Part two...
I closed the remaining distance between us and before I could stop myself, I wrapped my arms around Jared.
It had been so long, too long since I last saw anybody who was part of our circle. He had been in the service of Dexter for years, having been attended the most exclusive gatherings of the family. I grew up seeing him all the time.
"I can't believe you're here," I breathed as I clutched at his shirt in fear that he might vanish in a blink of an eye.
"Have you been well, Miss Cassandra?" Jared wrapped an arm around me.
"I've been better." Tears began to escape my eyes.
"You're alright now," Jared comforted. "We are here to protect you."
We? My head snapped upward to face him. "Are they here? Has Dexter come to take me?" I shot my eyes around me in search for his face.
I was about to be saved! But instead of feeling excited, I was sort of anxious about it.
Jared only looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Where is he?" I asked with my brows furrowed together. A foreboding feeling suddenly crept in my skin.
"He's not here," a voice said from behind me. I turned my head around to see Anthony standing by the doorway. He walked inside and closed the door behind him.
"Jared, he was the one who kidnapped me," I spoke softly, clutching at the front of his shirt.
"I know."
My confusion grew deeper. If I was about to be saved then why wasn't Jared fighting Anthony? Why do they look casual with each other?
I pulled myself away from Jared as if he just burned my skin. I took a step back away from him and away from Anthony until my back hit the wall. My tears ceased from falling.
"Wha... What exactly are you doing here?" I asked Jared in suspicion.
He looked at Anthony first before responding. "I came to visit an old friend."
My heart fell in the pit of my stomach.
No no no no no. It couldn't be!
My eyes went back and forth from Jared to Anthony, who were both looking at me in a guarded manner.
"You came to see him?"
"Yes."
"You work for him."
It wasn't a question but still he answered, "Yes."
Oh my god!
"No." I shook my head in denial. "Dexter thinks of you as his most loyal servant. Even William did. You can't be working for him!"
"There was only one man I serve to and his body now lay six feet below the earth. His name was not a Morris," he said in a stoned expression.
My mouth hung open in shock. "It was you. You were the spy. You were the one who helped them escape in the party," I exclaimed as realization dawned at me.
"Yes."
"You're a traitor! After all the things Dexter did for you. How dare you? Traitor!" My shock was now replaced by anger. Everything made sense now. How Anthony knew so much of what was happening within the two families, how they were able to get through our security without being noticed, how they were able to acquire information fast. It was all because of Jared.
"You killed William," I seethed.
"His death only saved hundreds of people. I have no regrets."
"How dare you!" I moved my eyes to gaze at Anthony who still remained standing by the door. "You've tricked him to believe your lies. This is your entire fault!"
If the most trusted man of Dexter was against us then who else could be working for Anthony?
The possibility only frightened me.
"Miss Cassandra, we're here to tell you everything you needed to know about the Morrises... and your family," Jared spoke.
"If this is about the terrible things they've done to this family, I already heard of it. I've had enough of it!"
"Anthony spoke the truth."
"They are lies!" I yelled back in desperation.
"Is it?" Anthony's cold voice caught my attention. He moved nearer us and I saw how tense his jaws were. I was familiar with him enough to know that he was fighting to control his anger. "Tell me, Cass, how much do you know about the Morris Corporation? Did Dexter ever take you in a conference call? How many projects had he shown you? Have you been with him during an oversea business matter?
"We've just recently been engaged, he hasn't got a chance to expose me that far yet," I defended.
"Oh, but you two were already engaged since birth, are you not?"
Silence.
"Don't you think that's suspicious?"
I shook my head. "They are decent men."
"Decent?" Anthony spat the word with malice. "Does smuggling make you decent? How about stealing? Or blackmailing or money laundering or murdering? Do these acts make men decent?"
I looked at him incredulously. "How dare you accuse them of such?!"
"Didn't you ever wonder why they're so secretive about their work?"
"I-"
"Didn't you ever question why Dexter seemed to be always cautious when you're putting in some of your thoughts regarding business matters?" Anthony continued.
"He-"
"Just think about it, Cass. Admit it, you don't anything about them."
I stood frozen in the spot. He did have a point. Dexter was very cautious with me when it comes to business matters. I always thought it was because he didn't trust me but was that really the reason? Of all the years I've worked with them, it was also true that they don't let me pry deeper in what was going on. They never needed my help.
But I never saw them as people who are capable of doing illegal acts.
Right?
'The Morrises are known to be greedy,' a voice inside me whispered. 'Maybe money had blinded them.'
My head began to pound painfully in confusion.
"Just listen to us," Jared said, taking a step towards me. "Please, Miss Cassandra. We only want to protect you."
Protect me? Was that what Anthony was doing? But he kidnapped me. He did that so that so I wouldn't be able to call for help.
But then I thought, from the time I had stayed here, they never hurt me in such a torturous way that kidnappers usually do. As a matter of fact, I have lived here in so much comfort, being treated like a... guest.
I looked back at Anthony. "Ok, I'll listen. But you have to promise to tell me EVERYTHING."
His lips pressed into a thin line before he nodded. "I promise."
**
They made me sit in a dark leathered sofa on the side while they each sat in a single chair, facing me.
"Maybe you should start first," Jared urged Anthony. "From the beginning."
Anthony was looking at me with piercing eyes. He took a deep breath and spoke, "Did your father ever tell you how the Vanhoe Corporation and Wills Industries began?"
"Yes. He told me they've been planning on building a company since they were in high school. Not as partners but as competitors. In that way, they could watch how each of them grow. Despite that, they remained friends." My father had told me this story a hundred times already.
"That's it?"
"That's the main point of it," I replied.
"They've given you the vague version. That's not the whole story." Anthony shook his head. "It's true that they've known each other since they were in high school. But the idea of building a company began when they were in college, when they met Edward Rivera." He paused and studied me for a moment. "Edward Rivera was a brilliant student, just like your father. They got along together easily and eventually, William became friends with him too. It was Edward who encouraged them to start a company that was focused on energy. He was a visionary, he had all his plans laid out and he wanted William and Lucas to be part of it. And that's what they did. L.E.W. Company was built.
"They've encountered a lot of struggles in the beginning, but they got things right eventually. The company grew, investors came and before they knew it, they're names were appearing in the magazines, labeled as the future tycoons of the nation. Lucas and Edward were happy to where the company was heading so they began to think about expansion, but William thought differently. For him, business was going slow. Profits were too low and trading was insufficient. He wanted more, he wanted to take it to a faster pace, he wanted to be on top as soon as possible. Let's just say, his business strategies weren't parallel to the others.
"Arguments arose and eventually, they had to let William go. They gave him his share and from then on, they went separately. At first, he disappeared. Your father tried to track him down but he kept out of radar. I think the last they've heard of him, he was in Libya.
"After three years, he was back and surprisingly, his status was like he never disappeared. He was an executive official an oil company in the Middle East. How he was able to get there, we have no idea. We just knew that he had a built a strong relationship with the CEO. When the CEO died, he became the successor. He transferred the office in America and from there on he built his empire."
"That doesn't explain anything to me. It just showed how gifted William really was," I interjected.
"My fa... I mean Edward turned suspicious. How could he have become so successful in that short amount of time? It just wasn't possible. He consulted your father but he dismissed his allegation. He knew William like a brother. He trusted that he was just that good. Edward thought otherwise so he conducted a secret investigation. And do you know what he found out?"
"What?" I asked in not more than a whisper.
"In the course of three years, deaths among that oil company occurred, specifically in the executive board."
I breathe caught in my throat. "You don't mean to say..."
"He found no proof against him so no formal investigation was done, but Edward was adamant to know more. Later he found out, the company's accounting reports didn't mash up together. As he got deeper, more and more disparities were seen. More deaths appeared, not just in his company but also in his competitor's. Still, Lucas wouldn't listen because he couldn't produce proof. He thought he was only jealous of William because he was becoming more successful than they were. Disagreements began to appear in their relationship, and to top that, William found out about Edward's secrets doings."
As Anthony continued to speak, his tone became angrier and angrier. "He threatened him with his life. He told him if he said anything, he would kill him and his family. Edward knew he was capable of doing so, so he fled. He took his pregnant wife and his eleven year old son away from the city, and from then on, they went into hiding."
I shook my head from side to side furiously. "Those allegations meant nothing for me. You don't have proof!"
"That's exactly what we're trying to achieve right now. To get proof."
"But you never had it, that's why you killed William instead," I spat bitterly.
"No, Cass. I killed William because he killed my parents."
"And what did they have to do with him?"
Anthony's face suddenly turned solemn. "Don't you remember who Edward Rivera is?"
My face crumpled in a scowl. "I have never heard of his name."
"What about Uncle Eddie?" A cold chill suddenly went through my spine. "Or Aunt Cathy?" he continued.
My silence prolonged, not being able to form coherent words.
Yes. I did know those names. Somewhere deep within my childhood memory that I had spent years to lock in, I knew those names.
Anthony walked towards the oak wood desk that was located in the far corner and grabbed something on top of it. "Do you remember them?"
I took what he was handing to me. It was a picture frame with a portrait of a family in it. On the right side stood a Spanish looking man with dark hair, wearing a formal suit with a smile on his face. Beside him was a woman with short brown hair, wearing a beautiful blue dress that caused her blue eyes to shine brighter. In her arms was a baby wrapped in white cloth. Between the couple sat a boy with dark messy hair, flashing a smile that made his eyes which he seemed to have inherited from his mother, look brighter.
My hand shook as I realized how familiar these people were. How familiar the boy was.
I stood abruptly, dropping the frame in the process, causing the clatter to break the silence that had set in.
It couldn't be him. He left years ago. I thought he was dead. It couldn't possibly be him.
"Who are they?" I said with a shaky voice.
"They know them here as Howard and Catherine Ford," Anthony replied softly, with his eyes looking deeply at me. "But their real names were Edward and Cathy Rivera. They were my parents."
"If that was Uncle Eddie and Aunt Cathy... then you must be..." My voice trailed away in shock. I couldn't even speak of his name. It had been years since I last talks about him. Fourteen years to be exact.
Anthony nodded his head slowly. "Hi, Cass. Remember me now?"
As if his statement was the magic words my mind had been waiting for, the vault in my mind where I kept all my painful memories locked in suddenly opened, causing all the suppressed memories to flash before my eyes.
**
A memory...
I drew a beautiful picture of a castle. I wanted to show it to my father. I ran to my father's office without knocking. He scolded me for interrupting an important business meeting. I ran in our backyard with tears streaming in my eyes. A boy with messy dark hair who came from nowhere, suddenly sat beside me.
"Why are you crying?"
I looked up to see a pair of oceanic eyes gazing at me with concern. I didn't answer because I didn't know him. I continued to cry.
He began telling random stories. I tried not to listen. I asked him to leave me alone. He didn't pay attention. He talked about his pet parrot. He said his name was Pettigrew, like from Harry Potter. He told me the random words his pet learned that day. I ignored him.
He pulled a paper from his pocket. He began folding it into different patterns. That caught my curiosity. I found myself watching. He formed a bird. By that time, I had forgotten about my tears. He played with the paper. I watched him do it. When he saw me looking, he gave it to me. I smiled.
"What's your name" he asked.
"Cassandra. What's yours?"
"Tony."
Another memory...
I crawled under my bed, giggling. I heard his footsteps outside my door. I clumped my mouth shut. He slowly opened my door. I giggled again. He walked around my room. He checked my closet. His foot was coming near me. He stood by my bed side.
"I found you!" he yelled as he suddenly bent towards where I was hiding.
I screamed. I crawled out from under my bed. I ran. He chased after me. We were laughing. He chased me around the house. We ended up in the living room. He tackled me to the ground. He tickled my sides. I squirmed while laughing. I begged him to stop. He did. He lay beside me.
"I'll always find you wherever you go," he said while panting.
I giggled again. "Promise you'll always come and find me?"
"I promise."
"And that you won't leave me like how my friends were?"
"I won't leave you," he said with a nod.
"You'll come and play with me forever?"
"Yes. Forever."
Another memory...
I waited in the lounge room for him. He was an hour late. He was never late. I was getting impatient. I watched the TV for a while. Still, he didn't come. I was starting to get angry. He promised he would come but he didn't. I was grumpy the whole day.
Later that night my mother came to my room. She sat beside me. She asked how my day was. I told her about Tony not showing up. I was still angry at him. She became sad.
"Honey, something happened earlier."
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"There had been an accident." She held both my hands and rubbed circles around it. "We received a call that Uncle Eddie's house caught on fire."
I gasped. "Were they there? Is Tony alright?"
"Yes, honey. They were there. I'm sorry, Cass, but no one survived."
Another memory...
I was wearing black. Everyone was wearing black. We stood in front of three tombstones as the priest went on with the sermon. Tears had dried on my face. My parents comforted me. I shrugged them away.
I was silent for a whole week.
I was mad because he promised he wouldn't leave me. But he did. I cried all the time. After long, I didn't want to hurt anymore. I wanted to forget. I tried to forget.
Later on, I was able to forget.
**
My breathing was coming out in pants. My heart was beating so wild, I feared it was going to burst out of my ribcage.
I was in his funeral. We cried over his family. I cried over him. I grieved over him. I hurt for him.
Tony was dead.
I saw them bury his body.
He was dead.
How was it possible?
But as I gazed further into Anthony's eyes... I knew it was him.
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I hope you still enjoyed it. I'm hoping I can make the next chap more exciting. :)