“Listen, Mr. Arnold Bullswood is dead. I found five pounds notes in his room. On one note says “Lady Williams” and the other one says “must be put down”. I’m on my way to hand this in in the office.” Michael turns off the phone quickly then heads to where he parks his car.
“Pfft… pfft… haha...” Francois’ friends had a suppressed laughter but contained themselves. Still, Marianne heard it.
“Let me out... let me out... please…” begs Annie, sobbing. Her feet and hands are tied up. She was stuffed inside the boot of a car.
“Honey, are you finished? Could you please take me upstairs and help me with something,” said Marianne with a sweet voice and acting coyly towards Francois. Carl nearly choked on his food but coughs it out. John took a huge gulp of his very hot tea and it burned his tongue. While Michael’s food went down the wrong pipe that made him cough a lot. And Annie spills some of her juice that she is about to drink. Francois on the other hand, stands up and carries Marianne back to her wheelchair.
“Did you make Annie as your bait this morning!?”&n
Marianne couldn’t express her emotions when she had a look at the past videos that were taken from the surveillance cameras. The worst was the one taken from the wheelchair not long ago, when she needed to go on the toilet, when she was struggling to put herself in there, and then she did her thing… the whole process of it… was taken. “How... could... you... ?” she said, looking at Francois with a dejected look. She was beyond embarrassment, and is now bei
“I apologise for having the camera on you. But rest assured that it was only me who had seen your video. Any video that was taken on your chair is only seen by me. I understand your concern of privacy but I thought that it shouldn’t matter as we are, after all, husband and wife.”
“Honey, the physiotherapists, had just arrived. They will be waiting for you at the drawing room.” Marianne rereads the message again that she just got from Francois. “What has gotten on that man’s mind, seriously! Could it be because I said “Honey” earlier? He knew that I was just messing around to get away from everyone's earshot!” she thought.
“Hello! Are you still there? Sorry, a couple of friends of hers are here now to get her,” said the man on the line. Marianne looked up at Francois who had leaned forward to the table with his hand at the back of her chair.&
Francois lightly touches his neck. His thoughts were on last night, on how he got those marks. He frowned.There was an uncertain look on Francois’ face that made Marianne worries. She wants to reach out to him. ‘I wonder what has happened. This is the first time that I have ever seen him look like this. He seems unsure. He is certainly not himself. Is he perhaps ill?’ thought Marianne, more concerned and with determination to find out what the mark is on his neck. Francois sees Marianne slowly getting up off her chair. He became stiff as he felt her nearness. He would have stepped backwards if he could, but he felt pinned to his spot. He could not move. Moreso when his nostrils were hit with her fragrance. Marianne steadies herself, and then takes a closer look at his neck. “Oh, it’s more than I thought, and it looks bad!” she exclaimed, showing a displeased look as she inspected the marks on his neck. Her eyes focused on the worst part. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen something like this befo
The next day, the ringing of her phone made Marianne groan as she grabbed her phone. She squinted her eyes at the clock table. ‘It’s past 7, already!?’ “Hello, Marianne! Oh I’m so sorry, did I just wake you up? I only called cause I thought you would be awake by now,” said Annie, as she listened to the moaning sound of her friend from the other line. “Hey… Annie. No, no it’s okay. I’m actually glad that you called. I think my alarm clock is not working. I don’t know how long I would sleep if you didn’t call. You saved me from facing another wrath from Mrs Smith.” “Are you still not getting along? I think that’s been a while now, don’t you think?
Realising that Francois would not help her, that she has to deal with Steven herself. She turns to face Steven. She sees his smiling face. The face that Kenny had once liked. She looks closely and studies his face. ‘Hmm he does have a handsome face but he is nothing compared to Francois. Not even to John, Michael and Carl… Why the heck did I think before that he is above all men when it comes to looks? Gah… And if you look more closely… there are blackheads on his nose! What a turn off! Oh, there are even more lines under his eyes and some pigmentation on his skin. He has become old now.”The scrutinising ways of Marianne made Steven uncomfortable. He looks at Francois, but he seems to be unaware of what his wife is doing or does not care. He cleared his throat. “Uhm, Lady Marianne.”
Sarah’s watchful eyes become sharp as she stares at Marianne. “You know, I had years of study and practice to know when someone is lying. And right now, your face is telling me differently than earlier.” Sarah moves closer to Marianne. She bends down, and with her face close to Marianne, she looks straight into Marianne’s eyes. “So, what are you hiding? What are you guilty of?” said Sarah, with a very intimidating tone.Marianne catches her breath, and on guard of what the woman in front of her is going to do next. ‘Oh My God! I hope she is not going to hit me!’ she thought. She quickly side glances to where Lana is. She sees her talking on the phone as Lana meets her eyes very briefly. ‘I hope she called Francois. I hope it’s him on the other line,’ prayed Marianne.
Sarah gives Marianne a quizzing look because of her reaction. Aware of her carelessness, Marianne says to her “Well, I’ve not met Kenny before so I don’t really know what he’s like, but you said he is not one to just take his own life. It’s also what others say about him. So, I believe you. And thank you for telling me about the study under Dr Keis. I’ll see if I can find some useful information from his old stuff. But… I’m sure this is not the important thing that you wanted to tell me for seeking me here.”Sarah nodded. “Well, after you left that day. I had an uncomfortable feeling like I had missed something. I couldn’t sleep. So, that night I went to check on Kenny's body again. At first, everything was the same as how I'd written it on the report. But when I checked the ligature on his neck, I found a very thin dark
Returning to their table, Marianne gives Francois a hateful accusation look of a 'How could you!?' flaring in her eyes. Anyone who would look at Marianne’s face would be able to tell how angry she is, but Francois did not seem to take any notice of her state. His relaxed manner of how he is enjoying himself made Marianne more annoyed at him. ‘Hateful Bastard!’ she thought as she threw him one more hateful glance. To put her composure back, Marianne tries to think of positive thoughts. ‘Good thing everyone wasn’t so brazen to accept his abrupt invitation. Even Steven just gave him a salute. Hopefully no one will come as I don’t want to prepare an abrupt party... Oh, wait! Does Francois want me to throw a party for Carl?’ The thought made Marianne look alarmed and suddenly feeling guilty that it never occurred to her to throw a party for Carl.&nb
Whatever was on Dr Eli’s face expression is now gone. She is now wearing her usual friendly smiles. She gets up and greets Francois and Marianne. “Hello. I didn’t expect to see you both here," she said, smilingly. Marianne thought that she detected nervousness in her voice. She smiles back at Dr Eli. The question that she wanted to ask earlier (to ask her why she had left her profession), she does not dare to ask anymore. Marianne secretly observes Dr Eli. ‘I’m sure I wasn’t mistaken when she looked at me. There was hatred in her eyes which was directed at me. But why…? I’ve known her before, and she is not to hold grudges. Perhaps she has mistaken me for someone else? Hmm… no, I’m with Francois so she knows who I am. So, why does she hate me?... Ah... this feels worse than when Leonna was giving me those hateful stares with her matching acid tongue. But, at least with Leonna, I know why sh
Marianne tries to sort out her thoughts by accepting her sad fate tonight. Yet, she still cannot let go of the niggling feeling inside her. With a disregard to modesty, she said “I have to say this for the peace of my mind. You know, I thought that this was going to be a ‘date’. A proper date. I did not expect it to be like this. And I was really ecstatic then to the idea that I am going out on a date with you. In fact, I even requested help from the ladies which I kinda regret as they have different ideas. They only caused me more stress, and not to mention my extended endurance for tolerating the constant nagging of Mrs Smith. I do feel sorry for myself.” Then, Marianne thought that her words came out wrong that it had made her look more pathetic than she wanted it to be. So, to justify her words, she said “Well, you know that I have been cooped up inside the castle most of the time, so a da
“Cole is one of those narcissistic people, but he is also intelligent. He knows how to placate himself and bide his time to get what he wants. He would have not felt remorse after killing his best friend. However, the admiration or he might have thought that was more like a Godlike idolisation from Kenny, he doesn’t get it anymore.” Marianne continuously stares at Francois. “I’ve had this thought of what Kenny's situation was, but after you said it… Although, a tiny bit inside me doesn’t want to admit it, still I have to accept the fact that I was manipulated. I was a doctor, Kenny was an exemplary doctor. He should have known. Kenny should have seen the signs.” Marianne covers her face, feeling dejected. Francois pats her back. “You were very young then, and you have lost your parents. It’s understa