was angry.

"So where's Jared?" I questioned him as I sat down on the chair behind my desk.

The man, Nate Thunderbird, that is in his late 40s with long black hair that he keeps in a ponytail hanging down his back, shrugged his shoulders.

"You've got to be kidding me" I murmured while considering firing him right at the spot.

"What did you call me for then?"

He pulled out a folded paper from the inner pocket of his jacket and handed it to me.

"I haven't found a trace to Jared yet but what I found were some inconsistencies in your father's autopsy report" Nate spoke as I opened the paper. My eyes quickly flew over the sheet while searching for any new information.

"Cause of death: poisoning" with furrowed eyebrows I looked up at the man.

"The heart attack was the result of the poisoning. I suggest we search her house for any poisonous substances and compare them to the samples they have taken from your father's body. Then you'll know if your mother was the person you thought she was or if she lied to you" he suggested.

"Good work, there's only one problem." I leaned back in my chair before continuing. "There's a funeral feast going on in her house right now."