Fighting For Hope

Chapter Eighteen

"I'd learned that some things are best kept secret."

—

TYLER'S POV

"Soon, I'll be dead," the man on the screen said with a disconsolate look. "I have become a target of Calvin Woodland ever since I stole a few hundred thousand from him."

Hope's father looks intensely into the screen with eyes brimmed with remorse.

"I am at the lowest point in my job, for I have trusted the wrong people. I've landed myself in a situation only a fool would be in because of the consequences my actions behold. He made me choose between you and your mother. You are a child, naive and oblivious to anything that could happen in this ruthless world. Although I love your mother, I am sure she doesn't feel the same anymore. We started drifting apart, and in a short time, I felt as if our future route faded as well."

He forced himself to look into the screen with feigned confidence. "It is you who came into our lives and showed us our direction, but it wasn't long before your mother chose Calvin over me for all the erroneous reasons."

I squirmed closer beside Hope, who seemed disinclined and disconcerted to know of her father's past, especially since he was already an absent figure in her life.

"Calvin found out about the culprit who stole his cash, and I have two days to return it. However, I don't intend to give him anything. I'm assuming my death is in a week, in the hands of that ruthless man. He'll most probably kill me in the most disgusting way, but I'm not frightened."

The father's eyes wander like they had minds of their own before fixing them back to his audience. He seemed to remember a crucial point, "Keep this in your mind, Hope. Do not ever, under even the most vital circumstances, show this video to anyone. It is my last wish." I pursed my lips as awkwardness settled.

Hope looked, concentrated on the video her father took before his death, with an indecipherable mixed expression. But I could point out like blazes that suffering was one of them. She seemed to be involuntary to watch any more of the video.

"Calvin Woodland is anything but magnanimous. Keep a vigilant eye, Angel. His intentions are never pleasant," he warned, looking back like he was expecting someone to appear behind him before confessing, "I stole the money for you."

Beside me, I could hear Hope's previously stable breathing hitch. I rested a reassuring hand on hers.

"We can stop if you want to," I told her, directing her attention to me instead of the video, missing out some information about why he stole the million dollars for her.

"No, I just...it's peculiar hearing his voice. I miss him a lot." She sighed. "What if I never found this disc my father left for me? Would it be better if I never knew the reason for his death?"

I offered a smile. "Fate," I said simply and shrugged.

We turn back to the screen, where the man was, with the stubble beard and a shade of dark blue eyes which matched Hope's. I could almost feel his intense eyes like razors piercing into the depths of my soul. Under his gaze, I was assured his next sentence was essential.

He took a moment to shut his eyes before saying, "Don't believe anything my brother, your Uncle Clyde says. He had done something horrendous and had been using lies to cover the truth."

"He had been working with Calvin," he revealed, "I...saw him."

I was quick to catch the disquietude which flashed through his eyes, how it flickered, along with how he dithered.

Suddenly, I was conflicted between who was the liar. They both seem suspicious, but the man Hope approached this afternoon, Clyde, and her father, are nothing but mere strangers to me.