Chapter 144: Chapter 144
One month later…
“Anna, are you ready?” Lucien asked as soon as he approached Brianna’s cubicle.
“Yes, sir!” the personal bodyguard replied.
Lucien turned to Vicky Reed.
“Vicky, we are going out for lunch, but we might not get to return as usual. We have a meeting with someone important,” Lucien informed his staff head.
“Yes, sir. Copy that!” Vicky replied courteously.
“Shall we go?” Lucien turned to Anna again.
Brianna corrected Lucien about her name, but the latter insisted that he wanted to call her on a name he got used to calling her, so Brianna no longer minded if Lucien and others called her Anna while her team, Jack and anyone who knew her, would call her B, Big B or Boss B. The name did not matter even then; it won’t make any difference now.
Brianna stood from her seat as soon as Lucien walked in her direction earlier. She was already standing and ready to leave while Lucien was giving orders. She just nodded in response to Lucien’s question and started to walk out of the office side by side with the young Michaelson.
They were to have a lunch meeting with someone they came across with on their investigation. Brianna found proof to believe Lucien that Leandro Michaelson was innocent. She also believed General Andy Lockwood when they met, and she saw how the Military man was so happy to see her. She saw pictures of her with her mom and dad along with other colleagues of her parents brought by General Lockwood to show Brianna. But of course, she did not just believe in everything they said. That seemed to be what happened to her with Charles Anderson. The same mistake wouldn’t be acceptable. It would have been an insult to her IQ. So, Brianna asked for a few days to be out of anyone’s reach. Not even a call or message with Jack. She disappeared like a ghost for a good five days. No one knew where she went, but everyone concerned was well informed. She gathered Jack, Lucien, Andy, and Leandro to tell them that she would be gone.
“If in five days time, I do not return, it only means you did not earn my trust because I would have found out something to doubt about you or your intentions. So if you have anything you think I might misunderstand, I dare you to tell me now. I can find justice for my parents’ death on my own. If your offered collaboration is a con, I don’t want to play along.”
Brianna did not feel at ease fully about being in the walls of a Michaelson’s. Even if it was the grandson’s place, she was feeling like she had to be watchful all the time. It was different when her memory was blocked, she did not mind, but as she could remember everything, she was somehow distressed.
Lucien was against her idea, but he tried to calm himself. Ever since he opened the topic that they were not Anna’s enemy, he knew he needed to give her time to process, understand and accept such revelations. He also knew it wasn’t going to be easy; she was told those stories ever since she was a child. Not only as stories to fascinate her but they were also fed to her like an energy booster to keep her motivated and create a deadly weapon out of her. She became the lethal weapon of the person who claimed to have rescued and raised her.
Leandro was fine with Anna’s decision. He also deemed it to be wise for Anna to think about everything even more deeply, carefully, and attentively. He was aware that the few days Anna was asking would be spent to investigate things on her own. And he was confident that Anna would find the truth about his innocence if she really used her skills, talents, and expertise to dig things out. She could have done the same thing about her parents’ tragedy if she had even the slightest doubt of Charles Anderson’s motives. But as she believed the man to be her savior, she did not give it such a thought until Lucien attempted to come clean before her.
Leandro was more worried about how his grandson would take Anna’s words and demands. He was well aware that Lucien fancies this girl so much, so her asking for space might be difficult for his boy. But to Leandro’s surprise, things happened differently.
“Take all the time you need, although I really hope it would be lesser than five days, I would still wait even if it takes you fifty days to find out we are not your enemy,” Lucien spoke gently, assuringly but clarity beyond comprehension. He was confident that Anna would come back because she would not find anything that would make her doubt their sincerity and honesty. She will not find anything of the sort because there was nothing to find.
Lucien found it funny that a common saying seemed to be happening to him.
“If you love someone, set them free; if they come back to you, it was meant to be.”
Only it was a bit different with him because the phrase would usually be used by people in relationships, while he was using these words now, in all it means, practically and literally.
No one among the people she called to be around expressed to contradict her thoughts, or maybe they were not in favor of her idea, but they were also aware that she was just telling them what she wanted to do. She was not asking for any of their permission or approval. She could have left without letting them know of her plans, but she did not.
They have to take it positively.
Brianna did not want to be unfair to these people who had cared for her when she was injured. She could have stayed and shaken hands with them, welcomed their offered alliance without so much ado, but she did not want to blame anyone else later. She deemed it right to clear the path of uncertainty, hesitations, and cynicism. To make their collaboration productive and successful, she had to clear her thoughts and doubts. And that will only happen when she finds their words to be trustworthy, through her own fact-finding.