CHAPTER NINE
>DEAD GIRL WALKING
...The Vitale's Residence
Meanwhile, as this unfolded, chaos has erupted back at the Vitale mansion.
Mrs. Vitale was sitting in the living room, in front of the television was shocked.
Her face was pale with an intense shade of suprise as she watched the news coverage.
She saw Muse, walking with their rival, Pierre as the headlines flashed.
"This is impossible," she snspped.
Her hands clenched into fists as her head snapped away from the television.
"Lucas! Michael!" She yelled.
But only since answers her.
She stood with a jerk and headed to the edge of the spiral stair case.
She called for them again.
The sound of a door opening somewhere upstairs was one that brought relief.
"Is that you mom?" Lucas's voice floated towards her.
She took a deep breath.
Then she exhaled
"Come right down Lucas, there's something you need to see on the news."
Silence reigned.
Then, she heard shuffling as Lucas shut the door and began to come to her.
His foot appeared at the top of the staircase before his head, and his body.
"What is it mother? Did our stick fall again?" He asked with confused eyes.
She shook her head.
"This is worse than that," she mused.
Lucas sucked in a breath.
"What? Tell me mother," he pressed as he hurriedly down the stairs.
She turned away from him and began to walk back into the living room.
"What happened?" Michael's voice broke through as he came in from the dining room.
"It's Muse," Mrs Vitale said as she picked the remote and increased the volume.
The brothers eyes met the news on the television and their jaw felt slack.
"Muse!" Lucas drawled.
Outside on the garden, Colleen was sitting beside Reed on the picnic mat.
She scrolled uninterestedly through Instagram with a cracker in her mouth.
Reed was on his laptop, buried in work and ignoring her as usual
She had to keep busy least she be bored to death in his presence.
Suddenly, a video of a familiar face was what appeared on her feed.
She had almost even scrolled past it until she recognized the changed woman.
Her mouth fell open.
She sat up instantly from her half lying position and gasped in horror.
"No! No! No!"
Reed instantly looked up at her.
He eyed her with confusion.
What was going on with her?
Was she trying to get his attention with one of her usual pranks again?
"What is it baby?" He asked.
She turned to him.
But the flabbergasted look on her face told him that this wasn't a prank.
She was in distress.
"Coleen, what is it?" He pressed, setting his laptop aside to face her squarely.
But she just shook her head.
"No, no, it can't be."
He sized her up slowly.
What was wrong with her?
"It can't be what?" He asked in an irritated voice that revealed his impatience.
Colleen looked up at him.
Her blood was roaring in ears as she tried to process everything.
"It's her, Muse."
Reed scrunched his nose in disgust.
He sucked in a breath.
"Stop pranking girl, Muse is locked up in jail," he whined like a child.
Colleen flinched.
"I have work to do, don't distract me," he snapped, reaching for his laptop.
But before he could, Colleen just angrily shoved her phone in his face.
"Take a look!" She yelled.
He reluctantly took the phone.
The moving image of his ex fiance hit him like ice cold water in winter.
Cold chills ran down this spine.
He raised his head to Colleen.
"Is... Is that Muse?" He stammered.
"Didn't I tell you?"
Her brows quirked.
Something burned hot in her veins.
"That bitch is back!" She roared.
Reed scrambled to his feet as a mix of emotions courses through his veins.
"Where are you going?" Colleen asked as he began to head for the house.
"Your mother needs to see this!" was his reply as he slid the glass doors open.
He heard Colleen follow behind him.
He circled the corner just as she caught up with him after a little jog.
Relief washed over him when he saw Michael coming in from the dining.
Mrs Vitale and Lucas were also standing before the television.
"You all need to see th—"
The words died in his mouth as his eyes fell on the events on the screen.
It was Muse.
She was standing there in a beautiful dress and addressing the reporters.
"No, no," Mrs Vitale kept repeating.
"But she was in prison. She was supposed to stay in prison," Colleen snapped.
She turned to Lucas.
"What's going on?! Why is she there, walking around freely?"
The veins on her neck bulged.
"Lucas, what's happening?" Michael demanded with wide eyes.
"Just gimme a minute," Lucas said as he fished his phone from his pocket.
They all stared at him as he dialed a few keys and pressed the phone to his ear.
Lucas paced back and forth as it rang.
The person picked the phone.
"What the fuck is going on?" He barked into the receiver. "How's Muse out?"
The receiver mumbled responses in a shaky voice, explanation for what went wrong.
"I don't care what it costs. Find out how she got released. Find out everything."
Michael stood by the window watching thereporters gathering Muse.
"She looks different," he pointed out.
"She looks like trouble," Colleen spat from the couch where she was sitting.
Her face was twisted with rage as she watched Muse on screen.
"This ruins everything."
"Maybe we were too hasty," Mrs. Vitale said quietly.
"Too hasty?"
Colleen whirled around.
Her eyes were like burning coals.
"She tried to destroy this family! She stole intel and money from the company!"
"But what if—"
"There's no what if!"
Colleen's voice rose to a shriek.
"She's trying to ruin us, and now she has that billionaire helping her."
"You're right," Mrs Vitale admitted.
Colleen turned to Reed, heaving.
She watched him.
Reed sat in silence
He stared at the screen.
He just couldn't take his eyes off Muse.
She looked radiant and bathed in a confidence he had never seen.
It appealed to him.
She was completely different from the broken woman that he had betrayed.
Something fluttered in his heart.
Something warm.
Something rather pleasant.
Something he had once felt, always, before it was lost in Colleen's arms.
"Reed?" Colleen snapped.
He turned to her with dreamy eyes.
"Are you even listening?" She barked.
"She's beautiful," he whispered.
Colleen's face flushed red.
"What did you say?"
"I said she looks beautiful. I've never seen her look like that before."
"She's the enemy now," Colleen hissed. "Don't forget that."
Reed made to say something.
But Colleen's gaze dug deep into his skin and brought him back to his senses.
Realization washed over him.
He started to reach for her.
"Babe, I'm so sorry, I—"
She jerked her hands away from him.
"Don't touch me!"
Her eyes burnt with rage.
"Colleen I don't —"
The smack that she graced the side of his face with left him astounded no doubt.
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he stared up at her in disbelief.
"Fool!" She hissed.
Then, she stood and stormed away.
His eyes met those of her family members but everybody simply looked away.
He was left alone with his shame.
Back at the cemetery, the press conference was now finally winding down.
Pierre had fielded most of the questions while Muse stood beside him.
And together both of them were projecting an image of calm, superior strength.
"One last question," Pierre announced.
A reporter rushed forward.
"Me! Me! Pick me!" She begged.
Pierre gave her a once over.
"Go ahead," he said with a gesture.
The lady smiled at being picked.
The interaction between the reporter from channel 7 and Pierre only amused Muse.
"This one is to Miss Muse."
Muse met her eyes.
Then she gave her a nod of permission.
"What is your message to the Vitale family?" the reporter asked her.
Muse smirked.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then, she gathered her composure and looked directly into the camera.
Her voice was steady when she spoke.
"My message is simple."
Silence reigned.
"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated by my ex family."
Someone gasped in the crowd.
Perhaps because of the use of the prefix "ex" when mentioning her family.
"I want to let you all know that the real Muse is back and just getting started."
The cameras captured her smile which was both beautiful and slightly dangerous.
"I hope y'all are watching this now. It's not a threat, it's a promise, Vitale."
Then, she turned to Pierre.
"Let's go darling."
Pierre gave her a smile.
The gesture painted his as an uxorious husband instead of the one she knew.
"As you please, my love," he answered as he offered her his elbow.
She linked her hands with his.
As they walked back to the car, Pierre leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"How do you feel?"
"Well," she shrugged, "like I just declared war?" Muse replied with a grin.
Pierre's smile widened.
"Good," he breathed, "because that is exactly what I need you to do."
He helped her into the car while the cameras clinked in capture.
Then, Muse leaned back in her seat as the Mercedes pulled away from the cemetery.
And they left the marble headstone behind and the old Muse who had died there.
The woman who now sat in the backseat was someone entirely new.
Someone who was ready to fight back.
Behind them phones were buzzing all over the city as the footage went viral.
The hashtag #DeadGirlWalking was what would start trending within the hour.
And the Vitale family's carefully constructed world was about to come crashing down.