Chapter 429: Locked
"Are you sure they are all asleep and won’t wake up too soon?"
The man nodded quickly with a firm expression. "Yes, sister. Don’t worry. They will remain asleep. I already released the sleeping gas into the air vents. As long as they keep breathing, they will not be able to wake up anytime soon."
Marianne’s lips curved slightly, and she reached out to pat her brother’s shoulder. "Good work, brother. You have stayed with me and carried the burden all these years. I don’t even know how to thank you. Pretending to be a mere driver... Thank you for sharing this burden with me."
The man smiled at her words, his eyes shining with simple pride. "What burden? What struggle? For me, there was none. You have always been kind to me, sister. Being by your side was never difficult. As for being a driver. Isn’t it just taking you around and helping you. That was never a burden."
Marianne’s gaze lingered on him for a moment. Then she slipped her hand into her pocket, pulled out a small piece of chocolate, and pressed it into his palm. "Here. Take this. It is my thank you to you. From today, you no longer need to pretend. You can simply be yourself. I’ve already arranged a good and peaceful place for your retirement."
The man’s grin widened almost turning boyish. He clutched the sweet tightly before looking back at her with hope in his eyes. "You mean... I don’t even have to be your driver anymore? Then I can return to my other sister. She will be happy to see me after so many years, won’t she? She won’t be angry that I stayed with you all this time, right? I’ll go and clean her grave and take her some flowers."
Marianne shook her head slowly and gave him a calm smile. "Of course she won’t. She always treated me like her own sister, didn’t she? She would never have wanted me to be alone. She will be glad you were with me all this while. And, I have arranged the place near to where she is! So you won’t have to go far to visit her."
Her fingers moved lightly as she took the chocolate back from his hand, unwrapped it, and held it up to his lips. "Go on. Eat."
The man obeyed without hesitation, trusting her as he always had. He bit into the chocolate quickly, chewing and swallowing until nothing remained. For a brief moment he seemed satisfied, but then his expression faltered.
His body swayed slightly as a wave of dizziness overtook him. His breathing turned uneven, his eyes blinking rapidly in confusion. "Sister..." he whispered, his voice weak.
Marianne caught his arm before he could collapse to the ground. She guided him carefully across the room and lowered him onto the couch nearby. His weight pressed heavily against her for a moment, but she steadied him until he sank into the cushions.
Once he was lying there, she released him and gently patted his face with her hand. Her tone was soft, almost soothing. "It’s okay. Rest now. I promised you to send you to your sister when the time was right, didn’t I?"
Marianne smiled. There was a reason she had kept this brother with her all these years. She’d found him in the mental institution, where his parents had sent him because he used to like ’playing’ with animals by cutting them and seeing what they had inside. He’d tried to do the same to his sister, which had eventually caused her death. And he didn’t even know...
But all these years, he had been a good little helper to her, following her instructuons to the tee. So, she smiled and arranged this easy death for him. This would be his last job for her..She waited until his breathing grew shallow, counting each rise and fall of his chest before patting his head. "You will take the blame for today’s mishap, of course. So, thank you for this too."
With that, Marianne smiled slowly. The death of Melanie and her unborn child, along with Adam and the others was the perfect ending for her decades long hard work. Anyone who could be a threat to her would now be gone. No one to come after her for revenge or any such crazy thing.
And then, once Richard found out that one of his daughters was dead and the other in a mental institute, he would finally feel the pain that she had felt all these years when her father died and her mother was admitted into the mental asylum.
Walking to the door, she stepped out and then pulled out a small control device from her pocket. With a single press, the central locking system clicked into place. Every door, every window, every possible exit in the house was sealed tight. No one inside would be able to escape, no matter how hard they tried. Even if someone woke too early, they would be trapped, waiting for what was to come.
Marianne checked the lock twice before slipping the device back into her pocket and walking towards the elevator.
Once outside, she stopped again, pulled out a second device, and pressed another button with a simple almost innocent smile on her face.
Inside the kitchen, almost invisible at first, a small spark flared to life. It touched the trail she had left ready, a faint line of fuel that caught instantly. A tiny flame flickered first but then steadiuly grew and then began to spread throughout the kitchen.
Marianne didn’t look back right away. She stood with her chin lifted, and waited for the faint glow behind her reflecting off the glass windows as the fire grew. Only then did she allow herself a thin, satisfied smile. The house was sealed, the fire was lit, and soon there would be nothing left but ash and silence.
She turned and walked away without hurry. Things were almost at an end.