Should I chain you?


    The officer came out, and they left the two of us. The door was closed again as if Attorney Alvarez


    was also a prisoner. The bad man I talked to looked at me again, but I just shrugged my shoulders. I


    adjusted my seat and focused on the person in front of me. I feel he is my savior. It’s not even


    obvious that I’m still eager to get out of here because I know in myself the truth.


    “Attorney Alvarez, how did you know I was here?” I moved my body closer to him and lowered my


    voice because I was afraid someone would overhear our conversation even though there was


    nothing really important to talk about.


    “I saw what happened on television. That is the content of the whole news. Your face is scattered on


    any TV channel because you are the primary suspect.” Even he said the same thing. I''m fed up with


    this bullshit. Why do they me me for something, I don''t know!


    “I''m going insane, Attorney, to exin that I didn''t do that! I have no motivation! Why would I murder


    my daughter for the wealth they use me of?” Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. I''m not


    sure how I''m going to exin it to them!


    “I''m not your enemy and no matter what you do, if they don''t want to listen to you, you can''t do


    anything, especially now that no one can tell who the culprit is.” The Attorney couldn''t take his gaze


    away from me, as if he didn''t know the answer to my situation.


    We''re both deep-thinking sorts, and if we peep inside our head, we''ll both sink because we''re both


    drowning in the depth of thoughts. I simply slumped back in my chair and bent my head to the table.


    There doesn''t appear to be any way for me to get out of here. My tears were also dry; they seemed


    to be drained, and all I could do was swallow the possibilities.


    As I was thinking, a burst of recollections shed through my mind as I remembered the papers that


    the Attorney had before read to me that looked unreal. Nheless, I attempted to guess what he


    was going to say. Perhaps there will be an answer.


    “Aren''t you saying something about the wealth my parents have?” I bit my lower lip, ashamed. To


    ask this, it seems like I felt the thickness of my face. I was raised in poverty, and being assumed felt


    humiliating not only to Attorney Alvarez but also to me. I''mpletely delusory.


    “Why? Are you ready to hear it all?” His face was serious, and I was suddenly pressured by his


    question.


    My heartbeat only got stronger. Tom and Jerry seem to be chasing each other inside me again as I


    remember what he said about Andrius'' father. I want to avoid believing that Andrius and my family


    have a connection. For that reason, I keep wondering if Andrius is doing this to me because of what


    the Attorney is telling me? I sped both of my hands and swallowed. I nodded slowly because


    honestly, I didn’t want to see Andrius after all that had happened.


    “First of all, I want to know if you had a rtionship with Andrius Easton.” He folded his two palms


    and then searched for something from the office case he was carrying. I just watch what he does. I


    wondered what did he put on the table. “It''s been taken since I started investigating you to confirm if


    you are the daughter of Rome Miller and Georgia Miller.”


    I took a nce at the images on the table. This is from when Mary and I went out before I left, but


    there were no photographs when we went to Beatrice and Andrius'' wedding celebration. Although


    there is no photo of Andrius with me, I can see how I exited their fence. Anyone who sees it will


    believe I live there. I handed him the photographs back and slid them in front of him. To provide him


    with an honest response, I shook my head.


    “That was then, not now,” I told him sternly.


    “Good thing, if that is the case because if you have a rtionship, I don''t know if you will ept


    what will you discover.” He didn''t even touch the images, but he pulled something out. That''s a lot


    more paper than I remembered reading, as well as a sh disk.


    “What I''m about to tell you today is the truth. I can''t get anything from you, I have no intention, and I


    only do my job and your father''sst will for me.” I believe that was his preface to what he was


    about to say.


    I remained mute and simply epted everything he offered me. My heart is racing; it appears to


    want to sleep rather than listen to what Attorney Alvarez has to say, but my intellect is resisting.


    They don''t get along at this point, and I think to have a notion of what the attorney would say, but I


    ignore that in my mind, believing that Andrius can''t do that since we still have a rtionship from the


    past.


    “Hugo Easton and Rome Miller are best friends. I also don’t know how they met, but only one thing


    is for sure, they built Somore Business Corporation together. From the time it was small until it


    became a famous and trusted business. It''s a business about building and structures.” His voice


    doesn’t stutter, there’s no trace of lying in the tone, and you’ll get carried away with his story. I didn’t


    interrupt him with what he was saying and let him.


    “Until one day, Rome Miller suddenly vanished. But before his name disappeared, he left me some


    papers.” He shifted in his position as if restless as well. “That was thest conversation we had. A


    few years after that, when his name waspletely forgotten, he was deleted from the tabloids,


    business history, and other books where his name can be seen. The only one to read is Hugo


    Easton''s achievements.”


    “When I saw his name on one of the victims of demolition, I quickly went to the scene. I also give


    your parents a burial because no one took them out to the morgue.” Attorney Alvarez is so


    professional, he doesn''t even change his reaction or expression. There is no pity in his eyes, but I


    can feel that he cares for my father and mother.


    I bowed down since I couldn''t even visit my parents'' graves, not even polish their tombstones with


    their names etched. I simply abandoned them as if they were dead dogs and cats. People cry when


    their pets and dogs die and are buried, but I didn''t even do that for my parents. I''ve recently


    discovered how much of a child I am. I mmed my head on the table and then whispered, just


    loud enough for the Attorney to hear.


    “Thank you.”


    “ording to what is written on the paper, if ever Mr. Miller and Mrs. Miller died, you will have a


    share in Somore Business Corporation, and they will be unable to remove you from your position in


    thepany because your name is there, and Hugo Easton signed it as consent. Hugo Easton


    signed it in return for Rome Miller quitting their firm. I''m sure something more profound has


    urred, but whatever it is has been buried in obscurity, and all we need to focus on is the


    apparent aspect.”


    “In that case, why do you have to ask if Andrius and I have a rtionship, it''s not connected to your


    story, all you said is about his father and my father which is we shouldn''t be involved anymore.” I


    raised my eyebrow because he made me nervous for no reason. I thought Andrius did a lot, so he


    was able to say such a thing.


    “That is my point.”


    “What?” I''m irritated because it seems like he''s just hanging me on to what he''s saying, and he


    won''t just go straight to what he exins.


    “Thepany that caused the demolition in your area was Somore Business Corporation.” He


    averted his eyes from me as if he didn''t want to say the next words. “The name of Andrius Easton


    was the owner of Somore Business Corporation then. It''s either he didn''t know you lived there, and


    it didn''t happen on purpose, or he and Hugo Easton did it on purpose so that you wouldn''t step on


    theirpany again.”


    Because I felt like a statue, all the blood was gone from my face, as if I had been cleansed with cold


    water and then coated with a shifting fire. Someone awoke my sleeping furious heart, there was


    perspiration on my palm, hate concentrated that, I believed, had died due to the loss of my parents.


    I assumed that what Adonis left me after I lost my daughter would not aggravate my grief; I had no


    idea that it would.


    I want to dash out the door, get a dagger, and stab him and Hugo Easton in the neck. Something


    odd engulfed me; it ruled my mind, yet nothing came out of my mouth. I couldn''t say anything, since


    my brain was still determining whether what I heard was urate.


    When I had recovered from what had urred, I demanded that he confirm everything to me.


    “Does this imply that Andrius is responsible for arge number of murders? That Andrius is the


    cause of my parent''s deaths?”


    I assumed at first that he was just exposed to the lives of the wealthy, and it became usual for him


    to see and watch the filth that people around him were doing, but I don''t believe that''s why he got


    immune to it, even if he was a killer. Fortunately, as my tears were dried, they didn''t drop even


    though I was mad, but I knew there was a roseroot with many thorns in my heart. Because of the


    thorns sewing me, I could feel blood gushing inside me.


    When he nodded, that''s when I heard that the iron door mmed shut because of the man guarding


    me. The officer I talked to earlier stared at me sharply as if the Attorney and I were talking about


    something bad. The attorney stood up and returned the papers and photographs. He even took the


    disk I was holding. The iron sounded again, that is why Attorney was rushing. I looked there, stood


    up, and walked towards them.


    They make my head boil even more since my blood is so heated. I grabbed up a broken chair on


    the side and banged it hard against the steel door. I observed the police officers'' shock and dread


    as a result of what I did. Perhaps they didn''t believe I was capable of doing so. When their


    behaviors went back to normal, they calmed down. I returned to my seat to speak with the Attorney.


    I saw he was now smiling at me.


    “I''ll do anything to get you out of here.” That was thest thing he said beforeing out.


    ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    I thought no one wasing in, and the officer was going to take me to jail. However, I heard the


    voice of the man I hated the most. My jaw was tense, my pale face because of what I found out


    suddenly turned red with resentment. Is he happy now that he has done everything he craves? He


    has already ruined my life, what else does he want to happen? If he only wanted thepany, for


    fear that I would snatch it from him, I had no intention. Why do I have to suffer? Everything is so out


    of ce.


    “What are you doing here?” My voice is snowy, he needs to light a fire to get it back to normal, wear


    a thick jacket, or whatever to get my treatment back on him before.


    “Caroline, don''t reject me. I''m doing everything to help you.” His voice was mixed with irritation and


    sadness. I don’t know what else he needs from me. He had done everything, I had lost my family


    and the second family that epted me and had also died. There is nothing left for me, so he can


    stop now.


    “Should I be grateful for what you''re doing now?”


    He went silent at what I told him. Rude to listen to, but I can''t appreciate him. Even he gets me out


    of jail, gives me another ce to sleep, and makes me feel what he had felt and shown before.


    Gone. I will no longer fall for that same trick. Where else should Ipare the pain I feel? It was as


    if my husband had betrayed me as if I had caught my husband with another woman because of


    what I found out. I could not move, my body felt like it was chained.


    “Get out. I would rather be imprisoned than receive help from you.” I still had my back to him, not


    moving because I was afraid that when I did, I would fall to the extreme weakness of my knees.


    I heard a ng and creak, so I was met face to face suddenly, especially when the surroundings got


    dark and the only light was left. I looked at the door and saw it was covered with arge cloth, and


    we could no longer see, I looked badly at Andrius. Now, how can I love someone who can''t control


    himself? Don’t know a word and always do something that will ruin my world? Every day, as I walk,


    everyone moves but me? I feel like I’m still trapped in his room, chained, waiting for his return. How


    can I love someone who doesn''t even know his word?


    His eyes were zing and red as if he had just awoken, he had new hair that seemed as if he was


    in a rush to get here since it was still damp, and his eyes were blue. Since Cassandra''s death, I can


    no longer findfort in those eyes; instead, it is grief that envelops me. Every time I gaze into


    those eyes, I feel pain. I lowered my attention to the dimly lit floor.


    When he approached me, I didn''t move away, I didn''t lift my face, he lifted my chin, but I


    immediately smacked his hand. His caress, which I used to seek, is no longer there. The ones he


    used to cherish are no longer with him.


    “Should I chain you again, so I can say you''re still mine?” he said, his voice cold but regretful.