Chapter 20: The Good Daughter
The silence that Lucas left behind was not just thick but heavy.
Mira was still racking her brain trying to understand what he could mean before Damian broke it first.
His voice was like an erupting volcano as he slammed his fist on the table in a way that made the glass shiver. "I’ll kill him, I swear! I’ll tear out his lungs for speaking to you, to us that way! He can’t talk about our family like that!"
Evelyn was already rebuilding her composure even though it looked like she was also affected by all that had just happened, and her pale face was the evidence of that.
"Sit down, Damian!" she commanded. "You’ll do no such thing! I’m sure he does not mean anything he said in that way, he’s just angry with her, so control yourself." She then turned her sharp gaze to Mira with all traces of maternal warmth gone. "Well? You got him angry now, are you happy? Are you satisfied now that you wouldn’t let the sleeping dog lie?"
Mira was taken aback. She could not for the life of her understand why Evelyn was directing her anger at her right now.
"He’s a monster," she only managed to whisper.
"Oh please! He’s just a businessman who holds every card!" Evelyn corrected. "And thanks to your adamance, you succeeded in making him angry when he clearly now owns you, legally and financially. I don’t get why your head won’t assimilate the fact that the only way out right now is through him."
She began to pace to and fro. "This is what you’ll do, Lorena. You’ll do it for him. You will play your part and you’ll be the perfect devoted wife he wants. He didn’t even ask for much, why is that so hard to do?"
"She’s not a pawn, mom!" Damian snarled as he moved to stand in front of Mira, as if to block her from his mother. "She’s not going anywhere near that man, mom. She’ll stay here with me while I keep her safe."
This exact scene gave Mira some sort of déjà vu. And to think something like this had only happened the day before.
Damian took a deep breath. "Also, mom, what’s all that nonsense about the company and what not? Did you not just send me for some acquisition in Zurich? Plus, we need to think about this carefully. Someone like him has nothing to gain with marrying Lorena, does he? So why on earth would he be doing her or us this favor only to get Lorena as his wife in return? Does that even make any sense?"
Mira almost clapped for him, because that was exactly what she was thinking!
"Who cares how he thinks or what he wants as long as we just use him when we can and get what we want from it?" Evelyn replied, even though Mira could not help but notice the fact that she avoided the acquisition part.
"Unbelievable." Susanne finally contributed to the brouhaha that had been happening.
Mira was shocked because she could swear she thought she had evaporated into thin air or something.
Susanne examined her perfect manicure before continuing. "I’m honestly not sure you all know who Lucas Atkins is. He’s rich, powerful and actually has a spine unlike the spineless trust fund boys you always introduce me to, and yet you give him to Lorena?"
Her eyes raked over Mira in a venomous way. "Seriously, mom?"
"Susanne, enough," Evelyn scolded, even though her mind was obviously elsewhere.
Mira could not help but feel bad about this whole thing, somehow.
She looked from her brother who wanted to protect her as much as he could to her mother who was simply trying to save them all.
This was what she never had as Mira, and she was not about to lose them. She needed to be the daughter they needed.
"Mom," Mira began, "I think... you may be right. I was being insensitive. You said it was for a good cause, for myself and the family. I should be able to do that. I can do it."
Evelyn’s head snapped back to her, and for a second, Mira saw frustration in them.
"Of course, darling. Now you’re talking!" she said. "You need to know that it’s just a strategic move for you. When you’re back on your feet, everything will be perfect. We’re merely using his influence to get back on our feet, and all he asks for is you."
Before Mira could respond, Susanne exploded. "I still don’t understand this, mom! If this is for us, why not me? Do you actually know what I’d gain with him? Plus, I’m very much capable of handling a man like that than Lorena ever could!"
Evelyn looked like she had already had enough of her daughter as she turned on Susanne while her voice suddenly dropped to a very hushed hiss. "You think I don’t know that? You think I wouldn’t have preferred to give him to someone who knows how to play the game better?"
Mira flinched like she had been hit.
Evelyn did not notice that as she continued with strained patience. "But he didn’t ask for you, he specifically wants her. That was his term, and I honestly don’t get it either. But I’m not about to give myself a headache over it. Men like that are always unpredictable. We’ll just give him what he wants."
Mira knew how that sounded, like she was being used, but her desire to please, to finally belong, was too strong. So if this was how she could prove her worth to this new family, she would do it.
She straightened her shoulders and then forced a brave smile onto her face. "It’s okay," she said. "I understand it all now, so I’ll just do it. This is for myself, I’m at the lowest point, so I need it more."
She then looked at Damian, her eyes pleading for him to understand too. "It’s the right thing to do, Damian. For us all too."
Damian looked heartbroken, but Evelyn cut off any protest he might have.
"Good girl," Evelyn said as a huge smile finally spread across her face. "Now, go pack your things. I’m sure he’ll send a car in the morning."
As soon as Mira got upstairs, her brave façade crumbled.
She was doing the right thing. For her family. This was what family was all about, right?
Plus this was the only way she could rise and get back up on her feet. As Lorena. So that as soon as she got everything Lorena used to have back, she could have a better life and then ruin Naomi, Travis, and even her former family as much as she wanted.
But then she felt like she needed someone else on her side, so for the first time in years, she texted the only number she had not forgotten despite how hard she tried to.
The number she had told herself she’d never text, even if she was dying, and she had kept to it a lot of times.
"It’s Mira. I need to see you."
Then she hit send.