Belle stared at the raging sea while she sat on the cold pavement of the cliff road. The shocking moment when they all plunge to the cold water wouldn't leave her mind. She was so scared that she opened the car door while they were still mid-air, but she wasn't able to get out of the car until they hit the water and Roy urged her to swim out as water engulfed the car.
"Roy...my sister..." she whispered. Belle has been waiting for Arianna to surface but there wasn't any sign of her. She was lucky Roy was able to pull her to the steep ravine despite the large waves and he helped her climb up the rocky crag. But it seems like Arianna wasn't as lucky.
"Belle, you're freezing. My men are here." he said as he pointed to the approaching car."We should make a move first or you'll catch a cold."
Belle didn't move. She stared at the sea with unfocused eyes. Roy sighed as he scratch his head. Didn't Belle hate her sister? Didn't she want her dead? Why is she so anxious now? Is she actually all bark and no bite? What a silly woman.
A moment later, her unfocused eyes blinked and tears started streaming down her face. She tightened her grip on Roy's jacket that was wrapped around her. She begun sobbing uncontrollably. Roy couldn't help but hug her. Was she actually blaming herself?
"Let's go. My men will stay and do the search for us. If she's still alive, we'll soon find her." he coaxed her as he rub her back.
***
Yago felt his chest tightened. It felt like something was crushing his heart.
He held his chest as he steadied himself. He felt lightheaded for a moment.
"Sir? Do you feel unwell?", Tiger asked. He's been staying by Yago's side since he fell ill. He was tasked to watch him closely as it's a very critical time.
"It's nothing." he replied. He just suddenly felt anxious for some unknown reason. "Go give Viper a call. Ask him how Arianna's doing." he commanded.
Tiger sighed. How was he supposed to do that? He has been trying to call him since the other day but he just couldn't reach him! He has been worried himself! He already asked his team mates to search for Viper and their lady boss but to no avail. He wondered how long he could keep this from him.
While Tiger was pondering on how to explain things to Yago, the former's phone suddenly rang. He excused himself as he answered the phone from a distance.
"Tiger..."
Before Tiger could even say a word, Viper's voice resonated from the other end. At that moment, Viper was standing inside a telephone booth.
"Tiger, I'm unable to come back as I might be bugged. Please stay with our boss. Protect him with all you've got."
Tiger's eyes darkened. Viper's voice sounded too serious. It doesn't feel right. Did something happened to them? "How's miss?" he asked at once.
"We.... we were kidnapped. Miss told me the boss shouldn't know of this. But it's up to you if you want to keep this a secret...." he paused for a while, took a deep breath before revealing what he knew. "Arianna is gone. I wasn't able to save her..."
"She....she's dead?" Tiger was shaken. He cursed several times with gritted teeth. Such an enormous favor you're asking there! The lady boss is dead? And Yago shouldn't know about it? Damned. They were all damned.
"You must be kidding me!" he mumbled.
"I wish I am, Tiger." he replied. Soon after, the call disconnected. Tiger was both furious and anxious. How can he end the call just like that? He didn't even tell him how everything happened! How did Arianna die? Who's going to retrieve her corpse?
Corpse. The word put his mind into chaos. Retrieving her body means suicide, right? So he actually couldn't tell his boss anything? It's clearly a trap! But should he just sit down and wait?
Inside the telephone booth, Viper was silently shedding tears. This time, he quits. He's not going to follow any of their orders! He wants to follow his heart this time. He's going back to that coastal road where the accident happened and search the area around it for Arianna's body. He needs to find her to appease her soul and rest his mind. He blames himself. He shouldn't have been such a weakling. He should've protected her well.
***
Belle was seated on the bed, hugging a pillow when Roy came in. She immediately turned to him when she heard someone enter the room. "Is there any news?" she asked when she realized it was Roy.
Roy shook his head. When she saw that, she looked away and hugged the pillow tighter. It's already 10 o'clock in the evening. Nothing came up yet. The water was freezing cold so how could she survive the incident?
"I thought you wanted her dead? Shouldn't you celebrate that she's gone?" he asked out of curiosity.
Arabella sighed. "I don't know. I hated her so much. But I've never killed anyone. I didn't know it feels so awful. I feel so restless."
Roy sat beside her and stared at her tear-stained face. Unlike her, he already killed a handful of people. It didn't feel awful. It will only make you feel bad if you finish someone important to you. "You didn't kill her. It was an accident." he stated. "Think of all the bad things she did to you and you won't feel bad for her anymore."
Belle remained silent for a while before looking at him in the eye. "I was jealous of her. She was more beautiful. More powerful. More capable. She was smarter and richer. She was everything I'm not. I hated her because I looked down on myself. Should that be considered her fault?", she replied. She knew about this since long ago-that she's hating her for something Arianna has no control of. But she couldn't give up on her envy. She felt like Arianna was taking away everything that was hers. But is it really something like that? "Do you think she was telling the truth? Carl really isn't my real father? If that's so then... I was the one who coveted all that was hers." Jane was already pregnant when she came looking for Carl. She knows about it. But she believed her mother when she said Carl was her biological father. Turns out that she was lying! How despicable!
"What if she's still alive? Are you going to give up on your revenge?",he asked.
"I don't wanna see her again, but I don't want her to die. I really feel bad about everything that happened." she replied. She pondered for a while before staring at Roy again. "Say... why did you hold Arianna captive?"
Roy lied down the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Actually, I'm not interested in any of these, but my father took her to be a bait. They wanted to capture Arianna's brother so they needed her to lure him out from his hiding." Roy confessed. "If it's me, I'll just live my life the way it is. Being too powerful means having so much responsibilities. How could I enjoy my life then? It's too troublesome!", he complained.
Belle was startled. Arianna's brother? Yago Evans? Their target was actually Yago? Remembering how frightening the man was, her hands shook suddenly making her grab the pillow tighter.
"You're after him? Why?",she probed.
"It's my old man's dream to take over some maternal clan. Which the brat was the next heir to. Don't know how he plans to seize the power but, it'll be nasty for sure." he answered nonchalantly. He didn't mention specific details, but Yago was quite powerful too! What will happen if they're caught in the middle?
"Roy, how much do you like me?" she asked all of a sudden. Roy raised his brows. Was she asking for a confession?
"I don't like you...." he said and then paused for a while. "I love you!" he added. "Why do you have to ask?"
"Then how much do you love me? Are you willing to leave everything for me?" she continued. Roy couldn't fathom where she's getting at but he considered her question seriously.
"If you're not willing to leave with me, then I have to ask you to let me go. Everything that happened really frightened me. I just want to start anew and live a peaceful life. I don't want any of these troubles!"
Roy glanced at the woman coldly."Let you go? Perhaps in your dreams. There's no way I'll let you go! You're mine and you will stay beside me. Do you understand?" he stated arrogantly.
Belle lowered her head. Yes. How could she order him around? She could only try her luck, but it's actually not that good. What to do, though? She wants nothing but to leave this country! She wants to go somewhere far away. Somewhere she can start over! She's afraid of Yago. She can't imagine what he'll do if he finds out she was the one who caused Arianna's demise! He will kill her for sure!
Looking at Belle's sad face, Roy's heart was in pain. He couldn't help but let out a sigh as he gave in to her. "Alright. Go rest now. I still need to handle a lot of things for tomorrow's flight. Where do you wanna go?" he asked.
Belle was momentarily stunned. He stared at the man lying next to her. Did he just agree to leave with her?