Chapter 110 Chapter one hundred and ten
FEW DAYS LATERFEW DAYS LATER
Sydney’s POV
I woke up to a silent house. Not that it was always noisy in the mansion but there was always this buzzing energy in the atmosphere, the sound of Tavon’s business like voice (very distinct from the one he used in that room) making business calls or the distant sounds of the whips, the clatters of plates in the kitchen, the murmurs and quiet giggles of Tavon’s staff as they chatted animatedly and cracked jokes amongst themselves.
I had grown accustomed to a
a quiet but not so quiet mansion, but this morning? The mansion was dead silent. If a pin dropped, I swear, it would echo throughout the mansion. It was eerily still as if the walls were also holding their breath
After peeking my head out a couple of times to catch a whiff of any hushed conversation or any hint as to what had gone wrong, I resigned and went to take my bath. The hot water did little to soothe the sense of dread that had settled in the pit of my stomach.
I got dressed and proceeded downstairs to have breakfast alone as usual, My footsteps echoed loudly in the hallways and it was the only sound breaking the unnatural silence.
It felt as if I were the last person on earth
Scarlet turned out to be the one who served me breakfast.
Her presence was almost jarring in the eerie quiet
I raised my brows, “You aren’t assigned to the kitchen”
She smirked, “We’re mourning. The sous chef who was supposed to serve you had developed a runny nose and red eyes from crying so much.” she shrugged, Tm filling in for a colleague.”
“Who died?” I blurted out without thinking and my voice echoed in the quiet house
An uneasy feeling crept up my spine as Scarlet’s expression grew somber
“Lower your voice, Miss,” she warned, then she whispered, “We got the horrible news this morning.”
“Can you get to the point, Scar?” It’s starting to get irritating how she was dragging the whole issue. My patience was wearing thin and the oppressive silence was fraying my nerves.
Tve told you to relax,” she giggled quietly. “Meet me at the terrace,” she said, turned back and walked off
After a few spoons of breakfast, I rushed to the terrace, eager for answers and reprieve from the suffocating quiet. As expected, Scarlet was in her usual spot, smoking a cigarette. The tendrils of smoke also seemed to hang in the air like ghostly fingers.
When she felt I was around, she gave me a brief glance, winked, took one more inhale of the cigarette. After letting the smoke out in a long, slow exhale, she went straight to the point so I didn’t need to start asking questions.
“We heard that Axel was attacked at a gas station.”
My eyes widened and I quickly clamped my palm down on my mouth to stifle my gasp. A thousand terrible scenarios flashed in my mind.
“That isn’t all Scarlet continued while smoking, her voice low and grave. “His whole body was shot through to the point that no one could recognize him.”
“Oh my God” I gasped, my voice muffled by my hand.
No way! We didn’t even need to say anything regarding the killer, we all know who the killer is. The realization hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs.
“Yep! She popped the ‘p“.
I still found myself struggling to process it all.
“My God. So Axel is really dead?” I asked in a low voice, as if speaking the words too loudly would make them more real
“Yep,” Scarlet nodded. If the news we heard is accurate then Axel really is dead.”
“Wow,” I breathed, slumping on the shrub wall, Tm finding it hard to believe this.”
I was still feeling weighed down by the news of Axel’s death to a degree. How could something so unthinkable have happened so quickly?
I wonder why?” Scarlet said with a “really look, exhaling a stream of smoke.
“He killed Luigi for a nonsensical reason. So you can’t believe he’d kill for power?”
There was an edge of scorn to her words, as if my disbelief was naive foolishness
“No, it’s not that.“I trailed off
Of course, I knew Dylan was capable of killing Axel, I just didn’t think it would be this fast. Cold–blooded murder was one thing, but to take out the son of the powerful Godfather with such brazenness, it boggled the mind
I mean Axel, as the godfather’s biological son should be stronger and smarter, shouldn’t he?
Well, he hadn’t had to pose as another man for years and kill lots of people to keep his secret. A small voice in the back of my mind reasoned
Perhaps Dylan’s deception and life of violence had better prepared him for the brutal realities we now faced.
Yeah, but Arel was brought up in the mafia world, a dangerous world. He should know better that there would be people after him as he was most likely to be the godfather’s heir since he was the only child, it was only logical
Outward appearances were really deceiving at times. Just look at meekness of Dylan on the outside and how monstrous he was on the inside
1 would say Axel was too complacent Scarlet broke into the debate was having in my head, smoke curling from her lips with each word
“The thought and assurance that he’d become the next godfather made him let his guard down. We heard he was killed on his way to see his mistress”
A mistress?
Who knows if the mistress was even a ploy to get him out of his house? I commented absentmindedly
Scarlet shrugged, wholly unbothered, and continued to focus on her cigarette and how she puffed out the smoke.
Her calm demeanor was an unsettling contrast to the utter turmoil raging inside me.
“The godfather won’t stand by this time” I said, then lowered my voice to a whisper, “Our plan is only a step away”
We were in too deep now to turn back, whether I liked it or not
Scarlet turned to look at me, her gaze coated with pity. That might have been the most unnerving look of all
“The mansion is now sealed off, you can’t get out. Now it depends on how the godfather handles the situation when he comes back. To everyone now, you are on Dylan’s side.”
rry out the next step of the plan.”
Her lips drew down in a mocking pout, Poor Sydney, I don’t know if you would be alive to carry out
As annoying as those words sounded, she was right.
With one son dead and the other the murderer, Tavon could choose to vent out his anger by killing me and there would be nothing anyone could do
Not Bella or Scarlet.
I bet Dylan would even be glad that I was out of his hair, one less loose end to worry about.
I gave her a faint smile, trying to hide my nervousness that must have been obvious
“It happens that i actually did get killed, please send my ashes to my best friend, Grace. She would know what to do next.*
Scarlet gave me a disbelieving look at my request about sending my ashes to Grace
“Are we friends?” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “Why do I have to do those things?”
I shook my head, regretting having asked in the first place.
“Never mind then
“Better,” she murmured and went back to smoking her cigarette, taking a long drag
We easily fell into a random conversation to lighten the mood and I didn’t try to ask her to do anything for me. Instead, we just sat on the woven chair on
the terrace and talked.
Our chat meandered from topic to topic and turned heedless and lighthearted in a way. At one point, Scarlet even mentioned some amusing things about
the house staff and I was laughing despite the complicated situation I was in
I realized, as I looked at Scarlet and the impish glint in her eye, that if Luigi were still alive, he and Scarlet might have actually made a surprisingly good match. And whether she was his type or not wouldn’t even matter. They both had a similar sense of humor and a strong spirit to thrive and survive
anywhere.
I knew that under all of Scarlet’s toughness and sarcasm and insouciant bravado she was stil a very bright, funny and caring person. Perhaps that’s why she had fallen so hard for the rakish Luigi in the first place. It was sad that the man she was insanely in love with had been killed.
Our reprieve was shattered by the whirr of Tavons car pulling into the compound, the tires crunching on the gravel outside.
Scarlet and I both tensed instinctively at the sound
She quickly stood and stubbed out her cigarette.
have to get to my duty post,” she said brusquely, the lightness vanishing from her voice. And with barely a backwards glance, she strode away, leaving
me alone on the terrace
I sighed heavily and also rose made my way inside the house to welcome Tavon back and perhaps offer my condolences once more for his terrible loss.
awkward as it may be under the crcumstances.
When the door opened, Bella and Tavon walked in. I watched Bella, her fingers intertwined tightly with Tavons as Tavon took a seat.
Every sentence I had practiced flew out of my head and I just stood there, staring at him like some moron.
Drake Nouvonsal kemi astma kod separate, Tavolooked beaten, he looked completely iko a grieving father
My heart skipped a couple of beats when an urned to me
this even dit vary the best always did. That vibrary to love le to the fullest was gone
tap salt is a weak voice, a little more than a horse rasp. “You go back and tell Lucas that I want to have dinner with him
કે # ba+
Tremained rooted to where i stood Dimech
I
The heat as an afterthought, “Tell han he has nothing to worry about. I wont kill ban
te kom was the book that Bella gave me beste Tawon as I exchanged a glance with her
”
Tavon known but he is willing to let Dylan go. Why I wanted to scream in his sad and haggard face.
thed to her gloomy Wight, godfather, please accept any condolences”
He didn’t give me any response. It wasnt standing close to him, I would have thought he dub’t hear me
He groaned as he rose from the chair, followed by Bella Together, they walked up stairs and made their way to his room.
ghed I never thought Tavon could ever look sad and human I really hadn’t meant for Axel to die, he had no hand in all of this conspiracy He didn’t
My anger for Dylan intensified and there was a buning knot of rage in my stomach. Then I realized that I was even more mad at Tavon for deciding to let
Instead of returning to my room to get dressed, I went to the terrace to think of a plan, fast, before I left to meet Dylan and relay Tavon’s message.
Act laced the garden, a figure suddenly jumped out, scaring the hell out of me
eves. Thank goodness I was able to camp down my scream before it reached the ears of every living being in the mansion,
What exactly was that for? I threw Scarlet a glare I should’ve known shed be here.
ded what i said and went straight to why she had wanted to scare the living daylights out of me I know what’s going on now. You don’t have to get worked up there’s still a way to solve it. When you get to Lucas, relay the godfather’s message and tell fun to bring the godfather’s favorite whiskey.
lum to apologize to him”
I squinted curiously at her, What’s the plan? What are you planning to do?”
She gave me a blank look as if to say, “It’s none of your business, you just need to know that our plan will proceed as it should.”
