William had accompanied Wish to her apartment. Ever since they got in the car, she had gone silent. A lot of things were going inside her head.
It was midnight when they reached the apartment. On the way to the elevator, the guards apologised heavily for the trespass on her flat. Wish didnt have energy to talk so William sent them away, telling it was okay.
" I will take shower." she said placing Jake's jacket carefully on the table, " You can help yourself in the kitchen. You must be hungry..." she felt kinda bad for William as he had to go through so much trouble because of her.
" It is not your fault.." he knew what Wish was thinking. " Julie captured you because of me so, please....stop blaming yourself, okay??"
Wish looked up and seeing how he looked concerned, she felt better and relieved. It was surprising how he had the right words to make her okay. " Thankyou William."
He was shocked by her sudden words but nodded casually, " Your....welcome. Anyways, i will be staying here for the night so tell me what you want to eat."
She giggled, making him confused, " Do you know how to cook?"
" Well....umm I know how to make eggs."
" Then, do make it for me." she turned around with a small smile, " Make sure you dont burn the kitchen."
" Hey!!" he acted upset but she was already inside the bathroom. Breaking into a smile, he headed to the kitchen. At least, she had lightened up a bit.
Wish stared at the mirror, disgusted by her appearance. In only two days, her clothes were all dirty and ragged. Her hair was a big mess. She shook her head, taking off the clothes quickly and soaking on the warm water. Nothing felt better than resting on the bath tub.
She was rescued but why did it have to be Martha. It just made her situation more difficult. As much as she wanted to cut their whole relationship, she couldnt. They were a trouble and she shouldnt have taken the damn bingo prize. She was now indebted to them and there was nothing she could do.
---
William had actually done quite a good job with frying the eggs. Though the kitchen was now a mess. "Im sorry about it. Will clean it after eating."
She sat to eat, " Its okay, i will do it-"
" No....you have to rest tonight." he spoke up, " Also, Im just returning the favour, of the lunchbox you had prepared."
Wish gave a light smile, nodding. If he insisted, then she wouldnt force.
Later, she went to sleep at her room and William cleaned the dishes and kitchen. After he was done, he went to check up on Wish. She was peacefully sleeping.
Taking light steps, he stood by her bed and stared at her sleeping face for sometime. He realised that he had missed Wish a lot and seeing her asleep, made him happy from inside. This must be how a person in love felt like looking to at their loved ones. Her hand was by the side and he slowly tried to reach it. But when he was about to hold it, he stopped and retracted.
Before leaving the room, he switched off the light and lied down on the couch. Few news were already posted on the internet about Wish's kidnapping. " oh!....I forgot to ask who those men in suit were..."
---
The next morning, Caleb was already on the way to the police station. He still couldnt believe Julie was arrested. Also, was it William who had caught them? It could be possible because he was the brent after all and he knew how desperate William was to save Wish.
Caleb met the officer who had questioned Julie and Jake.
" Well, you can meet them today for 20 minutes." he said explaining other important stuffs. " Oh!....and Julia told her reason for the kidnapping. Did you know about the story?"
" What story??" Caleb asked confused. The officer stared at him for sometime and opened the tablet, " Since your name was written as the trusted person on her form, i will let you see it."
Caleb didnt know what he meant by Julie's story.
" We recorded her and a translator translated her hand signs." a video opened up as the officer faced it towards Caleb, " Julia told she didnt care if we put in the news. But before that, i think you should know it too."
In the video, Julie was sitting right infront of the screen as she did her hand signs with the translator speaking over.
" My father used to be a construction worker. My mother used to clean the roads. We were actually a poor family who lived in a small flat inside the alleys. "
As the words were said, Caleb's eyes widened, making his mouth dry. He had never guessed that Julie's past was something like this.
" When i was only 6 years old, my mom left us. This made me resentful towards her and i wanted to become rich and show her. So, i learned about lotteries and casinos. Anything that would make my dad rich without taking a lot of time. In the next 5 years, i became a pro in that area. I helped adults in casinos and earned money. That money went into buying lottery cards every week. And one day,.....my father won the lottery. That was how we started our business and ended on the elite rank."
It was still hard to believe and Caleb only listened to the voice intently. She really went through this much to get in here?
" After that, i met two boys. They became my close friends in no time. But to not let our company drop from elite rank, i had to do something. It was then i started planning on marrying one of the boys. He was the heir of a top company. If i married him, then i wouldnt have to worry about protecting my company. I did like him....but my greed was bigger so i forced him to like me back. I know he will resent for the rest of his life but i guess....i deserve it."
The video stopped and Caleb remained silent still contemplating about the story. An unexpected story. He didnt know if he wanted to be sad or upset or disappointed. Julie hid such a big secret from them for over years. He felt betrayed and broken.
The officer sent him the video to his phone and told him to follow him. They were taking him to meet Julie her for the last time.
Inside the visiting room, Julie was already seated behind the thick glasses. Her face was miserable with deep black circles and pale skin. She must have been crying for a long time.
Caleb sighed, thinking of something to say. Maybe, if he had watched the video after their meet, he would have talked in a normal way. But things were different now. No matter how much normal he wanted to sound, it was difficult and impossible.
He ended up taking the telephone and Julie picked her telephone too. The time was running out and he couldnt miss it.
"I.....saw the video....of you telling about your past."
Julie gulped, unable to make eye contact.
" Just so you know, i feel terrible and betrayed...that you lied to our faces with that angelic act of yours..."
She started sniffling, as tears flowed down her cheeks.
" I understand that keeping your company safe isnt easy.....but that doesnt mean you had to use William like that and make him look like the bad guy..."
Her sniffles were heard through the phone to Caleb's ear. He still had more to say, " I bet you blackmailed him with something to keep him quiet. But William isnt a coward so he did what he wanted. Was it the reason why you kidnapped Wish? Because you had no choice but to use his biggest weakness?"
Julie couldnt reply a thing. His words were sharp like a knife and it pierced through her heart. Caleb used to care a lot about her, even making her feel like his family. It was obvious he would feel very upset by her.
" Anyways, i think the time is almost up. Lastly,.....i want to say im really sorry Julie. That i couldnt help you when you were stressing over running your company and still adjusting to the new environment...it must have been hard, right?"
By this time, Julie was crying really hard, her hands covering her face.
" Well.....goodbye Julia. Lets meet after 6 months." he stood up, walking away from the room as he controlled his own tears.
.