The Mystery Of Elizabeth Matthews (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter 23.

Thank you books_nutellalove for being there with me from the start. You were my first vote and comment. :D Much love ❤

Nobody knew what to say, how to react or even if they heard right.

Grandpa Sanders was still glaring at Brian, who looked like he was about to lose his mind. Not only him but also the others were frozen in shock.

Tom shook his head. "That's not possible, dad. You wouldn't do this sort of thing. You are not serious, right? I know you are doing this to protect her but you don't need to. Why would you even protect her?"

Grandpa looked at him. "Whatever you heard is all true. It was me who made that stupid diary up."

Brian's head snapped at grandpa. He was never that hurt, not even in his past, than he was now. He was speechless. He could only whisper one word. "Why?"

He sighed, as if he regretted his actions.

"You were getting too close to Emily. We needed to distract you. Throw you off the track. We knew you had a man following her. We just had to set a trap and lure him in. It was easy really. We made him think that Emily was not at home, so that he could steal the diary that was purposely kept where he could find it and give it to you. Your sympathy would have done the rest. You just weren't supposed to know this soon. I apologize, Brian. But this was important."

Jack's jaw dropped.

"Why are you involved with her? Do you know who she is?"

Every single person in the room was taken aback at how warmly grandpa smiled. He looked at Emily and held out his hand. Without any hesitation, she took it and stood beside him. He then turned his attention towards Jack again.

"Yes, Jack. I know who Emily Green is."

Sam was as affected by the new happenings as the others. But there was something grandpa said that got him thinking.

He coughed in order to get their attention. When he gained grandpa's attention, he asked what was bothering him.

"You said 'we'. Who is 'we'? Does that include Emily?"

Emily shook her head. "No. I didn't even know about this plan until Brian went missing. That was when I came to know about the diary and its contents and Brian's past." She said the last part quietly.

Jayden frowned. "Then who else?" he asked to particularly no one.

"Why do you think you couldn't hack Emily's laptop or cell phone, Jayden? You thought someone big is protecting her, didn't you? Well, here I am." Asher smirked.

Everyone's head snapped at Asher with surprise. Jayden stuttered. "W-What?"

"Mr. Asher? You?" Jack asked wide-eyed.

"Yes. Me." He smiled smugly.

Emily grinned at their expressions and grandpa smiled in amusement.

Asher looked at Jayden again and glared at him. "This interrogation is over. I don't care what you have to say. We were on a low profile until now. That's the only reason why you could get away with accusing Emily. But if you or anyone else for that matter -" he glanced at Brian "- do something like this again, you've already seen how far we can go."

Jayden knew he should shut up but he couldn't stop himself.

"Is that a threat?" He asked.

Asher smiled bitterly. "I don't make threats, kid. I am sure you know that." He replied icily.

Jayden flinched.

Asher then turned towards Emily and grandpa. "Let's go."

Emily nodded and all three of them turned to move out.

"Wait."

Emily stopped at Brian's voice and turned to look at him.

"Was everything a lie?" He asked quietly. "Were you not abused at all?" He met her stare. His face did not show any emotions but his eyes said it all. He desperately wanted to trust her. He was confident that she didn't fake her nightmares. Her past had been a tragedy. He was sure of it.

"No."

His heart sank.

"Not really." She continued.

He furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

She smiled sadly.

"My parents... loved me, not by choice. But because they had to." She said vaguely.

Brian clenched his jaw. Her parents at least loved her, even if it was forced. She played with his emotions.

"Maybe they didn't really die in a car accident. What do we know? Maybe you killed them." He said. His firm voice echoed in the room.

Three things happened at that moment. Grandpa clenched his fists and glared coldly at Brian. Asher took a step forward as if to protect Emily. Emily closed her eyes and looked down for a second so that no one could see the flash of pain that crossed her eyes. When she looked up, her face was blank and her eyes void of all emotions.

She knew he didn't mean it. It was his anger that was speaking. But she still wanted to hurt him just like he did.

"Maybe I did." She said flatly. "Just like you killed her."

And that was the last straw.

What do you think? Were you guys expecting this?

Read. Vote. Comment. Enjoy.

-DS