Page 11 of Branches of Betrayal

“It was like a switch flicked in her. She laughed like a fucking maniac, called me a stupid little girl, and told me to leave. I know when I’ve lost and I refused to dignify her with me arguing like a schoolgirl.”

Things started to slot in place for Hadina as Zellie continued talking. The alcohol in her stomach was threatening to come back up and she had to focus on a point on the wall to stop the room from spinning around her. She wished she hadn’t come here, especially not when she was still half drunk and dizzy. She no longer wanted to know any of this information.

“I… Demi was beyond pissed that I thought I could use Peyton as leverage over her. Instead of finding a way to protect her daughter, she decided it was better to just get rid of her so nobody could ever assume she had a weakness.”

Hadina rose to her feet and began pacing the living room, suddenly wishing that she had stayed home and found another bottle of tequila to drown her sorrows with.

“Stop, please. I don’t think I can hear anymore right now.”

Zellie stood too, stepping closer to Hadina. “You have to hear it, Hadi. I have tosayit. Demi sent people to kill Peyton but they messed up. I don’t know if the girl’s ever shown you photos of her sister, but they could have almost passed as twins. Peyton was running late on the day Demi’s men arrived, but her sister Melina was at home. They murdered that poor girl and staged a suicide.”

“You stupid fool!” Hadina yelled, stepping away from Zellie. “Her blood is on your hands. You know that Peyton was the one to find her, right? She’s traumatized for life because ofyourfuck up!”

For the first time in years, Hadina watched her sister’s eyes fill with tears. “I know that! I toldPapistraight away and I begged him to do something. It’s why he started paying for her schooling; why he even hired her to work for you guys in the first place.”

Hadina thought back to the sadness that seeped out of Peyton from the moment she stepped foot at the house. Sheremembered the absolute heartbreak in her voice as she told Hadina about her sister, about the way it had devastated her life.

And all this time, it was her own sister’s actions which had cost Peyton the one person in life who had loved and protected her.

A violent vehemence filled Hadina’s veins and before she knew what she was doing, her fist was connecting with Zellie’s nose. She heard the bones crack beneath her hand, blood gushing from her sister’s face. Seeing her bleed was like waving a red flag before a bull and all Hadina could think about was making Zellie hurt the way she had made Peyton hurt all these years.

“You took away the one person she had, Zellie. Losing her sister made her empty the way that losingMamimade us!” She took another swing, landing this hit to her chin with such force that Zellie stumbled backward, tripping over the coffee table and landing on the floor.

Climbing over her sister, she straddled her hips and landed another two blows to her face. She could barely see Zellie’s face now that it was covered in blood, her nose still gushing and her lip split open. “As if that wasn't enough, you fucking let her go to the restaurant with us. You let Demi see her and then you helped thatbastardago free! You knew she would come for Peyton and you still helped her!”

“I let her go because I knew she would tell you what had happened, or that she’d tell Peyton the truth. I thought I could get ahead of the game somehow; that I’d let her go and then be able to trap her afterwards. After I shot Adrian, I tried to follow her. I thought I could kill her myself and get it over with.”

Hadina roared, pounding her fists against Zellie’s chest. She no longer had the energy to fight her, but she couldn’t stop wanting to hurt her. Zellie was the direct cause of everything thatwas going wrong in her life… She was the reason that Hadina may lose the love of her life.

As she went to land another hit, Zellie grabbed her by the wrists and shook her. “¡Basta! You came here because you need me; let me do this.Mamiwould want us to get Peyton back safe, and you need me to do it. You can go back to hating me afterwards. Let me correct my fucking wrong, Hadi. Let me do this for you,mi hermana.”

All the emotions and hurt that Hadina had been trying to bury came flooding out in wracking sobs. She collapsed into Zellie’s shoulder, crying uncontrollably. The scene, while far more bloody, reminded her of how she’d similarly collapsed into Zellie when theirMamihad passed, which only made her hurt more.

Zellie loosened her grip on her wrists and wrapped her arms around Hadina’s crying frame. From the small shudder she felt every few seconds, Hadina thought Zellie may have been crying too.

“You think I wanted this to happen? You think I want that kind of blood on my hands? I may be a piece of shit, Hadina, but I’m not likethat. I have fucked up so much in my life and I’m okay with that because that’s my shit, but now that my actions have touched you in the worst way…I can’t live with that on my conscience. I can’t take it back, but I can help you find Peyton and end this once and for all.”

Chapter 7

Peyton

The thingabout learning the truth was that it always came at a price. Peyton had begged into the abyss so many times, wishing that her sister would come back to her, wishing that she hadn’t chosen to leave her alone. And now that she knew that Melinahadn’tchosen to take her own life… She couldn't make sense of it in her head. Every thought was an excruciating pain, a dagger to her heart, knowing it should have been her that died.

Her sister had died because of her.

Consciousness was haunting her, playing a twisted game with her. She would wake, only to be beaten and broken some more. She had cried until her whole body became numb. Now she almost welcomed the pain, the physical reminder that she was still alive.

If she was alive, it meant Hadina would still be able to save her.

Hadina.

God, she missed Hadina more than anything. She ached to be in her arms, feel her lips on her own, to hear that familiar whisper oftentadora.

She had no concept of how long it had been since she’d been kidnapped, but it felt like an eternity. With only Demi and her henchmen for company, Peyton was reminded of how it felt to drown in her own loneliness. Hadina Adis had reminded her how it felt to be loved and to matter—without her, existence felt like a torturous waste.

“You know,” Old Smokey said as he entered the room, blowing smoke from his cigarette directly into Peyton’s face, “I could hurt you real bad and just tell boss lady it was complications from your wounds. Me and my buddy could have some fun.”

Old Smokey—who was actually called Reggie, but Peyton couldn’t bring herself to humanize him when he was the one dehumanizingher—and his counterpart, Pete, had been taking turns to beat the shit out of her until she passed out. They’d leave her unconscious for a little while and then douse her with cold water, waking her just to repeat the process. They got their sick little kicks from watching her live reactions to the pain they caused, hearing her screams.

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