“I can’t believe we just did that.” Racheal giggled as she pulled her dress down to cover her legs, and then up to cover her chest.“I can’t believe we have never done that.” Steffan responded, tossing the wipes in the car’s disposal purseThey watched it shrink.“We are disrespectful lots.” She said, now beginning to feel sorry for the men that had to live through that. Steffan smiled, and pulled her close.“I was joking about the screen. This is a custom-made car. They couldn’t hear anything,” he said.“Did you have this in mind when you were customizing your car?” “Maybe.” He grinned.She shook her head, and looked away. "They still knew we were up to something improper when you closed that screen.”“You think they don’t know we are always up to something improper?” He asked, softly caressing her arms.She smiled and said nothing, just continued leaning her head on his chest.“Racheal.” Steffan said, his voice serious. She froze.“Never lie to me again,” he said.“I won’t.”He
The couple left Hilltop Mansion, as they now called it, and returned to the city the next morning. Steffan was quiet the whole ride, his eyes glued to the window as he stared outside.Racheal knew he was not angry with her, this was not about her, so she left him alone. This was important; they had to do it. Now that she had chosen again to build a life with him. She did not want this hanging over their heads.Besides the secrets, to build a solid new life together, they had to wave goodbye to their old lives. One of the cars in the convoy branched out to a flower shop and got carnations. They arrived at the cemetery, and she felt a chill in her bones. She thought of her mother. The thought that her mother was resting in one of such places, and she had still not found it, made her chest hurt.Their guards found the spot where Malorie was buried and led them to it. Steffan walked as if in a daze. Racheal walked by his side, not touching him, although she very badly wanted to s
“We might have a job for your nephew too,” Racheal said. “Anyone good enough to work for the Sherrods will do a good job for us.”Steffan glanced at her.“Oh yes. Good fellow, strong too,” The old man looked up and stopped, staring at Racheal. Racheal froze. Did he recognize her? Had she been underestimating the man’s intelligence?“My God, you are beautiful, lady.” The old man said finally. “Your wife?” He turned to Steffan.Steffan smiled at him. “Yes.”“Lucky man.” The old man said, and returned his attention to his task. “What do you want my nephew to do for you?”“We need a guard for my wife,” Steffan said, his voice gentle. Racheal was impressed. This was the calmest she had seen him. She was glad he took her cue, and was interviewing this man with kid gloves.“Hmmm.” The old man said. “Jordan may not be the man you need. You see, he is no spring chicken anymore.”“That is exactly the man I need around my wife, someone older, more calm-headed,” Steffan said smoothly. The ol
When Steffan returned, it was completely dark outside and Racheal was already in her night dress. As soon as he walked in through the door, she knew something bad had happened.She hurried to him, and threw her hands around him.He paused, and then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to himself. She stepped back, looking at him all over. “Are you fine?”“Yes.” He said, and walked to go sit on their bed.“What happened? Did you get the evidence?”“Jordan is dead.” Steffan said, dropping his head between his hands.She stared down at him in confusion. What was he talking about? They had seen him together, so it meant that the story that he was dead was a lie.Steffan looked up, and saw her confused face. “I think something foul is at play.”She shook her head. “I don’t understand what you are saying, Steffan,” She said, and went to sit beside him. “Start from the beginning. What happened when you got to his house?”“He lived in a dingy slum. So the guards and I could not a
Racheal had no idea why Steffan respected her decision not to talk about why she had reacted so strongly to what he had just told her. Maybe it was because he saw how distressed she was, or because after listening to her talk about her previous interactions with the Dallozs, he had an idea why the news affected her so much, or still because she finally promised she would get the key for him.But he did not ask her any further questions. He simply led her to bed, and tucked her in. She listened to him get under the shower, and the sound of water hitting the floor before she stood up and pulled her phone from the nightstand. She scrolled to the message Chloe had sent her and stared at it. She had to go speak to this man, before he turned up dead again.She thought about all Madame Dalloz had told her, all the lies, half-truths, and pieces of information she did not know how best to classify.She had heard that Spencer Sherrod bombed the camp from one person only. Madame Dalloz.
Racheal stood in their closet with Steffan deciding on what to wear. It felt good to not have anything to hide anymore, to not be dying of anxiety.“I remember watching you in this at that nightshow.” Steffan said, reaching from behind her to touch a blue blazer. She smiled at the memory, till she remembered that Madame Dalloz had gotten her that. She had encouraged her to go to the show and sent a stylist over with options of clothes to wear.She sighed, and looked away. Her eyes fell on a purse sitting on a rack at the other end of the closet.She walked towards the purse and picked it up. “Coincidentally, this was the purse I was holding that day too.” She said over her shoulder to Steffan. “All a gift from Madame Dalloz.”Steffan said nothing. She dug her hand in the purse, and felt her finger scrape a card. She pulled it out.RACHEAL ROBERTS was boldly written on the front of the card. Racheal gasped. She had never gone to see the woman after that night. This was the wom
Racheal asked the nurse questions. The nurse had offered to take the couple up, instead of simply directing them to the ward Roman Gilbert was at.The nurse told them that it was not so much the burns but the poisonous gas the patient had inhaled that kept him here all these months.Racheal held her breath as she stepped into the ward. The man lying on the bed was young, she suspected, in his early thirties. Even with the burns and how emancipated his body looked, you could tell that at one point, he had been good-looking.She and Steffan drew closer to the bed as the nurse said, “Mr Gilbert, you have visitors.”The man opened his eyes, and slowly turned to look at them. He stared at them blankly.“Hello.” Racheal said, awkwardly, leaning down a little. She couldn't help but curse whoever did this to the people in that camp. This was the worst thing anyone could do to their fellow human being. She almost thought all the people who died were lucky as she looked at the man's scar
Racheal felt Steffan squeeze her hand as they drove out of the hospital. She bit back her tears. They drove in silence for a long time before she finally felt in control of her emotions enough to speak. She turned to Steffan. “I don’t know why Roni would do something like that. There was absolutely no reason for him to do that.” Racheal said. She could not bear the thought of calling him her father anymore.“You can always confront him. But I have some theories,” Steffan said.“Tell me.” Racheal said eagerly.“You need to ask Madame Dalloz questions too. The official news about the bombed camp said it was a suspected terrorist attack, even my father thought it was a terrorist attack. Why did she tell you it was my father then?” Racheal nodded.“And if Roni Rana is out to get Spencer, it would only make sense that he would do anything to weaken his position. A bomb at Yin’s capital displacement camp is one of the worst ways to show the world that Yin is unsafe, and the president