Lemuria: The City of Mysts

Chapter 32: A Father's Confession

A/N: Hi everyone, sorry I haven't updated for a quite a while. This month was pretty busy. I had my finals today in one subject and submitted the first project in another. I still have one more project to complete before the end of the semester. I'll be able write more on the next few weeks...hopefully. Anyway, I had to revise this chapter - our doctor was becoming too passive for my taste. Sorry for the technical errors, I haven't been able to edit this. :)

Chapter 32: A Father's Confession

Fred swallowed. The food had become tasteless as soon as Cheska's name was brought up. Then...

Her brother. He hoped to have misheard it. The sharp intake of breath beside him, however, didn't leave room for doubt. Gerry had confirmed two things that could cause irreparable damage in the relationship between father and son: first, Cheska's real identity; second, Mr. Roucan's involvement from the very beginning. Fred knew he would have to explain everything to his mom soon. His first priority was to calm Louis, who had stalked over to the door connecting theirs to the study.

The security personnel blocked Louis as expected. Like a good soldier, the former followed his commanding officer's every word. The guard, however, found himself in a dilemma. Orders were to keep the people from leaving the conference room and to make sure the heir of Roucan Global Enterprises was out of harm's way. The source of the conflict lay on said successor.

Louis, his face already white with fury, glared at the human obstacle then sidestepped him. The guard made the mistake of grabbing the younger man's arm. In one swift motion, Louis wrenched his arm free; used it to twist the poor security personnel's wrist up at the man's back; then pushed roughly to the side. The next individual who dared come near Louis flipped in the air and slammed against the tiled floor. It all happened quickly that the rest of the men watching them were discouraged to stop him from leaving. Louis pressed a code in the keypad on the wall. The door opened. He stepped out.

Fred 's eyes darted from the man to the closed doors and back. Surely, Louis wouldn't attack his own father. He rushed to the winded man and checked for injuries. His mom crouched beside him and said, "I'll see to him. Go. Make sure Louis doesn't do anything rash."

He nodded his thanks and strode to the door. The door didn't move even when he pushed the button on the side to open it. He tried once more. Nothing.

"He's locked us in", Allan said behind him.

Fred saw through the glass doors that Louis had seized Gerry by the collar. He looked around for a way to open the doors. His gaze landed on the chair.

"It's useless. These doors are strengthened to withstand ammunition."

He whirled on Allan. "You knew this would happen. Why didn't you stop him?"

"As much as I want to, I can't", Allan said, not taking offence at the accusation. "Louis isn't an easy opponent. He was our former Chief's best student. Excuse me." He spoke in code to his earpiece for a moment. Allan then said to Fred: "We'll get out soon. My man's trying to override Louis' encryption." He paused. "Try the doors again."

The doors opened when Fred pushed the button once more. He wanted to thank Allan, but the man's back was already turned, spewing instructions in his earpiece. Fred walked towards Louis cautiously.

"This is the last time I'm asking", Louis threatened. "Why do you know my sister?"

"So, you were listening", Gerry lifted a brow at him.

"Answer me, dammit!" He shook the spy.

Fred stopped a good distance from them, unsure of how to proceed. In Louis' current state, saying and doing the wrong thing would make the situation worse. He looked at Mr. Roucan and saw a subtle change in the patriarch's demeanour. Sadness flitted across the old man's expression.