Church Bells ｡ Matthew Murdock

7 - REVELATIONS

Growing up, Juliette Allen was always quite a curious girl. She used to hide in the linen closet and in the downstairs cloakroom. Having no other siblings, she had created games to play by herself and sometimes, on rare occasion with her nanny, but she was quite a sour woman. Sometimes, Juliette would simply run and hide from the bitter lady, quite fed up with being alone when her parents were busy working. Sometimes, she would hide in her mother's overly grand office and sometimes, she would hear conversations young ladies were not supposed to hear.

"Mark, we talked about this." Keira Allen, a pretty face and a heart of steel. She was always keeping her hands busy, never a dull moment when she entered a room. At all times, she wore a pearl necklace around her neck, a symbol. Little Juliette was hiding in her mother's office in the old linen closet that nobody ever used that day. A few odd boxes of files were placed around her. Other than a mothball or two, it was just her and the dust. She had dragged her doll upstairs with her, playing quietly while she hid from her hideous nanny. She was only about ten years old, her mind fogged with childless things. "We agreed that night was meaningless. Nothing more than a brief flutter of a moment long passed. You need to let it go."

Juliette heard the low voices of her mother and her best friend, Markus O'Harris. They were quite the pair growing up apparently. They had once dated briefly in high school but that was before college came and Keira Allen grew up and realised she could never marry a boy like him. The pair ended their relationship, but Markus always pined for what he could not have again. Despite his burning love for her, he never let her go. Always in the shadows, hoping one day she might realise her mistake of loving Phillip. But that day never truly did come. Only a few blissful drunken nights instead. "Come on, Keira. It's just us. You and me. Phillip has always been practically boring, you must admit. We've always had something more..."

Tiny Juliette did not have much of a clue to what they were talking about since she was always told adult conversations were not for her ears. She was quite sure her mother would be cross with her hiding in her office once again, so she did not move from her spot. With her hiding place hidden, she could only see through a crack in the door. The voices lowered now, and she could hear nothing more. The only thing she saw was her mother's pearl necklace being dropped to the hardwood floors and shattering. Juliette did not know what adult things were going on inside that office with her mother and likely uncle. She did not grasp the very concept of an affair, she was only ten after all. 

Juliette squared her shoulders, marching through the busy streets of Manhattan. There was an aching in her heart, her head full of old memories from her childhood that once upon a time seemed meaningless. But now, there had become a horrible revelation. She could not stop thinking about the verse 2:10 from the book of Revelation, "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown".

With tears wanting to break free, she realised this coming moment could break her. This moment, which she was walking towards right now, would be a trail to test her. She wanted to head home, to pull her blankets over her head and pretend today had never happened. She was quite happy to pretend her life was not a lie. She wanted more than anything, to always be an Allen by blood but that was not in her cards, not anymore. 

The sky was beginning to cloud with rain, a storm coming when she had reached the Allen Company building quickly, determined to speak with a man she once considered an uncle. Yanking open the glass doors, she headed right pass the clerk and security and was stepping into an elevator before anybody could stop her.

"I am married, do you realise that? Every time you bring the past up, you put the blame on me, Mark." It was a few years later now, Juliette a little older, a little wiser. Her head was no clouded with childish things anymore. She had been grabbing a book from her father's library, a boring night in while her friends from her boarding school were away. She had stopped by her parents's bedroom and heard a snippet of a one-sided conversation while her mother was on the phone.

Juliette should have kept walking that night, but even in her early teenage years, she was still very curious. "Markus, stop it. We've been through this. We're not...goodness, if you try and tear down my reputation and ruin my marriage, you'll pay. Do you hear me?" Juliette kept on walking after that, a little confused with why her mother would be threatening her best friend from childhood. Even with so much evidence in front of her eyes, the girl still had not put the pieces together. Denial could make anybody oblivious. 

Inside her family company building, Juliette heaved in a deep breath, blinking away the memories. She was quite saddened and angry, to realise she had been so blind growing up. Looking back now, it was very clear her mother had been having an affair with that man for many years. Now she thought about it deeply, she did not share Phillip Allen's dark thick hair, nor his dark eyes. She was fair and blonde, just like her mother and Markus O'Harris. She was cursing herself with the heavy revelation. When the elevator dinged open, she headed right towards her father's old office, the biggest and grandest office in the whole building. A few looks were casted her way from employees but she ignored them and pushed open his glass doors, finding him at his desk. 

Markus O'Harris was shocked to see Juliette Allen standing in his office, he had not seen her in years and truly, did not think he would ever again. He was quickly hanging up the phone and staring at her. She was quite stunning, she always had been. But today, there was a wild look in her eyes. "You bastard." Juliette hissed at him. She hated cursing but the words fell from her tongue before she could stop them. 

"Excuse me?" 

Juliette threw her arms out wide, staring at the room that used to belong to her father, not this man that shared her blood. He was not her real father. He did not raise her, did not love her. "Did you know? Of course, you knew deep down. You always suspected, didn't you? I didn't look like Phillip, not even a little bit." She heaved out a sigh, hating this whole thing. "Mother never told you the truth though, not out loud. She'd never admit to you being my actual father. All these years, you just played along with it because you couldn't bare not having her in your life, in your bed." 

The man blinked a few times. He was quite surprised Juliette Allen had figured it out, he often noted she was beautiful, but he never considered her all that clever. "I loved your mother but atlas, she never loved me back enough. Our relationship was complicated, dear. We had so much history--"

"But she loved my dad and not you, despite everything." Juliette slammed her hands down on the mahogany desk, her heart racing in her chest and her eyes wild. "She wouldn't leave us, would she? That's when you had come to a crossroad. You decided if you could not have her, nobody could. I wasn't in the plane, you couldn't very well kill your own daughter...but you somehow did it. You killed my parents."

A laugh sounded, Markus shaking his head. Juliette knew he would never confess to such a thing but today, she did not need a confession from him. She just needed him to know she was ready to take him down and with his clear performance today, it was crystal clear he did not care for her at all. That's all she needed. Slowly, she dragged her hands off his desk and straightened up her spine. "You will not get away with this. Trust me." She stepped backwards, already finished with this conversation. As she passed through his glass doors, she turned back around for one last word. "You should have arranged to have me on that plane too. Because now, I'll tear this company apart, along with you. Father."