It was around 6pm when Lionel got home. He speed to the garage and packed his car. Looking furious, he step down from the car and picked up the letters he took from Riley and dashed into the house. Nichole was in the living room busily working on some documents when Lionel stormed in, slamming the table with the letters.
Nicole jolted,tensed.
" Lionel....you startled me"
"What's the meaning of this mum...?" he exclaimed indignantly, pointing to the letters.
"What's the meaning of what?" she mumbled, picking up the letters.
She slowly opened it and was shocked.
"Where did get these from?" she queried, stunned.
"You should tell me mum..." he uttered, disappointed and hurt. Just then, his dad walked in.
"What's going on here?" he questioned.
"You should ask mum, dad..." he muttered and strutted passed his dad to his room. Mr. Dickson swiftly turned to watch him as he(Lionel) glided the stairs and then back to his wife.
"What's going on? Why is he like this?" he queried quizzically, starring deeply at her.
"Hmm...it's nothing dear.." she answered, putting away the letters.
"Nothing..? And he is like that?" he queried skeptically.
"Maybe, he is just in a bad mood." she muttered with a shrug.
"Then I will go talk to him."
"No, no dear. Let me talk to him." she hastily answered chipping in.
"O..kay..." he slowly answered quiet surprised.
"Then..., I'll be in the room. Don't stress yourself so much." he added and left.
"Okay dear." she mumbled.
When she was sure that he had left, she took a deep sigh and slammed herself in the chair, relieved.
"That was close." she muttered, sitting silently for a while in deep thoughts.
"But come to think of it, where did he get the letters from?"she added, picking up the letters.
*********
KATE'S HOUSE
Riley stood wide eyed still starring at the screen, shocked to see a picture of Lionel with Nichole and a man with the caption THE FORD FAMILY.
Kate, Loretta and Nancy stood gazing at Riley as she glared at the picture with hatred building in her eyes.
"Hmm...Riley, I think you should sit down first." uttered Loretta as she held her(Riley) to sit on Kate's bed.
"Loretta? Did..."
"I know Riley, Auntie Nichole is Lionel's mother. I think you should calm down and have a talk with Lionel first." she added.
"I can't believe this Loretta, how can he keep such a thing from me? Was that why he took the Letters from me?" she muttered furiously.
"It's might not be what you are thinking Riley, you....." but before Nancy could end her statement, Riley stood up from the bed and dashed over to where the laptop was. She connected her phone to it and transferred the picture on to the phone. After the transfer was done, she plucked out her phone and snatched her bag that was on Kate's bed.
"Riley...?, I think you should calm down" uttered Kate but Riley wasn't ready to listen. She pushed her phone into her bag and dashed out of the room.
"Riley...,Riley...,Riley..." exclaimed Kate and Loretta after her but she ignored them.
"Oh...shit..This is bad." muttered Nancy as she slammed herself onto the bed.
"Do you think we should call Lionel?" questioned Kate quizzically.
"I don't think so Kate, it's better we leave things this way for now. Let them try and sort out their own issues." mumbled Loretta.
"Oh...God.., this is really driving me crazy." muttered Kate as she sat beside Nancy on the bed.
********
Lionel felt restless on his bed tossing and turning with flashbacks of the letters and the conversation he had earlier with Riley at the restaurant. He felt sleepless just by the imagination of his mother being the culprit.
"Mother really needs to tell me what's going on. The thought of her being responsible for all the tragedies that happened to Riley and her family is killing me." he muttered as he sat upright on the bed.
"She needs to clear things out for me." he added as he stood up from the bed and trod outside to his mother's study room.
He was half way through the hall to the study room when he heard his mother on the phone. He consciously tiptoed to the door to prevent being heard.
"What are you saying Zed?, How did things go this bad? I asked you to keep an eye on him and Riley as well. You never get things done right." she exclaimed furiously.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I tried my best but couldn't get the chance to kill Riley nor her mother." he answered.
"Nonsense, that's totally rubbish. Anyway, change of plans. Of late, Lionel is being suspicious of me and I have a feeling he is watching every step I make so here is the deal. I want you to get ride of him just like you did to his mother." she mumbled with a smirk.
Lionel's eye flew wide opened in shock.
"What...?" he mumbled to himself, stunned.