Last sweet dream

It was already dark when Danica arrived at the mansion. She was tired from the trip, thus she went to her room. But before she could enter, the maid called her.

"Ma'am, do you want something to eat?"

Danica looked at her with a smile. "I'm still full and I want to rest first. When Steven looks for me, please let him know I'm just in my room."

Rita restrained herself from attacking and hurting Danica. She still had to stay calm until she was sure Nicole was safe. From Gaven, she knew that the two children were safe. She was greatly impressed with what Sean did and he saved his sister. But her brother hadn't called again yet. She didn't know if he had saved Nicole as well.

Danica just smiled at Rita when she saw her. She waved at her before closing the door. With a smile on her face, she lay down on the soft bed and slept in a great mood.

"How is she?" Gaven asked Steven when he saw him.

"I do not know!" Steven answered in frustration. He had tweaked his own hair several times while walking back and forth outside the operating room.

"You need to be resilient and your kids need you."

When Gaven mentioned them, he remembered the two. "How is she?"

"She's fine and her fever has gone down. Sean didn't know you were here either and that his mother wasn't well." Gaven said sadly.

Steven facepalm again. He can't face his children now, particularly Sean. He felt that he was a very worthless father. Nicole was right, it was his fault why their children weren't completely together. And what's worse is that he didn't know they had another child.

"Even if you blame yourself, there's nothing that can be done." Gaven sympathized with him.

Steven was unable to speak again when the door of the operating room opened. He and Gaven asked the doctor at the same time.

"I'm sorry to say, but her condition remained critical. The fork deeply hit her stomach and it was rusty, apart from breaking her rib."

Steven punched the wall and did not feel the pain. He felt his chest was hurting more.

"You need to move her to a bigger hospital where they have all the equipments."

Steven wasted no time. Using his own chopper, Nicole was taken to St. Luke Hospital. He had left the two children to Gaven and could not show himself to them until Nicole was safe from certain death.

At the big hospital, the woman was taken to the ICU. She was still unconscious and has pipes attached to help her breathe and pass food.

"Tony, stay here and I have to go home."

Tony felt sorry to see his state. His shoulders drooped and the expression on his face was sadness and anger.

"Whatever you do, Sir, please don't put the law in your hands." Tony said.

Without a word, Steven turned away. Mauro was in the mansion to ensure Rita's safety. He knew Danica was already there and he wanted to end her pretending tonight.

Danica's dream was beautiful, so there was a smile on her lips when she opened her eyes. Her smile widened even more when she saw Steven's handsome face.

"Hi, Honey! How long have you been here?" She asked him softly as she slowly got up.

"Finally, you're awake." Steven said coldly. He had been standing there for two minutes and watching her sleeping face. He wanted to strangle her while asleep, but he held back.

"Have you eaten?" She asked again and didn't mind his coldness to her.

"How's your sleep?"

Danica stared at his face and was confused about his change of attitude. "I slept well." She smiled at him.

"Good, because I'm sure this will be your last sweet sleep."

The smile quickly faded from Danica's lips and she was horrified by the man's cold look at her. The aura of his face was also dark and she knew he was angry.

"Honey, w-why do you look at me like that? And why did you say that to me?" She asked nervously.

"I never thought I've been taking care of a venomous snake in my household for six years!" Steven growled and glared at Danica.

"W-What are you saying?"

"Before you can plant your venom on me, I'm going to get rid of your fang!"

"Ahh, argh! Ste-Steven…" Her two hands gripped one hand of Steven who was strangling her. But instead of loosening the stranglehold on her, he tightened it even more.

"How dare you imagine that you could deceive me forever!" Steven's eyes glazed over and he violently released the woman's neck before she could lose her breath.

Danica coughed one after another while holding her neck. She panted and squeezed herself near the headboard of the bed.

"You devil, you have no heart!" Steven's voice echoed in the four corners of the room.

At first, Danica was confused by what he was doing. But when she saw Rita at the door, she understood.

"Don't come any closer!" Her courage returned and she quickly picked up her cell phone. "You can't hurt or kill me if you don't want Nicole to die!" She threatened Steven.

"Do you think you can still scare me using Nicole?" Rita said sarcastically.

"So, you really couldn't stand it and you told him the truth." Danica coldly looked at Rita. "Since you know the truth, do you think this will be my end?" She asked Steven defiantly.

"You're underestimating my ability, Danica. But I don't think like you. Even if Rita doesn't speak, I already know your rotten personality."

Danica was hurt by the painful truth because it came from the very mouth of the man she loved. She looked at Rita with hatred. She's just like Nicole that she had to bury alive.

"Even if I kill you now, no one will cry over your corpse and feel sorry for how you died!" Steven grabbed Danica's arm and pushed her on the bed.

"Ah, ouch! If you kill me now, your daughter and Nicole will surely die too!" She laughed even though it hurt.

"If I do to you what you asked your henchman to do to Nicole?" Steven's eyes flared with anger.

Danica felt cold and stared into Steven's eyes. She couldn’t believe he found out what her henchmen had done to Nicole. But, how? She stepped away from him again and called Brando.

"Don't expect to contact your henchmen because the police already have them." Rita laughed when she saw the shock in Danica's eyes.

"And where are you going?" Steven quickly grabbed her and tied both hands behind her back with his stiff hand.

"No… You can't bring me down like this!" She resisted, but she could do nothing against Steven’s strength. She tried to kick him, but it had no effect.

Smirking, Rita approached Danica. She can now do what she had long wanted to do to her. "First slap for pretending to be my friend!"

Danica was almost deafened because of Rita's hard slap.

"This is for making a fool out of me with your lies!" She gave her another loud slap.

Danica had committed many sins and ten slaps weren't enough for her.

"Steven, have mercy on me. I'm not at fault, Nicole is to blame for why I did this. It's her fault because she wants to take you from me." Danica knelt down in front of him when he released her.

Danica felt her cheeks tingle because of what Rita had done. But she still did not give up. She knew he loved her.

Steven kicked Danica and didn't feel the slightest bit of pity for her. "Pray that Nicole will be all right. Because if she doesn't, I'll kill you myself!"

Danica cried because of the pain she was feeling. Her heart was broken because she felt Steven's hatred for her. "How did he find out everything and know where I hid Nicole?" Danica asked herself.

"You beast! After we welcome you into this house, you bite the hands that feed you?" Steven suddenly pulled her up and strangled her.

"Ahh, Steven, I can't breathe."

Steven smirked when he saw Danica was having trouble breathing. If he just didn’t think about his reputation, he would want to strangle her to death.

"Even if you saved Nicole, there's still your other child!" even while suffocating, Danica glared back at Steven.

"If you're smart, I'm smarter than you, so don't even think you can use them against me!"

"No… I can't fail. We're g-going to get married and have our own child…" Danica was still able to speak despite the difficulty.

Steven let go of her neck as if it would burn him. "You don't deserve to be loved! Someone like you should live in the mental hospital. And I've never loved or will love you!"

Danica fell on her knees again and cried like crazy and sometimes laughed.

"She shouldn't be pitied, Brother. She should be imprisoned for life!"

Full of tears, Danica's face lifted. The former Rita she had known was gone. All she could see in her eyes was hatred for her.

"Catch her and don't let her escape!"

The door opened immediately after Steven spoke and uniformed police officers entered.

"No… Steven, no! Have mercy on me, don't throw me in jail! What about Daniela? She'll look for me and she'll be sad when she can't see me anymore." She hugged one of his legs again, but he just kicked her like a disgusting trash.

"I regret letting you be the mother of my child, Danica. So don't expect her to look for you again after finding out your wickedness!"

The police dragged Danica out of the house because she did not want to stand up.

"No, this is my house! Let me go, why are you dragging me away from my house?" Danica yelled at the police.

The siblings just watched Danica until she was put in the police patrol car. Rita and Steven did not feel pity for her.

"Brother, I'm sorry. Because of me, your life got messed up. I was the reason you met Danica."

Steven let out a deep sigh before facing his sister. "You don't have to apologize to me. It's also my fault because I've been careless."

"How are Nicole and Natasha?"

"Natasha is fine, Nicole is still under observation and she is still unconscious."

Rita burst into tears again when she remembered that Nicole was the true friend that she had been looking for for a long time.

"Everything will be fine, so don't cry anymore." Steven comforted his sister.

Rita forced a smile and nodded to her brother. He was leaving without her and Daniela. They would visit Nicole soon when she's moved to a nearby hospital.

Steven went to the hospital where Kanor was and visited him because only their maid was taking care of him there.

"Good to see you, Sir," the maid greeted Steven. "Earlier, Sir Kanor woke up and was looking for you and Ma'am Nicole."

Steven smiled and glanced at the sleeping gentleman. He was very grateful to him because he saved and loved Nicole. He was glad that he woke up and was safe.

"Thank you very much, Miss. I won't stay longer and Gaven will be back here as well. Please take care of him and please don't tell him what happened to Nicole when he wakes up again."

"All right, Sir." The maid answered.

When Steven left the hospital, reporters were waiting for him outside. News of what had happened to his family spread quickly. But he didn’t want to waste time on them because he wanted to be by Nicole’s side when she woke up.

The news reached Danica's parents immediately. They came out not to help their child. They apologized to Nicole's parents and the Scout family. They knew that Danica could not get out of jail because of the sins she had committed. They did not expect that the child they brought up would end up like this, she went astray because ambition swallowed her up.