Stand for Love Ch. 12

"I should have done that long ago." Granny yelled, pointing her angry finger at her. "Just who do you think you are to cause all these problems in..."

"What are you talking about?" Victoria furiously rose, holding her cheek as she got scared. "He's ruining your grandson's life and you're..."

"No!" Granny bellowed, fuming at Victoria. "He's not doing anything wrong but you are the one destroying your son's relationship. He's married and yet you are ruining his marriage and for what, so that he could be with Jake?" The moment Jake heard his name he froze and got scared. He was totally screwed.

"What?" Nicholas gave out a low painful groan. What did he just hear from his granny? He couldn't believe it. It was all a lie. It just couldn't be possible. He felt like something sharp had pierced his skin and he was now bleeding. He was sure it was a lie. His mother couldn't do something like that, could she? His heart was now pounding painfully in his chest. He had no idea what to believe anymore.

"Really, mother." Victoria said, tears leaving her eyes. "Is that what he told you?"

"No," Elena yelled. "It's what I know."

"Why do I have to get blamed for this?" Victoria yelled, furiously dropping her arms, revealing her bruised cheek. "I know he told you I did it. But where's the evidence? Did you perhaps see anything before choosing to believe him over me?"

"Stop your acting." Elena yelled. "I can't believe you're the mother of my grandchildren. You're just a snake in the..."

"You could have at least seen the evidence before acting." Victoria sobbed.

She was mad at how her plans had completely failed. She wondered how the old woman had come to know of her plans and slapped her. She was not gonna accept defeat because she'd never been defeated before, not even the opponents who were as powerful as Adrian. It just wasn't possible.

"Evidence," Elena yelled. "Is that what you want?"

"There is no evidence because I didn't do anything." Victoria yelled. "This boy is trying to blame me and he's manipulated you just like he did with Nicholas."

Looking at Victoria in an irritating way, granny slowly slipped her hand in her dress pocket and she got out a CD, 'original.'

Victoria's eyes widened when she saw the CD. Her heart pounded painfully as adrenaline rushed to the rest of her body. She was suddenly hit by coldness and then the fear clipped in. She began shaking terribly, feeling as if she was on the Antarctica. Oh my god, she'd never feared anything like that before. She wondered what she was going to do after being caught like that. She had no idea what to just do. She quickly glanced at Jake and he was shaking uncontrollably.

Nicholas stared at the CD his grandmother was holding. Whatever was on that CD was making his mother tremble and he was slowly getting eager to see what was in it? His mother was shaking and he wondered whether she had something to hide in there.

"Why are you shaking?" Adrian asked confidently. He took a quick glance and the guy was clearly afraid of what was going on. "You and Jake are both shaking."

"I...I have no...idea what you..." Victoria paused as her voice quavered in fear. She couldn't just sit there and watch.

"In case you're wondering, granny has known all along."

Hearing that, a strong cold wind blew over Victoria and Jake. They'd never been as scared as they were at that particular time. They'd thought they'd outsmarted Adrian but it was clearly a lie and now the boy was about to expose them to the family? What was more painful was the fact that they'd never actually suspected him at all.

"The truth is," Adrian chuckled, snapping his finger. "What had happened yesterday and today was actually planned by granny and me. We needed a grand finale and I left that CD and camera deliberately because I knew that you'd look for them and then I'd get an opportunity to expose you and your ally."

Victoria had never felt a headache as terrible as what she felt. It was splitting, literally breaking her head into two. Adrian was smarter than she'd thought. He had just outsmarted her and that was more painful than anything that she was experiencing at that time.

"I hope you liked the drama I pulled up yesterday."

The people in the living room were just confused. They couldn't understand a thing that was going on. All they saw was granny and Adrian telling Victoria about something that she'd done and Victoria and Jake tremble. Other than that, they didn't get any idea of what was going on except for George who stood happily.

Adrian moved his eyes and looked into Nicholas' wonderful green eyes. He was looking so confused and he was trembling. Adrian knew he was gonna have his husband back soon than he had thought. He couldn't wait for the kisses, the cuddling, the love making and the wonderful talks to begin. He was more than happy it was happening.

"Can someone tell us what's going on here?" Noah yelled, looking at the scene before him. He couldn't make of anything and for the first time he didn't have any anger but rather fear and confusion. He didn't even know what was going on with his mother who was now sweating terribly. It was early morning and she was sweating terribly.

Looking at Noah with a bright smile, Adrian simply said, "I'll show you."

Victoria felt like a thousand flaming arrows had just pierced her, burning her flesh. She could feel it burning and it was not long before she was completely burnt to ashes. Hearing Adrian telling Noah that he was gonna show him the evidence made her heart to race. Once he sees that video, she had no idea how his reaction was gonna be. What if he hates her...slaps her...curses her or worse disowns her? Man, the very thought of it all made her tremble in pain and anger.

Adrian smiled brightly and then took the CD from granny's hands. Then he gracefully moved to the huge TV, put the CD in the DVD player, took a remote and came back. It was only a matter of pressing 'play' and everyone would find out the truth about everything. He was gonna get back everything he'd lost and most importantly the respect and trust of his husband. It was as good as that. He stared at his confused looking husband and smile...damn he couldn't wait to feel his warm embrace again.

He moved his eyes away from his husband who had his eyes on the huge screen in front and looked at his smiling granny. She nodded at him, signaling him to start the video. With a wonderful smile, Adrian held on to his granny's hand, feeling its warm touch. Then he looked at the huge screen and pressed 'play' on the remote.

The video started from the time Adrian had put the bag on the bed but it was only able to show him, Victoria and Jake. The screen was big, the quality was perfect and the image was clear to the sight of everyone. Watching the video again was actually bringing Adrian tears.

****

Adrian pressed 'stop' when the video reached its maximum. His eyes were filled with tears which he had managed to suppress while the video was playing. It had been emotional for him reliving those painful moments once again but what he loved was that everyone else had seen the video and would now give him the respect that he deserves. There was nothing he'd wanted more than that.

Adrian looked at granny and she gave him a faint smile, grabbing his hand softly. She gave it a tight squeeze and he felt warm and cozy. He was more than happy with the situation especially when he thought about getting back with his husband.

Moving his eyes away from granny, Adrian stared at his husband and he felt a sharp pain in his heart. He was standing firmly on the floor still looking at the huge screen. Noah was seated on the floor, tears building in his eyes. Emily was on the couch with her face buried in her pal.

George was smiling brightly, coming near Adrian. Once he was near, he cupped Adrian's other hand and gave him a really tight squeeze. Adrian took turns looking at each of the family members who'd remained quiet after that CD.

Arianna was on the floor, quiet and trembling, Clara was on the floor too and she was not looking good herself.

After staring at each one of the family members, Adrian took a long look at Victoria and Jake. Victoria had her eyes on the floor, breathing violently. Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest, making her whole body ache. She was experiencing probably the greatest fear and pain she had ever experienced. Her body was hot and she was sweating terribly. This was accompanied by a sharp headache which made her head pulse.

And if she'd thought about being strong, all her strength had left her. She was weak, vulnerable, shaking terribly, breathing violently and trying her best to remain alive. She was feeling like her breath was leaving her, slowly and painfully. That was also what Jake was feeling, but his body was trembling even worse than Victoria's. He got even more scared when he thought about what exactly Nicholas was going to do to him.

On the other hand, Nicholas was lost, confused and...he couldn't believe what he had just seen. His mother had...no it just wasn't possible. The very thought of what he had just seen was embedded deep in his mind, filling him up with a lot of anger.

Still staring at the huge screen TV, Nicholas clenched his shaking fists, feeling a whole lot of anger entering him all at once. The anger he was feeling at that very time was intense and deep. From anger followed rage. He was ready to beat up whoever was gonna stand in his way. He didn't care who.

His fists kept on getting harder and the anger was getting out of control. His heart was now pounding painfully in his chest making him tremble. His breaths became violent and he was panting and growling like a wild animal. In short what he was feeling was a deep, intense, indescribable emotion.

Moving his eyes from the screen after what felt like hours, Nicholas moved his eyes to stare at Adrian. He looked straight at him, locking his eyes with him. Those eyes, those beautiful and wonderful eyes, Nicholas thought as a powerful emotional feeling took over his body. He couldn't stop staring at him. He had tears in his eyes and...Nicholas couldn't believe anything that had just happened. The boy had been telling the truth. It was his mother who had done everything that had happened even to herself.

As he stared in Adrian's eyes, Nicholas came to realize something really important. He realized that he was a fool...he didn't deserve Adrian...he was the world's greatest idiot and he was nothing more than the world's most stupid husband. Adrian, Adrian had been telling the truth from the start but he chose to believe all the lies. The whole truth coming to light was even more painful than any heartbreak he had ever experienced. It was really painful.

Adrian was getting hurt staring in his husband's eyes. They showed nothing but anger, regret and something that he didn't understand. He had told the truth to everyone there but he was also getting hurt with the outcome of that very truth.

Looking at Adrian was more painful to Nicholas but it also brought him intense anger. He was in rage mode, ready to kill and ready to snap at the two evil people that had done that to him. He also needed to punish himself for being the worst husband, ever.

With those kinds of thoughts deep in his brain, Nicholas felt a lot of tears building in his eyes. Then his face was flooded with tears as he quickly removed his face away from Adrian.

Adrian didn't deserve to suffer like the way he had suffered. He deserved to live like a king, enjoying his wonderful life and getting the love and support of his husband. This would have been possible if not for his mother and that stupid guy called Jake. Now they were really gonna hear from him.

With that in his mind, Nicholas abruptly moved to his mother as rage took over him. He had never been like that before and it was getting to him, big time. He angrily went to his mother and stood right in front of her as he added more pressure to his fists making them tremble in pain and hatred.

Reaching her, he looked angrily at her, breathing like a wounded bull. His breaths were violent and painful but he didn't care about that. All he wanted was the truth and he was gonna demand it from his mother whether she likes it or not.

Victoria could feel her son's breath on her face. It brought her a lot of fear and pain. She'd never been that way before and it was because of Adrian. She'd underestimated him and got defeated for the first time in her life. But she was not a woman who accepted defeats easily and besides, Nicholas was her son and could easily forgive her, right?

With a confident sigh and a trembling jaw, Victoria raised her face to stare into the eyes that made her tremble. Nicholas was raging and she'd never seen him like that. That really got her scared to the point where she just moved her eyes from side to side in fear.

"It...it was you?" Nicholas breathed, feeling a gush of wind blowing on his face. He'd never thought he'd hate his mother like the way he did at that time. "You did...you did this?" He was trembling badly as the anger in him overflowed.

"Son...please listen to me...I..." She paused as she saw the look her son gave her. She knew there was absolutely no way she was gonna escape her son's wrath. "What I mean is that..."

"What the fuck?" Nicholas yelled; sweat pouring all over his face. "You actually did it? How dare you?"

Victoria's mind was blocked, it was empty. There was no word that came up to use in defense but she was gonna be confident and face her son.

Victoria took a deep breath, dropping her shaky hands. "Yes!" She shouted at the top of her voice, looking angrily at Adrian. "I did it and I did it with good reason too. I did it because that gold-digger is not good for you. He is nothing but a thief and a whore who..."

Nicholas was now angrier. "Mother," He yelled, raising his hand high up in the air. Overtaken by rage and hatred, Nicholas smacked his mother hard on the face sending her flying to the floor. The amount of anger that he felt was out of control and he didn't give a fuck about who was involved.

Victoria landed on the floor, hitting her hand painfully on that cold floor. She winced in pain and looked up at Nicholas with fear and anger. Everyone who saw it had their hands covering their mouths. None of them could believe what was happening. It was all so unbelievable.

"You...you slapped your mother?" Victoria asked as tears of pain flooded her eyes. Her hand went straight to her hurting cheek.

"And I'm going to do it again." Nicholas yelled, shaking in pain. "You're such an evil woman. How could you do this to me...to your own son?"

"I only did it because..."

"Because what?" Nicholas yelled, venting his anger on her. "Because you hate Adrian...because you love me...because ...you want..." Nicholas frowned, now directing his eyes at Jake who was shaking as if he was about to wet his pants. He quickly moved to Jake, stared at him angrily as his fists became even harder. "...or maybe it was because of this whore who..." He trailed off as he felt a sharp pain stop him from saying anything more.

Looking angrily at Jake, Nicholas hardened his fists and swung them high in the air. With a deep sigh of irritation, he directed them at Jake. What followed next was a hard punch on the nose that landed Jake on the floor with a deep cry of pain.

Nicholas was deaf to those irritating cries. As he took a close look at Jake on the floor he realized that there was blood all over the white tiled floor coming from Jake's nose but he didn't care. When Jake raised his face, he had his hand on the nose which was bleeding really badly. Everyone else just stood without uttering a word or moving.

Nicholas then went back to his mother who was still on the floor crying. He was not done with her because there was still a lot that he needed to say. It was all just building in his heart.

"Son," Victoria cried, trying to touch his leg but he moved away.

"Don't touch me." He warned, angrily pointing at her. "Don't you ever put those filthy hands on me?"

"Listen," Victoria muttered, slowly getting up on her knees. "It was all for you and..."

"For me," Nicholas gave a bitter laugh that just showed his hatred. "Did I ask you to put your filthy nose in my marriage? Did I ask for that bitch..." He pointed at Jake who was still bleeding. "...to be in my life? Did I ask you for anything? How dare you even say that it was for me? Just who do you think you are to meddle with my affairs?"

Nicholas was mad. He was really mad and he didn't care how his words were going to affect his mother. All he wanted to do was tell her what he felt. There was no need to hide it anymore because after what she'd done, she deserved whatever he was gonna tell her. He didn't care what happens next because he was really mad with everything that was going on. His mother and Jake had inflicted pain and humiliation on his Adrian.

"Please," Victoria cried as she slowly got up from the floor. She'd never experienced such hatred and anger from her son before. She had no idea what was going to happen afterwards but she couldn't afford to lose her son.

"What kind of woman are you?" Nicholas sobbed, angry at his mother. "What am I even saying?" He said angrily, giving a bitter laugh. He was in pain and he needed to get it all out. "People like you don't even deserve to live because your only goal is to destroy."

After hearing what her son had just said to her, Victoria's cries stopped, replaced by surprise and pain. She'd never heard words as bad as those.

"What?" Victoria muttered, shaking terribly. "Did you..."

"Yes!" Nicholas yelled, furiously dropping his fists. "You don't deserve to live. You have no purpose in life other than destroying other people's lives. Just look at me," He cried, angrily pointing at himself. "Look what you've done to me. I was hurt...I was destroyed and I even wished death. Didn't that even bother you? And look at my Adrian..." He angrily pointed towards Adrian. "...just take a closer look at him and tell me what he had done."

Adrian froze, tears pouring down his face. What he just heard from Nicholas made him cry and feel happy at the same time. He knew Nicholas was angry but he had no plans of making him calm because he felt Victoria deserved whatever her son was telling her. Fuck, even his husband looked sexy when he was angry.

"I'll answer your question." Nicholas quipped. "It's because you're a selfish, egocentric woman who loves no one but herself. You're a really evil woman and I hate you. I hate you for every pain that you've caused me and my family members."

"I didn't mean to..."

"And you just watched while we suffered." Nicholas added. "But why should you care?" Nicholas laughed bitterly as a he felt more tears falling down his cheeks. "You only care about yourself and nobody else."

"I care about you." Victoria cried, rushing towards her son. She cupped his cheeks and looked in his eyes.

"No, you don't." Nicholas said, angry removing her hands from his cheeks. "And don't you ever touch me."

"Please," Victoria begged. "That'll break my heart. I can't afford to..."

"You framed my husband." Nicholas shouted, pointing his fingers downwards. "You pretended to poison yourself and then used some stupid doctor to cover it up and frame my Adrian. As if that was not enough you even made it seem like he tried to steal my money and he didn't love me. Now tell me," Nicholas abruptly moved to her, gripped her arms painfully and squeezed tightly. "Why should I care about you when you didn't even think twice about breaking my heart? Tell me."

Victoria's arms were hurting but what she'd felt have been more painful than Nicholas' hands. She needed to bring her son's old mood back.