Frozen Hearts

By- An Unknown Foreign Beauty

Chapter 24- Lost

It had been a week since that fateful night. It had been a week since she was crying. And now she had no more tears to shed. Doctors said that she was recovering. Elsa knew that too. Time would heal all the wounds. Maybe it was true for her too. She turned her head on the pillow, and looked out of the window where the rising sun painted the sky with bright red and gold.

She closed her eyes to shut out the view; beauty reminded her of Hans. Ruggedness reminded her of Hans. Splendor reminded her of Hans. Twisted things reminded her of Hans. Drawing in a long, shattered breath, she opened her eyes again. She turned her head to look at Anna's sleeping form in the visitor's chair. Her hand was holding hers. Letting a sigh to escape Elsa laced her fingers into hers, and her other hand unconsciously rested on her stomach.

There was a still dull pain inside her stomach, and the pain proved to her that she was still living. Except for the pain, there was nothing. Emptiness. Emptiness and grief. And the sound of Hans' husky voices in her mind, whispering endearments when they made love. His joyful smile when she told him about her pregnancy.

She lost him.

She lost their babies.

A drop of tear rolled from her eyes as she tried to remember the night. She promised Anna that she would not cry anymore, but she couldn't. A strangled cry rose to her throat, and she pressed her knuckles against her mouth to prevent the scream from escaping, but it was of no use. Her cry startled Anna, and she opened her bright blue eyes.

"Elsa, Elsa…" Anna quickly moved beside her sister. Tears rolled from Elsa's eyes soaking the pillow beneath her head. Concerned, Anna sat at the head of her sister's bed, and took her hand in hers. "Elsa, are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes," Elsa read the concern in Anna's eyes, and tried to smile. She knew how much she loved her, and how much she had gone through in these months. She didn't blame her for anything; she didn't want to let her feel the pain she was going through now. So Elsa turned her face away from her, trying to smile. "I'm alright, Anna." She lied.

Anna understood. She had heard enough lies in her life. Now she was matured enough to distinguish between truth and lies. She knew Elsa was lying to keep her tension free. But could she really? Anna knew her sister wasn't alright. She wasn't alright. None of them were alright. How could they when both of them were deceived by the man they both loved?

Hating the person she once loved was the hardest thing to do in the world. Unknowingly a drop of tear rolled from her eyes.

Elsa noticed Anna's silence and the drop of tear shining on her cheek in the morning light. She said nothing but laced her fingers into Anna's. "Are you alright, Anna?" She whispered, still weak from the shock, and loss.

"Yes," Anna jerked back to the reality and wiped away her tears, "Yes, Elsa. I am." She tried to smile back to her sick sister. Elsa knew how much fake her smile was. She took her hand, and patted it gently. "Everything will be alright, Anna."

"I hope so." Finally, a small smile laced Anna's lips as she leaned forward, and rested her forehead against Elsa's. After the long separation she didn't want anything to come between them. She didn't want to miss a single chance to touch Elsa and feel her warmth.

"I wish too." Elsa sighed, closing her eyes, enjoying the sheer bliss of her sister's company. Maybe someday with Anna, she would learn to live, learn to forget her past, and would build a future. Her hands gripped Anna's tightly. But whatever happened she would never desert her little sister.

Never again.

But the bliss didn't last long, because the nurse soon informed that Miss Elsa Kingsley was going to have a visitor. Elsa threw Anna a questioning look, and Anna told that she called Mr. Kai, the chief accountant to assess the damage Hans did to their company. And the answer she got wasn't so satisfactory. So she told Gerda to summon him to Alaska.

"My God!" Elsa whispered, and Anna gripped her hand tightly for support. "Anna, what have you done?"

"I'm sorry." She said, lowering her head, "But I can't really believe Hans anymore."
Anna's voice was full of guilt, and Elsa understood her reasons. Through which her little sister had gone, she had no reason to believe that filthy bastard anymore. Anna looked at Elsa as her face drained color with the mention of Hans' name.

"Elsa," She whispered, taking her seat beside Elsa's bed, "Are you sure, you can handle this meeting? I know it is too early, but…." But she was cut off by Elsa's hand around her wrists; her voice was hoarse as she spoke, "No, Anna."

She had to. She had to deal with this. It was her fault. She trusted Hans. She let him involved into her business, and she disclosed her company's deepest secrets to him. She needed to do this. She looked directly into Anna's eyes, "I can."

Anna felt the determination in Elsa's voice. She knew her sister was a strong woman. Again she knew how much the truth would hurt her. So she took her hand, and remained at her bedside when Mr. Kai and Gerda walked into the tiny hospital room.

Elsa felt a terrible, unexplainable premonition of dread that mounted the chief accountant Mr. Kai and her secretary Gerda walked into her cabin. Anna quickly threw a concerned look at her. But Elsa told her to calm down, and take her seat. But Anna didn't. Instead, she remained at Elsa's bedside holding her hand. She could feel the way Anna's hands were sweating in hers. She was expecting some bad news too.

When Mr. Kai entered Elsa motioned for him to sit down in the dark leather chair visitor's chair beside her bed, and Gerda poured him some water. Mr. Kai accepted the glass, and when he turned toward Elsa, he looked angry and unhappy. "Miss Kingsley," he said abruptly, "We got a letter from the bank yesterday. They said our account is completely empty. And the loan we took for the ice hotel project must be paid by this week."

Fear gripped her heart, when Elsa thought the worst possibility of the situation, but she kept her voice somber. Leaning against the pillow that Anna arranged for her, she gazed at her employee, "How is that possible? Mr. Westergard deposited twenty million dollars in our account on behalf of me in last month. We made that profit from our hotel business last month." Her voice tinted with disbelief.

Understanding Elsa's inability to believe the truth, the chief accountant hastily held up his hand, awkwardly explaining, "It's my fault, Miss Kingsley, not yours. I've kept things from you, things I would have told you before, but your attorney Gerda forbade it—she couldn't bear to disillusion you. Now, however, we both agree that you must be told, before it is already too late."

"What do you mean by disillusioning me?" Elsa gazed at him with polite interest and complete lack of understanding, and Mr. Kai raked his hand through his hair in frustration.

"What is going on? Please tell me, Mr. Kai."

Mr. Kai hesitated for a second, Anna grasped her hands to calm her down, but Elsa sat up in the bed, "Don't hesitate, Mr. Kai." She said sharply, "Tell me what's going on?"

"Miss Kingsley," The accountant took a deep breath, and lowered his head, as if he was dying from shame, "The man you've convinced yourself you loved, and were loved by, a man who was practically a… a saint. The truth is, Mr. Westergard was much closer to a devil than a saint. He is a complete fraud. We tried to tell you this from the very first day when you made him your business partner, but you were too blind about him. He kept transferring all the money to his account, while you were busy romancing him." Mr. Kai added bitterly.

The color slowly drained from Elsa's face. Not only Hans planned to kill her and her sister, he was actually planning to take over the company, and kept transferring all the money in his name behind her back. How could one person be that evil?

She looked at Anna trying to find a little hope. But there was no hope. Even Anna's face was grim to death. "If Mr. Westergard didn't deposit the money, still the account can't be completely empty." Finally, Elsa tried to defend herself, "Papa deposited ten million dollars before his death. I checked our expenses in the last six months. It didn't cross five millions."

Anna knew how hard to bear the truth for her sister, but when she saw the color completely drained her face; she decided to cut it open. She needed to know the truth. She hated the way her sister was blind about that traitor. It hurt her too much. She needed to disillusion her; no matter how badly she wanted to protect her. So Anna gazed deep into her sister's eyes, and shook her head slowly, "He transferred papa's money to his account too, Elsa. Plus he took lots of loan from the bank. We got the letter from the bank last week."

Elsa's head jerked sideways as if she had been slapped. "What letter?" she cried brokenly, drowning in humiliation. Clutching the folds of her bedcovers, she twisted the fabric until her knuckles turned white. "What letter, Anna?"

Anna lowered her head, and sighed, "About an auction, Elsa." Her voice shook, she sounded so broken. And when she raised her head, Elsa found her cheeks were stained with tears, "The bank will hold an auction to sell our company and our house if not we can repay the loan in time."

"And we've only two weeks in our hands." Mr. Kai added sadly. "Or the company will be sold. And the Southern Isles Company is planning to buy it."

"Two weeks?" Another realization hit her, and she covered her mouth, thinking she was going to be sick again: Hans not only took away her money, but also he arranged everything to make the company his property. My God! How could she save her Arendelle? How could she save her papa's dream? Her whole body began shaking with the bitterness and pain.

"Don't be so excited, Miss Kingsley." Gerda, and Kai tried to calm her down, but Elsa wasn't listening to anyone, anymore. Tears welled up from her big blue eyes, as much as she tried to resist.

"Elsa, Elsa, are you alright?" Reaching for Elsa, Anna tried to put her arms around her, but she flung them off and sat up straight on the bed, staring at her as if she was as evil as Hans. "Why didn't you tell me earlier, Anna?" She cried like a child.

"You were sick. You'd just lost your babies, you were so broken, Elsa." Anna was about to cry to see her sister suffering so much, "I didn't want to hurt you more."

"I'd be hurt more if I couldn't save Arendelle." she hissed, fighting to control the wrenching anguish that was strangling her breath in her chest. She slipped out of bed, and rushed towards the bathroom. Anna and Gerda tried to follow her, but she shut the door in their faces.

Only when she had gained the privacy of the hospital bathroom did she succumb to tears. She cried for her stupidity, for her gullibility, and for the months she had spent trusting a man who did not deserve to be called a gentleman, for the loss she suffered for him- her sister, her babies, her father's legacy. She cried until the sound of her own weeping made her despise herself for wasting her tears on him, for loving him, even for hating him.

.

.

.

.

His cell in the prison was consisted of a tiny bed, a simple bathroom, and a mirror. But Hans didn't need any of those. While other prisoners were busy fighting, and cursing, he simply laid in his tiny bed, staring at the ceiling.

Well, he deserved this. He knew Elsa hated him, for everything he did to her, to her sister. It was a perfect punishment for his crimes. He knew he would meet Elsa again in the court, and the meeting would not be so romantic.

Still he couldn't stop thinking of her. In his imagination, he relived, slowly, every second he had spent with her, concentrating fiercely on each minute detail of their surroundings, recalling every word, every inflection. He made love to her in the hotel in the North Mountain, time after time, undressing her and holding her, clinging to the memory of her incredible sweetness and the way she felt in his arms. The way her stomach grew with their child.

They could have a future together if he stopped being an asshole.

Hans was jerked back to the reality when the lock of his prison door clicked, and the warden entered. "Someone came to bail you out, Mr. Westergard." He said, unlocking the handcuffs around his wrists.

"Who?" Hans was more than surprised. He really didn't expect anyone to come for him after what he had done. When he was escorted back to the warden's office, he found Duke Weselton sitting opposite to the warden's desk, signing the papers necessary for his bail.

"You!" Hans hissed under his breath, and his angry muttering made the small man to raise his eyes from the papers he was signing. A wry smile laced his lips when he gazed at the wracked state of the once cunning master manipulator. "I told you my boy, not to mess up!" Duke held out his hand in a gesture of a handshake.

Hans wanted choke this little man to death, but it would not do any good. So he calmly took Duke's hand and shook it. He continued watching him while Duke finished the paperwork. Hans signed the papers where it required. Hans was sure that the police was not much amused to let him go so easily, but he knew they had their eyes on him. So without further argument he followed Duke Weselton out of the police station.

"So, master manipulator Mr. Westergard looks like a Romeo in bad shape." Weselton laughed as they were loaded into Duke's microbus, "I warned you not let your heart rule your head."

Hans balled his fists in order to stop himself from punching the little weasel. But he really didn't want to go back to the prison too soon. He watched the car door as it slid shut, and faced Duke, "Any particular reason why you felt this was absolutely necessary?"

"God, you even sound like her," Duke muttered. "But, that only furthers my theory I suppose. You've let yourself arrested without any fight because you want to redeem yourself."

"I assume this is very much obvious after what I've done to the Kingsley sisters," Hans deadpanned.

Duke eyed him very suspiciously. "You're attracted to the elder Miss Kingsley."

While Hans didn't exactly care if Duke knew, the way the man said it made it sound so…dirty. As if Hans was only after one thing.

"What would that have to do with anything?" Hans said.

"Nothing. I just want you to come back to your senses."

"My senses?"

Duke reached into the pocket of his trousers and produced an old newspaper, on which was a headline that was published on the day Hans was arrested. He held it out in front of him and recited the headline aloud.

"On 20th March 2014, an auction will be held in Florida Kingsley mansion."

It was what Hans actually feared. After he realized what damage he had done to the Arendelle Company during his association with Duke, he started retransferring the money from his account to the Kingsely's account to repay the bank loan secretly. But before he could finish the process, he got arrested without any prior notice. Fear gripped his heart, when Hans thought the worst possibility of the situation, but he kept his voice somber. "I know this will happen."

"Do you want to stay out of prison forever?" Duke tilted his head, so that he could meet Hans' angry green eyes.

"That is none of your business."

The little weasel turned a particular shade of red and purple and huffed, shoving the paper into Hans' face. "I could help. I became the prime witness of the Sofia murder case. I can save you from lifetime imprisonment. I will tell you who killed Sofia. If you help, you'll get your share of the property. If you don't, I've to make my own plan."

That was new. His bullet never killed Sofia. This man knew how to manipulate people, how to use them for his own purpose. At first he made to believe himself as a murderer and promised to help. But actually he was using him from the beginning to serve his own purpose. Now he wanted to kill the man for real, but it didn't help him to find out his actual plan. Well, Hans knew when to play dirty.

"Okay fine, I'll play along, tell me what I must do?"

At this the duke smiled in such a way that Hans' stomach might turn. He smoothed out the newspaper and slipped it inside his trouser pocket. "According to Mr. Kingsley's will after the death of both of the heirs the property will go to the trusty board automatically." He said with a smile. "I'm the head of the trusty board."

At first Hans was missing whatever it was Duke was alluding to. He was ready to open his mouth to ask but then he saw the man's genuine sneer and all the pieces slammed into place in his head. And then his stomach coiled sickeningly into ropes.

"You're going to kill Elsa…" he said.

"Actually both of them…" Duke added with a smile. "And you will help me to do it."

"Never…" Hans nearly shouted, "Never…I'll never help you in this plan. "

"Ah, you will." Duke winked. Watching the man who once dominated him break down like this was absolutely divine. Duke had a hard time suppressing the smirk that wanted to emerge. " My men will kill Anna. Your little fiancée will die from grief automatically. She has already lost your baby, and if she loses her sister, you can only imagine what will happen to her. I'll find someone to pay the loan, and Arendelle will be mine. There will be no one to speak for you in the court. You'll rot in the jail forever. "

"Bastard!"

Hans couldn't restrain his temper anymore. He punched the weasel square on the jaw. The force on his face threw the little weasel on the seat. "You…." Hans hissed, moving closer, and grabbing the little man's collar. He wanted to strangle the man, he wanted to claw out his eyes, he wanted to punch him until there was nothing left of his face. He would continue punch him endlessly if not two of Duke's henchmen jumped from the front seat, and pulled them apart. Hans let out an angry breath while one of them restrained him, while other approached to Duke with concern.

"Are you alright, Sir?" One of the men asked.

"Yes," Duke wiped away the blood from his lips, and looked at Hans who was still struggling against the man restraining him.

"Best not to fight me anymore, kid." Duke said, getting up from the seat, and smoothing his crumpled collar, "Tell me will you help me or not."

"Never!" Hans hissed. "I'll never let that happen."

"Then I must go on in my way. Let's enjoy the show." The smile in Duke's lips burned Hans to the core. He let out a sound between a groan and a yell while he tugged and tugged at his restraints trying to get anywhere near the duke. But the man simply motioned his men to open the car door, and throw him out.

"But remember the time is running out." Hans heard Duke's evil laugh before shutting the door in his face.

.

.

.

.

After Gerda and Mr. Kai left the hospital, Anna finally retired in the solitude of the waiting room. Sitting in the stiff sofa in the hospital waiting room Anna drew up her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. She could still hear Elsa's muffled cry from the other side of the bathroom door.

She hated when Elsa cried. She hated hurting her sister like this. She knew she had cut open the wound which was already bleeding.

She knew that her sister was in love with Hans.

Well, not exactly in love, but under his inevitable charm. God! He was a master manipulator. She hated the way he manipulated her sister, molded her into a broken mess. He cast the same charm upon her. He wanted to break her, just like he had broken Elsa. He successfully did the thing he wanted.

He broke both of them.

Anna grabbed a cushion from the sofa, pressed it tight against her face, screaming as loudly as she could into it.

And then she did it again.

And again.

And again and again until she was crying, too.

God! It was a lie. Was there anything called love?

Then her phone buzzed to indicate a text message. Another new message from Kristoff. He had been texting her since the day she left him. He almost sent a thousand texts in one week. Didn't he knew when to stop? Curiously, she scrolled through the long list of unanswered texts he sent her since the day she left him.

I miss you, Anna. Please call me.

I love you. Please pick up your phone.

Grandma is worried for you. Please come back.

Olaf is dating Kristina. You've no reason to be jealous now.

You are the Anna Kingsley, I know. I've seen you on TV. What a debacle you've made.

I'm sorry about your sister. Give her my regrets.

Whoever you are, whatever your past is, I still love you, Anna. I want to help you.

I'm sorry.

Sorry…

Sorry…

Tears welled up from her big blue eyes as she continued scrolling through the texts Kristoff had sent to her. Why was he doing this after all the pain she inflicted upon him? Didn't he know when to give up? Didn't he know she was too broken to love him back?

With shaking hands Anna dialed Kristoff's number. On the third ring he picked up the phone. "Anna?"

The familiarity of the voice was so soothing that Anna wanted to cry. She was actually crying.

"Anna…Anna…" Kristoff was saying her name from the other side, "Please talk to me."

She stared at the screen for long. Her words died in her throat.

Review? Fave? Follow?

Errors are all mine. Consider them nicely.