Limitless The Strongest Revenant

Chapter POV: Isabella Taurus

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"You can stop acting now, Bella."

It took everything in me not to collapse at that moment. But John Smith was fucking relentless.

"I will, but only after you are okay."

"Because I trust you. I know you wouldn't do something like this without a good reason."

"Tell me, honey. I am the one who loves you the most."

This was fucking cheating! How the hell did he know exactly what words would make me swoon?

"This is too unfair. Why do you always throw my plans out the window?" I complained.

"Because I love you."

Ah. This is hopeless. I thought I could stay sane and love this man. But it was impossible from the beginning.

[Limitless: I am not sulking!]

[Limitless has disconnected from the Minerva Network]

I couldn't help but smile at the adorable actions of my honey. Completely different from when I first met him, this man now had my heart firmly in the palm of his hand.

From time to time, I find myself wondering if any of this was real? Before I fell in love with John Smith, I had been plagued by misfortune all my life. The loss of my parents at a young age was the beginning of my life of torment.

Since then, I have been bullied, trampled, and humiliated for just about everything. Because I was a girl, because I had no parents, even because my body was thin and malnourished.

Although I was never raped, I came very close to that fate many times. In each of those moments, I got by with the skin of my teeth. Of course, like most people, I cried my heart out and felt sorry for myself.

But one night, when my body was soaked in a typical Brazilian monsoon, something changed. I was about fourteen at the time, and it had been less than a year since my parents had gone to the pigs. But in that short time, I lost everything.

I remember that night vividly. My body was tired, hungry and sore. The disgusting feeling of wet clothes and the icy cold of the freezing wind. I was caught trying to steal a man's wallet. And was beaten as a result.

Of course, no one knew I was a woman, otherwise I would have been raped in addition to being beaten. To hide my gender, I dressed like a boy and cut my hair short.

It was a blessing that my breasts were still small. Otherwise, I would have been caught by the many brothels and kidnapped and doomed to a life of prostitution.

Why? Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this? I remember asking myself that fateful night.

In the end, there was no reason. Misfortune just fell from the sky for no reason or rhyme. However, while the bad experiences that happened to me were out of my control, how I reacted to them was.

My parents were devout Catholics and had always stressed the importance of believing in the God of the Bible. He had a lot of rules for a supposedly righteous life. But what about those who were suffering? How could we be good if we could barely survive?

The churches around me were nothing but underground whore houses and drug dens. All I knew was that if I continued the way I was going. I would die. So I made a decision.

My life changed with a single thought.

"The Lady of Aparecida would never kill to save me. Therefore, I will take life of my own volition and only ask for her forgiveness afterwards."

The Lady of Aparecida was how Brazilian Catholics referred to the Virgin Mary. Not forgetting my vow to ask for forgiveness, I named myself "Maria Chorona," which was Portuguese for "Weeping Mary."

Maria was an alter ego I created to preserve my sanity. Isabella Taurus would be a perfect little devout Catholic. But Maria Chorona? Maria Chorona would sell her soul to survive. Until I got even with the people who had made my life a living hell, Maria would fight.

And so I schemed, I stole, I killed. Through painstaking effort, I grew a moronic group of thugs into a powerful organization. Every event, every decision, every detail had to be perfect. Otherwise I would die. There was no room for mistakes.

My allies only listened to the strong. Loyalty was something that never existed between us. I had to be ruthless and powerful. Otherwise, they would turn on me and send me to the pigs. People who lived on the edge had no room for trust. All we had was greed.

After ten years, I became infamous as the baddest bitch in South America. My reputation protected me, my usefulness secured my alliances. And yet it all went wrong because of a single mistake.

My second-in-command learned of my weakness and sold me to my enemies.

"Maria Chorona, we have your aunt. If you don't do as we say, her head will be nailed to your doorstep tomorrow."

My Tia, who was my last living relative. One whom I found with great difficulty, the only one I could trust, was abducted. I couldn't use my organization because the chances that they would use her to blackmail me were quite high.

So I mounted a desperate rescue. If only I had allies who would never betray me. If only I commanded an army that never slept, never went hungry, and only listened to me. Such a task would have been easy. Perhaps that was why {Code} was born?

I managed to save my Tia, but I died soon after. When I learned that Aki was in the same situation, I wished with every fiber of my being to help her avoid my fate.

Luckily, the Sirens were with me, so it was incredibly easy. We succeeded with zero casualties and a near perfect result. But the Sirens were never loyal to me. They were only loyal to the man we all loved.

Even though I said that Honey was special to me, in the back of my mind I was still afraid.

'What if he betrayed me? What if he saw me as a filthy woman after hearing about Maria? Would I be able to survive in Hellsgate without him? Could I bear the separation?'

No. It was no longer possible. His love became the only reason I wanted to go on living. It would have been great if I had never met him, at least I could remain lifeless but alive.

Ever since I had won his love and trust, what I feared most was no longer my own death, but his. Even his disappointment was enough to make me freeze in fear. What if I make a mistake? What if I lose his love?

But such worries were repeatedly put to rest by Honey's confessions. More tangible than any ring, he gave me {Limitless}.

I gave him a confession in return, but I still wanted to keep a part of myself a secret. After all, those who gave everything to their relationship ended up crazy and stupid. I refused to be like that. This was better, this was safer.

He didn't have to know Maria, it would be fine if he only knew Isabella Taurus, the honorable cop from Brazil. Even though I was lying to him and to myself, I preferred dying than the alternative.