It all happened in a blur.One moment, Mrs. Maria was happily giving her speech and the next, the statue wobbled, nearly giving way and falling on her head.Adrenaline shot through Alex’s bloodstream as he watched the entire scene happen as if in slow motion. He leapt forward, arms outstretched.“Mrs. Maria, watch out!” He yelled.For the next few seconds, silence reigned in the hall as all the guests turned in his direction.Mrs. Maria gave him a harsh glare.“What the hell are you doing?” She mouthed.Alex shook his head continuously,“You need to get out of there. The statue!! The statue…!”Contrary to what he’d thought, Mrs. Maria did not look the least bit happy at his attempts to save her life. She gave her guests a nervous smile and threw a frown in his direction.“Stop it, David.” She said through gritted teeth. “Stop it right now.”She turned to her guests.“I apologise on my waiter’s behalf, he’s just a bit…”Alex did not wait to hear the remainder of her explanation. He dec
Five hours later, the banquet was still going in full swing. Mrs. Maria had managed to calm the guests and what was leftover from Zeus’s beloved statue was cleared off in no time. The formal part of the banquet had been rounded off long ago and the after party was gradually winding down. Most of the guests were drunk and knackered as they talked amongst themselves and swayed to the rhythm of the soft jazz music that came from the speakers. Alex was taking an empty tray to the kitchen when he heard movements behind him. He turned quickly and came face-to-face with Amanda. She looked nervous.“Amanda? What’s wrong?”“Mrs. Maria has requested for you in the lounge.” She said quietly. Alex was not surprised that Mrs. Maria wanted to speak with him. He was only surprised that she’d taken this long to summon him.After the statue had fallen, it seemed like she’d completely blocked out the entire incident. She’d immediately set to work, ordering the cleaners on duty to make sure the gard
Alex instantly knew that something was off.Camila looked worried as hell and she refused to meet his gaze. Mrs. Maria looked like she was on the very edge of exploding.“You called me, ma’am?” He said, deciding to be brave.“Yes, I did, David. Can you tell me what happened at the garden today?”Alex blinked in surprise. Why was she asking that question? She was there, too. She saw everything that happened.Something was most definitely off.“With all due respect, ma’am, you were at the garden at the time of the incident. You’re a witness to everything that happened.”Her eyes flashed with annoyance.“Don’t you think I know that? Tell me what happened. I need your own version.”Alex lifted his head slowly and saw Miguel fold his arms with s smug look on his face. What had the bastard done now?“Well, ma’am, while you were giving your speech earlier, I happened to notice that there was something off about the statue of Zeus which was directly behind you.Upon closer investigation, I di
“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
Hours later, Alex was bone tired after overseeing the clean up of both the garden and halls.Most of the guests had gone home and finally, exactly two AM, he finally made it to his room. He arrived at the door and froze. Something was off. The white powder he’d sprinkled on the knob was still intact, but a sliver of dread crawled up his spine. He had a feeling that someone was either watching him or had somehow gained access into his room.“I’m probably just tired.” He muttered sleepily. Nothing really looked out of the ordinary after all. He unlocked the door and stepped into the pitch black room, trying to remember if he’d actually turned off the lights himself or not.Finally, it dawned on him that he hated darkness. Always had. When he was poor and lacked accommodation, sometimes, he and Jayden had to sleep in pitch black abandoned or uncompleted buildings. Since then, Alex had developed a phobia for darkness.A very serious phobia.He could never sleep with the lights off. H
“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 was right. Miguel had actually succeeded in convincing Mrs. Maria to hire guards to keep an eye on him.“What’s wrong, Alex? Why do you look so… tense?” Tariq asked.Alex scanned the garden to make sure he was not being followed. He’d overhead Miguel’s conversation with Mrs. Maria the previous day. When the day was over and he hadn’t noticed any traces of men following him around, he’d concluded that Mrs. Maria had not taken his words to heart.That was a big mistake because the next morning, he kept feeling a strange tingling sensation at the back of his neck. He’d felt as if… he was being watched.Alas, his suspicions were confirmed just a few hours ago. Alex had come up with a quick plan to find out if he was being followed or not. The Guerrero Mansion’s grand hallway was just as the name implied. Grand.Not only was it grand, it also branched off into a series of confusing passages.Alex had decided to play a trick to trigger his new supposed bodyguards. Without telling
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