Isa dimmed her eyes at the Acura car. She tried her lip reading skill on the duo but it seemed not to work out. The distance between them was nearly thirty cm apart. She could still remember his beefy, round face despite having a blurry vision from the car glass. She made a swift mind calculation which obviously showed that it's been fifteen years since she saw him. Then, he looked younger. Probably in his thirties but now she could see patches of wrinkled lines on his cheek and forehead.Her eyes were popping out like they were about to fall out. She stared at them with everything inside of her. She was surprised at her brilliance; at how she managed to recall a face from fifteen years ago.At this point, she wished to say hi to him. A breeze of eagerness flickered across her face. She wanted to hear his voice for the first time and know what his voice sounded like or what his aura felt like.Her boring childhood days slowly drifted into her memories. Always on the small wooden chai
“What? Why are you staring at me that way?” He caught her right on time so she couldn't possibly deny it. The sound of the engine came to a halt. She became alert as he loosened his seatbelt, alighting from the car.She reciprocated with a mouth agape; shocked to see herself in such a place. The large standing water, bigger than two hectares of land, sent a cool breeze over her skin. She stepped further into the sand to admire the serene nature of the lake. Again, she doesn't think she would be able to do everything she planned to do to him.She just wanted to fill her eyes with the view before thinking of anything else.She suddenly turned and saw him walking towards a small canopy. She hissed but still followed him.“Why did you bring me here?” She shrieked, staggering behind him. She pulled on her inner strength as her feet kept sinking inside the thick sand. He didn't look back for a second, stirring up the rage in her. That old urge to take out her anger on him came crawling ou
She scanned his physique with her eyes running from his foot to his head. His foot was buried in the thick sand. She couldn't see anything else but his long coat that stopped above his toe.She pursed her lips with urgency lurking inside her eyes. She wanted to make a quick estimate of his good look and give her the feedback but all her efforts to see his front view seemed abortive. Raymond was facing the lake while answering the call so she couldn't possibly see him properly.Linda was getting impatient. She desperately needed a compliment from Isa but it wasn't coming forth. At that moment she felt like nothing. If Isabella couldn't find a good compliment on her choices for him, then, she just has to give up on happiness.Linda wants the best for Raymond and Isabella was one of the best things she'd ever wished for him to have. She knew how Raymond had deeply fallen for her but she couldn't see the same measure of love in her eyes.Raymond narrated Isa's life story to her; how she
“I know you won't complain but I feel the call is really important.” Isa pressed on with a pleading tone.“I don't care if it's important. I feel that what you have to say is more important than the call.” He mumbled, hesitant.“That's why I hung up.” He added. She saw him swallow heavily at the end of his words.Isa was short of words. She realized there was no way out for her. She puffed and cleared her throat. Maybe this was the right time for her to pour out her emotions to him.“Can I ask you something?” She mumbled in her lowest tone. No, she shouldn't ask for his permission before asking him. She could have just taken her anger on him at once.Raymond nodded, his dark blue eyes flickering with a keen interest.“Why did you choose to partner with my husband's company?” Isa's voice echoed with a hint of seriousness. She looked strict with the quiver in her voice. She wanted to know nothing else but the truth.Raymond's next line of words dropped like a bombshell.“I choose to par
Isa had her eyebrows furrowing in uneasiness. Linda's gaze lingered in scrutiny of what she couldn't fathom but she didn't care anyways. Her concern has only settled for his last words. Right now, all she could think of was the best gift to offer him. She could feel the pit of her stomach churn in anticipation. Her anticipation has skyrocketed her mind to the moon and brought her back without solutions. She desperately needed a suggestion as to the type of gift he would like.She threw a glance at her phone and sighed irritably. She nearly ignored it but recalled that she could look up different gifts on the net. She let Linda wonder in her thoughts while she fiddled with her phone.Her jaw dropped as different flashy gifts popped out of her screen. Colorful and bold pictures of wrist watch boxes, shoe bags, customized wallets, flowers and photo frames. She paused between the photo frames and the wrist watch boxes.They appeared so cool but she didn't see her own shrug coming. It wa
She was hurrying up with her silent cry as well. She didn't want to get engrossed before he would finally shut the door at her.It took some minutes before her hiccups went into a dead silence. She lifted her head and whispered something to him.“When I was a little girl, I had always had a crush on you. I saw you in my dreams each time I laid my head to sleep. You are the ideal reason I went into the modeling industry.” She said with trembling lips.Isabella gasped again. She quickly placed her palm over her mouth because her shrill had nearly reached them.“I never wanted to become a model. Do you think I like how I am being followed around by cameras and how my fucking private life is being monitored by everyone?”“Do you think I feel happy with how I am living my life? Of course, everyone expects my life to be perfect and I am living up to their expectations.” Amorr clenched her fist by her side, scoffing at the end of her words. Her face remained in twitches of bitterness.“You c
Isabella's curiosity to figure out what Mrs Rhoda Bennett was cooking up for or against her was choking her up. She seemed determined to do all the things that Linda had ordered her to do but on a second thought, she paused.She had been nodding her head to all that Linda was saying and finally stopped. She peered her eyes straight into Linda's face.She couldn't believe those words were coming from Linda. Where were the guts coming from? Isabella's eyes zeroed into what seemed like disappointment.She was desperate to hear what Mrs Rhoda Bennett was cooking up for her and she was going crazy with thoughts on what Gift to give to Raymond so he could finally tell her everything she needed to know.Of all the solutions, why did it have to be this? She felt disheartened at Linda's opinions. Linda was being inconsiderate with her opinion. Isa knew how much she treasured Raymond and wanted the best for him. Shouldn't she have also thought of Isa's feelings? Linda, very observant, noticed
“What do you think you are playing with?” Raymond's fierce voice rumbled across her innocent face. She looked up with dimmed eyes, trying to recognize the face but it was hard to see through the darkness.Her heart was panting non stop until he turned on the light switches. It was difficult for her to open her eyes still. She squeezed her eyes closed and pinned her shy face to the floor.Curving his lips up, he smirked with both hands dug inside his jumper pockets. “Why is she hiding her face? She's so childish” Raymond mumbled sarcastically to himself. He let out an exasperated sigh, tired of waiting for her to look up.“What are you doing in my room by this time?” He asked, his voice was cold and stern.“Would you rather choose that I report to your husband's Mom?” He threatened with a fierce voice which had a mixture of mockery.Isabella's eye shot open. Douglas's mom was the least person she ever wanted to encounter ever again after what transpired between them in the kitchen.“W
He suddenly pulled the car to the side of the road. Everything seemed like a dream to him. It's barely ten minutes since they drove out of the morgue and barely fifteen minutes since those uniformed men took the pathologist and the morgue attendant away.How possible could it be that they were both found dead? Actually the Airlines news station doesn't give fake information.“The pathologist and the morgue attendant are both dead?” Isa asked, perplexed.“How could that be possible?” He replied with scrutiny on his face.A while ago, three uniformed men who claimed to come from the Federal Government came and cuffed them out of the morgue.According to the news, their death didn't result from any form of car accident.Which only means one thing. Those men were sent to kill the pathologist and the morgue attendant.But why? Raymond shaked his head vehemently as a series of thoughts stormed into his head.If those men truly came from the Federal Government, they would kill only the path
She had a grimace on her face as her eyes scanned through it.“Let me take a look.” Raymond said and she gave it to him. His lips parted in shock and disappointment.He shot a hostile glance at the pathologist and felt like strangling him.“You had the original results in your briefcase, why then did you choose to tell us lies?” Raymond shrieked at him.“I am sorry.” Mr Fabian pleaded with a sober voice.“There's nothing to be sorry about. I know quite well that this is the same reason why the Government is desperately searching for you.” “You go about, giving people fake or forged results. How do you feel after doing it?” Raymond's tenor voice sent cold shivers across Mr Fabian's body.“Do you even think of the damage or pain you bring to those people?” “You hide the truth from those that desperately need it.” He said, his veins all popped out around his neck. He felt a little bit of exhaustion. His last words emerged out with a faint tone.“Who paid you to do this?” Raymond asked
At this point, Raymond couldn't ask for anything more. Their goal was to run an autopsy and walk out with the results, not to make a poor innocent man lose his job.They watched him as he went inside the frizzy room to speak to the anatomist on the phone. Raymond had no choice than to let him do his own part of the deal.“He will be here in at least twenty minutes.” He whispered to them as he walked out of the room.“So we could quickly go out and grab a drink, right?” Raymond requested, cutting an eye for Isabella.“Yes, you can go.” He replied with relief. Raymond seems to give him a hard time.While they were away, he wished they could disappear and never come back. To him, Isa wasn't the problem but Raymond was the problem he had.Minutes later, they both walked back inside the office energetically. Isa was holding two cups of the creamy juice.“You can have this too. You are a good man.” She said and handed a cup to the morgue attendant.He collected the creamy juice with a grin
Raymond couldn't stand it anymore. He couldn't stand eavesdropping on the morgue attendant. He heard everything the latter said to Mrs Rhoda Bennett.He angrily pushed the door open and walked towards the man, stopping some inches away from him.Isabella didn't feel his absence. She was petrified the moment she saw her father's cold body. “Are you trying to sell us?” Raymond started, noticing the man's trembling lips.“What I'm I even saying? You were actually selling us, huh?” Raymond said and saw the man trying to hide his phone behind him but he grabbed the phone from him and went directly to the last call made.His jaw dropped in shock. He had actually assumed that the man was speaking with Mrs Rhoda Bennett but it was only an assumption until now.“So you are her accomplice?” “That's why you persisted on seeing his bio before letting us get access to him?” Raymond asked bitterly.“How much were you even paid?” He asked rhetorically and punched his fist in the air.“You know wha
Isabella and Raymond both narrowed their eyes in confusion. They got their mind wandering like wildfire. There's a lot of dots that need to be connected. For goodness sake, Mrs Rhoda Bennett earlier told the Corp that she went for an urgent business meeting.Since it was urgent, what time did she get to still register Mr Bennett's body to the morgue?Talking of how she walked inside the mansion; like she heard the news on reaching the gate.She even passed out in front of everyone.It could be that she heard the news during the meeting and went straight to the morgue from there.Or what is this whole thing all about? The witch is so smart that nobody has ever caught her in all her acts.“Please sir, what time was Mr Bennett registered yesterday?” Isa asked, curiously.“Ma'am, I'm afraid but I can't tell you anything more until you provide the original copy of the bio used to register him here.” The man replied and pinched his brows.Isa cast a tiresome glance at Raymond.“I can't be
On the express road to the city, Raymond had to ask for directions to the hospital where the ambulance came from.He couldn't bear seeing the look on Isabella's face anymore. She looked so pathetic, embracing the brown envelope like it meant the whole world to her.“Isa, I don't like what you are doing right now.” He mumbled and pressed the deceleration button. “What I'm I doing?” She mumbled, trying hard not to look up at his face.“If you are confident that you did nothing wrong, why then are you avoiding looking up?” He asked, keeping his gaze glued at her.Isa kept mute. She couldn't feel the breeze from the high speed of the car. She imagined that something had gone wrong and finally looked up to check for herself.“Just the traffic.” He responded before her eyes met with his.At that moment, she swallowed a lump. She felt wet tears gathering in her eyes. She must have been deeply in tears that's why she didn't notice it on time and now, Raymond's gaze.She just wished that he d
She stubbornly struggled with him. Corp Bellick's rage heightened instantly. He forcefully locked her wrists inside the cuffs and escorted her to the Hilux.He didn't care anymore. She must have thought that this case would turn out like the numerous cases where they got a special order from the general not to meddle into Bennett's family affairs.Not anymore. Not when Mr Bennett died a cold death. He knew the general and of how much he hated Mrs Rhoda Bennett.Perhaps, he would use this opportunity to reopen her formal cases; the cases that were buried due to Mr Bennett's influence.Mrs Rhoda Bennett turned around and her last gaze fell on Isabella.Isa bit her lips. She could feel the pit of her stomach churned in excitement. This is exactly how she would punish each and everyone of them.She knew that in no time, she would be granted bail. She assumed she would use Mr Bennett's burial as a key excuse.She didn't care, she just wanted to do what she always wanted to do.“An autopsy.
“But you know what, I aren't acting any drama this time around. I'm doing this for the safety of my health.” Mrs Rhoda Bennett mumbled and snapped her fingers.Isa ran her eyes over the latter's body in scrutiny.No matter what she said, she wasn't ever going to take in her words.She felt this was the only opportunity for her to pay her last respect to her father.That last picture of him couldn't leave her memory. She continued replaying his soothing voice in her head. She wouldn't have believed it if someone had told her that it would be the last time she would get to see or speak to her father.At this point, she felt like giving up on everything; her revenge plans. She felt like backing off and running away to a far away land.Because for some minutes, she wondered what would be her yield if she eventually won the battle.Would she be the only person to celebrate her victory? Her Mom and her father have joined their ancestors.What if she backs off and disappears to a far away c
Back at Bennett's mansion, Raymond drove into the compound at a high speed. He drove in with a high speed, not expecting to see any other car in the parking space except for Mrs Rhoda Bennett's car.There was a black Acura parked beside Mrs Rhoda Bennett's car.As she climbed down from Raymond's car, she stared intensely at the car. “It's just a car. Why are you mopping at it that way?” Raymond teased, following her gaze.“C'mon, we have to go in. Once everything is over, I am going to get you exactly this type of car if that's what you want.” He added and jammed the car door.Isa's gaze wouldn't tear off one bit from the Acura car. It didn't seem as if she was staring at the car in admiration.The car reminded her of something.What exactly? She mumbled to herself and racked through her brain.“This car looks familiar, right?” She asked Raymond with a curious glimpse.“I don't think so.” Raymond replied with a shrug.“If you say so.” She responded and turned around to go into the ma