Hidden By Her Sister, Loved By The Billionaire

Goodbye

Sage POV

"Sage, you were in an accident" Sapphire began slowly.

An accident? That would explain the pain in my body, but the throbbing in my side felt like it was something else. I could see the doctor shoot a glance at the nurse who shook her head. I fixed my eyes on Sapphire "Okay so what? Was it a car accident?" I pressed, "did mother and father get injured too?"

Sapphire sighed and pressed her quivering lips together, a look of pity on her face as well as devastation. "Not quite Sage" she said softly, tears trailing down her cheeks "It wasn't an accident. You, Mother and Father were run off the road" she divulged "by some men, we aren't sure who yet."

I stared at her blankly. She grimaced "They shot mother while she was trying to run and Father was shot inside the limousine. The driver was killed as well and the first security team. It had to have been a group. We think" she glanced over her shoulder at the security team "that their main objective was to get one of you, alive and injured in order to ransom you for a large amount of money" she explained tightly.

Ransomed? I looked down at my side, pressing a hand to it. Sapphire nodded quietly "They shot you in the side. I think you might have been the one they were planning to take, but the second security team showed up before they could pull you from the car. They managed to save your life."

"But why kill mother and father if they were planning on ransoming me?" I whispered confused "it makes no sense."

"Because they knew I would have paid," Sapphire said fixing her eyes on me "as long as there was one living relative still in charge, they would have gotten their hands on the money. I'm sorry I wasn't there Sage" she bowed her head, her raven hair blocking her facial expression as I looked up at the ceiling, feeling my own eyes filling with tears "and I'm sorry that you had to undergo so much trauma and pain. Perhaps," she said with a pause as I looked at her, feeling like my heart was being ripped into pieces, a crooked smile on her face "perhaps the fact that you are unable to remember the incident is a blessing in a way. You don't want the last images of mother and father," she said delicately “to be like that.”

I said nothing. I felt a tear trail down my cheek. Sapphire reached out and gently wiped it away, even as she continued to hold my hand. "What do we do now?" I whispered, my voice breaking, "what are we supposed to do without mother and father now?" I asked.

Sapphire hesitated "Sage," she said quietly "we are Silverspoons. We have been raised to fulfill the roles our parents left behind. They trained us our whole lives for this moment" she added as I watched her miserably "and they had a successor already planned out, remember" she pointed out.

"Who cares about being the successor of the company now" I said, my voice hitching "what use is the company now? It can't bring them back" my voice was angry.

"No" Sapphire agreed "but we can keep their legacy going. They wouldn't want us to let the company go to waste. Think of all the employees who depend on us for their incomes," she said persuasively "do you think they deserve to be out of work?"

She was right. So clear-headed, even in the face of tragedy, I thought numbly. I saw my sister's eyes soften. "What about the funeral" I whispered.

She hesitated. "I already had them cremated Sage. We'll have a ceremony when you're out of the hospital, just a small circle of us, but I didn't see the need to wait. It's going to take a while before you can leave" she added as I stared at her in shock "and you know what our parent's wishes were."

To be cremated? So soon? I was too tired to argue. Besides, there was no changing what had already been done. I felt so tired and so drained.

Soon the day of the ceremony arrived. The ceremony was brief, intimate between us. I could feel the throbbing pain in my side as I carefully bent to place flowers at the headstones that Sapphire had ordered placed in the cemetery, their urns buried beneath them with their ashes. Side by side, my mother and Father rested, as I stood, my dress billowing slightly in the cool chill of the wind, my eyes pricked with tears. It had been several days since the loss and still I remained in a state of disbelief. My lower lip quivered. Despite their faults, I had loved them both. It was difficult to picture the rest of my life without them being there. I would no longer here my mother's voice, hear the sound of her laughter as she went about the mansion, or hear my father as he talked business at the dinner table. They were gone. Taken from me, by someone who had nothing but evil in their hearts.

I stared at the gravestones blankly. My chest tightened. Grief swept through me. The security team was subtly hovering in the background. I could feel Sapphire moving to stand beside me. I felt her hand on my shoulder.

"Sage" she whispered "they're gone. We can't bring them back."

But I wanted to. I wanted to turn back time. I wanted to change whatever had happened that night. Even now my memory of the night's events alluded me. The doctors had said it was possible I might never remember. Too much trauma, they said, the brain's way of protecting me from something I didn't want to relive again. I shuddered, wrapping my arms around myself, unable to lift my eyes from the two dark grey headstones, even as Sapphire made a small noise of frustration.

Sapphire had been like a rock. I didn't know how she did it. Every day she had visited me in my hospital room, encouraging my recovery, keeping me up to date on the investigation. I admired the strength she possessed as she began to rebuild our lives, dealing with the loss of our parents in a way that I knew I never could. She had always been the stronger one, the dependable one. The favored one, I thought slightly bitterly and could have slapped myself for having such a thought about the sister trying so hard to help me through this time.

"Why haven't they found the men responsible" my voice cracked as I turned to Sapphire, calm, cool, composed Sapphire, clad in a beautiful black dress that flowed to her ankles and showed off her body to perfection.

"What's taking them so long?" I said shrilly "they murdered our parents and it's like nothing is being done" I shouted, my voice incensed as Sapphire held up a hand to halt me before my anger consumed me.

"They're doing the best they can Sage" she said gently, her own grief appearing on her face as I staggered slightly "but there's not a lot to go on. Your memories are gone, there aren't any eyewitnesses" her polite way of saying that everybody else was dead "and there wasn't much in the way of ballistics, the guns used were...." she trailed off and I didn't have to let her finish to fill in the blanks.

The authorities were grasping at dead ends.

"Just give them time" Sapphire urged, carefully putting a hand on my shoulder, acting as though I was a delicate piece of china that was about to break at any moment "it's only been a few days. They aren't going to give up as easily as you are imagining. Don't forget, this is a priority case for them. I know you want answers..."

"If they wanted to kidnap me, they should have just done that and let mother and father live" I said angrily "there was no reason to kill them. They did this intentionally. I want them found Sapphire" my voice broke as tears began to trail down my cheeks "I want those who killed our parents to pay for what they did."

"So do I Sage" she said gently, "but it's not going to do any good getting worked up like this. You're still recovering from getting shot" she pointed out "and you don't want to put yourself back into the hospital again, do you?" she asked sweetly.

I deflated. No, I did not want to end up back in the hospital. The days had been long and boring, with very little to occupy my time, other than dealing with the constant questions from the police, questions I had been unable to answer. The rest of the time had been spent crying or staring blankly at the walls while a security member stood guard outside the door.

I knew what came next. I dreaded it. I felt sick even thinking about it. That night, Mother and father had been planning to announce it anyway, I thought blankly, but they never got the opportunity. Their lives had been cut short before we made it to the event. But Sapphire had a right to know. The will. It all came down to the will. Neither of us had any doubts that mother and father would have organized everything down to the last detail and our family solicitor was waiting to go over everything with the two of us. He would also finally declare the new CEO of Elite Fashion.

Once upon a time I might have cared about that. I might have even been jealous of Sapphire. I had no doubts it would be her that would become the new CEO. Every objection, every refutal I might have once protested was gone. I didn't have the heart to show the same amount of dedication towards it that I once had. Sapphire looked at me as. "You know that I'm counting on you to help me" she said "just like you did with mother and father."

Even she knew that it was a given she would become the head of the company. The fact she hadn't spoken those words until now, had been due to her compassion and her unwillingness to upset me.

"Whatever you need me to do Sapphire, I'll do it" I said stiffly, bowing my head, feeling the soft breeze of the wind caress my face and tease a loose strand of my hair.