Tristan was stunned for a long time. His eyes stared fixedly at the sheet of photos he was holding. Immediately, his body stiffened. Not to mention the feelings of anger, irritation, hatred, and feeling betrayed, suddenly burst out as if mixed to fill his chest cavity.
For a moment, Tristan seemed unable to speak. His heart hurts too much to accept the reality he just got. Trying hard to dismiss it, but too much evidence seems ready to break all his arguments.
“How?”
Right across from him, there was Alfonso, who had been watching in silence. His eyes kept watching Tristan’s movements carefully. Trying to read what other actions the young man would take after that.
“This must be a ruse.”
After a long period of silence, Tristan finally spoke again. Lifting his face, the man gave a bland smile to his interlocutor.
“I’m sure this must be part of the game, Papa,” he later accused, unsure of what he had seen earlier.
Alfonso immediately smiled. Leaning his shoulders back on the chair, the man folded his arms across his chest, then spoke back.
“Papa also believes that you are a smart man, Tristan. Do you think the photo was an edit?” he asked with a relaxed expression on his face. “Since you’re here, let’s go over all the secrets you might not have known. Papa’s betting. You must have lots of questions to ask, don’t you?”
Tristan sighed softly. He kept trying to keep his face calm. Even though the feeling of disappointment was real, he didn’t want it to appear completely that way.
“How am I supposed to believe a story from a suspicious person in this case?”
The smile hasn’t left Alfonso’s lips yet. This time, the man nodded before finally returning to respond to his interlocutor.
“Whether you want to believe it or not, that’s later. If you’ve heard Raphael’s version of the story before, then today, you also need to hear Alfonso Adelaide’s version. Please compare and draw conclusions about which one to believe and which one you should ignore.”
“Then what kind of truth should I hear from, Papa?” Tristan asked then. The man also shrugged his shoulders. Take a slightly relaxed sitting position.
At the same time, Alfonso chose to straighten up. The man first grabbed the cup of green tea in front of him. Sip slowly. Try to enjoy the sensation of taste caused. When he was done, he put the cap back on the table. Resting his hands on the back of the chair, ready to talk again.
“Let’s talk about the photos you have in your hands first. You need to know, son. It’s proof that Raphael had an affair with the late Gracia. Some photos were even taken when you were born and growing up.”
Alfonso leaned forward a little. He reached out, grabbed the photos in Tristan’s hands, and opened them one by one to find the photo he meant.
“Here. Take a look,” Alfonso pointed when he found what he was looking for. A recent background photo where Raphael and Gracia are seen enjoying dinner together. “You can see the timestamp in the right corner of the photo. The date and year show it happened six years ago. Probably before Andrew died.”
“Impossible.” Tristan shook his head again.
“It’s not over, son,” said Alfonso later. The man took another photo and then picked it up. Asked Tristan to pay close attention to what he wanted to show.
“You know where this is? This is a hotel in the city of Milan, Italy. Think carefully. What exactly did Gracia and Raphael do to go so far as to make an appointment abroad? Even the meeting took place in a hotel. What do you think two adults would do when they met secretly in a luxury hotel? It’s impossible if something doesn’t happen between them, right?”
The sharp-eyed man’s face instantly stiffened. He wanted to dismiss the facts, but Alfonso seemed to have a lot of evidence ready to silence him again.
“Now let’s move on to accidents. Raphael must have told you as if Andrew’s accident had been planned. Some witnesses also saw that at that time, I was indeed forcing Andrew to come with my car. But…” Alfonso took a deep breath, then spoke again. “Did you ever know that before that your Papa and I also asked Raphael to come along? Raphael, at that time, even tried hard to refuse with the excuse of wanting to entertain one of the guests? It’s fucking bullshit, Tristan. How come you never thought Raphael was the mastermind behind all these events. He could have been the one who had people sabotage my car to harm both of us, and finally, Andrew died.”
“That’s impossible.” Tristan shook his head fiercely. Rejecting Alfonso’s argument. “Uncle Raphael couldn’t have gone that far. I know his character very well.”
Alfonso chuckled softly. Amused by Tristan’s defense. He had guessed that it must not be easy to convince the man.
“Why not? Is it because Raphael has cared for you for so many years that you treat him like an angel? After all, what kind of angel would betray his own best friend? Just imagine, what if it turns out that Raphael and Gracia conspired to plot the death of Andrew, your father?”
“Enough!” Tristan shouted angrily.
“Son. It’s a fact you should know.” Alfonso tried to convince Tristan to believe his words. “I told you before. Foxtail Corporation is big. There was no way that Raphael wouldn’t be tempted to have it. At first, he tried to get rid of Andrew to seize Foxtail. But Raphael forgot that Andrew left all his property and assets in your name. That’s why Raphael went to the trouble of taking care of you. Make you like a doll that he can use at any time to realize what has become his ambition. Haven’t you ever thought that far?”
“No! I still can’t believe what Papa said.” Again, Tristan tried to refute. From his eyes, Alfonso could see how Tristan’s face immediately turned pale.
“Oh, come on, Tristan,” Alfonso squeaked later. “Raphael even told you without evidence. Concrete, and you can easily believe it. Why is it that when I tell the truth along with some evidence, you reject it outright?”
“Because my Feeling says — ”
“Please don’t play with your feelings, Tristan Quartararo,” Alfonso interrupted quickly. Not to give the son-in-law a chance to talk until it’s finished. “Here, you are required to use your logic. I need to emphasize, too, that I did not kill Andrew. Even if you look to the ends of the world, you will not find evidence that I killed your Papa because I wasn’t the one who did it.”
Tristan, from his seat, could only be silent. Immediately he lost his vocabulary to hear all of Alfonso’s reasonable explanations. Will he change camp after this? Or stick to his stance of not trusting anyone.
***
“For God’s sake, how can it be this complicated, Mario!” Tristan snapped in a frustrated tone. All the things on the table fell to the floor in one sweep.
A few minutes ago, Tristan had just finished watching the footage from the surveillance camera belonging to Alfonso’s car. The recording was allegedly the main evidence that recorded the seconds before the car Andrew and Alfonso were traveling in had an accident.
Yes, some time ago, Tristan, who was about to enter Raphael’s room, overheard his uncle’s conversation with his confidant. From there, Tristan also knew that Raphael was hunting for Julio — Alfonso’s driver — who was still alive.
Based on clues, Tristan mobilizes all his people to look for Julio’s whereabouts. Exactly seven days after being ordered, Tristan’s men managed to find Julio’s hiding place, which is known to be in one of the remote villages in northwest England.
From that quest, Tristan was also lucky. Julio is the one who also turns out to be holding the memory from Alfonso’s car dash camera. It’s not easy for people to bring those memories home. It took many negotiations until Julio finally handed over the object.
To see the contents of the recording in it, Tristan even asked Mario to bring the memory for repair immediately. However, Tristan was disappointed after it was confirmed that it could be watched. The memory that is thought to be able to become the main evidence to reveal Alfonso’s rottenness is, in fact, just an ordinary recording. From the beginning to the end of watching, Tristan did not find the slightest irregularity that led to the attempted murder of his father.
“Mario …” Holding his head, Tristan called the assistant to come over. “If Alfonso turns out to be innocent, what should I do?” he asked with a frantic expression. Immediately, he remembered his father-in-law’s words that night.
“Tristan… No matter how hard you look, you’ll never find evidence that I’m your Papa’s killer. I wouldn’t have done something so heinous, much less my best friend.”
“Arghhh!” Tristan growled in annoyance as he rubbed his face roughly. He was having a hard time even thinking straight now.
“Sir, you’d better calm down first.” Mario even brought a cup of warm drink to be handed to Tristan. After drinking his boss’s mind, hope can improve a little.
“What else should I do after this, Mario? What Alfonso said the other day seems to be true. Until now, I haven’t even found proof that my in-laws are guilty.” With his sad eyes, Tristan stared intently at his assistant and confidant. Seconds later, he seemed to take a deep breath before finally mumbling softly again, “Have I been choosing the wrong person to trust all this time?”
Mario took a deep breath. Trying to be careful in responding to Tristan’s question. He was a little wrong in saying he was sure he could arouse the emotions of the man in front of him. “Sir, this is all uncertain. Isn’t the investigation into Mr. Raphael and Mr. Alfonso yet fully completed? While waiting for the detective you paid to give a report, why not try to confirm directly to Mr. Raphael about the photos that Alfonso Adelaide recently took. Give. You are still obliged to hear the testimony of both parties.”
Tristan nodded. Taking a deep breath, then he slowly answered again.
“You know what, Mario? I’m scared.”
“Afraid?” Mario repeated with a confused look on his face. “What are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid that Uncle Raphael will be proven wrong and Alfonso will be right all along.” “Wouldn’t that be great? I mean, you can finally find out who was really at fault in this case.” Mario gave his argument.
“Yes.” Tristan nodded repeatedly. Then suddenly, he sighed softly. “Then what about Sophia’s fate? She has even received cruel treatment from me many times. For God’s sake, I feel like I just want to die, Mario.”
“Sir,” Mario interrupted quickly. “Don’t say things like that. Instead of dying, why not just try to fix it? It’s never too late to apologize, right?”
“Do you think Sophia will still forgive me? After everything I did to her?”
Tristan grimaced. Any normal human would be unwilling to forgive what Tristan had done all this time. All evil deeds, harassment, verbal violence, to acts of intimidation almost every day he gave to the woman. Is he still entitled to receive forgiveness?
***
Sophia almost cursed when she, who had been asleep before, suddenly had to wake up forcibly. Turning to the source of the voice, Sophia’s eyes instantly widened. From the direction of the door, he found the figure of his husband, who stepped in with a staggered body.
Worried that something might happen, Sophia quickly got up. Walked closer and grabbed Tristan’s body, then slowly led the man to sit on one side of the bed.
“Tristan, are you drunk?” Sophia asked as she managed to lead Tristan to their bed.
“None of your business!” The smell of alcohol immediately wafted through Sophia’s sense of smell. From this, she became increasingly sure that her husband was drunk now. Besides that, when helping to remove the clothes attached to Tristan’s body, he could smell the scent of a woman’s perfume attached to his husband’s body.
“Looks like you had a great time. What a man. Anything!” Sophia grumbled. She grumbled while still focused on wiping Tristan’s body, which was no longer wearing clothes.
Meanwhile, with the remaining consciousness, Tristan was trying to respond to Sophia’s words. The man desperately tried to open his eyes. Bringing his hand and cupping Sophia’s cheeks suddenly.
“Sophia…” he called softly. His dreamy eyes stared fixedly at the face of the woman in front of him. “Between love and hate for me, which is the greater portion?”
Asked that, Sophia immediately gasped. For a split second, she was stunned to digest the meaning of his husband’s question carefully.
“What do you mean?” Sophia finally asked back. Still cupping his wife’s cheeks, Tristan repeated his question.
“I’ll keep it short. Do you currently hate me that much?”
Instead of answering right away, Sophia fell silent again. Unmoved for a few moments to make sure her feelings. After all the heinous acts she received, does his love for Tristan still exist? Or has everything turned into an infinite hatred?
“Sophia…” Tristan called once more. “Did you hear what I just asked?”
“I-I…”
“Yes?”
“I—” Before the sentence was finished, Tristan, who looked exasperated, moved his face even further. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately put his lips on the pink lips of the woman in front of him. Which, of course, made Sophia’s heart almost fall out of place.