223: KNOW THIS ARIEL’S POV Right here at this party, Andre and I stood close to each other, still discussing. The music was loud but needed to be more clamorous to cease our conversation. I had told Andre about Laura and how she saved me. But now I was about to bring everything out to him. Everything that led to this situation, where Lukel was no more, and Janice was nowhere to be found, And Luke? I shouldn’t even be talking about that scumbag. “You see, a year ago, I was working with Mason to ruin Luke,” I started after I had taken a deep breath. “We had a plan to bring him down, but at the last minute, I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t bear the thought of ruining someone’s life like that.” Andre’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “But why were you working with Mason in the first place?” I let out a bitter laugh. “Because vengeance consumed me. Luke had wronged me in the past, and I wanted to make him pay. But I couldn’t do it when the time came to carry out the plan.” “So what happened?” Andre pressed, his eyes never leaving mine. “Mason was furious. He decided he would take matters into his own hands. And he did.” I spoke and exhaled deeply. “He went ahead to leave me broken, bringing so much pain to me, messing with my children.” There was a moment of stunned silence before Andre spoke again. “What? Why would he do something like that?” “Because I backed out of the plan. He wanted to teach me a lesson. And he succeeded.” My tone was filled with anger and sadness. I took a deep breath and continued. “But that wasn’t the end of it. Mason was the one who set Luke’s company on fire. And he also sent Harriet to kidnap my daughter.‘ “Wait a minute. Did my brother do all these?” I nodded. “Yes, he’s a monster.” “Wow, that’s just surprising. Yes, Mason was a psychopath and annoying. But I genuinely had no idea he would do something so baleful.” “Hmm, well, you know now. Mason is really dangerous, and now I have to go find my daughter before things get out of hand.” “You want to find your daughter?” “Yes,” I replied. “Are you really sure about that?” “Of course. Why are you asking?” 223: KNOW THIS 2/4 “Because if you were serious about finding your daughter, you wouldn’t be here attending this party right now.‘ “Thank you for the lecture, sir.” “I can’t argue with you; it will be pointless. So, did Mason kill your son?” “No, he didn’t. Although he tried to.” “If he didn’t, then who?” “Luke,” I replied. “Luke?” “Yes, Luke. He was the one who killed my son.” Andre had a confused face. “How do you know all of this?” “Because someone told me.” He leaned forward, his expression serious. “But how can you be sure that Luke killed your son? You shouldn’t just believe what someone tells you, especially in a situation like that with no evidence.” “I know it sounds crazy, but I just have this gut feeling. It was clear why he would do that.” “Clear, Ariel? Are you being real now? Someone told you Luke killed his son, and you believed that? I mean, does that even make any sense?” “Okay, if you think you can change my thoughts about Luke, you’re wrong.” Andre took a deep breath and reached out to hold my hand. “I understand that you’re hurting, and you want someone to blame. But you can’t just jump to conclusions without any evidence. You need to stay strong for your daughter; she needs you now more than ever.” I nodded, looking into his eyes. “You’re right, André. I need to be strong for my daughter.” “Do you have any idea where Janice might be?” I shook my head. “No, Mason never told me, nor did Harriet. But I’m afraid he might do something to her. Because that man is a psychopath.” “Then we need to find her. We’ll figure this out together.” “Yeah, you’re right. But hey, do you remember this one time when you said you had lost someone close to you?” I asked, trying to jog his memory. His brows furrowed for a moment. “Why are you asking?” “Well, this is going to be a serious, kind of sensitive topic. But I really need to know since no one in your family mentioned it. Who was this person?” “And you really want to know.” 3/4 I shrugged. “Well, if you don’t want to tell me, it’s cool.” It was my girlfriend back in college,” he said immediately, letting out a deep sigh. “Her name was Cherry.” I was kind of surprised. In all these years of knowing André, I had never heard him mention a girlfriend named Cherry. He never even had a girlfriend. But, of course, that was his life. “I’m so sorry, André. What happened?” His eyes grew misty. “Apparently, she died due to a drug overdose.” “Damn, that’s terrible. I had no idea. I’m sorry, André.” He gave me a small smile. “It’s okay, Ariel. It happened a long time ago.” “Care to tell me about her?” I fixed my hand on his shoulder, wanting to know more about the girl who had captured his heart. “Cherry had the most beautiful smile. It was infectious, and I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw her. She had this laughter that was like music to my ears. She was kind, funny, and so full of life.” I could see the love and adoration in Andre’s eyes as he talked about Cherry. It was clear that she had meant everything to him. “I’m sure she was an amazing person. Andre nodded. “She was. And although I was still young at that time, I still think about her.” “Ohh, it’s really heartbreaking, and I’m sorry for bringing up the pain.” “It’s okay, Ariel. It’s good to talk about her sometimes. It helps me remember our good times,” Andre smiled, prompting me to also smile. We were both silent for a moment, lost in our thoughts, while the music continued filling the hall. But then André broke the silence. “There’s something I’m wondering about right now.” I glanced at him, and he continued, “And I believe you know the answer to that.” “What exactly?” I quizzed him, raising an eyebrow. “It’s about Mason ruining Luke. Why would he want to do that? Did Luke offend him in any way?” “That’s your question?” “It sure is.” I shook my head. “I forgot to mention that to you. Did you have any idea about Mason’s girlfriend?” “Mason’s what now?” “His girlfriend. I think her name was Sofie.” “Hmm, not really. Mason never told me he had a girlfriend. I barely even asked him about his life. We lived in different countries for years, so I had no idea about most of what he did.” 223: KNOW THIS 4/4 I looked at André for a moment. “Oh, I see. Well, Mason had a girlfriend whose name was Sofie. And your brother blames Luke for her death. He said Luke killed her. So yeah, that’s why he wants to ruin the billionaire.” Andre let out a sigh. “Man, this story is really complicated.” I chuckled. “Don’t mention it.” My phone vibrated from a text I had just received. And the moment I opened it, both of my eyes were bigger than before.
