“What do you mean?” Vivianne could hardly hear herself say those words. “Did you do something wrong to him? Are you planning to kill him now?”
“Not yet, but soon, I will ask someone to do it,” her father grinned before clenching both of his fists. He was suppressing his anger. “You shouldn’t care anymore about what I do to him. You’re already separated, Vianne. You don’t have to worry about him, and you know why.”
Vivianne took a deep breath. She wanted to respond, but she didn’t know what to say. She could see in her father’s eyes that he didn’t like her reaction. Vivianne still had a hard time hiding her emotions sometimes.
“When are you planning to kill him?” Vivianne asked, her voice slightly stammering.
“As soon as possible. When I see an opportunity to eliminate him, I’ll seize it,” Alfred’s gaze sharpened, and Vivianne’s hair stood on end. “He needs to die because if he doesn’t, he will come after us.”
Vivianne closed her eyes and breathed heavily. They both knew Beckett’s true identity. He was the MOB who owned the Dweller Cartel, and he had scammed her father using Matinee on Bench. Alfred wasn’t going to let it slide.
“Of course. He won’t just stand there when he finds out that you want him dead. He’ll come after us,” Vivianne muttered, thinking that’s what Alfred meant.
“That’s not what I meant, Vianne. But one day, you will know everything. I don’t have any plans to hide everything from you for too long,” Alfred responded seriously.
Vivianne furrowed her brow but didn’t ask any further. She had no idea what Alfred had really done to Beckett’s family and how Beckett would react once he discovered the truth.
“You can try, but it’s not easy to kill him. It’s not that simple to infiltrate the El Continental Hotel. It would cause a lot of trouble. The owner is on a completely different level,” Vivianne said, her voice trembling slightly, but she fought to control it.
“Jerusalem McBride? One of the founders of Foedus?” Alfred’s voice carried a tinge of bitterness and disdain. “I know, and you know why I wanted you to marry Beckett back then. I wanted him to join Foedus Corporation so I could infiltrate it.”
Vivianne pursed her lips. “You can’t control him.”
“I can if I use you,” Alfred grinned. “But my plans have changed. You’ll continue your training here while I handle other matters. I know you won’t let me down, Vianne. You should only think about your mother…”
He smiled sinisterly before locking eyes with Vivianne. “We understand each other, right?”
Vivianne was too stunned to speak. She couldn’t say a word until Alfred left her alone. She thought she had prepared herself for this, but now that she was in the mansion, it felt like her heart was about to leave her body.
This was the main reason she had warned Beckett before she left. She knew her father. He wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. And she wouldn’t stop protecting Beckett, even if it meant that Beckett would despise her for life.
THE FOLLOWING day, at the El Continental Hotel, Beckett could hardly open his eyes properly due to extreme fatigue and a pounding headache. He was puzzled by how he felt. He didn’t usually get hangovers, especially since they had only been drinking wine.
‘Something was wrong,’ Beckett thought.
He sat on the bed and looked around, furrowing his brow when he didn’t see his girlfriend.
“Vivianne?” Beckett called for her, but only his own voice echoed in the room.
He stood up and searched the entire room for Vivianne. He even checked the bathroom and terrace, but she was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, his heart raced as he realized something.
“Shit.”
Beckett cursed repeatedly as he found an empty package of sleeping powder in the trash. He quickly shifted his gaze to the wine glass he had been drinking from the previous night.
After that, he hurried to the closet and examined the few clothes of Vivianne there. She hadn’t taken all of her clothes, but most of her essential items and necessities were gone.
At that moment, he knew what had happened. Vivianne had left him, and he didn’t know why. But he wouldn’t let that stand. No matter where she was, he would find her, and she wouldn’t escape from him.
When Beckett arrived at Syneverse Entertainment, he wasted no time heading to Vivianne’s office. He thought she might come back to work, but he didn’t expect to find a different dress stylist assigned to her. Fiona was there too to introduce the new stylist.
“Where’s Vivianne?” Beckett asked, his brow furrowed.
“She resigned. Didn’t she tell you?” Fiona’s expression mirrored Beckett’s surprise. “She came here a little while ago to submit her resignation letter. She also paid the penalty for the breach of contract. I wasn’t really surprised; she’s wealthy.”
“Where is she right now?”
“Hmmm. Maybe she’s just leaving Syneverse-”
Beckett didn’t let Fiona finish her sentence. He ran out of Syneverse Entertainment without paying any attention to the curious onlookers or his own weakening body.
He wanted to see her, to hold her again. He didn’t need explanations for why she had left like that. He just wanted to see her again.
But it didn’t happen. He searched the entire area but didn’t find Vivianne. He called her repeatedly, but she didn’t answer. The only things he could remember about her were her wishes to him and her words, “I love you.”
Beckett never thought those would be the last.
“Beckett!” He turned around and saw that Fiona had been chasing him all along. She quickly came up to him. “You need to go back upstairs. There’s a lot of work you need to catch up on. The whole team is ready to help you get organized.”
“No. I need to find Vivianne-”
“Beckett! Wake up!”
Fiona placed her hands on both of Beckett’s shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. Beckett was out of his mind, with his primary focus on Vivianne. She needed to snap him out of it.
“You’ve sacrificed a lot to get to where you are now. You’ve missed work several times, even when you had schedules. Your reputation has been in jeopardy several times too…” Fiona’s voice was soft as she spoke, not wanting to draw the attention of others. “Are you going to let all your hard work go to waste?”
Beckett knew Fiona was referring to his career as a model and actor, but her words helped him finally come to his senses. He suddenly remembered his parents’ deaths and his determination to find their killer.
His focus should be on that and nothing else… Not even on Vivianne.
Beckett took a deep breath and nodded to Fiona. “Let’s go.”
As time went by, Beckett pushed himself to finish everything he needed to do. He worked tirelessly to stabilize his career and the Dweller Cartel. He also managed to talk to Jeremy and answered some of his questions about the new drug they were working on. There’s only one thing to do now: find Vivianne.
But no matter what he did, she refused to show herself. He visited her old workplace and even the Allamino Mansion. He remembered what Alfred had said to him when he had confronted him at the gate.
“The wedding won’t push through because my daughter doesn’t want you anymore.” Alfred’s voice was cold when he said that. “Don’t bother looking for her. You might just get hurt even more.”
But Beckett knew he had to find her in spite of Alfred’s words. Surrendering wasn’t in his vocabulary. Even if he had to search the entire world in this lifetime, he wouldn’t give up on finding Vivianne.
So now, in the middle of the night, he walked out of the apartment where Vivianne had once lived. He didn’t expect to find her there, but seeing the room clean and empty stung his heart. It was proof that his girlfriend was no longer there.
“Vivianne… Why are you doing this to me?” Beckett muttered sadly as he walked down the alley. He had parked his car at the end to avoid drawing attention.
Little did he know that it was a wrong move. Beckett felt someone was following him, so he quickly pulled out a gun from his pocket. He turned and aimed it at the person behind him.
But he almost dropped the gun when he saw Vivianne, grinning with a touch of anger in her eyes, and her gun pointed right at him. “Surprised, baby?”