5 - News of Death

James looked restless. He kept looking at his watch without saying anything. If someone opened the restaurant entrance, his head would suddenly turn toward it, as if he were worried that Zia wouldn't come to meet him.

This made Bella feel a little sick.

“How much longer do you want to punish Zia, James?” Bella asked.

James immediately looked at Bella seriously, disturbed by her question. But Bella also felt she had the right to ask that because James had involved her in his plan to take revenge on Zia for Audrey's death.

The fact that Bella was also in love with James made her hate seeing how much James loved Audrey, who was no longer alive.

“Why? Do you regret what you did to Zia?” James asked back.

Bella shook her head. “Not at all. I mean, end your relationship with Zia without waiting for Zia to give up on your relationship.”

“I invite her here to end everything, Bella.”

Hearing that, Bella felt relieved. At least she could see that James also didn't want to have a relationship with Zia anymore. But on the other hand, she knew that what James said didn't match how he truly felt about Zia.

James's expression was easy to read, and Bella knew it all. James hadn't been able to sit still in his seat since they arrived because he desperately wanted Zia to meet him.

“James, you look very restless and worried,” Bella commented.

“Zia hasn't come yet, Bella. We just arrived, but we've been trying to contact her since this afternoon.”

As Bella had suspected, James was worried about Zia.

Suddenly, Bella couldn't hold back her anger. She was jealous. Again and again, what Bella couldn't have, Zia could get so easily.

“You asked someone to bother Zia, didn't you? Of course, she wouldn't be able to get here easily,” said Bella.

“I just asked that man to mislead Zia to the old address of this restaurant.”

James admitted that he had planned something to scare Zia a little bit. He hadn't thought it would take so long until nightfall. Even when James asked the restaurant staff about Zia, they replied that no one had been looking for her. It had been over five hours.

“I'll kill him if he dares to touch Zia,” James muttered softly.

“What if Zia comes home and doesn't want to see you?” Bella grinned, intending to provoke James.

James glanced sharply at Bella. But Bella didn't react to that because she wasn't afraid. She was happy to see James angry at Zia due to her provocation.

“Where's my phone?” James asked.

“Your phone has a low battery, so I charged it at the cashier's desk.”

Now, James wasn't worried. He folded his arms and furrowed his brow, signaling that he would be very angry if Zia didn't come to meet him. Yeah, that's exactly what Bella wanted.

“Excuse me, Mr. James.”

James and Bella's attention was instantly drawn to the waiter, who suddenly approached them with a face that seemed a little awkward.

“Yes?” James asked.

James and Bella's attention was instantly drawn to the waiter, who suddenly approached them with a face that seemed a little awkward.

“Two small children are looking for you, sir,” the waiter said.

James's brow furrowed. “Little kids?” he murmured in confirmation.

“Yes. They're scavengers.”

Instantly, James and Bella looked at each other. James realized he hardly interacted with children, let alone a scavenger. He even disliked it when some of his coworkers brought small children to meetings. To James, it was distracting.

“Maybe they want to ask you for a donation, James.” Bella assumed.

“Ah, then you should meet them, Bella.” James gave Bella some money.

Bella nodded slowly and got up from her seat to leave the restaurant. When she saw the two children in shabby clothes, she handed them the money. But they did not move, as if they were not interested in the wad of money in her hand.

“We are looking for Mr. James Alexander,” said the girl.

“We didn't ask for his money,” the boy added.

“So, what do you need?”

Instead of responding to Bella's question, the two scavenger children looked at each other as if they were talking telepathically. They didn't trust Bella to convey their intentions of coming to find James.

Bella sighed softly and chose to call James. Perhaps the two children only wanted to meet James and nothing else.

“James, you meet those kids yourself. They seem to be your fans.”

Lazily, James finally met the two boys himself. Both smiled when they saw James. James didn't know how to deal with a child. But then he remembered how Zia had talked to the children so they wouldn't be afraid.

“Hey, are you two looking for me?”

James squatted down to match the two children's height and spoke softly.

Bella was even stunned by the way James spoke. She felt like she was seeing someone different from the James who had always been with her. For some reason, Bella felt that James was a little sweet when gentle.

“Are you Mr. James Alexander?” they asked together.

“Yes. Do you have anything to say to me?”

“A lady asked us to tell you that she couldn't come to see you,” the girl said.

James's smile faded. Even without them saying who the lady was, James instantly knew it was Zia. He became upset that Zia had asked the children to come and tell him.

“Where did you meet that woman?” Bella suddenly asked the question.

Both of them pointed towards the road. “Very far from here.” The boys answered.

“It looks like that woman got lost. She didn't even know where she was and asked us. Then gave us this money.”

Both showed the money in their hands. For children, it was a considerable amount. But what made James take the money from the hands of the two children in front of him was that it was dirty and stained red, like blood.

“The money was dirty because the woman's hands were bleeding when she gave it to us.”

James hadn't asked the question yet, but the girl seemed to know already what was on James' mind.

Hearing that sentence, James gave back the money and even added to it for the two children who met him, who then got up with a bad feeling.

“Bella, let's go home now!” said James without saying anything more to the two scavenger boys.

Bella obeyed and didn't even comment much as James drove the car at full speed without regard for their safety.

“Are you worried or angry, James?” Bella asked as they stopped in front of the gate of Alexander's house.

But James did not answer. He immediately got out when he noticed several police cars in his yard and a bit of a commotion. It was late, but some neighbors seemed curious about what was happening.

Followed by Bella, James got out of the car and approached the crowd with a questioning face.

“Why is there a commotion here?” James' question made everyone shut up and turn to him. James didn't get an answer.

“Zia must have caused trouble for the police to come to this house, right?” James tried to guess.

“N - No, Mr. James. Mrs. Zia... she...” The housekeeper stammered.

“Zia committed a crime? She broke something? or...”

"Mrs. Zia passed away, Sir. Her body was found in a burned condition."