“What are you saying, Tariq?” Mrs. Maria asked. “Why do you always take his side? Can you explain how the statue miraculously had a broken leg when all of them had been checked by my guards or was it some sort of miracle?”Tariq walked over to a settee and sank into it, then he gave Mrs. Maria a serious look.“Maria, I think it’s time you began to realise that you might have a traitor amongst your guards.”For the next few seconds, the room was as silent as a graveyard. Mrs. Maria, Camila and her mother’s eyes were wide as saucers as they contemplated Tariq’s statement.“B-but that’s just outrageous.” Mrs. Maria blurted, taking a long sip of water from her glass. “A traitor? Amongst my men? It’s impossible.”“Sir, I think you're forgetting that all of Mrs. Maria’s men were screened by the Capo himself.” Miguel chipped in. “There’s absolutely no way they’d betray her.”Tariq gave him a cold stare. “And did I ask you to speak? Do you really think your opinion matters in the grand scheme

“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”It’s been theee hours since Aled was attacked and Mrs. Maria had been acting strange.First of all, she moved him out of his old room and gave him a brand new suite with its own sitting room, ultra modern restroom facilities and a king sized bed.Alex had been a little skeptical about the whole arrangement, seeing that the other workers were starting to give him weird looks. Why was she so invested in making sure he was comfortable?It was the day after the banquet and most of the guests had gone back to their different destinations. Alex was currently overseeing the cleaning of the garden. “Tell me the good news first, Tariq.”Tariq came closer and sank into one of the left over plastic chairs.“I was finally able to convince Maria to let Eden go.”Alex paused, the hose in his hand hanging midair.“Really?” His lips stretched in a smile. “That’s wonderful news.”Alex had had sleepless nights thinking about Eden’s

Alex had taught himself not to be surprised whenever he heard of Miguel’s escapades. The bastard was always one step ahead of his rivals… but not this time.“You sold the tape to Miguel but you also made copies of it, didn’t you?” Tariq asked in a quiet but authoritative tone.Jim’s shoulders drooped pathetically.“There’s no point in lying, is there?”“No, there isn’t.”He nodded. “My brother advised me to make copies of the footage for future use, so I did.”“And the future use was blackmail, wasn’t it? You’ve been blackmailing Miguel to pay you money, otherwise you’ll expose him.” It was not a question. It was a statement that gave no room for arguments. Jim lifted his head. “Sir, I admit that I did blackmail him with the tape, but I did it just once and it was months ago.”His cheeks coloured with embarrassment.“I’m not good at that kind of thing and I had not thought it through properly. I tried to blackmail Miguel but he was quick to find out that I was behind the phone calls

Miguel did not look happy as he handed the laptop to Scott. He did not look happy at all.Mrs. Maria just looked confused.“Tariq, why is your friend here again?”“Because we need to know if that footage is fake or not.” Tariq said seriously. “I will not give an opinion on this matter until I’m one hundred percent certain that that footage was not edited.”“Why is there no sound?” Scott asked suddenly, frowning at the laptop.Tariq went closer.“You’re right. That’s weird. All of our CCTV cameras come with sound.”He turned to Miguel.“You brought this footage, right? What happened to the sound?”Miguel looked momentarily confused.“Uh, sir… I got it from the technical department without the sound. It’s not my doing.”Scott twisted his lips. “But Tariq says that all your cameras come with sound. Was the sound on this footage purposefully removed?”A cold, hard silence reigned in the room. Alex was literally burning with anticipation at that point.“Oh, what in the world do you mean?”

“What the hell is going on, Tariq?” Alex asked the minute he was able to dodge the guards that Mrs. Maria had assigned to follow him and finally have a chance to speak to Tariq.“I’m very certain that all of this mess is Miguel’s doing. He’s trying to slow us down.”A thought suddenly occurred to Alex.“He knows that we’re onto him.”Tariq frowned. “He does?”“I’m afraid so. When Mrs. Maria first called me to the lounge, after she’d left, he told me that he knew about our little meeting with Jim. He knows that we’re aware that he stole the signet ring and not Eden’s father.”Tariq pressed his fingers against his eyes.“How the hell did he find that out?”Alex shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe Jim got scared and told him everything.”He paused suddenly. “Speaking of Jim, has he provided the footage we asked for?”Tariq shook his head. “I haven’t heard from him since then. I’m really starting to believe he’s been avoiding me.”Alex let out a long sigh. “Things are not going according to