Chapter 77: Chapter 77

CHAPTER 34

Next day. . .

Vue Nightclub, London

Luke's POV

The stench of weed, cigarettes and opium are strong in the air. As I walk through the crowd, I scan the area for Rocket. I see him standing beside a door. He smirks at me. I'm beyond pissed at his guts.

I push my way through the crowd towards him. "Hey babe!" Some random lady says to me. I fling her hand off my body. "Not interested." I say, as I approach him. He opens the door and enters. I rush towards the door. I enter.

"Where are you, coward? Real men don't run!" I say, my hand behind my back, on my gun. There's a dim lit hallway. I follow the hallway. There's a door. I open it.

"You've got some guts. Calling my phone and summoning me like you're my boss or I work for you." I say, as I sight him.

He chuckles. "And like my bitch, you came running." He says, pulling out his own gun. At this point, we're both pointing out guns at each other. I'm furious, shaking with anger.

"I knew you'd come here armed. I'm not surprised." He says.

"Nothing stops me from blowing out your brains right now. I'll walk away scot-free and no one would know a thing."

"I could say the same, but giving you a quick death would be too easy. You separated me from the love of my life! Killing you would be too easy. I'll fight you, man to man."

I scoff at his words. Love of his life? Natalie was mine! "One of us won't leave this room alive, Rocket, and it won't be me." I say, as I throw my gun on the floor.

"We'll see." He says, throwing his gun on the floor. He continues, "This was long overdue." He says, and we lunge at each other.

****

Lydia's POV,

Previous day. . .

"How dare you trick me, David?" I yell, shocked to my core. I'm even more irked as he pretends not to hear me. He reaches for the bottle of Dom Pérignon. I grab the bottle from him and smash it on the floor.

"We agreed to wed one another just for our families. Our companies would gain with our union. We both drew up pre-nuptials. Mine was fair, very, very fair. How dare you, David? You added another clause! Why did you make me sign an NDA?"

"Fuck, Lydia! You nag too much! I don't bother you, I don't even look at you, so why must you nag me every single day?! You broke my champagne. Do you know how much that costs?! I'm on the verge of bankruptcy!" He yells.

How did I end up marrying such a lunatic? A drunk one for that matter. Four years was too long a time to be married to this prick.

"You tricked me into signing an NDA. What are you hiding, David? That's the only reason you would trick me into signing this shit." I say, as I throw the documents at him.

I had been sorting out the drawer in my bedroom when I came across it. I would have had little or no interest in going through the files, but somehow, I kept hearing a voice telling me to.

"I'm not hiding anything. Please, just go get me another bottle." He commands gesturing to the cellar. I wanted to explode. I had hoped that my married life wouldn't be as bad as I imagined it would be, but it was way worse. Horrible.

"Did your father add that clause? I will find out whatever it is you're both hiding and when I do, I won't be bound by that stupid NDA. I'll claim ignorance. Maybe that'll be my ticket out of this marriage."

David looks at me, his eyes, expressive for once. "Do it."

I walk off to my bedroom. I scatter the table and break the lamp on it. Everyday in this house was a nightmare. I was forced into such an annoying union just so my family could benefit. I take out my phone. I try the senator's number. His phone is turned off. I call Daphnia, his supposed fiancée. She picks.

"Daphnia. Where's David's father? Pass the phone to him now."

She responds, "First off, rude much. Is that how you refer to your mother-in-law? I'm not even at home. I'm at Seldson Meester. Goodbye." She says, as she ends the call. I take deep breaths, trying to control my anger. I had a feeling that if something so huge had been done behind my back, it could only be the senator. David wasn't bold enough to do something like that. It could only be his father. He was a puppet to the senator after all.

"Let's get out of here!" Alex yells, as I stand there, frozen, mute and unable to process my thoughts. Slowly, I walk to the railing. I look down. "Ah!" I gasp, closing my eyes. I begin to sob, internally hoping that everything I’d just witnessed was nothing but a mere nightmare.

"Natalie!" Alex yells, grabbing my arm. I look at him, tears rolling down my eyes. I was horrified.

"That was a gunshot. We're not safe here, what if they shoot at us?! Let's go!" He yells, dragging me.

"Wait." I beg, trying to process my thoughts. I squat, the events replaying in my head. Jennifer was dead. She was dead. Who killed her? She was just a young, innocent girl. That's why she was scared. Was it Luke? Was it Caleb?

"We've gotta go! Please, Natalie, this is murder." He says. I look at him, the situation finally dawning on me. "If the police gets here, you know, you can lose your son." He says, and in an instant, I get up. I wipe my tears. We head down the stairs.

"Thankfully, it's still dark." Alex says, and just as he mentions it, the light is restored. I pause. "Wait." I say, as I spot someone familiar. It's Daphnia. She's speaking to a girl who looks like a minor. She's adjusting her hair and powdering her face. "Give me your phone." I say to Alex. He hands over his phone.

"What are you doing?" He asks. I take a picture of Daphnia. "Smile." I tell Alex, as I begin to take a video of Alex and myself.

"What's that for?" Alex asks.

I hand his phone over to him. "That's our safe card. We have ourselves an alibi. Send a copy to me." I say to Alex.

****

We're far from Seldson Meester. Alex had parked his car on the corner of the road. We needed to think, catch our breath's.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that. You shouldn't have seen something like that." Alex says, holding my hand.

I turn to face him, "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into this. I take full responsibility for it."

"There were cameras everywhere. We need to get rid of those."

"Someone I know owns the hotel. If I ask, he'd delete it, but there was a blackout. They probably didn't capture anything."

"There might have been a witness, Natalie. There might be photos or videos— this, this is murder, okay? As long as there's something out there that puts us at the rooftop, we're possible suspects."

I close my eyes, placing my head in my palms. I couldn't lose Louis. I couldn't lose my son. I would die if I was separated from him. "I'm scared, Alex. My son. . ."

"You needn't be. There's only one solution."

I look at him, hopeful. "What?"

"Apart from our alibi, we need something more, something concrete."

"Well?"

"We have to get married." He says. I look at him, confused and dumbfounded. I get down from the car, annoyed. Alex runs after me. "Natalie!" He says, holding my hand. I fling his hand away. I knew saying it would make me a hypocrite but I was annoyed that he was taking advantage of the situation just to fulfill his greedy desires. I keep walking, completely ignoring him. He comes in front of me. "Natalie! Listen!" I halt, still annoyed at him. I look away.

"I agree, my suggestion might come off as greedy, but this can help us both. This is a very, very dire situation. I might not know much about the law, but one thing I know is that if we marry, we won't have to testify against one another. Spousal privilege." He says, and I pause.

"Spousal privilege."

"Yes. When we're sure the coast is clear, we can request for a divorce. It's not really a problem. This is only a suggestion and a possible solution, Natalie. I would never take advantage of you."

"So, wait a minute, if we get married, we won't be asked to testify if there's proof placing us there?" I ask.

"Yes."

"It's almost 9. How can we get married?" I ask, scared. I continue, "Even if we do get married, it'll be suspicious. They'll want to know why we got married a few hours after Jennifer was murdered in cold blood!"

"Ssh!" Alex cautions me. I sigh.

"We have to pay whoever we can. We need to get it done tonight."

An idea comes to my mind, "Wait! I know a judge."