“Let my sister go! I’ll give you whatever you want,” said Matthew.
“Tell Anna to come here!”
“I’ve already called her, so she’ll be there soon. Can I be the hostage instead of my sister? You can ask for more when holding me hostage because I’m the group’s president.”
The woman looked at Tammy and Matthew before shaking her head. “No. I don’t trust you! You’re stronger than your sister!”
Suddenly, a group of people dashed this way, led by Wayne and Anna.
“Tammy!” Anna yelled. She felt dizzy when she saw what had happened to her daughter.
“Mom! Don’t come over!” Tammy yelled.
“Anna. It’s been a while. Do you still remember me?” The woman asked. She sounded like a shattered saw. The woman was dressed in soiled and tattered clothes and wore a ragged baseball cap. She also wore a black mask to cover up her face.
Anna could smell a stinky odor from the woman a long way away. She suspected this woman was a homeless living in a garbage dump.
“Who are you? Do you know me?” Anna asked. Then, when she looked at Wayne, Wayne shook his head.
“You don’t remember me? No! This is not possible!” The woman then burst out laughing.
“What do you want? If you let my daughter go, I’ll give you anything.” Wayne spoke calmly.
“I’m not sure what I want. I know you’re wealthy, but money means nothing to me. I won’t be around much longer.”
After hearing the woman’s words, Anna had a sudden realization. She suddenly thought of a woman who was supposed to be dead. Could this woman possibly be Ada? How could she still be alive? Why did she change so much? What happened to her? Anna thought, Hold on a second… Ada has Aids! People with Aids will develop skin ulcers. That explains why she smells so bad.
With that in mind, Anna asked, “Are you Ada? Are you still alive?”
Ada laughed like crazy after a brief pause. “Anna, you’ve always been quite clever. I am still alive, but I would rather be in hell right now!”
“Ada, we can find you the best doctors to treat your illness. Even if they can’t cure you, you’ll still be able to live a little longer,” Anna said.
“No, I don’t need that. I’ve lived long enough and been through enough pain. I know I’ll never be able to beat you, Anna.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to live any longer? Will you just let Tammy go? We have a history, but my daughter is entirely innocent. We’ll do whatever you say if you let Tammy go,”
Anna had no idea what Ada was trying to do. She also knew that if Ada truly wanted to murder someone, she would do it immediately. As a result, Anna concluded that Ada was holding Tammy hostage because she wanted something else.
“You hate me, right? How about letting me be your hostage?” Anna asked.
“Mom, don’t come over!” Tammy and Matthew yelled at the same.
“Anna, you’re such a lucky bitch! You have such two wonderful children. I’ve worked hard my entire life, but now I have nothing in the end,” Ada said in an envious tone.
Huh? Did you just mention “children”? Could it be that you suddenly want to meet Gary before you die because he’s your only family? At the thought, Anna gently asked, “Ada, do you want to meet Gary?”.
Instead of answering Anna’s questions, Ada remained silent. She then bowed her head and began trembling.
“I’ll call him right now. He just left, so he’ll be back soon,” Anna added.
“Is Gary really coming back?”
“Yeah. He’s doing great these years. He always gets high grades on his tests and he is popular at school. He’s just as smart as you are.” Anna praised Ada in the hopes of changing her mind.
“He wants to see me? I tried to talk to him these years, but his maids always mistook me for a beggar and told me to get lost,” Ada spoke in hushed tones as if she didn’t want anyone to hear her.
Hearing that, Tammy whispered to Ada, “Gary is a very nice person, so he’ll definitely be willing to meet with you. After all, you are his mother. You share a special bond.”
Ada appeared calm after hearing Tammy’s words and stopped clutching the knife as tightly as before.
“Call Gary,” At that moment, Matthew said to Alicia, who stood behind him.
Alicia then called Isabella and told her about this. After that, Alicia quickly hangs up the phone. She shook her head and said, “They found out about this a few minutes ago. They’re now downstairs.”
“Did you hear that, Ada? You’ll be seeing Gary soon. Now, can you let Tammy go? We’ll be waiting for him right here with you. You must be exhausted after holding the knife for so long.”
Ada was a little shorter than Tammy and was already tired. Her hand was trembling slightly because she was emotional. Meanwhile, Anna was afraid that if Ada’s hand shook anymore, that knife would cut Tammy. Also, Anna was worried that Ada would pass AIDS to Tammy.
To their surprise, the sudden sound of sirens from downstairs agitated Ada, who had just calmed down. She lifted the knife before pressing it against Tammy’s neck.
“You called the cops?! You all want me to die? Okay, I’ll die. But I’m going to die with her!” Ada said this while trying to stab Tammy in the neck.
Anna yelled, “No! Take it easy, Ada!” Anna’s voice became shrill as she grew nervous. The crowd also gasped as they felt the tension in the room.
“Tammy!” At the same time, a few people let out a panicked yell.
No one dared to make a sound, as if time had stopped. Anna was about to rush towards Ada when Wayne stopped her. “Trust Emily, honey. She’ll save Tammy.”
Wayne was about to finish his sentence when he heard a gunshot. Ada then fell to the ground against the wall. She was shot in the arm, and her broken hand flew out and landed not far away. Yet, her broken hand still clutched the knife tightly as if it were a prop.
With her eyes widened in astonishment, Tammy immediately pushed her another arm away. As Ada fell to the ground, another bullet struck her heart from another direction. In the blink of an eye, Tammy’s face and body were splattered with Ada’s blood. Tammy had never seen anything like this before. She was so shocked that her legs went limp, and she collapsed on the ground. Seeing that, Matthew rushed over to her and tried to bring her to their parents.
“Are you all right, honey?” Anna asked as she carefully took Tammy into her arms like a baby. Then stroking her daughter’s back, Anna said, “It’s okay. We are here for you.”
“I’m fine, mom,” After a long while, Tammy finally came back to her senses and replied. She was terrified, but she didn’t say anything else because she was afraid she would make Anna worried.
“Great! I was so worried about you just now. Why were accidents always happening to you? I’m truly sorry, dear,” Anna wrapped her arms around her daughter and said.
“No more accidents will happen to Tammy anymore. I promise,” Wayne said. He then patted them both on the back gently.
Alicia, who was standing next to them, handed Anna some napkins and said, “Mrs. Wright, here you go. Tammy has tears on her cheeks. Why don’t you help her wipe off her tears?”
After taking the napkins, Anna gently held Tammy’s face as if she were the world’s most precious baby. She then gently wiped the blood from Tammy’s face.
Later, the police arrived. They quickly cordoned off the scene and dispersed the onlookers. Not far away, Ada’s body was motionless on the ground. Her blood spurted everywhere, turning the restroom into a bloodbath. Blood was still pouring out from the hole in her chest, although she was already dead. Ada’s eyes remained open as if she wasn’t prepared to die. She died without seeing her son, which was God’s punishment for everything she had done wrong. Ada had pretended to be dead numerous times in the past. This time, however, she died in front of everyone. She could no longer do bad things after that.
At this time, several people rushed to the restroom. Gary took the lead, and Jasper followed him close behind. Gary appeared flustered with a panicked expression on his attractive face. He came by the stairs, so he couldn’t help but breathe heavily.
Then Gary walked directly toward Tammy. He looked at her, and asked nervously, “Tammy, are you all right? I was so worried about you.”
“I’m all right,” Tammy said.
“I’m sorry!” Gary bowed his head and whispered.
“It is not your fault. She just wanted to see you. You see, she still cared about you. But she…,” Anna said this as she stroked Gary’s hair.
Gary nodded. “I’d like to see her,” He muttered.
As she looked up at the restroom, Anna noticed that the police had draped a white cloth over Ada’s body. She paused for a moment before asking him hesitantly, “Are you sure?”
Gary, on the other hand, fixed his gaze on her and nodded firmly.
Under his stare, Anna couldn’t help but nod, saying, “Fine. You can take a look at her face.”
With a nod, Gary approached Ada. Anna was worried about him, so she followed him. Gary squatted down slowly after he approached Ada’s body. As if trying to decide what to do, he closed his eyes. After removing the white cloth from Ada’s face with his trembling hands, he saw an ugly face.
Anna was surprised to see that Ada looked completely different after she removed her hat. She remembered how stunning Ada was when she was a movie star years ago.
Anna recognized from the corpse’s face that she was indeed Ada. Her face was covered with unhealed scars and pustules, and she stank of rotting flesh. It’s no surprise she had to cover herself up. She looks like Frankenstein, but worse. Anna reasoned.
At the thought that Ada had an infectious disease, Anna felt worried. So, she covered Ada’s body tightly with that white cloth. Anna said to Gary, “Gary, it’s enough. There’s nothing to see here. Let’s go.”
“Aunt Anna,” Gary spoke softly.
“What’s the matter?” Anna asked, her gaze fixed on him.
Gary rose to his feet. “I am her son, but I will never be like her!” he exclaimed as he gazed at her mother’s body.
With a smile, Anna gently took his hand and said, “Okay, I trust you. Let’s take Tammy to the hospital, shall we?”
The End.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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