Chapter 25: Chapter 25

With his imposing physique and sharp blue eyes, Detective Taylor Vaughn stared at the man in his mid 30s sitting in the interrogation room with his head lowered on the table. His black unkempt hair spread about every direction as he laid his head on the iron table.

The detective couldn't fathom why a man of his status would kill a stranger who had little to no connection with him. Detective Taylor had checked into all of his data which he had access to but he couldn't find anything regarding the relationship between Bob and the victim- Adam Mash.

That conflicts the fact of the case at hand as there was no means to explain why this man was at the crime scene. No one else was there, and it was a typical murder case where the man had killed the victim with the nearest weapon- a kitchen knife, in a fight.

' it's kinda giving a fight breakout from an argument...' Detective Taylor through his years of experience speculated. He wasn't sure what could have caused an argument between this man and the victim however. It was still to be determined what relationship the suspect had with the victim.

Clink! clack! clink!

The sound of heels clicking on the marble floor resounded through, and detective Taylor couldn't help but turn around with a brow raised to see who it was.

" Inspector Roosen!" He called as he reverted his gaze back towards the man in the interrogation room with a seemless expression worn on his face.

" I know, I know. Hah!" A woman with a dark brown short hair and warm hazel eyes, dressed in a formal blue suit, let out a sigh as she walked towards Detective Taylor's side. It was evident from her countenance that she came to the scene in a rush. Her brown hair were neatly tidied compared to usual. It seemed it would be quite a day at work for her.

Detective Taylor noticed a button left unfastened on her suit, but he tacitly decided to not comment about it. The inspector has always been less caring towards her appearance.

"Care to brief?" inspector Roosen asked as she switched her gaze from detective Taylor's round stomach that was slightly protruding to the man in the interrogation box. She wanted to warn him to watch his weight but she decided otherwise.

" Bob Richardson, young billionaire ... murder of an unrelated stranger using a kitchen knife" As detective Taylor recounted, Inspector Roosen made a difficult face that conveyed experience in the field as she rummaged in her thoughts.

" Wife or children?" She suddenly asked after a while.

" Both, but currently in a divorce trial" detective Taylor peered a gaze at the inspector, unsure of how that correlates to the whole of the problem at hand.

" Understood. Let me in" inspector Roosen said a while after and strode towards the door to the interrogation room in quickened pace.

Detective Taylor just shook his head as he looked at the back of the inspector as she walked towards the door. He pressed the button to open the metal door to the interrogation room.

Buzz!!

...

Val was in her office looking up some file that was just passed to her from the Finance department, comparing them to the data she had in the screen before her on the laptop she worked with. She frowned not finding any of it an easy task despite the fact that it was all well detailed as an info. Still, without the necessary experience and applied practice, she was unable to figure out any of it.

She put down the files which she didn’t really need to work on anyway and turned in her chair to face the glass window. Val felt instantly relaxed setting sight on the view of the sunny blue sky and the lively street below. The scenery gave her a sense of foreboding peace. It was as if she were someplace she could have been if she had pursued a life goal, but at the same time not quite the same.

Valerie felt as though she were at the right place at the wrong time. She certainly wasn’t happy, she couldn’t be happy with all the fakery, and how everything would certainly be gone within few months.

If she were to give a thought about it however, isn't she in a mess currently? She is pregnant for a stranger whom she is working for to help out of the danger of a divorce trial with his wife. It sounded like one of those weird stories...

Everything feels like some weird dream, and she thought perhaps, she was somewhere in a reality still in her married life while having this nightmare.

Speaking of dreams, Val recalled that she had wanted a company like this for herself when she was still a teenager.

A fashion brand business! That used to be my dream...

Val took a look around, she couldn't help but think of how she could have been sitting atop a business company of her own. Living her dreams...

But at some point in life, she lost all those dreams. To realization? Not really. She lost it all to nothing in particular. A single misstep was all it took.

Val reclined in her chair, her gaze now latched on the bright blue sky outside. She felt as if she were right in the vast sky, lost with no direction. Only sailing wherever life pushed her to at the moment. She felt like those white clouds, just hanging amidst the vastness.

Perhaps all isn’t lost?

She corked her head to the side as she thought of the possibility. She could vividly remember Bob’s promise to sort her out after all of this?

How about I start afresh? This wasn't the first time she thought about it. But she knew she wanted something else. Not only a new start anymore, but a child and a father to her child.

Her heart thrummed softly in excitement. It was something to look forward to. But it was something that had little possibility of happening as well.

However, she wasn’t certain if she could do it all alone. It was all nothing but that, a dream. Who was she to dare to pursue dreams. Val wouldn't consider herself a hypocrite. She knew just how weak minded and will lacking she was. She was stubborn, true, but she was indeed full of crap herself. A tangible thing such as realizing her dream was nothing but one of those- craps. The feel of want and desperation for nothing really relevant brought her back to the reality.

She just wanted a future for this baby that's all!

After all, she was doing all of this at the request of some stranger whom she had inadvertently became pregnant for. Not for money, not for love, but for the hope of the child.

She placed a hand over her belly feeling unsure.

What was she even doing? How did everything get to this? How about she just blurt it out to Bob at once now and make a decision? Why was she so hesitant to do it?

It's supposed to be a one night stand and she got pregnant? So what, it happens! it happened!

As she gave thought to all of these problems, the door to her office was suddenly pusjed open and she couldn’t help but turn in her chair to face whoever it was.

Right, it all started from him!

Val donned a cold glare as Mark slowly shut the door to her office behind him when he entered. Val had learnt to get used to his sight once in a while since it was inevitable as long as they both still worked at Citadel’s. She had stopped giving a fuck about him, and though her hatred for him hasn’t died out yet, Mark’s existence had become the least of her worries at the moment.

However, even his appearance in her office was not for no reason. Recently, he only appeared in her office when they had important files to exchange. But looking at his hands, Val frowned at the absence of files in them.

“ What is it?” that was the most minimal hostility she could showcase.

Mark just stood before the door with a small smirk on his face which got Val annoyed. She became furious at this attitude of his, she thought he’d finally learnt something these past few days.

“ You know, I was wondering how you got to this position all of a sudden” Mark started to speak a long while later. He approached the table where Val sat in a slow stride, his attitude bizarre and without recognizance of an inferior employee to their superior.

“ It turns out, you have been one naughty lady” Mark grinned as he stood in front of the table.

Val’s frown deepened hearing him but she silently listened on his words with her temperament building.

Slam!

“ Who knew you had it in you. Valerie?” Mark planted his palms on the table and corked his head to the side as he leaned over, with a taunting grin still on his face.

Val creased her gaze at him and observed him for a while. She rose from her seat and smiled sweetly.

“ Right? Who knew?”