Forest's Redemption

I have only one regret - I should have made sure that girl died.

She was in hospital for two and a half fucking months and not a single member of the Greyson family concerned themselves with her. Lorraine and her kids can afford to hear the conversations that the strongest people in this world exchange with one another. They can hire private investigators who can unearth a person or even a nation's deepest and darkest secrets, but not a single one of them bothered to check on that girl for two and a half months.

I was filled with so much glee when I saw how easily they abandoned their family pet; so much so that I wanted her to live and see that no matter what they told her, she would never matter to people like us.

I wanted her to see past her delusions that she had a family just because the Greysons had extended their kindness to her. I wanted her to wake up and see that she was never their family. She was the dirty girl who needed help and burdened them the way she burdened her own parents.

I wanted Charlotte Ericsson to see how alone she truly is; how alone she has always been.

Walking passed that girl's room while she was in hospital and pretending to go check up on her filled me with so much ecstacy that I prayed for her to hang in there even when it looked like she might die.

I wanted her to live and see how little she mattered to the people she had grown to call her family.

I still remember how much she wailed when she realised that her boyfriend who could have taken a helicopter to go see her, chose to ignore her while she was fighting for her life. Her face was always sullen, filled with dread and glued to her phone because Lauren kept posting picture after picture of her and Lucas Greyson.

My daughter had finally gotten the man she deserves - Lucas Greyson.

He was laughing with her in those pictures. He was studying with her, eating with her and going on little vacations with her. He was so afraid of leaving her alone because she had made it clear that she might hurt herself if she only had herself to rely on.

My daughter was finally going to become a Greyson and that Ericsson girl was out of the way.

I hate Lorraine, but I would have loved to tell people that my daughter was a Greyson. Lawrence and I would have truly been invincible if one of our daughters had become a Greyson.

When I was alone with my thoughts, I imagined that Lucas Greyson would have loved my daughter the way his father loved his mother.

David made us all envious of Lorraine. He worshipped the ground she walked on and he wanted everyone to know it. I yearned to be loved like that, but I knew Lawrence was incapable of such a thing. He thought David was a fool for loving so recklessly and openly. He couldn't respect that and he couldn't see how much every woman, even his own wife, secretly wanted to be with David Greyson.

The man was tall, handsome and built like a Greek God, but that's not what made him so attractive. He walked like he knew the world was waiting to receive orders from him and spoke like he knew we were all hanging on his every word, but that was still not what made that man so attractive.

It was the way he looked at Lorraine that made most woman want him. He looked at her with so much longing, desire, need and urgency that sometimes my legs carried me to them in the hopes that I would switch bodies with her and have someone look at me like that as well.

Lucas Greyson looks at that Ericsson girl the way his father looked at Lorraine.

I've seen it.

I saw it at the banquet. I saw it at all the other events where he paraded her to the world. And I saw it in the pictures taken by the press.

My daughter has seen how that man looks at that girl and day by day it has made her lose her sanity.

Five years and not once did he look at her like that.

My daughter is beautiful. She's so polite and friendly. She always wants to help even if she eventually ruins things and she adores him. However, none of that was enough for that man to look at my daughter the way he looks at that Ericsson girl.

So, of all the things I wish I had done as I walk slowly into a house that will soon be engulfed in flames, killing that girl is at the top of my list.

I was too busy enjoying how much she was suffering to understand that she's the type of person to get up after falling. I should have ended her suffering and killed her instead of letting her get back up.

I wish I could go back to the day Lorraine petitioned the school board to admit her as a student. It wasn't new to any of us that she wanted one of the dirty kids from that kindergarten of hers to be in a school for the richest kids in the country. She pulled that stunt each year and forced our kids to go to school with children who belonged to servants just so she would feel better about having all that money David left for her.

Most of those kids turned out to be smart and did well, but they all understood the pecking order at the school. They understood that they were beneath our children and that they were there in the hopes of working for our children one day.

When that Ericsson girl started she was like that at first. She kept her head down, let our kids take out their frustrations on her, never said a word, kept away from the other kids and barely passed her grades.

She was supposed to be like that for her entire life. She was supposed to keep her head down and never say a word, but Lorraine had to go and ruin it.

If I could go back in time, I'd kill that girl the day Lorraine insisted that she go to school with our kids. I'd kill her and save Lauren from all the heartbreak she endured and save us from what is most certainly our end.

"Can I please call my daughters?" I asked the tall and brooding man yet again.

He's as tall as the Greyson boys and as muscular as them. His long black hair makes him look that much more intimidating and his cold blue eyes look like they've seen people beg for their lives and remained unmoved by those pleas.

The Greysons are known for doing things by the book. I wonder how many times they've used this man's services. How many times did they break the law like we do?

"Lauren is currently in hospital." He said in an annoyed tone. "Once she's healed she'll go back to jail. Lisa is apparently catatonic following the death of her child. That's all you get. No calls. No texts and no follow up questions."

I couldn't cry anymore.

I cried when I regained consciousness and found myself on a private plane back to America. I cried during the entire flight. I cried when he shoved us inside a car and started driving to our house.

... but I stopped crying once we got to our beautiful home ...

My tears mean nothing to this man and they're only making my husband feel more distraught. So I'll swallow my sobs to make his few last moments with me easier.

"Can you give them a message from me?" I asked.

I don't know if my question is directed at this man or my husband. Lawrence and I have still not decided which one of us will live.

However, I think we both know we're both going to choose him to live. His life is more valuable than mine. He's the one who will be able to face those insurmountable lawsuits against us. He'll know how to help Lisa. They've always been close.

He'll know how to shake her awake and get back our strong-willed daughter.

He might struggle with Lauren though. He could never understand her because she's nothing like us. My youngest isn't like most people. She doesn't crave power, purpose or success. She lives for the sake of living and nothing else.

She's not interested in being smart, admired or desired. She just wants to live and do nothing. She likes being around people who are ambitious and determined. That much I can see. I think that's why she fell in love with Lucas Greyson. She could tell from a very early age that they were nothing alike and I think by clinging to him, in her own way, she was trying to find her purpose like the rest of us.

Lawrence and Lisa have never understood that, but I learned to accept it because although she didn't have our intellect, at least she had our cruelty. She'll never admit this to herself, but she's as ruthless, corrupt and conniving as the rest of her family.

Lawrence will get frustrated with her, but it's better if he lives. He'll be able to get justice for what that Ericsson girl has done to us.

None of this would have happened if it weren't for that Ericsson girl.

"No messages will be passed on." The man answered nonchalantly.

"You can't burn this entire place." Lawrence tried pleading again as soon as the man opened the two doors leading into our home. "This house has been in my family for at least a hundred years. Each generation has built onto it, restored it and extended it. It's one of the biggest and oldest mansions in New York. It's practically a heritage sight. Please." His voice cracked. "This is my family's legacy. Kill me, but leave this behind for my kids and grand kids."

"No." The man closed the doors as soon as we entered. "You don't seem to understand that Lucas Greyson has decided to kill off the Mitchells. This home and legacy you speak of should be the least of your worries. You have a sister, Mr Mitchell. Lucas Greyson will also go after your sister. You have two daughters. He will go after them too. When this all ends, only the kids will remain standing. You know you've taken things too far. You've crossed lines that no idiot would dare to cross and you did that because you thought his kindness and leniency was ignorance and idiocy. The only reason you and your family have been able to go on like you have for the passed few months is because his wife stopped him each time he wanted to end you, but I guess now you've done something that not even she can talk him out of. Lucas Greyson is erasing the Mitchell name from history."

I could see Lawrence trying to think of what to say to convince this man to spare our family's legacy, but he was lost for words.

This is our end.

"It should be you." I interrupted the hopeless thoughts that were clearly consuming him. "You should be the one to live, Lawrence. You'll take care of our girls and kill every single person who did this to us. Okay?"

"No." He shook his head and started crying again. "I'm not doing that. It will be you, Liza. What the girls need is their mom-"

"They need their dad!" I shut him up. "They need you to protect them and make sure that Ericsson girl dies like she should have a very long time ago."

"Liza!" He cried as he hugged me and I cried too.

We spent the better part of our marriage extending this house, buying neighbouring properties just to make it bigger and show the world that we may not be the Greysons, but we are still a power to be reckoned with.

Now it will all be gone.

"Come on." The man started dragging my husband away like he was a child.

"No!" Lawrence started screaming and fighting back, but this man kept dragging him with no effort. "Liza! No! Please!" He kept screaming. "It has to be you!" Please! I can't do this!"

The man suddenly dropped my husband on the floor and Lawrence all but crawled back to me.

"Are you letting us go?" I asked him like a naive child.

"No." He replied with a slight smirk. "I'm leaving you both here to die in your home."

"No." Lawrence and I protested together. "He'll go. He was just distraught!" I tried yelling.

"No." He replied coldly. "I just received word from the boss himself that we can't risk you two stirring up trouble again in the future. It's best for his, his wife and family's peace of mind if you two are dead."

"No!" Lawrence roared at the man. "We, we, we won't bother them ever again. We promise."

But his words had no effect on the man.

He turned around calmly and started walking away from us.

We can't both die. One of us needs to live and protect our daughters, our legacy and the Mitchell name.

Lawrence has to live. He has to get justice for us.

I can't let this happen. We can't both die.

"Does Lorraine know that her son is a murderer?" I screamed at the man. "Does she know that her son has stooped so low that he's now burning people alive? She's always acted like she and her kids are better than the rest of us!" I yelled some more. "Does she know that her son is JUST like us? Does she know that he's a monster just like us?"

He stopped right before reaching the door.

He stood there with his back facing us while the seconds melted into minutes and the minutes melted into eternity.

We might live.

I've hated Lorraine since I met her, but today saying her name might actually save me.

"Lorraine raised her children to survive the people who killed her husband." He replied without turning to face us. "She, more than anyone else, understands that you need to turn into a monster to defeat a monster. She didn't have the strength to do what she knew needed to be done, but her children do."

He started walking aways snd I ran to him. He turned to look at me before I could make any contact with him and his eyes were enough to make me stumble and fall.

Those eyes are the reason why Ĺawrence and I haven't bothered fighting back. He looks ready to kill us qithout hesitation.

"Stay." He said coldly and then left.

We stayed. We didn't tey to scream for help or try to escape.

He'll find us and he'll make us suffer a fate worse than burning alive.

"We can survive this." My husband kept muttering to himself. "We're Mitchells. We're survivors. We can survive this."

He kept muttering.

I don't think he noticed that smoke was starting to fill the house or that heat was creeping in the walls and the floor.

I should have gone to see Lisa.

I should have gone to comfort her. I shouldn't have been so hard on her. She always tried her best. We're going to die with her thinking we practically disowned her.

I should have been kinder to Lauren. I shouldn't have put her down so much. I should have tried to understand her more and loved her the way I loved Lisa.

I should have told Lawrence to kill David and his whole family. I should have killed Lorraine myself.

But above all, I should have made sure that Ericsson girl died. That is my biggest regret regret.

Lucas Greyson is only doing this to us because of that girl. If it weren't for her, Lauren would have been married by now with a child or two to cement her position in the Greyson family.

I should have killed that girl.

Lawrence clutched at my feet when flames started erupting around us.

They must have used an accelarant. This fire is moving too quickly.

My lungs were burning from the inside, my eyes were filling with more tears because of all the smoke, but all I could do was watch as everything we've worked for burn down.

This is the end.

"We should have killed her." Lawrence cried and coughed again. "We should have fucking killed her."

Yeah. I thought to myself as the smoke burned my lungs and the first few flames started licking my dress. We really should have made sure that girl died.