Wow, Millicent is so shameless!
The detectives were waiting for her down there by the lobby as Marsh had said earlier, standing by the entrance. Marsh and Halloway stand with their backs straight, their expressions unreadable as they watch Daisy approach.Though they had not cuffed her for Quinn’s sake, there is not much difference in being cuffed or not when a person is being arrested as a suspect. They won’t tell her arrest but she knows pretty well.Fingerprints are big pieces of evidences.But she did not do it, and somehow, she knows the officer she shares a look with just now knows that fact.Daisy swallows hard, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.The hospital lobby is as busy as usual, but to her, everything feels muted. Almost like she is walking over to an executioner who will put her head in a guillotine and hack!, her head is gone… the whispers of passing nurses, the shuffling feet of patients walking and being walked is all a blur, drowned out by the loud thudding of her heart. She knew Qui
Back in the police van, Daisy sat with her hands folded in her lap. The city passed by in a blur through the window, but her mind was somewhere else. She could feel the tension in the air, and despite the detective’s silence, she knows they are ready to pounce with questions the moment they arrived at the station.In hindsight, she did something real stupid, truly.She can’t hide him forever.Her thoughts drift to John and then to Sienna, and to the events that had just spiraled out of control over the past week and few days.How had it all come to this?“Almost there, Mrs. Worth.” Marsh says from the front, breaking her thoughts as he glances at her tensed up body sitting at the back. The eyes looking ahead and yet so far away.Daisy nods, not trusting herself to speak.She stares out the window, the buildings getting taller as they near the city center and the police station gradually comes into view. She isn’t ready for what was about to happen. How could she ever be ready for some
John Worth can feel his heart pounding away deep in his chest as he speeds through the crowded streets of Brooklyn.His lawyer, Mark Henson, follows closely behind in another car, and John can’t help but replay the past few days over and over in his mind. Daisy in trouble, Charles's strange phone calls... none of it sits right with him. Now, Daisy is at the police station, and he has to get to the bottom of it, to get her out of there before things spiral out of control.They can’t possibly suspect his wife for murdering that scheming bitch, because she did not.As John parked outside the station, he quickly steps out of the car, the cool afternoon air doing nothing to cool his nerves. Mark walks up beside him after parking his own car, adjusting his tie and giving John a serious look. “You’ve been keeping me in the dark about this, John,” Mark said in a low voice. “What exactly are we walking into?”John clenches his jaw, avoiding the question. “Let’s just get Daisy out of here. We c
Bethany Worth arrives home earlier than usual, a lightness in her step that she hasn’t felt in weeks.The stress and pressure of the past few months has weighed pretty heavily on her shoulders, but after today, after seeing that small glimpse of support amidst the chaos, she feels a spark of joy returning.She drops her keys on the counter and walks straight into the kitchen, deciding that tonight is the night for something special. A lavish dinner for her and Arthur, something indulgent, something that reminds them both of better, simpler times than being splashed on the news every morning, afternoon and night.As she rummages through the fridge and pantry, her mind settles on a dish that will be both comforting and elegant.Coq au Vin.A classic French dish, rich and hearty, but with a refined flavor that she knows Arthur will appreciate. It is as good as going to a five starred restaurant because she can make it even better in her own home.She set to work immediately, chopping onio
The blaring of the wake up call shattered the entire silence of the barracks, pulling groggy and half asleep soldiers from the depths of their slumber. The sun had yet to rise at all, but a lone orange light casts a soft, pale glow over the training grounds.Groans and heavy sighs filled the air as boots hit the ground, weary bodies slipping into uniforms with mechanical precision. It is what they are programmed to do every morning just before their morning drills and stuffs.Private, Second Class Mason Campbell adjusted his belt and slung his gear over his shoulders.He was only in his second year of mandatory service, but the routine was already second nature to him. As he fell in line with the others, his eyes briefly scanned the faces around him. Some were resigned, some irritated, and others, like him, were simply enduring another day, staring to actually adapt to it.The morning drill commenced under the sharp eyes of the drill sergeants. Orders were barked, and soldiers moved in
That night, as Bethany Worth settles into bed after a long and eventful day, Arthur has gone to get them one extra bottle of wine to celebrate in their room, her phone vibrates on the nightstand. The screen lights up with a call from an unknown number.She frowns slightly, wondering who could be calling this late. After a moment of hesitation, she answers it.“Hello?” Bethany starts cautiously, waiting to hear who the caller is and why.There is a brief pause on the other end before a voice speaks. “Hi, is this Bethany? I’m sorry for calling so late. My name is Melanie Martins. I’m a friend of Quinn.”Melanie.“He had been Melanie’s ex boyfriend…” Quinn had said that.Bethany immediately straightens up in bed, her full attention now on the caller. “Yes, this is Bethany. Quinn gave you my number?”“Yes ma’am, she gave it to me yesterday. I... I know the man who did that to Quinn.” Melanie says immediately, her voice steady but carrying a hint of urgency.Bethany’s heart skips a beat, he
“You know,” Marsh begins, his tone shifting to something more serious, “for a man who just lost his daughter, you seem remarkably calm.”John Worth feels the room grow cold around him. His heart pounds hard in his chest as Marsh’s words echo in his ears. He freezes, unable to look at anyone, especially not Daisy, whose presence beside him feels like an unbearable weight. Even she can’t raise her head and look him in the eyes, her lips thinning guiltily.Marsh leans forward, his expression sharp and expectant. “So, Mr. Worth,” he says slowly, “care to explain your relationship with Sienna in clearer terms? It seems there’s more you haven’t told us, to find the one who murdered your daughter, we will need the truth… Unless you don’t want us to find out who the killer really is.”John glances at Daisy, whose gaze remains firmly fixed on the floor and her twirling fingers. She hasn’t cried, but her eyes are wet, her silence louder than any accusation.Guilt gnaws at him, but he can’t find
John looks around, agitatedly at all the people around him, gaping silently.Only Marsh seems to find it amusing though as Halloway finds his way out of the interrogating room, no doubt back to the other side of the two way mirror.John lowers his head as he silences the call. The same number had called him some few days before, asking him to come over to the police station. He had obliged and done so, but now, in a bid to save Daisy from getting unjustly accused, he has waddled almost willingly into his own trouble."I think we have to start over, go back and begin again from the start now, Mr. Worth. You said you did not know Sienna until those few days before when she called your wife and revealed herself as your estranged daughter. How about you start from the point you cheated? Who is her mother? Because sadly, we need to let her family know that she is no more."John hangs his head as he mutters almost inaudibly. "Her mother is dead. I don't know if she has any families left, ex
The invitation arrives in a black velvet envelope.No name. No logo. Just a gold wax seal marked with a wolf’s head.Bethany turns it over twice before she slits it open with a knife and slides the lacy edged card out.It reads,“The Campbell Conglomerate is cordially invited to the Sterling Foundation’s Annual Black-Tie Gala.Theme: Midnight Masquerade.Date: This Saturday, 8 PM.Location: The Glass House, Midtown.Dress Code: Formal. Masks mandatory.Life’s a game, play it.”Bethany does not react for a second, and then reads it again… “This is either someone’s idea of a costume party or a shoddy job at making an actual party.”Arthur reads it as well, over her shoulder and frowns, not even the flicker of a smile either. “That’s not real.”“Oh, it is real,” Bethany murmurs. “And it’s bait. It is so obviously so… Sterling Foundation.”Arthur’s jaw tightens. “So we’re not going, it’s that simple.”Bethany turns slowly to face him, eyes clear and determination firm. “I do not run from
The Campbell Conglomerate headquarters is as full as it always is during the days of the week, and the staff are pretty loyal even when their boss has not been in to work for quite some time. The rumor has start to spread that she died or something most especially due to the fact that they had seen as she had been flung into the air two weeks before, had watched as her husband, with bruises of his own, had lifted her off the ground into the ambulance by himself and still making sure that everything, about her, was all in control…For the time she had been at the hospital, Arthur had made sure that Jade was always within reach and every of their works in progress, not out of reach, it had all been in control even when he had been devastated at the foot of her bed.And for it being so early in the morning, it is not silent, it is quite the opposite actually.There’s movement everywhere, in the halls and corners. Phones ringing and staff picking up. Meetings booked not minding that the b
He steps out of the car and closes the door behind him, Bethany is at home now and he just needs to stop by somewhere to make his point known, now that he knows who it is and his wife now does too, there is nothing to hide but to tell her to own up to her crimes and mistakes and just leave them be.Arthur Worth steps out of the sleek black elevator on the top floor and into hell, the dim lighting down the hall, the glass doors that do not reflect anything, looks like a child’s imagination of the opposite of heaven.The top floor of the glass building is colder than a morgue, the air conditioning in strategic positions not exactly helping either. Polished concrete floors. Steel framed windows. Air that smells faintly metallic, Ew.The place seems a little bit deserted and a little bit too silent for this mid afternoon period where staffs are supposed to be wandering around, talking and gossiping over cups of coffee and snacks, waiting for the time they can head for home.Ahead, the gla
It takes about an hour.One long, slow, silent hour between the couple.Bethany stubbornly keeps her back turned toward Arthur, stewing in her own complicated swirl of already fake anger and her pride not wanting to speak first.Bethany tries.God, she tries to stay mad at him but...For a full hour, she gives Arthur the full on, patented silent treatment, staring stubbornly at the wall on the other side of thr bed, answering in one word grunts if he so much as breathes too loudly so he’ll catch himself from disturbing her ‘sleep’.But she’s very terrible at it.She’s always been terrible at it when it came to people she loved.She cracks before the sixty minute mark, because when she finally turns her head, awkwardly and carefully because of the neck brace, she sees him sitting at the very edge of her hospital bed.Not looking at her.Not doing anything visible to her.Just… sitting there by the bedside.Palms flat on the mattress. Head bowed.Like he’s waiting to be sentenced. He do
The hallway is dim and seemingly never ending. Just like is her job to do this once in a while, she is going to do it once again before clocking out of work for the day.Ana Yang walks briskly down the sterile, silver lit corridor of Unique Auditing’s private floor. Her heels click sharply against the marble tile, echoing between the glass walls and chrome doors, ignoring everyone she meets on her way since she has one single focus in mind, do this and get the hell out of here.She clutches a thick folder to her chest, filled with updates, invoices, coded communications. The usual weapons of their currently losing war, she’ll be dropping off the file with the ceo before leaving.Ahead of her, the double doors to the CEO's office loom like the gates of some modern day hell.She swipes her keycard.The lock clicks and the doors swing open.Inside, the room is dim, only thin shafts of light cutting across the floor from narrow windows.And, as always, the swivel chair behind the vast mah
The fourth day in the hospital after the blast seemed just as bleak as the first three days that had come and gone, waiting for Bethany to wake up and open her eyes to absolutely no avail.Arthur hasn’t left her side. Not once, making sure to make sure that she is attended to every single time and cleaning her unconscious body every morning and night.The nurses have stopped trying to convince him to take a break and go home or something. At this point, he’s more permanent than the IV drip standing by her bedside. Martha comes and goes, bringing fresh clothes, home cooked meals that Arthur barely touches, whispered encouragements he barely hears but nods smilingly at anyway, the old woman already has too much on her neck so Arthur always manages to persuade her to go back home as well each time.He sits beside her now, as he has for four days, one hand curled over Bethany’s motionless fingers, holding them as though he is using his body’s warmth to remind her of the way back to him, b
Time slows.Bethany’s fingers brush the handle of the driver’s side door just as the second beep-beep fades into the air. A bird chirps from the lamp post above the lot. The wheels of a nearby shopping cart squeal as someone exits the pharmacy across the road. Arthur opens his mouth to say something…And the world erupts.BOOM.It’s not just a noise., it’s a force. A living, monstrous thing that tears through air, glass, and metal like paper. The car explodes in a big explosion of fire and shrapnel, its roof splitting, hurling into the sky. The windshield vaporizes in a white hot flash and for the person standing right next to the explosion...Bethany is thrown violently backward. Not a stumble. Not a fall. She is launched into the air like a ragdoll and what goes up, always comes down.Her body hits the ground very hard. The sound is sickening, skin on pavement, ribs crunching, skull cracking and the audible sound of all of it.Then stillness.Alarms scream in every direction. The
The man walks in front of the station like he’s trying not to walk into a landmine, slow, tentative steps. He stops at the top of the stairs, takes one deep sigh, rubs his weak looking eyes and takes the few more steps into the building.He does not take big strides and no waving hands. Just quiet, precise steps through the front doors of the Precinct, wearing a weather beaten hoodie and jeans that have seen better years. His eyes are the kind that don’t blink enough, too haunted to remember how.Or at least that is what it looks like to whoever cares to give him a glance.At the front desk, Officer Laney gives him the once over. She’s halfway through sipping her third iced latte when she asks, “Can I help you sir?”The man doesn’t answer at first, first choosing to check if she is a police officer since she is in civilian clothes, then seeing her badge in her hands, he sighs audibly before responding, saying…“I need to talk to someone. Someone in charge of a particular case here.”L
Rumors begin less than three days later.Apparently, grabbing a cup of coffee with a beautiful female Major is grounds for rumors, and even people whom you don’t know who begin to study your every move. The rumors, with truths in them however, rage on the barracks.They spread like heat on dry bush. Fast, wild and pretty much unstoppable. A Major seen sneaking smiles at a Lieutenant during drills, the same Lieutenant caught slipping out of the officer's quarters too early in the morning.Chara doesn’t as much as flinch when she hears then, she’s pretty much used to the weight of judgment.Chara doesn’t pretend to care, not at all.She keeps her chin high, her stride sharp like the boss lady that she is, like no one dares say it to her face, because they really do not dare say it to her face.But Mason hears it.He hears them and unlike Chara with her own steely indifference, he is not indifferent to it.And it gets harder to ignore, mostly because it is not all about him but her.Mason