At some point she realised there was no escape. She couldn't find a solution to her imprisonment, all her attempts were futile leading to grave consequences.Everything she said was deemed wrong, there was never a right answer. All escape routes were blocked, she was trapped, ensnared. Several tactics were used for her confinement, mostly blackmail and pain...She started believing she deserved it all.
One day she woke up and discovered she could feel nothing. The pain wasn't as bad as before.
Had she stopped her self from feeling?
A human being has to feel something or anything, if not, they turn into something else,...something changes in them.
A shocked Michael stopped in his tracks a hand on his cheek. His face and gaze and anger turned toward the side.
A loud smack was still resonating in the four cornered room.
''Don't you dare ever threaten me Michael, this is your last and final warning!'' Fay shouted breathing heavily.
She quickly knocked past him practically running outside. With the door between them she leaned on the corridor wall, trying to calm her beating heart. I have to stay away from Micheal, he brings out my worst side, all the bad memories, especially.... Brad.
********
''Are you okay?'' Fay opened her eyes to find a concerned maid looking at her
''Am good, thanks''. She grunted, hoisting herself from the wall. She mentally tried to regain control of the situation.
''Are you serving the guests?'' Her eyes pointed to the maids tray with dirty tea cups.
''Yes, we just finished setting everything up, they asked us to excuse ourselves for the time being''. The maid answered, her concerned look still there, not that it mattered. ''They are expecting you and Mr.Michael's arrival''.
''Okay, please excuse us now and make sure we are not disturbed''. Fay replied.
''Yes ma'am''. She quickly left.
*******
All the voices quieted down, the minute her presence was felt.
She made a quick once over of the room. Four people sitting on the L-shaped section of the sofa, 2 people in either direction. The table in front of them filled with refreshments, some documents and some dirty tissues. They've been here for sometime! That stupid butler!
'' Fay, how long had it been, your still as beautiful as ever..'' A smilling Alex was the first one to break the ice, He quickly engulfed her in a hug.
Fay gave a little smile. ''Its been a long time''. She returned the hug, patting him gently on the back.
''Our Dad's passing was truly a shock to everyone, he seemed like the kind to live forever, you know..am so sorry..'' Alex continued holding her at arms length.
Fay surprisingly maintained her smile. ''Am sorry as well''.
Leave it to Alex Bradwell to make serious situation seem easy and relaxed. He was a rare gem completely the opposite of his late father and older brother. He was caring and considerate, he had refused to follow his father's foot steps. As the second son his father had allowed him to lead his own life as he wanted, but it was granted through alot of hardships, as a consequence father son relationship severed.
Fay couldn't remember the last time she saw him, but she remembered he always made her smile.
''Where is your wife and son? The last time I saw him he was a tiny baby. How old is...''
''Fayoula, if you could continue your chitchat later, we have important matters to discuss''. Marcus grunted.
She had forgotten he was there as well, he never wastes an opportunity to showcase his talent of annoying her.
''Its a date'', Alex gave her a gently squeeze on her arms before moving to sit down.
*******
The man wearing a suit, with reading glasses sitted next to Marcus, stood up shaking hands with Fay following the introduction.
''This is Mr. Rogers, he's the head of a security firm and well known investigator''.
''Nice to meet you''. Fay Echoed. An investigator!? Why is this man here??
'' If all of you would settle down, we'll give you further details''. A stoic Marcus answered her thoughts.
Fay moved on to share a chaste kiss with Leila Bradwell, who had stood up to greet her.
''Am so sorry...'', was all Fay could say, all Leila could manage was a small head nod and a sniffle. She quickly grabbed some more tissues as she buried her eyes and nose into them. Alex the ever doting brother, gave his little sister an arm to lean on.
Leila was the only family member, who was acting out the role of a bereaved perfectly. But that was to be expected. She was the third and last born of the family. As the only girl child, her father doted on her and in return she followed his rules. She was the only one who finished her studies and managed a lucrative position in a lucrative company all on her own.
She was close to Brad, meaning she disliked Fay. Who could blame her, the father she looked up to had gone to marry someone close to her age. Nothing but a gold digger!! Fay was often accused in the past.
Fay sat down on a three sitter sofa, she wanted to avoid as much physical contact with her guests, sitting together included.
''The last person left is Michael...''. Marcus started.
Speaking of the devil, Micheal walked in, sharing the same sofa with Fay. Good thing he sat as far away as possible from her.
''How long does it take for you to use the bathroom!!'' Leila shouted pointing at Micheal. Everyone seemed shocked by the sudden outburst, she is known to be very calm and collected.
''None of your business!'' Michael grumpily retorted, crossing his arms while looking away.
Petty as always, Fay caught his silhouette from her side view.He still seemed affected by her hitting him, he clearly deserved it. Now that she thought about, her hand felt a bit sore. I hope he gets a bruise.
''How many times do I have to say this!..'' Marcus seemed angry. ''...lets keep the chitchat for later, we have pressing matters on hand...''.
This seemed to be get everyone's attention.
''Uncle Marcus, what's so important that it couldn't wait for tomorrow..?'' Leila asked what everyone was thinking.
'Uncle' Fay inwardly snorted.
''I hate to be the bearer of bad news but...'' Marcus shuffled some documents around.
''Out with it..''. Micheal grumpily retorted.
Marcus outwardly sighed. Fay eyebrows immediately went up. It was rare to see Marcus flustered. Something must be terribly wrong.
''Its about the will..'', Marcus continued.
''We know that Uncle..'', Alex interjected, ''...the Will is to be read after tomorrow's memorial..''
''There is a problem with the Will...'', Marcus poor attempt of getting the words out was getting on Fay's nerves.
''You got to be kidding Marcus...'', Fay was getting angry,''...what the hell is going on...''.
''The Will is missing...''
''What!!'' The whole room chorused.
Fay's heartbeat picked up. This is not happening.
Everyone was on edge now, literary everyone was on the edge of the sofa.
Leila seemed to be first one to recover from the shock.
''Uncle, you are not making sense, what do you mean by the Will is missing, does it mean it disappeared, why did it disappear? How does a Will disappear? This doesn't make any sense, this...''. The rest was inaudible like she was talking to herself.
''Late last night our security vaults were broken into, the Will was the only item found to be missing..''. Mr.Rogers finally spoke up.
''Let me get this straight...''. Micheal stated while standing up. ''Our father's Will, the document stating how his fortune should be divided...a fortune worth billions is...is missing...''
''Yes...'', Marcus couldnt even face Michael. He actually knows shame!
''...and you say it was stolen last night from a very known, high tech, lucrative bank Vault...'' Micheal was pacing now.
''Yes '', Mr.Rogers answered.
''This is a load of bull Shit!!!..'' Micheal practically screamed throwing his hands around.
''Unbelievable...'' Alex faintly whispered leaning back on the sofa.
''Michael calm down, we need to get to bottom of this..'', Leila tried reasoning with her older brother.
''Calm down!..calm down you say!'' Micheal shouted, ''whatever they are saying doesn't make any sense...''. He stopped his pacing pointing an angry finger towards Marcus.
''But you shouting won't solve anything'', Fay retorted, though still in shock. The Will can't be missing, how am I suppose to handle this...
''Micheal, Leila is right, sit down, let's talk about this'', Marcus stood up trying to calm a furious Micheal.
Being as Petty as always he kept quiet but he leaned against the wall refusing to sit down.
The shock was still there but everyone was willing to listen now.
''We discovered that the Vault was broken into this morning..'' Mr.Rogers explained, ''We didn't know about it, because none of the alarms went off, only an open Vault was dicovered during the routine checks..''. He somehow seemed awed by the thieves work of art.
''The only thing that seemed to be missing was the Will. We've been investigating since the crime we dicovered. The only lead we have is cc TV footage of the two thieves. But its not clear enough because the covered themselves in dark clothing including masks''.
''We suspect it could be an inside job''. Marcus said.
''Why?'' Fay was dumbfounded.
''Because the crime was perfectly executed, no shoe prints, no alarms and the only target was the Will''. Mr.Rogers stated as if in awe of the thieves.
''You mean to say beacause they were targeting the Will...''. Alex started.
''The only ones who are getting something from the Will are all here...''. Micheal angrily stated.
There was an audible silence in the room.
Fay felt the wheels turning in everyone's head. She felt the seed of suspicion building up.
''That's why you called us all here today..'' Fay whispered. ''Its because you suspect one of us..''
''Truthfully, everyone is a suspect until we get to the bottom of this''. Mr.Rogers calmly stated, unaware of the fire building in everyone's heart.
''Unbelievable..'', Alex whispered. That one word seemed to explain everything.
''Why can't we just take this to court!!'', Michael was about to start another shouting match.
''How many times do I have to explain this Micheal...''. Marcus was frustrated. ''...Will cases take years in court to be resolved , it might be years after years by the time you receive your fortune, by then the state would be controlling everything, you might receive less than expected. That's why Wills were invented to stop such chaos from happening.... Our best solution is to find that Will and fast''.
This seemed to aggravate Michael even more but the good thing he kept quiet, only muttering words to himself.
Fay couldn't believe her luck, things were going so well till now, how is she suppose to recover from this. She wasn't planning to spend the rest of her life fighting with the Bradwell kids in the courts. It was obvious they will all turn against her.
''So the theft had to be done by someone or the other in this room, cause we are the only beneficiaries, am I getting it right Uncle?...'' Leila voiced out.
''True''. Marcus answered.
Leila continued.
''The question is, who amongst will steal the Will?, its as if they already know what's inside..."