Chapter 9: The beginning of doom!

Sitting on the hospital bed with a broken heart, the woman felt a bit hesitant to disclose her ailment to the boy.

She gazed at the boy's tranquil expression and then at his innocent blue orbs. She didn't know why but she felt she could trust him.

"I have Osteosarcoma," she started slowly with a sullen look on her face. "I was diagnosed six months into my pregnancy and worse of all, my cancer had spread to my Lungs making it even harder to treat!" She confessed with a sunken spirit, the pain she felt burned her heart. It was the kind of pain one felt when a knife was pierced into the heart.

She clutched unto her chest and let out short raspy breaths. She felt her lungs burn for air but she didn't get any.

Blake appeared to have noticed her difficulty in breathing. Just when she was about to press the emergency button on her bed, his word stopped her, "Don't."

As if possessed by an invisible force, she dropped her hands from the button. He placed two of his fingers on her forehead and her lungs immediately felt better. Her breath soon became steady. Surprise washed over her face as she stared at the boy with a perplexed expression.

"Who are you? And how did you do that?"

He silently thought of a lie, he couldn't reveal his true identity. She would never give him her daughter if she knew. Only when he came up with the perfect lie did he respond, "I happen to be a powerful magician. I can heal you but you would have to give me something in return."

The woman suddenly became excited as she felt her dreams could finally come true! Her greatest wish was watching her daughter grow up to become a great and lovely woman, so without thinking twice, she asked hurriedly, "What is it? Tell me. If it's something I can do, I will surely do it!"

Her eyes were glistering with expectations and she looked like a five year old who had just been promised a pack of candy.

He cast his gaze on the beautiful baby that was on his arms who had very much fallen asleep. He revealed with a wicked smirk, "I want you to betroth your daughter to me..."

The smile on her face froze and she stared at the boy like a zombie. "What?!"

The boy was handsome, he looked smart, well breed and innocent but she didn't want her daughter to get married to some random boy. She wanted her fall in love with the man of her dreams and get married to him.

"I-I can't." He nodded and simply placed her baby on her open hands. He made to leave, but before he left, he reminded her, "Mind you, I temporarily stabilized your lungs, but in five minutes, you will experience the same crisis so I advice you hold on tight to the emergency button and you are going to have go into surgery cause your lungs has collapsed. Also, your cancer has spread to your brain. Even with chemo and surgery, you still have at least six months to live."

He paused and stared at the woman's frightened and anxious form, he then continued, "And mind you, I can still have your daughter with or without your help. I will just ask her dad nicely in future or maybe her evil step mother." The word 'step mother' caused her to crack.

Her husband was a very busy man and his work entails a lot of traveling. When she dies, he may most likely marry another woman to take care of Ariana in the future and this frightened her so much. What if the woman treats her daughter badly? She knew her husband loved his daughter but he might not always be around to protect her.

What Blake had said was true, whether or not, she helped him, Ariana was bound to be his! He only wanted her to grow up in a complete family, something he couldn't have.

He reached for the door and was about to open it when her soft voice stopped him, "I don't want my daughter to suffer. I want to live for her and watch her grow, so I accept."

A smirk of triumph manifested on his lips, he then turned to look at the woman with a serious expression, "Are you sure? It's not like I'm forcing you or anything."

"Yes," she replied with determination in her voice.

He strolled casually to her bedside, he then placed his palm on her forehead and ordered authoritatively, "Close your eyes." She immediately closed her eyes and once her eyelids were shut, black fumes emitted from his palm and entered her body.

Moments later, he peeled his palm from her head and told her to open her eyes. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as they stared at the boy's face with a bemused look.

"How do you feel?"

"Better!" Her eyes narrowed to her swollen knee which was now at its normal size! She definitely felt better, she wasn't weak as before! Or was it the terrible headache she had due to brain metastasis and her chest region felt better than ever!

"You may still need to do a test, if you doubt my capabilities but first..." He trailed a finger on the baby's neck and a beautiful rose tattoo appeared on her neck. That was his mark.

"She's mine now." He declared, turning to leave when her voice made him pause on his stand.

"What's your name boy?"

"My name is not important."

The woman scrunched her nose and frowned. "At least I should know the name of the boy who will be marrying my daughter in future, Son-in-law?"

Blake's face turned pale and his cheeks and ears flushed red with blood.

"Blake Houston." Came his rushed response. He briskly made his way to the door without looking back. Once he shut the door behind him, he let out a deep exhale and touched his hot cheeks. A smile of satisfaction became painted on his face as he strolled down the hallway with a gladdened heart.

****

The air in the police station became awfully tense as the two men stared at each other with malice in their eyes.

One of the men was Lieutenant Governor Shane Jefferson (Jessica's father) and the other was Detective Collins.

Despite the hatred in their eyes, they still managed to let out fake smiles as they shook hands.

"It's so nice to meet you, Collins. I've heard so many tales of your patriotic gestures. You're indeed a gem to the police force." Shane sang songs of praises to Collins as he tightened his grip on Collin's hand.

Collins pulled his lips into a wide smile and asked politely despite the aching pain he suffered from the man's tight grip. "Enough with the praises, tell me why you're are here?"

Shane chuckled softly and let go of his now red hand.

"Detective Collins, you really are a blunt man. You know why I'm here. I sent my men here but they were ignored so I had to come here myself. I'm here for my daughter," he confessed, the smile on his face freezing and his face turning cold.

"You're daughter was involved in a murder case. The evidence on her is overwhelming..."

"There's is no evidence!" His sharp voice cut Collins off.

"Detective Collins, you do know who I am right? I can destroy your life with the snap of a finger. It's worse that you made me come here myself which I would gladly overlook but it's best you destroy the evidence and... my daughter was never here. There was no dead body, no evidence at all. I believe you can handle this small matter, Collins." He pulled his lips into a sweet smile, his palm patting Collins back.

Collins shook in rage and his fist was clenched so hard that his fingers became as white as snow.

Shane was right. He indeed could destroy his life with just a phone call. He admitted his defeat by bowing his head, he then agreed through gritted teeth, "I can."

Shane rose from his seat and curled his lips in victory. "You are one hell of a talent, it would have been a shame to lose someone like you in the police force. Hand over the phone?"

Collins reluctantly handed him Liam's phone from a box on his desk. Shane smashed the phone on the ground and crushed it to pieces with the sole of his shoe.

"Your phone. The real evidence is there." Collins took out his phone and then deleted the evidence from his phone, a frown lingered on his face as he did that.

"Good boy. I'll take care of the rest. See you soon, Collins."

The door immediately burst open and a man in black suit dashed into the room, his suit was drenched in sweat and his face held panic and fear.

"Your excellency! I'm afraid there's trouble!"

He whispered some words into Shane's ear and then handed a phone to him. He took a step back for he knew that soon, he would expect an outburst and it would be directed at him. He was always at the receiving end.

The expression on Shane's face darkened as he watched the video with sheer anger and a killing intent. It was the murder video of Katelyn. There wasn't any much talking, it only showed when Jessica stabbed and buried her. It was shortened to just a minute long and immediately after the video, the phone call conversation between Jessica and Liam played from the speaker. The caption on it further infuriated Shane.

ILLEGITIMATE DAUGHTER OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SHANE JEFFERSON, JESSICA JEFFERSON KILLIAN KILLS AND BURIES PREGNANT WOMAN IN THE FOREST. SHE ALSO ATTEMPTED TO KILL LIAM LEE; THE ONLY LIVING WITNESS TO HER EVIL DEEDS.

He clenched his fist with blazing fury and flung the phone against the wall. The impact caused the phone to shatter into pieces.

"Get it off the net now!" His tone was commanding and the anger in his voice could make one pee on himself.

"We've t-tried. The hacker is very skilled and the video is all over the net, electronic billboards and TV stations in the city. We c-can not cover this up." As he said this, he took several steps back in fright and then waited for the man to explode in anger.

"Blake Houston!"

"I'm gonna kill that boy myself. How can an eight year old dare to ruin my plans?! Get the boys ready and kill him and his mother. Make no mistakes, I want a clean job!"

"Yes, sir!"