Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Burying or hiding how bad you feel is an easy way of dying slowly. There's always someone who cares about you but won't be able to help you if you can't be honest about how you feel.

- Grace Chanbee

[Justin's POV]

"Who let him out of his cell?" Detective Shawn asked in a very loud voice which sounded unprofessional.

"I overheard your discussion," The head of the department said, coming into view.

For the very first time, I saw Detective Shawn cower and hang his head low.

I smirked. Even as hot-headed and annoying as he was, he sure knew when he was in serious trouble.

Amber let go of me and turned around just in time to see the stern detective shudder and that brought the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen to her face.

"Sir, it's not what you think," Detective Shawn said.

"Is that so? Explain to me what it is then," The head of the department whose name appeared to be Morrison Davis from his name tag said.

Detective Shawn ran his hands through his hair, his nervous state evident.

"Mr Gilbert Sanders strictly instructed me to not allow Justin have any contact with anyone," Detective Shawn said.

I shook my head in disagreement. "Speak the entire truth. Aside from Mr Sanders having a hand in this, you punished me by not letting me speak to my friends or family simply because you couldn't get an answer from me," I countered.

"You were also very rude to me!" Detective Shawn yelled, his fists clenched.

The head of the department, Mr Morrison Davis, began to clap his hands together in the style which was used when mocking an individual.

"Wow! So you now let your emotions or an influential individual control you?" He asked.

"It's not like that, sir," Detective Shawn said.

"If it's not like that, then it's like how? Answer me!" Morrison Davis thundered, sending shivers even down my spine.

Wow! The man had a cool personality and his voice was always calm so I was surprised at the way he had suddenly raised his voice. Even the calmest people got angry as well.

Detective Shawn just stood there, shaking like a leaf which was wet and about to fall off a tree. Honestly, it felt really amazing seeing him scared as hell.

"Do you work for Mr Gilbert or The State? I want you to answer me sincerely," Morrison Davis said.

The detective sighed. "The State, sir."

Morrison Davis scoffed. "It doesn't seem like it anymore. I wanted you to work with me because I felt like you're a cheerful person who could get along with anybody at all. Aside from that, you showed so much zeal and coming from a hard background, I didn't expect you to treat people like this. I expected you'd be fair and just," He said, disappointment laced in his voice.

"This will be the last time I'd do such, sir. Please, I'm sorry," Detective Shawn begged.

"What if the public had gotten wind of this? What would you have done then? How much did Mr Gilbert pay you, hunh? It's the likes of you that gives the US police force a bad name," He said, still looking really disappointed and ashamed of his subordinate.

Morrison Davis went on with his statement after no one uttered a word.

"With what you just did, you've been suspended for one month with no pay. I'll place a call to Detective Andrew and Detective Johnson to take over this case again since they just successfully concluded the one they were working on. You're dismissed," Morrison Davis said, coming to a final decision.

"No, sir. I'm sorry," Detective Shawn said, grabbing unto Morrison Davis' shirt.

He eyed him and removed his hands from his shirt. "Touch me or say a word to me and I'll increase your suspension from one month to a full year," He said and walked away.

Detective Shawn could barely look me in the eye as he went towards the other direction and I could bet I heard him sniffle.

I chuckled. Never had I felt so elated over a bad news. It was nice to know that not everyone was corrupt these days; at least, there were still few good people who cared about the rules and not about the money like Morrison Davis.

"I was asked to let both of you have thirty minutes to speak to each other since you've not been able to do so," The warden said.

"Thank you very much," Amber said.

Aiden just stood afar off with a relieved smile and didn't come close to me.

"What are you doing there, dude? You should be hugging me tightly, don't tell me you haven't missed me at all," I said, with a grin.

"Of course, I have, but you should discuss with Amber first, you have a lot to catch up on," He said.

I sighed. It was pleasant to have Amber around, but I just didn't feel it was right to have a conversation with her. We weren't going to be together anyways, so why start something we couldn't finish?

"Follow my lead," The warden instructed.

"I'll be here waiting," Aiden called as we were about to go with the warden and I nodded, acknowledging his statement.

We were led into the visiting room and I was made to sit in a position where I could see Amber and speak to her but we couldn't touch each other because of the glass demarcation between us.

Everywhere was awfully quiet as I couldn't find the right words to say and she just stayed there, blushing really hard for reasons best known to her.

"I don't mean to interrupt but you have just twenty-five minutes left," The warden said.

Amber swallowed. "You're not going to say anything? Just wanna keep staring at me that way?" She asked.

I sighed. "I don't know what to say," I responded.

"You know, for someone who has been locked up here for almost two weeks, you don't look bad," She said.

I chuckled. "Nothing can break me," I bragged.

She smiled, showing off her white set of teeth. If she had been aiming to lighten the tension in the room, on the scale of ten, I'd give her a ten, because she really succeeded in doing just that.

"I'm sorry," She suddenly said, ruining the light atmosphere.

"For?" I asked.

"Just sorry because it's my fault that you're in here. I shouldn't have left that day you sent me off to the psychiatric home. If I hadn't ran and had you come looking for me with no choice than to take me home with you..."

"It's fine, Amber," I said, interrupting her.

She shook her head, countering my statement. She spoke in a wavering voice, "No, it's not, I'm very sorry. I didn't understand you when you kept on saying that you didn't want any issue. You had been trying to avoid this mess but I had just seen you as unreasonable and selfish. I'm so sorry, Justin, all these is my fault," She apologised, her eyes teary.

I gave her a warm smile. "That's where you're wrong. None of these is your fault. That's just how rich people are, I'm used to being treated like dirt," I said with a shrug.

She swallowed hard and looked thoughtful, as if contemplating on what next to say.

"Can I ask you for something?" She asked after what seemed like ages.

"Yeah, sure," I responded, even though I was wondering what I could possibly do for her when I was locked up here like a criminal.

"Umm... I'm not gonna ask you to forgive my dad for all what he has done to you, but I really just wanna know your past... Like know what really happened to you that made you hate wealthy people so much..."

I cut in. "Why? It's no use," I said, refusing her wish immediately.

"I just wanna feel your pain and understand where you're coming from. For you to just conclude that all wealthy people are mean and wicked, something must have happened. I want to know what that is and know why you're like this," Amber said.

"Like how?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Like, you know, so secretive, harsh, withdrawn and uptight and maybe even scared," She responded.

I scoffed. "I'm not telling you anything," I said dismissively.

"You said "yeah, sure" when I asked if I could ask for something," She said.

"I said that doesn't mean I promised to give in to whatever you ask for," I countered.

"Fine then. If you can't trust me enough to know what's wrong with you, I'm sorry then," She said.

"For what again?"

"For being stupid to think you cared about me that much to open up to me about what's eating you up," She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Nothing's eating me up," I disagreed.

"You have so much potential, even your grandmother said you're always at the top of your class. Still, you won't study law. Still, you won't expand your business. You're comfortable with living a stick-built house in a small town and burying all you have to offer," Amber said, shaking her head in disappointment.

"And what has that got to do with this?" I asked, getting annoyed but slowly.

"Your insecurities, Justin. You won't do anything to improve your life, you won't strive to be better, you don't wanna go places, you're scared of taking risks, you're always doubtful. All for what? Because of rich people. Can't you see it? Every step you take backwards, every thing you don't try out, every doubt in your mind, every word you speak is always centered on rich people. Why? Don't you see it? Your past is haunting you and keeping you from being a normal teenager!" She said, not raising her voice and not talking calmly either.

I felt criticised and really terrible as I swallowed hard, knowing that all she had said had been nothing but the truth.

"Yeah, I hate rich people. So what?" I asked, finally finding my tongue.

She shook her head with sympathy. "How can you be letting those you hate rule your life?" She asked.

"They are not freaking ruling my life," I said, heavily disagreeing with her words.

"They freaking are," She retorted.

"What do you want from me?" I yelled.

"Open up to me, Justin. Tell me what's wrong with you and I'll make sure you get better. Aside from that, just talking things out will lessen the burden you have been carrying in your heart for years. You trust me, don't you?" She asked.

Tears wanted to gush out of my eyes but I held them back. I was strong and I couldn't cry because of all she had just said. There was no way I was going to be a coward and cry in front of her because of my past.

I cleared my throat. "My father worked for your father for over a decade. He was accused one day of embezzling money and your father threw him in jail. He couldn't afford to pay the supposed stolen millions of dollars and he was convicted and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Your father could have believed in him because actually, someone who has worked with you for over ten years can't just wake up and steal a huge sum of money and you wouldn't have noticed it. Do you get my point?" I asked.

"Yeah, go on," She urged.

I shrugged. "Well, it's not like we had much and if my father were actually a thief, why weren't we living lavishly? Apart from that, my father kept yelling that he had the evidence that he's innocent and was framed up, even that day in court, but your self-centered father and the stupid judge didn't give him a listening ear. We didn't have a good lawyer and to make the whole issue worse, your father publicised the news, making it hard for my mother or father whenever he was released, to ever get a good job.

"I don't know what later happened, but one day, Grams received a call that my dad had committed suicide after collecting a gun from a policeman and shooting himself in the head. He was a coward, but I don't really blame him. A few months later, my mum died of a broken heart as she couldn't take it. Grams took us back to our hometown, Arroyo Grande where we started life over again.

"She trained Nelly and I without any help from relatives who didn't want to be associated with criminals. I used to be bullied back then and the situation of things made me grow up so fast. I had to be a man quickly to support my family and because Grams kept saying no one could argue or win against rich people, it became a part of me and that's why I hate them so much," I concluded, bowing my head.

"I'm so sorry, Justin. Really, I am," She said in a teary voice.

I didn't look up because I was ashamed and felt really stupid for telling her everything.

"You've heard what you wanted to hear, you can go now," I said, trying my best to maintain a firm voice.

"No, you're not okay," She said.

I ignored the urge to see how she was doing, wondering if she was looking at me with pity. I hated being pitied, I was fine on my own.

"Time up! You have to go now," The warden suddenly announced.

Good! That statement came in at the right time.

"Just..."

"You heard him. Please, go away. I have to be alone now," I said.

"Justin..."

"Now!" I yelled.

When I heard her footsteps leave and I was sure she was no longer present, I raised my head, tears trickling down my eyes.

Indeed, it felt like a huge burden had been lifted by telling someone what was always hurting me after such a long time. Little wonder they said a problem shared is half-solved.

What I hadn't expected, however, was seeing her stare at me through the window as she left, also crying terribly.

Never had someone cared so much for me or about my story to the point of crying.

Still, we just weren't meant to be.

*****

[Author's POV]

The mood was tense and the atmosphere, awfully quiet and suspenseful.

She wondered why he had called her here in the dead of the night when everyone was asleep and when even the slightest noise such as the drop of a pin could be heard since everywhere was pregnant with silence.

She calculated the time with her brain. Forty minutes... Forty minutes had passed by since she had come to see him without hearing so much as a word from him.

If he had called to waste her time when she should have been having her beauty sleep, he should have just told her already instead of making her stand by like a lost soul as he turned his back on her.

She wanted to shout at him, but then, it was pointless and it was just an act that was going to wake everybody up and then, her deceit, her lies; these and more were all bound to come out to the open, a public disgrace for herself and a certified ruined legacy for her ancestors and generations to come.

Instead of letting her anger control her, she made a resolve to be patient and let the man, the mastermind of everything take his time.

Of what use was it to her if she made a fuss out of everything and he got angry and eliminated her from all the plans, thereby shattering her lust for affluence and power? There was no use for it at all.

Like her father had always told her, patience is a virtue, and only the patient dog eats the fattest bone. Why get upset when it was glaring that the mastermind only called when he had an important information to pass across?

She wasn't going to let her impatience ruin anything for her. It caused her father's downfall and history wasn't going to repeat itself by using his offspring as a tool.

On the other hand, the unknown man, the servant in the house now revealed as the mastermind of the game, drummed his long thin fingers softly on the table; contemplating, thinking hard.

Where could he have been getting it all wrong? Why had all his plans been failing repeatedly? He had lured an old accomplice, a best friend, a cousin, into his devilish plan, but still, none of these made a difference.

He kept on failing and failing at every single try. Was it the people he was working with or was it just pure badluck?

He had waited, watched, overlooked and had observed every single thing without making a move till only a month ago. Had all his patience and heavy calculations plus speculations been useless?

Why had he wasted so much time and energy if nothing was going to work out in his favour? Why had he been playing the good guy if it wasn't going to benefit him? Why was fate being so cruel in his case?

But then again, he remembered he didn't believe in fate; he didn't even trust in the abilities of God. Religion and all other universal elements were all made up to him.

He snickered heavily. They may think it was luck or God's grace which they claimed was infinite that their daughter was still alive and everything had been working in their favour, but he knew otherwise. He didn't trust man, fate or even God; he relied on his own abilities and he knew that soonest, the tables were going to turn around in his own favour.

"Hello?" He heard the cousin's small voice call, echoing in the empty vast room.

He turned around, emitting fury in his eyes which he was sure she could see because even at night, his yellow eyes sparked fire, reminding one of the story of werewolves or vampires.

He saw her tremble as she stepped backwards, breathing heavily.

"Why do you panic?" He asked in a low but coarse tone.

She didn't say a word, trying her best to not offend him by saying what was on her mind.

After getting no response, he grimaced, twisting his neck sideways.

"If you must panic, it shouldn't be because I scared you. It should be because your cousin still lives and breathes," He said through clenched teeth.

"Wh... What?" She asked, traces of terror and shock written not just on her face, but on every part of her body. She could see fear; she could feel fear.

"Turns out I got the wrong person for the job," He said.

"You're dropping me out of the game? It wasn't my fault, I played my part." She said, feeling used.

He snickered once more. "Not you, Lily..."

"It's Daisy," She corrected.

"Fine then, Daisy, but they're both names of beautiful flowers, aren't they?" He asked rhetorically.

She ignored him. "If it's not me you're dropping, then who?"

"The bastard I asked to get rid of that girl who has solely refused to die. To be honest, he dropped out of the game, I didn't get to drop him out myself," He said.

Daisy heaved a sigh, relieved that she was safe and still in the game after all.

"But why did he leave?" She suddenly asked.

The mastermind gave a thick sad chuckle. "He didn't have the stomach for it," He responded.

"So what are you going to do? If my uncle finds his daughter, he'll know I lied to him because I bet she's going to tell him the whole truth," She said, now panicking just after she had felt relieved a few seconds ago.

The man guffawed. "Don't worry, all you have to do is stay put. I've thought about it and if he finds out the entire truth and sends you packing, it'll be easier for you to work for me without them ever finding out," He said.

"Because they won't suspect I have a hand in anything that happens again if I'm with my disabled father and not here," She said, understanding his point.

The man seemed quite impressed with her. "Smart! I've turned you into the best villain that ever lived," He said.

"Don't flatter yourself. Have you forgotten it runs in my blood? I've always had it in me, you just gave me the perfect opportunity to display my villainous ways," She boasted.

He nodded his head coming to a conclusion that she could be a better tool than he ever imagined.

"I've increased your cut. You'll get 30%," He stated.

She shook his hands with a smirk. "Deal! It's always nice doing business with you."

She didn't see the need to be named the heiress. 30% of The Sanders' wealth all for Amber's head was better than nothing at all and either way, it meant she was still going to be a billionaire after all.

The mastermind just smirked. Increasing her share of the money he was getting soon meant she was going to work twice as hard, meaning he had better chances of succeeding in his evil intention this time around.