Ringing the bell once again, Samuel stood outside Roth's house patiently. He had visited him for the second time in a week. It almost felt surreal.
Roth opened the door after a while. Usually, seeing Samuel pleased him more than anything, but this time, he had a stern expression.
Samuel had failed his duties. His mistake could've killed Nancy. He was well aware of that fact when he visited Roth.
As a foster parent, Roth showed immense love to Samuel. But it didn't change the fact that he was a strict parent.
"Greetings, Sir." Samuel's nostalgic greetings struck Roth's ears lightly as he let him enter.
It was early in the morning, and Roth was still in his pajamas. Samuel had arrived right after the flight to report their return to Roth.
To Samuel, Roth was more of a supervisor than a parent. Roth wanted more than just that.
"Samuel," Roth subconsciously sighed while saying his name, quickly shaking his head.
"Sir." Samuel took a deep breath.
Roth pointed lightly at the couch, and Samuel diligently sat there.
"I apologize for my incompetence. I had been triggered due to different reasons this week. It was involuntary, and I shall-"
"Why were you triggered?" Roth cut his words to ask.
Samuel sighed.
"Must I say it?"
"If you won't, then how will I know?"
"I am scared." Samuel hesitantly muttered. "I apologize! I am no one to be scared, yet I…"
"It's alright, Samuel! I wasn't going to say anything to you about the recent incident anyway. The two of you got home safe, and that's all that matters." Roth clarified.
Yet Samuel's troubled expression remained.
"So, I'm guessing that's not the only reason… If you wanna quit the job, you can. I never forced you."
Samuel shook his head.
"I shall continue nonetheless."
Roth furrowed his brows in concern.
"Are you sure?" Roth asked. "What is it? You can tell me."
Samuel cleared his throat to remove any doubt from his voice.
"Nancy proposed that I might be involved in the recent incident." Samuel hesitantly said. "Sebastian met us and mentioned peculiar things due to which Nancy thinks we are related somehow."
"You're not…"
"He asked me if I knew G-..." Samuel stopped to pass a deep sigh. "If I knew General Bradley or not."
Samuel's eyes slightly teared up, but not enough for tears to fall over.
Roth narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"How does he know about that?" Roth let out a deep sigh.
"I do not know how to comprehend such a situation. However, to gain Nancy's trust, I have given my word to provide proof that I am unrelated to Sebastian. Perhaps I think I am related somehow. But we must find it out." Samuel said as he looked down.
It pained Roth to see they had to go to such limits now.
"You can just quit the job. We don't need to prove anything here. I kinda knew Nancy would cause trouble. Forget about it." Roth sternly said.
"I cannot." Samuel objected.
Roth glared at him sternly.
"You can't?" Roth asked dumbfoundedly.
"Yes. I cannot, for it would be too cruel for Nancy to be left out on her own."
"We can get her case to the prosecution and have them handle it, yes?"
"No. We cannot. You do not realize what we are dealing with. Nancy's forehead had the same marks I had as a child."
….
That sounded wrong. It was getting wrong in many ways. Roth cleared his throat.
"Let's… Do a DNA test."
The words Roth never wanted to utter were out of his mouth, and there was nothing he could do to take them back.
The next Monday, Nancy had to go to college. She had successfully avoided Samuel over the weekend. But how long could she escape her fate?
Thankfully, Nina was to accompany them.
"Samuel, did you guys go to Russia?" Nina asked bluntly, seated in the back seat of the car with one arm on Samuel's seat and the other on the passenger seat, where Nancy was sitting.
It was still unclear to them as to how Nina knew about everything when even her mother didn't. However, they guessed Nina must've heard her father talking over the phone with Roth.
"I shall advise you not to mention such a matter." Samuel sighed as he continued to drive.
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel as Nancy eyed him down. Almost as if he was still in pain.
But Nancy wanted to avoid him. She wasn't planning to say even a single word to him until he found proof of his innocence.
"How's your wound?" She asked subconsciously, quickly covering her mouth and scolding her curiosity.
"Worry not, as I have completely recovered," Samuel answered as diligently as ever.
A gunshot wound healing over the weekend like this was not normal. Nancy's curiosity was eating her mind away slowly and slowly. She believed she would be able to avoid him for good.
But this debater's curiosity mattered more than safety or trust issues.
As soon as they reached the college after dropping Nina, Nancy jumped out of the car and ran inside.
She couldn't care less about David for the time being.
Samuel seemed to be a greater threat. But then she realized David was the one who shot Samuel. Could they be connected somehow? Was it all a part of their plan?
Nancy looked back at Samuel as she walked down the hallway towards her locker.
'David shouldn't be here today… Considering he was in Russia…' Nancy thought to herself.
Nancy wondered if she could see Samuel and David together. Maybe she could tell what they were on about.
She shook her head to clear her mind before walking towards her classroom.
"Nancy's been irregular." An unpleasant voice startled her from the left side of the entrance of her classroom. "Oh, God!" Veronica had her usual smug face on.
"What do you want?" Nancy muttered before continuing to walk to her chair, with Veronica following her like a nobody.
"Professor Samuel happened to be absent too…" Veronica raised suspicions so that the entire class could start pestering Nancy.
"So what?" Nancy scoffed at the class. "Are you guys jealous?" She ended it with a smirk.
Though she had trust issues with Samuel, that didn't change the fact that he was the hottest man she had come across. Ever.
"Jealous? Hmph!" Veronica sassed out. "You won't get anyone with that attitude, Nancy. Guys don't like it."
Nancy raised an eyebrow. They were college students already, but Veronica still talked like she was in high school.
"Says the one who just broke up with her boyfriend." Nancy backfired, only to have her shoulder grazed by Amy.
"They made up," Amy whispered into her ear.
No. This wasn't just about archenemies now.
Veronica was dating the man who shot someone over the weekend. And Nancy had witnessed that. No matter how much she hated Veronica, she couldn't let her date a man so dangerous.
"Veronica…" Nancy sighed.
There was no way to start an argument without letting everyone in on what happened.
David wouldn't hurt Veronica, right?