“See for yourself,” Celestine answered, handing his phone to Mercy.Abruptly, she paused turning to Celestine with a curiosity written on her face.“What is it?” Celestine asked, observing her expression.“I don’t know how this might sound so I’d rather not say it,” she said, exhaling softly as she looked outside the window. Her thoughts danced to the humming sound of the engine as they drove through the city. Silence set in, one filled with unspoken words and emotions. While Celestine was stuck with the guilt of how he handled last night, Mercy reminded herself to be extra careful now so as not to lose his trust in her. Every word she made to utter went through a rehashed process. For obvious reasons, she didn’t want to disappoint him anymore. The silence stretched on, filling their minds with thoughts that wouldn’t be there if they just communicated with each other.Finally, Celestine threw in the towel. “How can I make up for my behavior last night? I can’t stop thinking abou
Fred glanced at Mercy with confusion settled on his face. In truth, he was more perplexed than confused. Mercy was never one to work for free, most times she rejected job offers because the ‘pay was not worth her service’. He could clearly remember their last job together, they had been employed by a faceless client to dig into the corporation his wife worked for, that job ended their partnership, in a way he had never expected. While he remained loyal to the faceless client, Mercy became a spy for his wife. He hated to admit that Mercy made a wise decision by joining the client’s wife because her switching up on him made him hurt so badly.When the faceless client had discovered her treachery, she saved herself without thinking twice, and left him for dead.While Celestine returned to his room, to make the call for a recent week’s footage and the visitors list, Mariah was busy with dishes in the kitchen, leaving them in absolute silence. While not absolute- Mercy was neck deep into
“The fight has fully begun,” Celestine thought to himself. “While Master Woods strives, we strive too. Archer, we’re coming, we’re getting really close. Just hang on a bit…” His eyes were fixed on the screen, nothing out of the ordinary showed on the footage five days before the day of the incident, neither did anything happen four days to the day. His eyes had grown tired by the time he was on the third day, but he remained calm and focused. “Mariah and Mercy said for Tangie. I say, for Archer,” The minutes blurred by and the paper beside him still blank. Celestine’s excitement and hope began to wane. Just then, Fred waltzed in, his footfalls intentionally loud and disturbing.“Be quiet!” Celestine hushed him and quickly returned to the footage.Unexpectedly, he sank onto the couch right next to Celestine. “What are you doing?”“What does it look like?” Celestine replied, his eyes fixed on the screen.“You know, all this is useless, right?”Instantly, Celestine paused, turning t
As soon as the call with Celestine ended, Mercy didn't hesitate to call off the charade they'd been playing all day. Quick on her feet with a newfound resolve, Mariah noticed the unspoken change of plans before she announced it."Girls, a buzz we gotta go," "Why?" Beatrice asked, "You can't leave me alone with two bottles of d'Ambonnay.""I'm sorry, Bea, but it's urgent. How about this, Diane and the girls can stay, but I'll have to go with Mariah.""That works," She replied, "Except you girls would rather go, I don't wanna pressure anyone,"Mercy turned to Diane, her eyes communicating the approval on her skeptical face. "Sure," she answered with uncertainty, "Who wanna pass on these bottles?""Huh, thank you," Mercy mouthed, "Have fun," she said, waving goodbye with Mariah.As soon as they were on the road, Mariah let out a heavy breath. "What's going on?"Mercy shot her a quick glance before answering, "It's Celestine, he found something on the footage."Mariah's eyes widened, th
As the sun dipped back into its home, while Mariah began the preparations for the grand celebration, Celestine sat next to Mercy in the backseat of the tenth car in the convoy train. His heart racing with thoughts and anticipation. Would Young Lord Bullock believe their evidence? Would he take decisive action to release them?The closer they were to the supposed palace, Celestine’s heart pounded heavily against his chest. “What if they’re not in his discreet facility?” He panicked, his eye searching Mercy’s for some reassurance. Instead, she just smiled, cupping his face in her slender hands.“Breathe, Celestine. Everything will be fine..”“But you said you weren’t sure,”“Yes, I said so. But I strongly believe they were taken to him, so breathe.”Celestine closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. As he opened his eyes, a signpost beside his window alarmed him.“Way to the Zoo,”“What on earth are we doing in a zoo?”“Celestine, didn’t you read anything about thi
The words hung in the air like a heavy fog, thick with disbelief and anticipation. Celestine felt a surge of relief wash over him, but it was quickly paused by the hateful gaze of the young Lord on him.As Lord Bullock’s command hung in the air, the guards began to fly in, each one with a look of disbelief. “My lord?”“Do as I say,” he growled, It was clear that they never released anyone from their dome, but the public outcry had shaken their confidence. Scott McFarland had made a good impression on the public, he had used both the interviews and reviews of the first ten thousand asthmatic cases that were cured to stir the public before releasing the footage showing that Archer and his wife were actually innocent.This act brought about the hashtag, “#FreetheWilliams, #FreeourSavior, #Findtheimpersonators!”Celestine seized the opportunity, stepping forward with newfound enthusiasm. “Make it quicker, he has a company to run!”After a tense moment of hesitation, one of the guards fi
Archer spent most of the ride back home looking over his shoulder. Aside the fact that he wanted to be sure Celestine was right behind as promised, it still felt surreal to him that he was out of that dungeon. Tangie could not believe it either. For five days they had stayed in cages like animals, helpless and hopeless. Not one of her family visited her, how could she ever forgive them?Perhaps they had all turned against her. Perhaps they were one of the people who killed her father. How would they face her now? She thought, who would save them when her wrath came upon them?The ride back home was quiet, each person filled with thoughts of their own experiences. But as the car finally reached the gate to his home, Archer let out a heavy breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding. "We're home," he said, turning to Tangie.As they stepped out of the car, Tangie broke down in tears, her body quivering slightly as Archer wrapped his arms around her. "Please stop crying, I won't
President Archer Williams settled into the dining table, his gaze stern on Mercy. His conversation with Master Woods at the Bennet Temple echoed in his mind.“Don’t!” Master Woods exclaimed, his eyes bulging with caution, “Don’t ever trust anything Mercy says to you…” “Why, Master? Mercy although she is young, speaks as though she has been from the beginning. She said something about owing Maverick Snr because he saved her life.”“Mercy is not young. She has mastered all the forbidden Gingsu of the underworld.”Archer’s brows furrowed skeptically as he glanced at Mercy across the table. Yet he remained quiet, he wasn’t one to turn against anyone just because he was told to do so, but with recent events in his life, he felt weary of everyone.Sensing his disapproval, Celestine decided it was time to step in. Despite his diminishing confidence, he cleared his throat and began shakily.“Archer, she uh… she came to me. She’s on our side. Could you take a leap of faith and trust me on thi