"I'm Charles Zurro." Charles said, introducing himself. Have we met before?" Charles asked curiously.
"No, I'm here to meet you and discuss how you met your daughter. I read a document about her that says that she has joined a mafia organization. "
Charles's facial expression changed after hearing what Lucas said. But he tried to change the subject.
"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding and saying that you are my daughter's boyfriend," Charles said. My daughter, Cleo, has an illness. She rarely talks. Charles said. "Oh right, Lucas, we should eat dinner first, then we can talk about why you came," Charles said.
Lucas nodded. He can't refute it and can only listen to what Charles said.
The sun has settled. Cleo wore a casual one-shoulder dress, showing off her beautiful shoulders. Her hair still wet, she wrapped a towel around her head. Cleo came down and ate her food.
Seeing Cleo in that dress, Lucas was once again reminded of the mysterious woman who they thought was Shadow. He looks at her suspiciously.
At the same time, Lucas can see a difference between the woman in front of him and the woman that he keeps on thinking about. Lucas frowned when he saw that Cleo was completely ignoring him.
"Why is your hair still wet?" Charles reprimanded "Go and dry it first," Charles ordered.
Especially the dress that his daughter is wearing. He doesn't want Cleo to dress like that in front of a man she just met.
"The hair dryer is broken," Cleo said, getting some more food and eating it, completely ignoring Lucas's presence.
"Is the hairdryer broken?" Charles asked.
"Yeah, the hair dryer is broken," Cleo replied.
"Why didn't you tell me that before? I'll ask someone to buy you a new one."
Cleo glanced towards Charles. How classy her dad's acting is. Even after so many years, the police officers don't realize that the man is a mafia leader.
A few maids that saw Lucas's arrival whispered to each other, wanting to know who the man Cleo brought home was. They've never seen their young lady bring anyone home before.Not even a friend. But this time, their lady returned home with such a handsome man.
Charles saw the bruise on Cleo's body. He knows that Cleo's body has never gotten any bruises when she is on her mission.
"The bruise on your body, who-"
"Em, about that, I met her when she was bullied," Lucas told him when he first met Cleo.
Charles frowned after hearing what Lucas said. Is it true that his daughter got bullied? Does that make sense? How could an assassin get bullied when she killed a woman brutally yesterday?
Cleo doesn't want to say anything about college, making her immediately go up towards her room when Lucas and her adoptive dad are still sitting in front of the table while looking at her going up.
Charles glanced at every maid there. He wants an explanation from them. Do they know about what happened to Cleo?
"T-that, I... about the young lady." The maid said stammeringly, making Charles's gaze intense.
"Just say it."
"The young lady," Every time she returned from campus, she would have a bruise on her body.
Hearing what his servants had just said made Charles so angry. How could they not tell him about Cleo being abused at the camp?
"Why didn't you tell me?" Charles asked furiously.
All the assistants bowed and stayed silent. They did not dare to answer because it was Cleo who asked them not to report to Charles.
"S-sorry, sir. One of themaids explained, "The young lady asked us to not tell you."
Charles took a deep breath and looked towards the room, and Cleo knew what was happening at the dining table from the CCTV. She snorted when seeing her angry dad.
"That kid..."
Charles could only sigh harshly when hearing what the maids in his house had just said. Cleo still has a soft side, she's like stained cotton. She doesn't even dare to kill kids.
"Bring us some drinks," Charles ordered. They went right away to get the two men some drinks.
Lucas looked around, not able to find a family photo. It made Lucas wonder why there wasn't a family photo there at all.
There doesn't seem to be a photo of you and your wife... "Lucas I said, looking around the room.
Hearing what Lucas had just said, Charles laughed out loud.
"Pft," Charles laughed.It seems that you misunderstood. I'm not married yet, "Charles explained.
Even though he has Cleo, he takes care of Cleo himself. No woman helped him raise her.
"Ah, Sorry, "Lucas said.
"It's all right," said Charles. "So, why did you come to see me?" asked Charles, getting serious.
"I want to ask Cleo something about her being kidnapped. In my country, there is a commotion about a murder incident. " "Lucas said while telling him about the reason he came.
"Hmm... About my daughter, Cloe: Where should I start? " Charles muttered, thinking for a moment.
For Charles, too many things about Cleo are still stuck in his mind. He took a deep breath before speaking.
At that time, Cleo was 10 years old when I found her on the street. Her body was covered in bruises and wounds. She was being chased by several people. That was when I first met her. Seeing her so scared, I took her home, but when she lived with me, she made me so happy that I adopted her and raised her in this house. At that time, I had difficulty communicating with her. Some doctors were not able to cure her. That is why she is still in college at this age. "She was traumatized and thus had difficulty speaking," Charles explained, obviously lying about his first meeting with Cleo, but not everything is completely fake.
It's true, Cleo was found by him after escaping from the organization, with encouragement and words that made her the current Cleo.
Lucas, who heard this, asked whether he could record it for evidence. Even though Charles wants to cooperate with the police, he does it so that his activities won't be suspected by the police.
"Do you know who was after her then?" Lucas asked curiously.
"No, I don't know who they are," Charles replied. Charles told him he even asked for an investigation at the time. "You can ask at the police station if you want to know the story, but the case was closed because they couldn't find any evidence."
Lucas nodded his head, he understood what Charles had just said. He wants to know the name of the organization to find more evidence.
After talking for a while, Charles offered Lucas to sleep at his house.
You'd better sleep here. If you want to ask her to go with you, it's best if you talk to her yourself. I have an urgent meeting tonight. I'll leave Cleo for you to take care of, okay? " Charles said as he took his car keys.
After Charles received a call, he went out of the house.
Moments after Charles left, Lucas can hear piano keys being played. Feeling curious about who is playing the piano on a night like this made him go to the source of the sound.
Cleo's fingers were playing on the piano keys, her eyes closed as if she knew where the keys were. The tones seemed familiar to Lucas, who knew where he heard them. Lucas looks at Cleo, who is playing the piano, and listens to the notes that she is playing. He was still standing there when Cleo finished.
"That was beautiful," Lucas said, praising her.
The girl Lucas can see is someone who doesn't understand anything. A girl with mental illness
"Em… Cleo…" Lucas' soft voice tried to negotiate with Cleo. "I want to take you to my country," Lucas said.
Cleo frowned and looked at Lucas who was not far from her, his gaze was so flat. She understands that an investigation is going on about the murder she did. She laughs in her heart, the man in front of her wants to take her to the country where she had just fled from after doing her murder.
"I promise to bring you back here," Lucas assured Cleo that he would bring Cleo back to America after the investigation was over.
Cleo has heard a lot of people use this as an excuse. Lucas, who got the silent treatment, chose to get closer but is stopped by Cleo's sign, which means that she doesn't want him to get closer.
Cleo then wrote something on a piece of paper. She usually also does this to people that she doesn't know. This allows her to be able to judge someone close to her when she isn't wearing any mask.
"What do you want to do to me? You're going to sell me?"
Lucas who heard it immediately laughed, he couldn't believe that someone is suspecting him of being a kidnapper, even though he is a policeman."
"I'm not going to sell you, I'm a policeman. I can't do something like that," Lucas said, trying to convince Cleo.
"What difference does it make if you are a police officer? Even a police officer can do bad things, many of you do bad things such as taking drugs, selling people, sexual harassment, and even corruption. So you may want to sell me."
.
To be continued...