Some daughters come home after birth. Others come for vengeance.
Hours turned to days, days to weeks, weeks to months, months to years, and years turned to sixteen years later. She was just sixteen, living an average, normal life with her foster mom, Magda Amaris. Who she thought was her real mom. When Magda told her the truth, it was raining heavily that day. Young Selene had always asked her about her dad. Magda lost her husband on the night of their wedding. They had a car accident on their way back home. She was already a month pregnant then; she survived, but he didn't. She has been taking care of Selene for so long; she loved her so much, but she also wished her daughter had survived when she was giving birth to her. They were sitting on the back steps of a rundown house in the Bronx. Magda wasn't rich at all; she was a farmer, so people patronised her because of her condition, and she was a widow. She held an old photograph in her hands, a woman in pearls, smiling coldly into the camera, looking dazzling.
"Selene, there's something I have to tell you", she said. "What's that, Mom?" she replied. "Come closer, dear", she added. "That's her," Magda whispered. "Your mother…...Amira Fernandez." There was quite a pause before she called out her name
Selene looked at the picture, she laughed a little bit, she thought Magda was joking, but her expression was serious. "You aren't my real mother?", she asked, "no sweetheart", Magda answered, "why didn't you tell me long time ago, why now", she asked and cried, "hey it's okay sweetie, your mother isn't as good as she looks in the pic, I'm hided it from you", she said while cuddling Selene to her chest. "But, she's beautiful." Selene said, "Yeah, but the thing is that she tried to kill you."
The world cracked inside her, and all the thought of meeting her real mother that night died instantly as she thought of it, just after Magda told her the truth. She raised her head up and just looked at her.
And that night, Selene stopped dreaming of having a mother.
Present Day
Selene walked into her hotel suite with a calmness that was terrifying. Brooke was already there, seated, pale and a bit worried.
On the table in front of them:
A forged birth certificate and the death certificate
Photos of Amira with George.
The real estate deed to a house in Paris, Amira once tried to hide.
And an envelope. Brooke looked confused.
"What's all this, if I may ask?"
"Amira truly is a naive woman; she built an estate in Paris, under George Caldwell's name, to cover up her hideous crime, for a while", she said before sitting down. Selene sat down and pushed it towards her. "This is the death certificate. Amira paid someone to forge it the day I was born." Brooke's mouth opened, then shut again "What do you mean, Death Certificate?" "She declared me dead?" "She made me dead," Selene replied. "Now I'm going to return the favour," She said. "That won't be easy, trust me on my words", Brooke said. "That's why I have you", Selene added, and Brooke just looked at her, sighed, and then nodded with a flat smile.
She called her father, something she hadn't done in her life, he picked up after a while, "what a surprise for you to call", he said over the phone, "we need to talk", she sounded like Amira, she doesn't waste time on a phone call, "yeah sure, where exactly", he asked, "I'll message the address you, don't waste time, dad", she ended the call and didn't wait for his reply. Selene and George met later that day. George sat in front of Selene in a private study in his brownstone.
"She tried to kill you?" George said after reading the D.C she brought to him, "yeah, she did" Selene nodded, "but Magda saved me, a nurse from the hospital back then. And now I have everything I need to take her apart." "I'm shocked how you never knew this", Selene said with a smirk. "Of course not, I didn't," he said, "well, back then, I told Amira I wanted a girl, but she wanted a boy." "After she gave birth, she told me it was twins, the girl died, and only the boy survived, but right then I knew she was lying, "interesting", Selene said. "She named him Brown, and I know he isn't my son", George said. "Oh, Brown Caldwell, who works in Amira De Fernandez", she asked. She had plans already, "yeah, "perfect, now I'll be his replacement", she smirked. George's face was unreadable. "Then you'll have to be smarter than her. Colder." "Don't worry," Selene said softly. "I'm not here to win. I'm here to destroy."
She brought out a USB flash drive from her purse, tiny but containing a lot of secrets. "This contains every transfer Amira made to Liam, but not just Liam, every other person and executive, damn, you married a bitch", she said. George blinked. "How the hell did you get this so fast?" he asked."Well, I got my hands dirty a bit. "Dr Liam gave it to me when he called me over", but sadly, he did it before he died.
"Did you kill him, Selene?" George asked, "Nahh, of course not", she replied with a dark smile, her redlipstick gave her the evil daughter came for revenge look.
A Few Days Later
Brooke sat in her apartment, wondering how her life was trapped in the centre of betrayal and power. She saw the news headline pop up on her phone. She couldn't believe it at first, so she turned on the TV immediately. She sat on her couch watching the local news when it happened.
"Breaking News: News coming directly to your screen from the source. A retired doctor was found dead in Queens Clinic, DrLiam Shade. Suspected of overdose. No foul play. Sources say he was under investigation for falsifying medical records two decades ago…" The news reporter said, as she just turned off the TV immediately. Brooke stood up slowly. "She killed him…did Selene kill him to get what she wants, just like her mother?" She picked up her phone instantly and typed a message and hit the send button, but it wasn't to Selene but someone else. Her phone buzzed.
A message from the unknown sender hit Brooke's phone again, when she knew who it was already:
"You're already in too deep. You can't save her anymore."
She looked at the photo attached to the message.
It was a picture of herself, standing inside Amira's office, holding those files. She was quite scared. Someone had taken it from across the street. Now she knew she wasn't safe anymore; her secrets too could be out any moment from now.
Amira sat in her home office, wine untouched, eyes scanning old newspaper articles. She had a bad feeling in her chest. A pull, like something old was bleeding into the present. Then her phone buzzed silently; it was a message
Unknown number:
"You should've made sure she was fully dead." She just stared at it; she knew the sender already. She just smiled, "Well, she will soon be"
The day became bright as usual, the sun rose to the horizon and set, casting its rays on the city. Selene woke up very early that day. It was a perfect day to strike, a big day to resume work, not the office type, but the revenge work. Her plans were working perfectly and according to how she wanted it to go, she has been in that company for a while, she bought mini shares in the company through Jasmine Santiago, but she used the name she won't suspect, Selene Amaris, she had never stepped foot inside the company, but now is the perfect time, she would love to see Amira Face to Face, Selene stood before the mirror in a black suit, hair braided back tightly, she took a step back, stared at her bold reflection and gave a sly smile. She's fully in Amira De Fernandez.