Azora laughed at what Andrie said and shrugged. But she didn’t let go of the great opportunity, and immediately accepted the necklace handed to her as strong evidence against him. She grinned at the man who continued to stare at her.
“I’m not weak,” she said and tucked the necklace into the dress pocket. “It’s just that I know my place.”
Andrie’s lips curled up. “You know your place?” he asked.
She met his gaze and didn’t look away. “Yes, I am,” she replied firmly.
They stared at each other for a few minutes until Andrie’s lips slowly curved into a mocking smile. She paused.
Andrie chuckled softly and smiled away from him. He looked into the vast darkness behind him. “You don’t know where your place is, Azora.” She swallowed, about to speak before Andrie could get ahead of her. “You don’t know where your place is because you don’t know where the enemy’s place is.” He glanced at her to gauge her reaction to what he said.
She blinked and looked away. She smiled. “What do you know then?”
She hugged herself as the cold wind blew between them. She surreptitiously looked up at the man but only a cold look met her gaze. Thus, she felt colder.
“You’ve been chasing Clasiso for years.” He swallowed the air and looked away again. “You can’t run away from us, Azora.”
She stepped down. Her eyes narrowed, she studied him under her gaze. It seemed like he knew she intended to escape, but he was unlikely to treat her like a friend. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.
He was surprised when Andrie laughed. He shook his head and looked at her. A smile spread across his lips. “No new questions? You just keep asking the same thing,” he said, laughing.
Azora fell silent, then smiled gently. “You can’t blame me. It’s not every day you meet someone like you, who dares to betray your father.”
Andrie’s smile slowly faded and was replaced by a serious expression. The smile on her lips also faded when she sensed a change in the atmosphere. It seemed to be getting colder. She hugged herself tighter and looked away again. She couldn’t hold Andrie’s gaze for long.
She blinked. A warm feeling enveloped the depths of her heart. Suddenly, her heart rate quickened and she took a breath, then locked eyes with Andrie.
“And you… believe my words?” she cautiously asked. She didn’t avert her gaze from Andrie’s face. She wanted to see his expression, one that didn’t hide behind the pretenses of those around him, like Simmy.
Andrie’s eyebrows furrowed at her statement. “You proclaim your innocence. Are you trying to deceive me?”
“No!” she quickly denied the accusation. Her shoulders rose and fell with anxiety, forcing her to take a deep breath to calm her racing emotions. “I’m innocent. I didn’t kill him.” She swallowed. “But I’m curious why you trust me more than your father’s accusations?”
“You said they were just accusations. No truth in them.”
Her eyes gleamed at Andrie. He didn’t look away from her. “But there’s a necklace…”
“A mere necklace can’t erase someone’s innocence.”
She blinked again, still unsure whether to believe Andrie or not. “But he’s your father. Most people trust their family over strangers.”
Andrie chuckled. “Maybe I belong to the small percent who think differently.”
“B-But why did you…” She ran a finger through her own hair. “Why did you give me the necklace? And why did you bring me here for a tour at this hour? You know it’s dangerous to wander outside at this time, isn’t it?”
Instead of getting annoyed, Andrie’s smile widened even more. She involuntarily took a step back at the kind of smile he was giving her. “W-What?” she asked and stepped back a pace as Andrie approached.
Andrie took two steps forward while facing her, so she took two steps back. Joy danced in Andrie’s eyes as he saw her retreat with each step he took forward.
“Why are you stepping back?”
She swallowed again and lowered her gaze to his neck where his adam’s apple bobbed up and down. She swallowed again. A few beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. “D-Don’t step forward!” she warned.
Andrie stopped in his tracks. He lifted his head and chuckled. Then, with a playful grin, he looked down at her. “Hey, you look like a scared cat!”
She scowled, gritting her teeth, and gave him a hostile glare. “Don’t laugh at me!” she retorted.
He raised both hands and chuckled, taking a casual path. “Let’s continue our walk,” he said with a smile.
She wasn’t given a chance to refuse as he had already stepped forward, continuing their stroll around the entire perimeter of the mansion.
Under the full moon’s glow, their walk became quiet. The vast Clasiso mansion loomed brightly in the darkness. Despite her repeated glances into the dark corners where the light didn’t reach, she still couldn’t see any signs of hidden guards. Frustration brewed within her. Why couldn’t she see or find their personnel? Or perhaps there really was no one lurking in the shadows?
Andrie, on the other hand, didn’t answer her question-
“I already explained why I gave you the necklace. As for the time…” He raised his arm and pushed back his sleeve. “It’s almost eight in the evening. It’s still early, if you’re wondering.” He glanced at her before returning his gaze ahead.
She smiled slightly. She had one more question she wanted to ask, but she had to carefully choose her words. Earlier, when she asked, he didn’t respond.
“But it’s risky to be out walking at night,” she remarked.
She heard Andrie chuckle softly. “This property belongs to us. Who would dare trespass on our grounds?”
Her lips formed a straight line. Just as she thought. It wouldn’t be easy to corner Andrie with her questioning. She secretly clicked her tongue in disappointment. She thought of another question to ask as they crossed a wide expanse of Bermuda grass beside the mansion. They were heading toward the mansion’s rear, and with the large lights outside, the path they walked was well-lit.
In truth, she wasn’t concerned about someone suddenly appearing before them with a sharp, long knife. After all, Andrie had mentioned that the land kilometers from the mansion was private property. Who would dare to cross the Clasiso family? She might even lose her job if caught trespassing. Trespassing was illegal after all.
She took a deep breath and spoke. “But anyone can trespass if they want to. And with the vastness of your land, it’s not unlikely that someone might slip past your security.”
“You enjoy debating,” he commented on her statement.
“Of course!” she said, secretly grinning. “I was taught to argue to survive. If I don’t speak up, then I lose.”
She noticed the corner of Andrie’s lips twitch upwards. “You do love playing with words, don’t you?”
She furrowed her brow at his words but smiled subtly, not showing that she didn’t quite understand what he meant. “So, what now? Does your mansion need more security to prevent any potential trespassing incidents?” she prodded.
But behind her seemingly helpful suggestion lay a trap for Andrie. Azora didn’t really care if someone trespassed or not. For her, the crucial information she needed to extract from him was whether there were people lurking in the dark, guarding the mansion. That was the most important information she needed from him.
“You know how to manipulate with words,” Andrie chuckled lightly. “Maybe that’s why you managed to dodge Simmy so easily.”
Her feet came to a complete stop, staring blankly at the figure of the man walking away from her. His words felt like a bucket of cold water splashed on her. Simmy. Did she hear that name correctly?
“Andrie!” she called out and hurried after him.
She grabbed his arm to stop him from stepping forward. She succeeded. Andrie stopped his step and allowed her to catch her breath. When she regained her composure, she looked up at the man whose head was slightly tilted to the right. He didn’t turn to her, but glanced over her shoulder. She swallowed again and quickly removed her hand from his arm.
“D-Do you know Simmy?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Andrie stared at her for a long moment before nodding. “She’s one of my relatives.”
Azora clenched her teeth, thinking about Simmy’s smiling face, whether in her dreams or in the real world. She didn’t know why she was continually meeting that woman.
“I hate her,” she said through gritted teeth.
Andrie’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
She hesitated whether to tell Andrie about Simmy and her poisoning, but seeing the curiosity in his eyes, she sighed. They decided to sit on a bench under a moderately sized streetlight pole. Unlike street poles, there was only one small light attached to the post beside the bench.
Afterward, she started telling Andrie about Simmy, all her mischief, all her humiliations of her, and above all, about her poisoning.
Maybe she already trusted Andrie because her defense against it was already decreasing. But she could see that Andrie was a good person and that he didn’t do any mischief to her, except the joke that didn’t let him see too much difference from her hands.
That’s why there were things about Simmy she didn’t know where they came from, and she wouldn’t wonder why she used the promise of the Clasisos to get benefits from the clan. The problem was her father. He didn’t believe what she said and that was the reason she decided to leave and she regretted it a lot.
“So it’s you and your father,” she accused Andrie.
She stood up. Andrie stood up too and reached for her arm. She quickly moved her arm away to avoid being touched by the man.
“What else?” Her eyes narrowed further and the frown deepened on her forehead.
“Azora…”
“Just tell me the truth!”
Andrie sighed again and looked down. This time, Andrie looked like a child scolded. But Azora didn’t care about that.
“I’ll tell you the truth, just sit next to me and listen.”
She followed what he said. Calmly sat next to Andrie and tried to face him, waiting for whatever he said. Her heart was beating fast. This was one of the things she was waiting for, the opportunity to learn the truth.
In fact, she was not too surprised when he admitted that the Clasisos had poisoned Simmy. She knew that Clasiso was her first supporter because she was a member of the family of her father’s enemies. She wasn’t sure if her father knew about Simmy’s relationship with the Clasisos.
Andrie smiled. “Your mother and my father had a relationship, Azora.” He stared at her, weighing her reaction. But when there was no change in her face, he continued. “When my mother found out about my father’s relationship with another woman, she suffered a heart attack because of the great sadness.” Andrie sighed. “The day my mother died was the day your mother had an accident.”
Azora frowned when she remembered her dream, where she saw her mother’s bloody face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes again. “I’ll get straight to the point,” she said in a serious voice. “Was your family involved in the accident?”
Andrie stared at her for a few seconds before looking away. “No, it wasn’t my father who planned the accident. It was… Simmy.”
Azora sighed, staring blankly at Andrie who couldn’t look her straight in the eye. Simmy? Was Simmy the one behind her mother’s accident? Her eyebrows furrowed even more at Andrie’s words.
But she couldn’t believe it. Her mother and Simmy were friends, so how could she harm her mother? Was Simmy so desperate for attention that she would do anything even though her life was at stake?
No. Love wasn’t the driving force behind Simmy’s actions. It was an obsession with her father. If that’s the case, her father is in danger from that woman. She really should return to the mansion and reveal everything she knew about Simmy.
She stared at Andrie, who was looking past her. She hadn’t yet uncovered all the truth behind her mother’s death.
Except for her father’s statement that the car she and her mother were riding in at the time of the accident was not accidental. Someone tampered with its engine, causing them to crash in the middle of the night.
Could it be…?
She smirked. “Tell me, was it Simmy who tampered with our car that night?”
Andrie exhaled sharply before nodding and looking away again. She gasped in surprise, her eyes wide and fixed on his face.
“So my assumption was right,” she murmured into the air, but Andrie didn’t speak even though she knew he heard what she whispered.
Simmy was indeed the one who sabotaged her family. She clenched her fist. That woman! How dare she! She had the audacity to stand as her guardian back then, but if she had known, she would never have submitted to that woman!
And that explained why a necklace was recovered from the damaged car, and how Simmy came to know about the necklace where she and her mother had the accident.