Chapter 152Brian couldn't think straight anymore.His mind and thoughts were in a total disarray as he was constantly wondering why he had gotten into such a mess in the first place and made himself a puppet in Xavier's scheme.Ever since the bounty was increased, he had not even had the balls to move out of his house. He feared that someone would know what he had done. Anyone who stared in his direction for more than a second sent chills down his spine, and anyone who he saw whispering to each other seemed to be whispering about what he had done. The guilt was consuming him and greed was continually forcing him to consider Caleb's offer.The words replayed in his head, day after day: even though he had aided and abetted in Jane's disappearance and he finally decided to speak up, he would be forgiven and exenorated, kept anonymous and receive the millions! And Celeb would even ensure his safety!One million dollars! So much he could do with that!He had earlier made some calculations
Chapter 153“You don't have to do this.”“We don't need to have this conversation anymore, Caleb,” Lilian snapped and threw in a some books into her trunk. She had locked herself in her room throughout the previous day, sobbing while packing up the thousands of clothes she had into bags, and still, there were many more things left to pack.“I can't even believe how calm you are right now,” Lilian sniffed, shaking her head with a bitter smile.“Trust me, I'm not.”“Then why don't you do something? Call him out, threaten him or just, I don't know… do something!” Lilian raised her arms in despair and then bit down on her lower lip while looking at him.Caleb remained in his position: leaning against her door frame with his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms folded. His forehead slightly creased and there was a downcast look on his face.“It's all just fucking crazy, you know. Uncle Xavier of all people.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I think maybe he's hypnotized Mom or something be
Chapter 154Stella was furious. She had returned to the Lockwood's mansion and pleaded but Xavier didn't listen to her. This time, he threw her out with her belongings. Her rage knew no bounds as she hurled her belongings to the nearest hotel she could find. The hotel receptionist just happened to be at the receiving end of her frustrations.“Get me a room immediately!” She ordered, almost pushing the person who had just been attended to away.“Sure, ma'am,” the smiling receptionist replied, knowing fully well that Stella was just another belligerent customers who were experts at transferring their aggressions.After she was told her room number and given her keys, Stella moved to the said room with her heels clicking furiously against the marble floor and her lips moving quickly as she spat out silent curses. Her bizarre actions attracted the curious glances from the people present but none made a move to ask what the problem was.She flung her purse to the bed immediately she walked
Chapter 155After what felt like an hour, Jane heard the faint sound of clicking keys and the door opened. Marcus had come to retrieve the plate that she had wiped totally clean out of hunger.“The sauce must've been really good,” Marcus said as he picked up the plate. There was a slightly disgusted look on his face and for a moment, Jane feared that she would be punished for wiping her plate too clean as well.“You're making dinner tonight. Keep that in mind,” he said and turned from her.“I'd be pleased to,” she said and noticed him pause in his steps for a second before continuing.Everyday, she thought up new ways to gain his trust, and perhaps all she needed was to continue to concede until he believed that she had no intentions of ever returning back to Caleb.“How about the medications, Marcus?” “I told you, it's…” A knock on the door interrupted his sentence. Jane's ears stood at the unexpected visit. Her sixth sense became suddenly alert and she hoped that it was the kids w
Chapter 156“Are you ready for your interview now, ma'am?” Stella was in the studio of Far and Wide, one of the biggest publishing houses in the city. She knew that just one interview with them was enough to spread the word round about Xavier and Rose, and she had, of course, adequately planned for such.As she sat in front of the magazine editor, she felt a sense of deja vu. The last time she was here was to expose Caleb and Bianca and now she was back again, to expose Rose and Xavier.She smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulder.“Of course I'm ready,” she told the magazine editor.“Okay, good. If you don't mind, we'll record this,” the editor said.“Sure.”“Alright. So, Miss Stella, you said you had information concerning Xavier Lockwood and Rose Lockwood who happen to be the uncle and mother of CEO Caleb Lockwood respectively?” “I do,” Stella smiled.“Let's hear it then.”“I sincerely hate that I have to come out to the public to make this revelation but I believe it is abs
Chapter 157He felt like he was in a dream that refused to come to an end.He had been descending into an empty space for hours and still he had not reached the bottom of the large dark hole.All of a sudden, he felt himself become drenched and coldness seeped through his skin pores.“Do it again,” he heard a voice say and there was another flush of coldness against his skin. With a sharp intake of breath, Brian came back to consciousness.“Hope you slept well.”Brian half opened his eyes and then squinted at the bright light that seemed to be positioned directly in front of him.“W-what?” He asked as his muddled head tried to recollect where he was and how he had gotten there.“For a moment I thought you were dead,” the voice said again.“Where am I?”“Somewhere close to hell. Why d'you ask?” He heard the chuckle of two men and then tried to open his eyes again.The light was too bright so he squinted but he could only see the backlit figure of a man seated on a chair with his legs
Chapter 158Caleb ignored the many greetings from the employees as he made his way through the elevator and to the office where Xavier had now occupied as the acting CEO.It was just a few hours into the day yet he was already brimming with indignation over what he had just read in the morning papers.As he reached the outside of Xavier's new office, the secretary stood from her desk.“Good morning, sir.”“Morning,” Caleb replied without any emotion. “I need to see Xavier.”“Uh…”Caleb frowned at the apprehensive look on the secretary's face.“What is it?” Caleb snapped. He knew that he was transferring his aggression to the innocent lady but after what he had read, the slightest thing provoked him.“Mr Xavier has asked not to be disturbed for any reason,” she replied shakily and swallowed hard.Caleb sighed and clenched his jaw. He knew that the woman was fearful only because of Xavier's rigidity and high-handedness in dealing with his subordinates but he was not in the mood to wait
Chapter 159“I don't know what in the world I'd do without you, Mann,” Xavier said to Mann that evening with admiration as they shared a bottle of whiskey in his car.“It has also been a pleasure to work with you, boss,” Mann replied.“I still don't know how you managed to pull that one off.”“Let's just say, perfect timing.”They clinked their glasses together and then gulped down the whisky.Xavier waited for the burning sensation to subside before speaking again. “Maybe a little too perfect,” he replied with a smile and refilled his glass.“Have you also arranged the other issue?” Xavier asked.“There's almost nothing a poor and desperate man wouldn't do for good, easy money. The man is more eager to lie than the devil as long as he gets the rest of his dough,” Mann replied.“Good, good,” a wide smile cut across Xavier's face as he noticed how perfectly the whole plan was going.“Anyway, here's the package for that idiot Marcus. If he tries to say anything stupid, show him his plac
CHAPTER 174Minutes after Marcus revealed all he knew, dozens of patrol cars as well as two helicopters were despatched to the location Marcus had given.One of the helicopter pilots sighted the house from above and the officers, including Caleb quickly moved towards it.They kicked the door of the building down without hesitation and as Caleb ran in, his gaze immediately fell on Jane's weak body sprawled on the bare floor. Caleb rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her. This time, he did not hold back his tears.Her body and clothes were covered in dirt, some parts of her body was swollen and there were a few cuts in different places, but still she didn't lose her beauty.Jane muttered something with her eyes half closed.“I'm here, baby, I'm here. You're gonna be okay. It's all over, you'll be fine,” Caleb didn't mind that some droplets of his tears fell on her face, all he knew was that he had finally found her and he was never going to let go ever again.Some medical attenda
CHAPTER 173“He's a lying bastard! How can you believe all that?” Xavier asked Ross who had asked to question Xavier immediately Lorenzo told them everything.“It's not something we would want to believe as well, Mr Xavier, but he showed us the millions of dollars as proof,” there was a look of disappointment on Ross's face. “You do know that drug trafficking is a really serious offence, right?”“There is nothing to prove that I'm involved with this man!” Xavier yelled. “How do you know if someone didn't pay him to lie against me?”“He gave us a perfect description of you and said you came around every week to collect the profits that belonged to both you and coincidentallly Marcus Dreame.”“This is outrageous, Ross.”“Trust me, Mr Xavier, the whole situation has also left me totally dumfounded, but it's also helping to put the pieces together.”“What pieces are you talking about, Ross? What the hell is all this? I deserve more respect than this, don't I? How and why would I get mysel
CHAPTER 172Four days and there had been no word from either Xavier or Mann, no newspapers to tell him what was going on outside, and they were running out of food. And he still haven't received a cheque from the weekly profit as usual. Marcus was totally losing it.He paced from one end of the house to another.“That fucker!” He said through his teeth, imagining Xavier amassing all the money to himself. He reasoned that Xavier had probably withdrawn himself from situation and had left him and Jane there to die of starvation. And probably enjoying all the money and profit from their illegal business. The thought of that sickened him. Xavier had probably come to his wits end and had decided to keep his slate clean.But Marcus was not one known to easily let go.He knew he was eventually going to go down, and he would stop at nothing to bring others involved down with him.“You'll be a dead man if you step out of that door,” Jane said weakly as she watched him put on his camouflage.
CHAPTER 171Lorenzo sat at his desk, brooding.Two days had passed and neither Xavier nor his scary looking second hand man had come to collect their weekly profit.He looked down at the stack of money in the bag on his desk. If he took even a note from it, Xavier would know and would kill him without thinking twice. He was a man not to be conned and also a man to be feared. But as he constantly stared at the pile of money, he felt his walls of restraint breaking down. The sight of money always enticed him but tampering with Xavier's money was like signing his own death warrant. He quickly zipped up the bag, swallowed some sedative pills and then looked up Xavier's address on his computer. It was better to get the money to him instead than let it stay another day in his office.___Lilian was wrapping her wet hair up in a bun and preparing for lunch when she heard the knock on the front door.“Don't worry, I'll get it,” she said to the house worker who was setting the table.“Hi?” She
CHAPTER 170Lilian, who had heard from Caleb about her mother and uncle's arrest quickly returned back to the state to see them.Rose on the other hand, had just spoken to the detective and was still in a state of shock. Tears rolled down her face as she stared at the photos of her and Xavier sprawled on the table. She had initially thought that Stella was bluffing when she said she had kept some clues for her lawyer to give the police if anything happened to her.The door suddenly opened and an officer popped his head in.“Ma’am, your daughter is here to see you,” he informed.“What? My daughter?” Rose asked with surprise and began to clean her face while stacking the photos together hurriely. “Take everything with you,” she told her lawyer. “Leave immediately.”Lilian stepped in just as her lawyer walked out.They both stared at each other for a long time and Lilian's steady gaze was like hot iron searing her heart. Every second of silence that passed reminded Rose that she had now
CHAPTER 169“You're lucky my lawyer is already on his way. You'd better start preparing an explanation for why you had the guts to touch me!” Xavier ranted as the officers led them through the station.Rose on the other hand did not even try to struggle because she knew they were guilty, and her conscience kept battling with her. She did a very bad job concealing the shock expression that was spread across her face. As she watched the officers lead Xavier to one end of the hallway, her eyes landed on two familiar faces and her eyes widened with shock.Stella's parents! Stella's dad was consoling his wife who was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably.“Rose… you…” Stella's father said when their eyes met, but before she could respond, the officers led her away. She could still hear Stella's mother's voice.“I told her to stay away from their family, I warned her…”Xavier was taken to a dimly lit interrogation room, the room was hotter than usual and Xavier swiftly adjusted his tie, the
CHAPTER 168“I'm sorry… what? What's that supposed to mean?” Xavier asked with his brows furrowed in annoyance. Fear flickered in his eyes but he squared his shoulders and maintained an annoyed visage.“Mr Xavier you have a right to remain silent. Anything you say now can, shall and will be used against you in the court of law…”“You can't arrest us!” Rose said. “What the hell did we do? What's all this about? This is an insult to my person!”Caleb watched with his spoon frozen in his hand. Things were happening too fast for his brain to process and he almost thought he was hallucinating when an officer walked to his mother and ordered her to stand.“Hold up! Hold up!” Caleb finally said to the officers as he stood up.“What's all this about?”“They are being arrested as prime suspects in the murder of Miss Stella Rosman,” the officer explained. Rose and Caleb exchanged glances and while Xavier was able to maintain his composure, Rose visibly went pale.“This is crazy! I barely even k
Chapter 167It had been two days since Marcus was revealed to be the prime suspect in Jane's disappearance. And the forensic tests came out fine that Marcus was the owner of those male accessories as some combs in the bathroom had his hair samples which were tested. The police officers had combed the woods for two whole days yet there was no sign of either Marcus or Jane and there was also no clue left that could lead to them.“They couldn't have just disappeared,” Rose said one morning as they were having breakfast.Caleb had only taken a few slices of his toast and then walked to the living room with his coffee. His mother had been trying to make conversation with him for the past few hours but talking was the last thing he wanted to do. He was preparing to step out one last time with a few officers to search deeper into the woods. He turned on the television.“Have they found out if there's an insider yet?” Rose was speaking only on the topics that related to Jane because she kne
Chapter 166“I still don't understand why it's so difficult for you to put a call across to him!” Marcus shouted. “We've been waiting for hours for fucks sake!”They were now in a bigger house with lesser windows and only one sofa as furniture. Mann was staring out blankly from one of the windows.“You know, Mr Dreame, you complain too much for a man.”“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Marcus scowled and lunged towards him.“You come in at the middle of the night and sweep us all away without explanation and you want me to be quiet and act like nothing happened?”“No, I'm only asking you to be patient,” Mann replied cooly.“Don't tell me that bullshit! My patience expired hours ago. Now call up Xavier.”“Boss is the one who would make the call to us. I'm in no position to call him unless in a serious emergency…”“This is a serious emergency!”“No, it isn't, Mr Dreame. This is just you acting like a scared little girl. Even the woman's doing better than you.”They both turned t