Chapter Eleven

Ryan read the message that his Mom sent him carefully while Emily looked at him. Margaret called his cellphone again and again and  it buzzed in his hands continuously. “Pick up the phone.” Emily urged him. He shook his head. “Why don't you want to take your mother's call? “She asked me to explain to you in detail what happened to your parents.” Margaret stopped calling Ryan for a moment. “Go on and tell me what happened to my parents.’’ Emily demanded. Before Ryan could say anything, Margaret started calling him again. He decided to answer it this time. “Where are you?” She demanded to know, in a cold tone.

“Why do you want to know?” He asked, looking at Emily. “I want to come to my house now.” “I cannot drop everything I am doing and start coming right away.” Ryan replied. “You have no clue about what is going on.” 

“Whatever is going on, you have to say it over the phone.” There was a brief moment of silence. “Is your wife there with you?”  Margaret asked softly but Ryan did not reply her. “I knew she was going to be trouble right from the day I met her.” Margaret added.

“Put the phone on loudspeaker.” Emily demanded, as she moved closer to Ryan's phone. Ryan did not want to obey her, but she yelled “Ryan,”  and he put it on speaker immediately.

“Mrs Carter, do you know who has been sending you those messages?” She asked with a very loud voice.

Margaret was quiet. “Do not lie to me.” Emily added. *I did not send those messages.” Margaret said. “I am sure you know who did.’ Emily claimed. Margaret hesitated for a few seconds before she finally said, “I think I might know who sent them.” Emily demanded that she give her a name but Margaret ignored her. “I want you to leave your new apartment right away.” Margaret said. Emily wanted to know why she had to leave her new apartment. “The person who is responsible for sending you those messages is also monitoring you, and I don't think he is working alone.”

“Why don't you want to give me a name?” Emily asked her. “You don't know the kinds of people that you are dealing with.” Margaret replied. “I know exactly who I am dealing with. I was married to someone who turned out to be having an affair with my best friend. So I know exactly who I am dealing with.”

“You have no idea what you are dealing with.” Ryan turned away as Margaret kept quiet for a few seconds. “You should worry less about your marriage, because that is the least of your troubles.” Emily demanded to know what she meant by that. “Your Mother and Father had a lot of enemies when they were alive.” Margaret told Emily. “Wait, are you trying to tell me that they didn't die from the car crash?”

“It was not an accident.” Margaret told her quietly. “So you knew about this all along.” Emily told Ryan, looking at him with disgust. She demanded to know everything about her parents and every detail about their death. Margaret sighed heavily. “That is the only information I can give you for now.”

“You have to give me more.” Emily demanded with a broken heart. Margaret refused to share more information with her, and requested her to leave the apartment. Emily pleaded and pleaded for more information. “Your Dad Knew he was going to die,” Margaret said. “How did you come about this information?” Emily demanded to know, as her eyes almost popped out of her face. “He left a message for Damian's Dad.” At this point Emily was now wondering why everything keeps revolving around Damian Knight. She pondered heavily. She pleaded with Margaret to tell her what the message says but she claimed she had no idea and never read it. Ryan had become furious because of his mother's lies. “Stop all these childish games you are playing, Mom. We are not children.”

Ryan yelled, as he demanded the whole truth from his mother. “I am trying my best to protect you,” she said. “What and who are you protecting me from? Hiding the truth will do more harm.” He said. Margaret ended the phone call as soon as he said that. “This is the right time to tell me everything you know,” Emily told Ryan. He started narrating to her, how he stumbled on some financial documents belonging to her father in his dad's office. “He is sending money to someone,but I don't know who it was for now.” Ryan explained further. Ryan swore that he had no idea whom her father was sending the money to, but Emily did not believe that. “You must think I am a fool, don't you?”  Ryan lowered his face and said “I know that you don't believe me, but I know somebody who will.” “Who could that be?” Emily asked. Ryan said “Damian.”  Emily could not hide her surprise as Ryan said his name. Ryan turned to her and continued. “Damian has been digging into this issue longer than me’’

Emiiy asked why he thought Damian would love to help her. Ryan informed her that her parents' sudden death was somehow connected to the downfall of Damian's father.  “So this one night stand I had with Damian was not a coincidence.” Emily thought out loud. Ryan became very angry at this point. "So you really had sex with him. I have always known it. You had sex with my enemy just to get back at me."

“Do you think he orchestrated all this?” "How did he find out that I will be at the bar that night?"

Ryan looked away. "Do you think he used me to get to you?" "What do you think he wants from me?" She had too many questions that demanded answers, but Ryan is not the right person to ask those questions. Immediately, they heard footsteps coming towards them. Ryan wanted to know if she had called anyone earlier, and she said no. They saw a shadow move under the door as the footsteps stopped coming. Ryan goes in front of Emily and tells her to stay behind him. Emily giggled as she questioned the urgent need to protect her. Then somebody knocked on the door.

Three slow knocks. Immediately, Ryan's phone rang. It was accompanied by a message that said “I will give you just five minutes.”

Ryan became worried.

“What did it say?” Emily asked. He showed Emily the message. She asked who was outside as she looked at the door. Ryan said "I don't know," as he shook his head. Emily shifted backwards in fear, as someone started to open the door. When the door was eventually opened, someone came inside. Unexpectedly, it was Sophia. "Sophia!" Emiiy shouted. "You scared me," she said.

“Why did you come back?” Sophia looked at Ryan.

“I called your cellphone countless times but you were not answering.” Then she turned and saw the broken door lock, and requested to know what had happened. “Who broke this lock? she asked. “An unknown man was trying to break into the house,” said Emily. Sophia frowned and told Emily that they have to look for an alternative apartment. Ryan supported the idea immediately. 

Emily picked up her purse from the unpacked boxes, she thought they were leaving immediately. “I uncovered more details about the trust that I promised you I would look up earlier.” Sophia said as she unzipped her work bag. “Wow!” Emily exclaimed, as she anxiously waited for more details about her trust. Sophie brought out the envelope containing the original agreement and gave it to Emily.

“Start talking.” Emily said.

“What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?” Sophie asked. “Just spill the whole beans already.” Emily said. “Your mom and dad placed a restriction on your inheritance, which doesn't allow the transfer of ownership to your husband.”

But Emily already knew that. Sophie turned over to the second page and informed her about the Protected Investment Account that her parents opened for her, which contained over 18 million dollars. Emily shouted with joy, but her joy was cut short when Sophia told her that the account had been emptied. “What! By whom?” She demanded as her heart broke in pieces. Sophia opened the next page of the document and told her that it was emptied 2 years ago. Emily looked at Ryan, he was standing still. “I didn't withdraw any money from that account.” He said. Sophia showed her the signature that authorized the withdrawal. Emily looked closely and discovered it belonged to her. “ Someone must have doctored them, “Sophia whispered. Emily's heart was shattered. She didn't believe that Ryan was innocent. She could not even look at him. Ryan's phone buzzed. He answered quickly so that Emily wouldn't be upset. It was male caller. “Who are you and what do you want?” The caller laughed calmly and said, “Ask Emily to stop digging,” and ended the call. Emily looked at him and demanded to know who it was. Ryan ignored her because the caller had left a final message.

Victor Knight.