Chapter 21: Chapter 21

“What happened?”

I just shook my head and smiled at Rios.

“Nothing. He said he wanted to drop me off, but I would rather not see him, not even his shadow,” I said, crossing my arms as I was going to be late for the meeting. Rios shook his head and drove away from the mansion.

“When you fight against him, you’re acting like a child,” Rios smirked.

My smile faded as I turned away from him. I’m also embarrassed to face him because of what I did to him last night.

I just sighed and shook my head. “There is nothing to return, Rios.”

He nodded. “I know because what you went through wasn’t easy, and I was also a witness, but…” He paused and looked at me while smirking. “You know Dominic has a good reason he did that, and you also know that snake… It’s really a snake.”

I looked at him, but he just looked straight at the road. I shrugged it off because Rios thinks in strange ways. We can’t make sense of his actions. I believe he got it from Carter. That’s why they get along so well, TSK.

“Do you have a grudge against Sophia?” I asked. He just laughed and shook his head, as if he thought my question was a big joke.

“If it’s just angered, yeah… Especially what she did to you; what Sophia did was unforgivable; if she wasn’t my cousin or maybe your sister, I wouldn’t have respected her for a long time,” he stated. I just gulped because he’s weird when he’s serious as well. “Don’t worry, we'll figure out who did it.”

I frowned, but kept my mouth shut. He’s saying we’ll find out who’s to blame for everything. Is there even any connection between me and Young’s staff?

Some things I’d like to know is who wants to kill me.

“We’ve arrived.”

When we arrived at the office, I blinked, unbuckled my seatbelt, and turned to Rios.

“I’ll just take a taxi later, Rios,” I said as I kissed his cheeks and exited his car, but I returned my gaze to him. “I apologize for last night.”

He just smirked and shook his head, so I walked away in his car and tapped it. I was about to leave when he rolled down the window.

From inside the car, he yelled, “My stupid brother pick you up later!”

I just shook my head and waved before running inside the bar and straight to my office, but as I was about to enter, I heard a shout inside my office.

“Where is the owner? I’m wasting my time coming here if she’s late!”

“She’s on her way, Ms. Madrid.”

“Disrespectful!”

I prepared myself before opening my office door, so everyone inside it took a back.

I just smiled as they all bowed to me. Furthermore, I frowned at the woman standing there because I didn’t recognize her.

“Oh!” Lisa approached me and introduced me to the older woman, who raised her eyebrows at me. “Ms. Knight, this is Solen Madrid, one of our investors,” she said.

Investors? When did we least consider to have an investor? I looked at my employees.

“When did we have an investor?” I asked. They were stunned and turned away, so I returned my gaze to the older woman. “Who are you?”

The older woman stood up and introduced herself again.

“I am Solen Madrid.”

I sat in my swivel chair and nodded. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Madrid,” I said with a smile, but she stared at me.

I only now heard her name in the business world. It’s surprising that she invested in my bar.

“Are you Scarlett Knight?”

I gave her a nod. “Sorry, I’m late,” I said, motioning for my secretary to show me the market we’d been in for a few weeks.

Lisa approached me and handed her the tablet. “Ms. Knight, these are our sales this year; they’re up from last year, and there are many people who want to sponsor new liquor from other countries,”

I’m glad our sales are up this year compared to last. Maybe our provincial market has expanded because more politicians visit my bar.

“That’s why we considered opening another branch so that the company could expand even further.”

I just nodded as I listened to my secretary’s explanation, but I noticed Solen Madrid smirking at me.

I avoided her gaze towards me. Not only that, but I got doubts about her, and I’m uncertain if I should trust her partnership with us because I don't know her.

“Ms. Solen Madrid is here to invest in our next branch,” said Lisa as she bowed in front of Solen Madrid. “Thank you, Mrs. Madrid; we will not disappoint you.”

She stood up and smirked at everyone.

“Why is the owner so young? Does she have any business experience?” asked Solen.

It stunned me, and I leaned back in my swivel chair, staring at Solen Madrid as if something were wrong with her.

“She’s the chairman Knight's granddaughter, and Ms. Scarlett has never let us down.”

“Oh? Won’t my money go to waste?” she asked, raising her eyebrow at me? “I heard that the youngest of the Knights has been missing for a long time, and the rumor is that she has gone with another man—”

I cut her off before she could finish speaking as I tossed the dart pin on the dartboard. Her eyes widened as she realized she was about to be hit.

“Oops. I’m sorry, Ms. Knight, that’s all I knew—” it took aback her when she noticed my eyebrows raised at her.

“How about you? Where are you from? I don’t know who you are.” I smirked as she avoided my gaze and clenched her fists. “It’s surprising that you want to invest in my bar; what are your goals as an investor in our business?”

She smirked and looked around my office.

“Be careful, Ms. Knight. You might lose your business one day,” Solen smirked as she exited my office.

Lisa turned to face me and bowed. “I-I'm sorry, Ms. Knight,”

I nodded and smiled. “Do not accept her offer,” I said. They all exchanged glances, but only nodded as they exited my office.

I sighed and lean back in my swivel chair.

How did that issue come out? My entire family and I are the only ones who are aware that I have been missing for over five years. Is there a traitor among us?

I tapped on the swivel chair and dialed Carter’s number.

(“What do you want from me?”)

That’s how he greeted me, and it made me wince. I smirked and bit my lower lip.

“Do you know Solen Madrid?” I asked over the phone.

Carter was silent, so I frowned and looked at my phone, thinking he might have hung up, but not on me.

“Hello, Carter? Are you still there?”

He still didn’t respond, so I just kicked my table because he was taking so long to respond.

“Brother Carter! Hello? I’m asking you!”

I could hear him sigh.

(“I don't know her.”)

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. That’s all he’s going to say. That man took his time. TSK.

“Is there a traitor among the clan?”

I slapped my mouth shut because I didn't understand why I had asked that. F-ck.

(“There is a meeting with the board. Please call me later.”)

I was going to say something when he hung up. I held my forehead because I wouldn’t get anything from him either, but I had a feeling that he was doing something without telling me.

Likewise, I just shrugged because I believe in him, and maybe it’s for the best of the clan. Not only that, but I just kept working because I refuse to accept Solen Madrid’s offer because I don’t trust her.

I just sighed because there’s too much on my mind right now, so I’ll just focus on my work.

And I stretched out because the night had caught up with me. It seems we have more customers now, which is a good thing because I was worried that we would lose customers because of what happened between me and Young.

I went downstairs to check out the entire bar, and they brought wines from abroad. There are also many sponsors here, esp Claire’s family acquaintances.

Claire is one of my business admirers because she knows how to negotiate and is skilled at deceiving others, TSK.

It stunned me when I noticed one of our employees, who had become the caretaker of Claire’s rest house in the province.

Among those, I was with when I was just pregnant, and Claire had also hired him to work at our bar in Manila.

“Ken!”

He turned to face me, and his eyes widening, but he still approached me.

“Do you need anything, Miss Scarlett?” he asked, but there was something odd about him, as if he’s afraid.

I just stood there, staring at his actions. “Have you tried the new liquor?” I asked. He nodded and smiled, but I knew it was a fake smile. “Are you okay?”

He seems too restless, and I’ve noticed that he’s lost weight and isn't sleeping well.

“I’m fine. I’m going back to work, Miss.” He bowed, and I nodded while staring at him, even though his actions surprised me.

I’ve known Ken for five years because he is Claire’s caretaker. He was also the people we worked with while building a business in the province, and my children like him because Ken loves children, — esp now that he has one.

Their family has become like family to us, so I have a lot of trust in Ken that he will not betray me.

I just sighed as I watched Ken, thinking that maybe he has a problem, which is why he acts like that. I continued to walk around the bar, greeting customers with a simple smile.

Furthermore, I yawned as I looked at my watch, my eyes almost wide because it was dawn. Every midnight, many customers, esp prominent people from the country, visit the bar.

“Ms. Knight, I’m going home,” said Lisa, and I nodded before Ken approached me.

“Ms. Scarlett…”

I gave him an envelope with a smile. “Your bonus for working all day,” I said. He claimed he had saved money while working as a server.

“Go accept it, Ken. I’ll be mad at you if you don’t,” I said, insisting that he accept the bonus I offered.

He scratched his head and laughed. “OK, this is also a big help because of my son’s needs,” said Ken, and it surprised me to see him cry.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Scarlett; however, I will look after this until the day I die.” he wiped away his tears.

I frowned because I couldn't understand anything he said, and from what I heard… He seems to say farewell… Ken was no longer in his seat as I looked at him, and I had just seen him get into a taxi.

I clutched my chest because I was nervous. Nothing bad is going to happen to him, right?

He will do nothing he knows will cause him harm. I shook my head and slapped my cheek to wake myself up; well, maybe I was just tired.

I just sighed and start locking the entire bar because I wanted to spend the entire day and night in bed.

As I yawned, I walked to the side of the road to catch a taxi. Oh, no. Scarlett, with a little patience, you can go home as well.

A car halted in front of me, so I hopped in, thinking it might be Erin coming to pick me up. I also know Rios will not let me commute alone.

Damn. It’s his fault that I couldn’t bring a car, since Dominic was bothersome. I just sighed and relaxed.

“Thank you very much, Erin—Dominic?”

My eyes widened since Dominic was driving instead of Erin, and I also hesitated fastening my seatbelt because of the man next to me.

“Did you wait for me?”

Dominic nodded and drove away, saying, “I’ll just drop you off; I won’t do anything to you, so don’t be nervous.”

I just leaned back and crossed my arms as I glared at him. He will never give up. I’m hoping that, even for one day, I won’t see them because my head is heating.

“Carrie would like to go for a walk next week,” said Dominic. I nodded and closed my eyes because I wanted to sleep.

“No problem. I need to rest as well. It’s okay for you to bond with them because they’ve wanted to be with you for a long time, and they don’t become greedy because I didn’t raise them to be luxurious,” I said.

He exhaled a sigh. “They want to be with you,”

It surprised me, but I didn’t respond because I had no choice but to accompany them because Carrie might cry all afternoon if I didn’t show up.

Even though I would rather not be with this man, I have no choice but to go along for my children.

“Fine, for my kids, I’ll accompany you; Carrie can easily sulk,” I said. I overheard him laughing.

“Yeah, just like you because you appear to sulk easily,”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, just hurry because I’m tired.”

He laughed as he drove back to the Knight mansion.

No matter what he did… even he cried blood. Everything that has happened in the past cannot have changed.

I can’t change the fact that they betrayed me because I’ll remember it for the rest of my life, but… I know someday, everything will be fine.