“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
The lounge was quiet and tense as Alex slowly walked in. For the first time, Mrs. Maria was alone. Camila and her mother were nowhere to be seen. Mrs. Maria stood with her back to him, pouring tea from one of her fancy teacups.“Welcome, David. Sit.”Aled was surprised.“I should…”“Sit!” She snapped, pointing one finger at one of the plush Italian sofas. Alex hurried to the sofa and sank into it immediately. Mrs. Maria daintily dropped the teacup and sashayed to her throne-like chair. “Miguel. Bring in the laptop.”The door flung open almost immediately and Miguel walked in with a laptop and a cocky expression on his face.He placed the laptop on a table before Mrs. Maria and she gave him a smile of thanks. “Play the CCTV footage you showed to me earlier.”Alex shifted to the edge of his seat. What the hell was going on?“Yes, ma’am.” Miguel replied as his fingers flew over the keyboard. While Miguel was trying to find the footage, Mrs. Maria fixed Alex with an icy stare.“I wi
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?”
“…do you know this man…?” The men turned in his direction and Alex patiently waited for them to deny ever knowing him so he could clear his name once and for all.But he was in for the shock of his life.To his utter horror, after scrutinising him for ten seconds, both men nodded. Several times. “Yes, ma’am. We know him.”Alex froze, not sure he’d heard right. “What?” He whispered, unconsciously taking a step forward. “What did you say?”Aside from Alex’s desperate questions, the entire lounge was as silent as a tomb. The men turned to Mrs. Maria, completely ignoring him.“We know him, ma’am. He’s our leader.”Alex was aghast.“That’s not true.” He said forcefully, unable to understand what the heck was going on. “Why are you lying to her? You know I’m innocent. I’ve never set my eyes on you two before today.”“That’s enough!” Mrs. Maria snapped. She turned to Tariq and lifted a brow.“You asked me to summon the criminals here because you were in doubt of David’s participation in t