James pushed the door open and barged in causing Morris and Judith to jump in shock. He had a look of disgust on his face and he folded his fists like he was about to punch something or someone.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said explain what I just heard right now, all of it?! Who did you kill?!”
Morris signaled and Raymond excused himself and walked out.
James glared at Morris and took a step forward “So that’s what your bodyguard is for, right? He goes around doing different dirty jobs for you? I can’t believe I even thought he was helping you with the company. I can see clearly no-”
“James, silence!!” Morris commanded
“Oh just cut it out already!” James yelled at him. “Do you think I care about respecting you right now?!”
James turned and glared at Judith “And you…you are really what they call you. A greedy, stupid mistress who likes to reap where she didn’t sow! You disgust me and I hate the fact that I ever called you mother”
“How dare you?!” Judith yelled. She raised a hand to hit him but James dodged it.
“Can’t you see that everything we are doing is for you? We are preparing to put a multibillion dollar company in your hands and you are acting this way?!” Morris barked at him.
“Did I tell you that I wanted this company? Did I? That’s why you are going so far to ruin Mrs Patricia and her son. What did she ever do to you to deserve all this? Is this your excuse for revenging against how her parents treated you in the past?!”
Both Morris and Judith turned and stared at him, a surprised expression on their face.
“Where did you hear that from? Who told you that?” Morris demanded
“You think I don’t know about all the secret things that both of you talk about? I have put the pieces of this puzzle together. You think I don’t know that you married her so you could take over her company and throw her out later?”
“James!…”
Judith yelled at him “Will you just stop it already? What has gotten into you? Respect your parents and fight for your own family. We are your family, not Patricia and George. Everything we are doing is for you!”
James chuckled and looked at Judith “You are absolutely crazy. I can’t believe I used to call you mother!”
Judith blinked “What did you just say? I am w-what?”
James stared at her “I said you are absolutely crazy! You disgust me so much. I am aware that you were once Mrs Patricia’s personal maid.”
The library became quiet. Morris and Judith exchanged glances, wondering how he knew about that. They never told him about it.
“Where did you hear that from?” Judith asked, her voice coming out in a faint whisper.
“Who cares? She wanted everything she owned, right? So you chased after her husband and now, you are after her position and wealth?”
“Watch your mouth, James!” Judith attacked.
“You should be the one to watch your mouth, mot–her” James replied, mocking her as he said ‘mother’. “… if you irritate me further, I am going to hurt you in the deepest way”
Judith scoffed. “What can you do?”
James chuckled and stepped closer to her. He whispered with a quiet voice but loud enough for her to hear “Think about it, you can never become the chairwoman if I don’t become the CEO. It doesn’t work that way. You need me to accomplish your greatest desire”
Judith stiffened and she clenched her jaw tight. He was right.
James stepped back and looked at Morris. “When are you going to confess your sins?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“Throwing a man in prison for ten years after falsely accusing him of drug trafficking is a huge crime, don’t you think?” James smiled at the shocked expression on Morris’s face.
“Who told you these things?!!!” Judith yelled. “…. Are you now listening to what George tells you instead of listening to your own family. Why would we do these things you mentioned?”
“You still haven’t explained what I heard through the door? Are you beating around the bush so you can waste my time?”
“James, listen to your mother. We would never do anything to hurt you….” Morris answered
James sighed, completely irritated. This was going to be a long night.
They would continue dismissing and avoiding his questions until he got tired and left.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Rachel paced around her bedroom, standing close to the window facing the main gate of the villa. It was 12am and George was not back. It was already midnight and there was no sign of him. This had never happened before.
Something was wrong….
To make matters worse, his phone was switched off. Did he have an accident? Was he kidnapped? What was going on? How would she know when there was no way of communicating?
Strangely, Mrs Patricia was absent too. She had not returned from her outing since morning and a phone call to her was not going through too.
Where exactly was she supposed to start searching from? She didn’t even know where they went in the first place.
The headlight of a car caught her attention through the window and she rushed over, pushing the curtains aside.
That was George’s car. He was back.
Rachel pulled her bedroom door open, rushing downstairs to see him.
George stepped out of his car after parking it. He was back in the lion’s den. The villa where his enemy stayed quietly, waiting for who to destroy next.
He pushed his tired feet towards the main entrance to his villa partition. He was too exhausted to even move but he had to. George was grateful that he had a supportive and loyal assistant and friend like Tony…..
During his journey back, he had sent a long voice note to Tony, telling him about everything that had happened. He also stated that they would meet tomorrow.
The moment his mother regained her consciousness, he had to quickly move her to a private apartment. He knew that Morris wouldn’t rest, he would check all the hospital’s around here just to make sure Patricia was dead.
George unhooked the sleeve buttons of his shirt and rolled both hands until the bloodstained parts were covered. He reached for the door that led to his villa and when he opened it, he bumped into Rachel who threw her hands around him in a tight hug……
He wasn’t expecting that.
Different parts of his body and joints ached and all he wanted right now was a nap with her arms around him.
“Do you know what time it is? Where have you been? Why did you take so long? Have you eaten? I’m so glad you’re back” Rachel muttered into his chest.
George smiled sadly, his eyes welling up with tears. It felt good to have someone care about you. “One question at a time, shall we?”
Rachel pulled back when she heard the sound of his hoarse voice. “A-are you crying? George, what’s wrong?”
“Let’s go to our bedroom. My feet aches”
“O-okay” Rachel placed one of his arms around her shoulder and supported him with her strength as they walked upstairs together, heading to their bedroom.
As they walked, her eyes moved to his arm around her neck. She could smell something like rusted iron….
The moment they stepped into the bedroom, Rachel tugged at his rolled sleeve and noticed stains of dried blood. A gasp escaped her lips and she turned to look at George.
George was aware of Rachel’s eyes on him. What do you think when your husband suddenly comes home with stains of blood on his shirt and hand? He wondered the type of thoughts that were racing through her mind right now.
“I need to take a shower…” he mumbled before strolling into the bathroom without another word.
He would talk to her later. He wanted to wash today’s experience away from his body first.
As he showered, Rachel rushed to the kitchen to prepare a late night dinner for him. He looked so exhausted. What really happened out there? Did he know his mother was not back yet? Why did he have blood stains all around his body? He didn’t seem like someone who would murder someone….
Rachel carried the tray of food, heading back upstairs but on getting there, she saw George sleeping soundly on his side of the bed. It seemed like he had crashed on the bed the moment he stepped out of the bathroom.
Rachel placed the tray on a table. It looked like she would be the one eating his food after all.
She adjusted his body on the bed properly and placed a blanket over him. He had been out in the cold for so long.
Since everyone in the house was acting like Mrs Patricia was not missing, she would play along for this night.
But by tomorrow morning, she wanted answers to all the questions hanging on the edge of her tongue.