Is this destiny?

While Sarah and Aiden are chatting with Ellie and Jasper, a few levels below in the VR room…

Sylvie opened her eyes with a groan.

She was dazed and unsure where she is. It\'s dark.

"Josephine, Josephine!", Sylvie called for her caretaker. "What happened to the lights?"

For some reason, she thought that she is at her home. It took her a few seconds to remember that she is visiting Felix. Yes, she came to Los Angeles to be close to Lia and… Her eyes sprang open in horror.

"What is this…", she asked weakly before hollering: "Josephine!"

Sylvie stared at the dark stone walls, and there are some rusty shackles dangling, and there are no windows. The only light is coming from a lone ancient-looking torch that is high on the wall.

If she does not know better, Sylvie would think that she traveled back in time; several hundreds of years back because this looks medieval. But where is she?

Water is dripping, creating a small puddle and there is some horrid smell and…

"Ahh!", Sylvie screamed when she noticed rats gnawing on a decomposing corpse a few feet away from her.

She scrambled to increase the distance, but her hands are shackled to the ground and she can\'t move!

"Ahh!", she screamed again desperately. Those rats look nasty and hungry and she is confident that they are looking at her.

She moved as far as possible from the rats and her sight fell on the old wooden door which had metal bars on the top. It is dark on the other side, but it\'s the only exit she sees.

"Help! Help! Someone! Is there anyone?", Sylvie called toward the door until her throat was aching, but no one answered.

She cried from fear and frustration while wondering, how did she get here?

Sylvie remembered that she was at Felix\'s house and Sophia was on the terrace and then Sarah came, and she was saying mean things. She understood that her current situation must be related to Sarah and Sophia. Those two wretched Hill sisters did something!

"Sophia! Sarah! I know this is your doing!", Sylvie screamed with renewed vigor. "Release me! How dare you imprison me?"

Her fury was increasing. Why is no one answering?

"Felix! You are out there, aren\'t you? Are you going to allow them to mistreat your mother!?"

Sylvie listened carefully, hoping to hear footsteps or maybe some movement, but no matter how much she perked up her ears, she could only hear the sound of her breathing, the water dripping rhythmically in the small puddle in the corner, and occasional squeaks of those damned rats!

She is not sure how much time passed when there were tremors and sounds of something breaking.

"An earthquake?", Sylvie mumbled.

The whole dungeon shook violently and there were sounds of ripping and rocks shattering and she opened her eyes widely in horror at the sight of the ceiling lifted up at the corner by a large claw.

"AHHH!", a shrill scream escaped her at the sight of a dragon! A huge dragon lifted the ceiling and she could see the scales clearly and blood-red eyes with a thin black slit in the middle for a pupil.

The dragon saw her and narrowed his eyes. A second later, he snorted, and Sylvie\'s hair swayed when dragon\'s hot sulfuric breath hit her face.

Sylvie wanted to run, but she was chained, and even if she was not, her legs would not budge. And she wanted to scream, but she was unable to inhale.

\'This is how death looks like…\', were her thoughts before she fainted.

…

Later that evening, Sarah and Aiden watched the footage from the VR room…

"Ah, she fainted before the fire breathing!", Sarah said dejectedly. "She missed the best part."

"Based on her vitals, this is how much she can take. She was on the verge of dying from fear.", Aiden said, amused by Sarah\'s reaction. Well, he would be disappointed as well if he put numerous hours in coding parts that were not used.

Sarah didn\'t like it. "You are saying that\'s it? She is so evil and malicious, yet her capability of handling stress is almost nonexistent."

Aiden chuckled. "I don\'t know who can handle a fire breathing dragon."

Sarah snorted. "We should wait for her to wake up and run the program again."

Aiden shook his head in disagreement. "Before fainting, she even wetted herself in fear."

Sarah exhaled in defeat. "Fine. Call Felix. He should take his mother…"

…

The next day in Texas…

Felix is in Dr. Siltanen\'s office, in the mental institution where Marcus, Lukas, and Mrs. Morgan (aka Penny\'s mother) are.

"Thank you Dr. Siltanen.", Felix said when the doctor confirmed that they will accept Sylvie as a patient.

"I am glad that you decided to seek my help with your mother, Mr. Martin. When I got a call from Mr. White, I knew that it\'s urgent and I came to handle this personally.", Dr. Siltanen said with a comforting smile.

Felix spoke solemnly: "I know that my mother has issues for some time, but I was reluctant to make it official. Things got worse about a year ago, when she was discharged from the hospital. She was in an accident and no caretaker stayed for more than two months. I was hoping that she will get better but now… she tried to harm my child and I could not neglect this problem. Jeff recommended that I speak to you."

Dr. Siltanen nodded in understanding. Felix showed him the video footage which shows Sylvie tackling the nanny and grabbing a seven months old baby from nanny\'s arms. The woman is definitely unstable.

Dr. Siltanen likes that a person like Jeffrey White is recommending him. Other than giving generous donations, he is also bringing other big shots (aka Penny and Felix). His mental hospital is flourishing!

"Do you know if she can get better?"

Felix\'s question pulled Dr. Siltanen from his thoughts about the next hospital upgrades.

Dr. Siltanen took a deep breath. "I don\'t want to give you false hopes. But we don\'t often see a person who talks about raising babies in one breath, and in the next one claims that a dragon wanted to eat her. On top of that, she is violent."

"I understand.", Felix said after some time.

Dr. Siltanen looked at Felix with compassion. He did these talks many times before. "I can assure you that we will do our best to correctly diagnose your mother and to take care of her properly. Even if we can\'t cure her, we will ensure her comfort and that she is not suffering."

"I will appreciate that. Can I see her before I head out?" Part of Felix wanted to see her again, and part of him wanted to make sure she is here, locked up, and unable to leave.

"Of course, this way…", Dr. Siltanen gestured toward the door of his office.

Felix entered a light gray room. There are some medical instruments and machines on the side and in the middle is a bed with Sylvie strapped to it.

"Mother…", Felix called when he stopped one step away from the bed.

Sylvie turned her head to the side lazily and her eyes flashed when she recognized Felix.

"My son… Why am I here? Are you taking me home?"

Felix pressed his lips into a line. He knows that Sylvie is like a poison and he does not want her to be near him or his family, but seeing her in such a state, tied up to the bed, is not easy.

He shook his head. "You are not well. You will stay here until Dr. Siltanen says that you are better."

Sylvie sneered. "Better? I\'m not sick."

"Of course, you are not sick."

"Then, I can go home, right?"

Sylvie looked at Felix hopefully and her expression fell when she heard his response: "Not yet."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are part of this, right?"

"Part of what?"

"You heard that I wanted to take Lia under my wing, and you sent me into a dungeon with rats!", Sylvie said with a voice full of anger.

Felix glanced at Dr. Siltanen who smiled meekly back.

"Why are you looking at him!", Sylvie hissed at Felix. "The dragon is yours! I knew it! How can you turn against your own mother? You ungrateful spawn!"

Felix forced a smile. "It\'s OK, mom. They will take good care of you here. I will visit when I can."

Sylvie watched in disbelief as Felix walked out of the room. "Wait! I was kidding! You are the best son in the world! Don\'t leave me here! Felix! FELIX! …"

The rest of Sylvie\'s screams disappeared when the door closed.

Felix stood in the hallway and took a deep breath.

Dr. Siltanen patted his shoulder. "I know that it\'s hard, Mr. Martin, but this is for the best. We will make sure she gets the help she needs."

Felix nodded. "Thank you." He took another deep breath and walked out.

With every step he took further away from Sylvie, the heaviness on his chest was easing up. By the time he reached the car, he felt that he can breathe freely. Finally.

All the stress and pressure he felt since he was a child was gone. It was a liberating feeling, like invisible shackles disappeared and he is so light that he can fly from pure joy.

Felix wondered if that is how his father felt when he left them. Probably.

Felix decided to call Damien. It seems that they have one more thing in common: both of them are free from Sylvie.

---

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