She sipped the wine that came with the condominium. Sitting on a warm fuzzy couch, her eyes raked the world outside the huge glass window. All her life was a lie. All those eight years with Marcus were nothing but a made up fairytale.

She couldn't help thinking about what her son said. Seth wanted a mother so bad, he needed a mother by his side but she on the other hand had shut him out of her mind, had shut everyone out of her mind. What had she done to deserve such punishment, such torture?

"Don't cry mom",Kylie came to her clutching Mr Knuckles in her hands.

Atleast she had Knuckles with her, after everything that happened, Mikaella was sure that the new environment would torment Kylie as much as it tormented her. Which is why, she asked everyone to give her space so that she could process everything.

Roman was quick to reject the decision she made but at the end of the day, her brother Gustavo thought it best. So hours later, she and her daughter were in a luxurious condo not far from Roman's house with two security guards standing by the door for her safety.

Though she even questioned why they were there, Marcus wasn't that bad of a guy to attack her. Why would he need to attack her if he hadn't laid a finger on her for all those years? She ran her fingers through her daughter's long hair terrified of where to even start. Marcus meant everything to her, he was her Superman, now to go ahead and tell her that her dad was a kidnapper and a manipulative guy would shatter her tiny heart.

"Mommy is not crying, she just uh-has something in her eye",she sniffed wiping her face clean with her hands.

"When are we going home? This place feels weird and these clothes feel weird too. I'm sure dad misses us"

She was right about one thing, though. Everything was weird even the brand new clothes that Roman bought for them felt weird too. It was like they were his dolls that he could just dress, put in a house, feed them and tell them to do this or that. As for Marcus, after they left New Zealand he hadn't called, not a single word from him and Mikaella drew her own conclusions. That he either escaped or something terribly bad had happened to him.

She wished it was the latter and not the former.

"I know. I know everything feels weird but mommy has a new family. They are your family too. Kylie you have a big brother now"

A brother who didn't want anything to do with them. Who didn't give a hoot whether they lived or died.

"What about dad? Is dad coming here to live with us? And Pop-pop and Meemaw?"

"Um-we'll not be seeing dad for a long time, baby. Daddy did something bad, we have to stay away from him and them for a while"

No matter how it hurt, no matter how it sucked that she was still worried about him, they had to stay away. She wished that he would vanish and never ever come back to their lives. And at the same time, she wanted to see him. Ask him why he did all this, whether everything between them was even real.

And Adam and Grace, were they part of all this? Did they know about everything? That their son had kidnapped her from her family? That their son had made up everything just so she couldn't get back to her old life and her real family?

"Why? Daddy loves us",Kylie shouted and Mikaella sick of everything raised her voice too.

"Because Marcus isn't a good person!"

She exhaled, regretting shouting, the instant Kylie's eyes became watery. She didn't intend to yell at her but at the moment she was processing it all and getting tired of it.

"I-i'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, baby. Come here. Look daddy lied to mommy about something and I know you love him, I love him too but daddy needs to take some time away from us to think about his actions, okay?"

"Okay mommy"

"Okay, how about I tuck you and Knuckles in bed. Or does Knuckles want ice cream before he sleeps?"

"No, he's okay"

Kylie said and Mikaella knew that everything would become harder since they arrived in LA. Kylie no matter what time or day never refused free ice cream. Mikaella hoped that the large amount of ice cream in the fridge would fix everything but even Kylie felt it wouldn't. Marc played a big role in their lives.

xXxXxXxX

There was a light buzz on the door and even from her large bedroom she heard it. Truth be told she hadn't slept at all, what she did however was check on her phone all night waiting for his message or his call. Something to show that he cared, that he was worried, that he was sorry but nothing. No text, no calls and especially not any voicemails.

She got out of bed, tightening the strands of her large orange robe. It was probably them, her new family. Knocking on the door wanting to know if she was okay most especially Roman. Her husband. He understood him, why he was so protective, why he was reluctant to let her stay here and not in his house.

Other than that, he was just a stranger. They had a connection yes, but she didn't want to ignite it. She wasn't ready to move on so fast.

Closing the door, she came face to face with a familiar redhead.

"Elizabeth?"

"Hey Mikaella. It's actually Liz. My friends call me Liz"

She called her Mikaella meaning all along she knew who she was. Elizabeth knew she was not Ruby all along but in a sick way pretending to be the friendly neighbor with love issues.

"Y-you knew, didn't you?"

"Calm down. I can explain everything"

"Explain what exactly? That you are just like Marcus. A bunch of liars, huh? Why did they even let you in here?"

"Mikaella, I didn't know you were alive until Kevin told me he saw you back in New York. He asked for my help, I had to get close to you, to figure out if you were really Mikaella"

"What makes you think I'm Mikaella now?"

"The mug. The coffee mug, we got your fingerprints from it and they came out as a positive match. I'm only here to make sure you are okay after everything. Listen, we_we weren't exactly close friends but the day you had your accident, I should have done something. I should have prevented you from getting in that car in your condition which is why I did what I did"

"What condition?" Mikaella asked audibly.

"I don't think I'm in a position to tell you that. Roman should tell you all about it", she said nervously.

But this was not the time for her to act like a saint, Mikaella needed to know everything. Know how Marcus knew her, why he did what he did and what happened to her eight years ago.

"You owe me the truth atleast for pretending to be my friend. And if we were really friends back then, you shouldn't be hiding things. Things that are important from me"

Elizabeth or Liz in this case urged her to sit down and thus begun the longest story she had ever heard. Marcus lost his wife, Ruby Grayson and his unborn child. Kevin was the one who caused the accident and he and his brother tried to cover it up. On Kevin's wedding day, she learnt the truth, the truth about the secret Roman kept from her and like a crazy person she had hopped in her car and gotten into a tragic accident.

The accident that had changed her life. The accident that had made everyone believe she was dead. Everything she heard shook her to the core. In a sick way, she understood Marcus. Why he did what he did. Why he wanted revenge against the two brothers.

"And Marcus do you know what happened to him? His whereabouts maybe?"

Elizabeth hesitated.

"Liz if you know anything, you have to tell me"

"Kevin said that Marcus was deported back here. Roman filed charges against him, multiple charges against him. I'm afraid he'll rot in prison, Mikaella. And that's for the best"

"Which prison?"

"Whoa, you are not seriously thinking of visiting him? Mikaella, that's dangerous. He could I don't know hurt you?"

"Marcus could never hurt me"

Even though he had hurt her emotionally and dug this deep hole in her heart that stung like hell, she was determined to visit him come what may.