7

Chloe Montclair

"But, you asked me to leave, right?."

"That's because I had to say that to you not that, I meant it." 

"So, I shouldn't leave?."

"Yes, stay here with me." 

"Well, I change my mind already. I'm leaving and that's the period." 

"Chloe, you wouldn't want me to kill you right? I'm going to kill you- No! I'm going to roast you alive, eat you and then, I can be sent to another year of imprisonment."

"You're crazy!" I looked at her unbelievable. 

"Yes, I'm crazy." She chimed in with me and laugh. "To be frank with you, I was only kidding a while ago. You just follow your heart and do what's right. I will always support you no matter what." 

"Yes, I know that." 

"So, he came here to show you this? I thought he ought to be here in 3 days after now. Why is he here today?."

"Well, how do I know that? That crazy man knows that I called him a dork's face!" I hissed in a frustrating time. 

"What?! How did he know that? No one was here when you called him that." Before I could reply to her, the phone he gave me earlier started to ring. 

I pick it up from the couch and widened my eyes in shock. 

You can't believe what he just save his contact with? 

"Who's that? And, where did you get a phone from?." Tiana asked me. I showed her who was calling and she burst out laughing. 

"Prince charming?." She said laughing again. 

Prince charming my foot! 

I slide to the green side and pick up the call. "what?." I asked him immediately after I picked up the call. 

"You did not just call me crazy? Saying I have a dork's face isn't enough for you and now, I'm crazy? Don't test my patience Chloe. You do not want to see the demon side of me, right? I knew you were fierce right from the very first day I set my eyes on you but, do not disrespect me." He said in a very cold tone. The same tone he used on the very first day he came here to meet me. 

"But how-" before I could finish what I was about to say, he hung up the call on me. 

I opened my mouth in awe. "What's it? What happened? I know, it's Mr. Stranger that just called you, what did he say?."

"He heard me calling him crazy and also a dork's face." I replied. 

"What?! But how?." 

"I... I don't know." I'm still in shock. It's not like there's any CCTV in here... Is it?

"Is there any CCTV in here? How does he know that we talked about him? Or, is he a ghost or something?." Tiana asked in a confused tone.

"You- silly girl." I said and this time around, it was I who smacked her. I made sure to smack her arm so hard to reset her memory for her. "How could he be a ghost? He's a big man and you know that."

"But, he's listening to our conversation! Wait a minute, I need to check if there's any CCTV in here." She said and started to roam about the whole room. 

Still on there when my phone rang again. It's still him 'prince charming' I read the name and hissed before rolling my eyes. 

"What?." I said again as I picked up the call. This time, I made sure to put the phone on speaker. 

"Tell your beautiful friend to stop searching the whole place. She can't find anything. Plus, don't forget what I told you... Think about it thoroughly and there's no going back after that." He said and hang up the call. 

Both Tiana and I opened our mouths in awe. There's no doubt, there's something about this room we do not know of. He can see and hear anything we do. 

She slowly walk closer and whispered in my ear. "He surely is a ghost... There's no doubt."

"You think so?." I whispered back.

"I know so." She affirmed. I smack her back. 

"Ouch! What was that for? You and no idea your hand is painful, right?."

"Well, yours is more painful than mine. So, what do we do now?." I whispered again"

"Nothing. After all, we haven't done anything wrong. So, where do we start from? And, where's Juliana? The food should be ready by now?." She said. the last part in an irritated tone.

"Wait, what?! I thought... I thought you went out to stop her from making you any meals?." I'm confused right now. 

"You thought, I was going to listen to you? Look, Chloe. You and I are two different people... I need to eat because I'm famished. You can't change that."

"But, I just told you it's not th-" I was still trying to put some senses into this woman's head when the door burst open and Juliana walked in. 

"Ladies, here comes your meal." She exclaimed in an excited tone. She's changed towards me ever since the day Ken showed up here. She also told me she has something important to discuss with me and, I'm going to talk to her about that later on... Maybe, in the evening. 

But, all that isn't the problem now... What I'm seeing right in front of me isn't funny and looks suspicious. I fixed my gaze at my friend and she refused to look at me. 

"What's going on here? Are we having a feast or something? much so, food?." I asked. 

"We're not having a feast but, a send-forth party."

"Send forth party? For who?." 

"You, of course! You see, Chloe. Mr. Domanco made it clear to me that you're going to leave this place in the next three days. I know, I've been bad and mean towards you but, this is the least I could do. I'm inviting your friends over to your room now so, you can have some special time with them. Now, I will excuse you two." She said and tried to leave but I stopped her. 

"Erm... Please wait." Before I could say anything... The room burst open again and our friends walked in one after the other. I can't believe this is happening. 

Is this a planned work between my friend and Juliana? Because I can't seem to understand what's going on right now. They all walked in and hug me one after the other. I guess, they're missing me already even before I leave. 

I had no idea I was surrounded by people like this who cherish me this much not until today. They all sit and were ready to start eating when Juliana walked out. I ran out fastly after her and stopped her before she could leave. 

"Erm, Juliana..." She turned around and smiled a little bit at me. 

"Hey! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your friends?." She asked me. 

"I will but first, I will like to talk to you. Didn't you tell me, you have something to talk to me about?." 

"Yes."

"Can we talk about it now? I mean, if you're okay with it."

"Of course, I am. Can we go to my office instead?." 

"Sure. Right after you." I followed right behind her and we both walked into her office. I shut the door behind me and took a sit across from her. 

I looked at the woman sitting right across from me and mentally smiled. She has changed entirely towards me ever since the day Ken showed up here. 

She asked to have a peaceful conversation with me and here I am. 

"Firstly, I would like to apologize to you Chloe for all the bad deeds I've done to you. I know, I've hurt you a lot in the past, I've done a lot of terrible things to you... I would not want to remind you of the past again because it's just like an old wound that shouldn't be touched."

"You have never offended me but, I was so mean towards you. It wasn't entirely my fault. The truth is, both your sister and her husband came to me. She told me, you've always been bad to her ever since you both were kids. She told me, you were also not the biological daughter of your parents but yet, they treated you nicely. It took your mom a long time to conceive and she decided to adopt you but, you've always treated her who's the biological daughter badly."

"What?!!"

"Yes, that was what she told me about you. She also confirms to me that, there are a lot of several marks on her body given by you. You, secretly assault her. You also wanted to kill her because you found out you're not the biological daughter of your parents and also the fact that, you wanted to seduce her husband and take everything that rightfully belongs to her including your parent's wealth. She told me you succeeded though in taking everything but that boyfriend of yours run along with everything and left you behind."

"She was in so much pain and cried a lot when she told me about the whole story and I had no idea it was all a lie not until days back when Mr. Domanco showed up. He confronted me after having a conversation with you. I told him the truth but, he told me what the real truth is."

"I had no idea I've been fooled all these years and hurt you in the process. I hope, you can forgive me. I know, I was wrong. For believing her but at that time, I had no reason not to believe her. She was so real, every word that came out of her mouth looked so real too. And her husband, he was chiming in with her also and then... The news about you killing your mom was everywhere. The only thing I could think at that moment was to make you pay for all the bad deeds you've done to her family. I had no idea, I was hurting the innocent one all this while."

"Look, Chloe... I know it will be hard for you but please, find it in your heart to forgive me. Just forgive me and I will be okay." She said as she took hold of my two hands in hers. 

Why, am I not surprised by everything she had just said?