Exiting the hallway, Anya turned to the dining hall with Alvin when her eyes fell on Linus who was digging in, to fill his stomach. Anya's footsteps gradually slowed down, identifying Linus. She had met him a few times and he had been to her place to pick and drop his father.
'Bernard Collins, Linus Collins, and Alvin Matthews… What is their connection?'
Linus was already looking at them, surprised by hearing his brother speaking so lively with Anya Owen. He lifted his hand without dropping his fork and waved at her, "Hey, Ms. Owen."
Alvin noticed the slow changes in Anya when she didn't catch up with his steps. Turning around, he witnessed her turn cold and a little confused. For some reason, he felt like she was getting angry.
Her mind was running far and wild but she wasn't ready to consider her deduction by assuming. She shifted her gaze to Alvin while her heart raced with unknown emotions. She wanted to believe as he was at her place to keep the information safe from Harper Johnson, after all, Matthews and Johnsons were business rivals.
So Alvin shouldn't have stolen the hard disk, right?
"Are you guys friends?" She questioned very carefully as if she wasn't ready to hear any response to it. Her gaze was wary and she appeared like she was going to run from there, hate them to her gut.
Alvin sensed something amiss with her reaction. She wasn't curious to know about their relationship, rather she was trying to understand something. Alvin looked at her but didn't answer. He knew this was going in the wrong direction.
Linus responded promptly assuming Alvin must have told her everything by now. "We are brothers… I mean cousins."
Cousins!? Confusion flickered in her eyes. How could they be cousins? Matthews had no connection with Collins. Probably distant cousins.
Anya shook her head in her mind to focus on the right part instead of worrying about the rich families' mess.
If Alvin really went to her place to keep the information safe, how did Alvin get to know the location of the hard disk?
Why did Bernard Collins leak the location of the hard disk to Alvin?
If Bernard leaked about the location, isn't he the mole?
Did Bernard send Alvin to my place to keep the information safe?
'They could have told me directly without playing dirty.' She thought, assuming Alvin acted drunk and drugged. Since she threw him out of the villa, Harper's men destroyed her place and took the hard disk away.
She felt her body faintly relax till that deduction. All the while she was blankly gazing at Alvin and the latter waited patiently. Linus watched them while eating in silence.
"You didn't steal the hard disk, did you?" Anya softly asked as if it was the fact and she just wanted to confirm. As far as she knew Bernard treated her like a daughter and she was the one who was always maintained distance. She didn't find any reason for Bernard or Alvin to put her in danger.
However, a little relief left her heart when Alvin's expression changed. Her gaze went on Linus who looked confused and a bit shocked too. Linus asked, "Bro, didn't you tell her yet?"
Bernard had reached the mansion to tell her everything and probably apologize for not mentioning it to her beforehand. Since he couldn't meet her, he wanted them to tell her. Alvin decided to keep her safe personally, hence they thought she would live in the mansion until Bernard could find the mole and clear the air.
Alvin realized she had no idea he stole the hard disk and she had assumed all along Harper stole it. Whereas he had believed she was furious with him because he stole the hard disk. She was aware he had a motive behind breaking into her house, so he couldn't understand what she had deduced for it, if not stealing the hard disk.
Does she need more clear words to explain Alvin stole the hard disk?
Anya's fingers curled into a tight fist and her teeth clenched. Her eyes glistened in anger when her gaze shifted back to the man. She got responses to other doubts looking at their reaction.
Was that the reason Bernard reached her place at dawn before she reported about the missing hard disk?
Why didn't Bernard just give the hard disk to Alvin? Of course, giving directly would raise suspicion on Bernard.
Was she a scapegoat?
Anya suddenly laughed at herself with heavy irony. She couldn't believe everything ends back with her living alone and being single.
If she was living with families like other assistant general secretaries, Bernard wouldn't have chosen her to give the hard disk. How stupid of her to think Bernard trusted her! She was laughable.
Should she be happy that she had sent Zane to her parents' place?
Why does Alvin want the information about Harper's business?
Did they have to turn her home upside down?
Who exactly attacked the car she was in?
Was she saved by Alvin from Harper's men? Or was it another big ploy to play a good man?
Although she had reached her chief, Jason, she just wanted him to take her out of the mansion so that she could quickly clear her name in the stolen hard disk case and find out why Alvin appeared in her home. She didn't think even once to complain against him before knowing the reason.
She stopped laughing and asked, genuinely craving to hear that they weren't playing with her whole life. "Why?... Why did you do it?" Her voice was low in a request, her heart weighing down each second.
Now that she got to know he stole the hard disk and he was aware that she could hack and destroy his family's whole business. What would he do to her? Lock her in a room? Torture her? Threaten her Silence her? Kill her?
Linus didn't hear her words. He left the spoon on the plate and stood up. He wanted to interrupt and explain everything to Anya by considering Alvin and her past 'friendship.' but he didn't know if he should poke in between when both were staring at each other with complex emotions.
In the hallway, Oliver and Sophie were standing still without understanding how the lively conversation between the two ended up with one accusing the other. They didn't dare to interrupt or make any noise. Both looked at each other, considering their presence might not be proper, they silently retreated.
Alvin intended to explain the whole situation to her when he confirmed she was Anya Owen. Nevertheless, her gaze was blaming him. He wasn't even sure if she would believe the truth. Keeping everything apart, his ego stopped him from explaining himself.
Why should he explain to anybody? Probably he was too soft on her.
He wasn't doing anything wrong. He went out of his way, put himself in danger, and saved her from falling into the wrong hands. He was keeping her safe and racking his brain to solve the issue for her when he could have left her to die.
In his view, he wasn't in the wrong, nevertheless, he forgot she doesn't know any of that.
"Err… Bro… Ms. Owen…" Linus hesitantly tried to break the silence and get to know what was going on. He least wanted Alvin's silence to be misunderstood. Silence isn't the best answer every time. He went closer to them.
Anya waited long enough to listen to Alvin. Linus's voice melted her leftover hope and diverted her gaze away. She shakily took a breath through her mouth, almost sniffling in the process. Her eyes burned, threatening to tear up. She didn't even know why she felt like crying. Probably she expected Alvin to treat her like a human as in the past.
Why should he?
She stammered when she looked back at his sharp gaze that turned her blood cold, "Y-you said you s-saved me." And she truly believed it.
She turned towards the hallway when her eyes filled up. She took a shallow breath and tried to keep her composure. "You are destroying me." Then she left from there.
He didn't only disrupt her life by his return, he was destroying her life without letting her solve the situation. Her first deduction was right. Her crush, her innocent first love was back in her life to destroy her everything, her future, her life, her family.
Solve? Why would he let her solve her situation when he was the one who stole the hard disk and his uncle was a mole?
Standing in front of the big double door, she didn't know where to go. She was desperate to leave the mansion but he wouldn't let her go. She wanted to be alone but she wasn't in her place to go and sit in a room. She pulled the doors open and went out. She let the cold wind slap her face and keep her awake to reality.
The reality where rich people do anything they like with their money and power and disregard others' lives. And Alvin was no different. Probably it was time she should replace all the good memories of Alvin with the one she finally recognized.