Elvina's eyes snapped open, ''Where is he?"
There was a faint metallic scent in the air.
The men rushed inside the room as soon as they heard her voice.
''He was here...'' One of them turned the lights on and the room sunk in silence.
Elvina glanced at the corpse in the middle of the room. His eyes were bulging out and there was a garish slit on his neck, a blade dug into one corner of his neck.
''Here?" Elvina's eyes darkened as she stepped towards the gun dealer's body, the only lead to their search who was lying dead on the floor, ''You meant... he is here like this?" her voice was barely above a whisper.
The four men who were standing behind her shivered.
They knew what the reality was. Contrary to the rumors, it was Claire Delaney who was a soft person.
But Elvina Delaney...
''There are four of you...'' Elvina turned around, ''But he ended up like this,'' her eyes narrowed.
The sound of ticking clocks echoed inside the empty room.
The longer the silence dragged, the more unbearable it was.
In the end, one of the men stepped forward.
''We don't know how this happened to him. We have been guarding the door all this time and not even a fly came inside...''
''Not even a fly huh? Would a fly knock on the door?" Elvina stepped towards him, ''Can't it enter by the window?"
The man shivered, his gaze shifting between the tightly sealed windows and her, ''We locked it...''
''Do you see the drops of blood near the windowsill?"
''W-We... cough...''
Elvina's fingers wrapped around his neck, choking him, blocking the rest of his words, ''Stop with those damned excuses before I kill you all and send you off with him,'' her gaze shifted to the corpse of the man lying on the floor, her fingers tightening around his neck, ''I want you to find his murderer, got it?" she turned to look at the man, her gaze wandering to the rest of the people in the room.
''Cough... Cough...'' The man's face turned red from the strength in her delicate fingers.
The rest of the people felt strangled just by watching the scene.
They just hoped for Claire to come here soon.
They knew they have been careless this time and it could get them killed if Claire did not come to their rescue.
''48 hours. Find the person who killed him or just kill yourselves,'' she tightened her grip on the man's neck.
''Y... Yes… Cough…'' he said, struggling to keep his eyes open.
''We will get him,'' the rest followed the suit.
'Bam'
Elvina flung him away and the man crashed to the floor with a loud sound.
The people inside the room were not astonished by her inhumane strength, already having witnessed it before.
Elvina strode out of the room without looking back.
She stepped inside the elevator and as soon as the door closed, she punched the wall, a dent appearing on the metal.
Everytime she believed that they reached one step closer to their goal, she was proven wrong.
Back then, it was impossible to get past the Hale Family security.
Coincidentally, their family friends, the head of the Cardale Family, Archer's father was looking for a caretaker for their son and daughter. So, their aunt, Dahlia entered the picture by taking that role.
All the while, she kept an eye on Emily who grew up with Archer and his younger sister but nothing led Dahlia to Emily's only guardian, her uncle who barely came to the Cardale Mansion.
His whereabouts were always unknown. Just when her aunt got close to Emily and the young girl took the initiative to take her aunt to their house, Andrew Hale went abroad.
Which country? Unknown.
Which place? Unknown.
Then, urgent matters cropped up in their clan and her aunt had to return to the sea leaving both of them here on the land.
Claire and Elvina lived in the slum, barely making ends meet.
Even a tiny stone in their kingdom could easily make them rich if they sold it somewhere.
But there was a rule of the sea that applied to all of the merfolk. They were not allowed to take out any precious treasure from the sea. It was considered an offense to the sea god.
Elvina spent a decade, waiting for the right time. For the time when she could squeeze every single drop of blood from the bodies of those murderers.
And when the day came, she felt no satisfaction. Andrew Hale's death only increased the restlessness in her heart.
She had to find the rest of the people. She had to kill them all but what after that?
Where will she go?
What will she do?
The questions arose in her heart for the first time the day when she killed Andrew.
But she cast those questions aside.
She wanted to find those people. They were just ordinary humans.
But why... The deeper she walked into this, the more suffocated she felt?
Was it the curse? That the Sirens will forever be evil. Was it her evil side being unleashed?
Or... was it a trap? A web that was laid to trap her in it.
Elvina leaned back on the elevator wall, looking at her reflection in the mirrored wall in the front.
Her blue eyes were dull and tired.
Will there be a time when she would no longer recognize herself?
The elevator door opened and Elvina stepped out. She realized that she had not pressed the switch to the ground floor where the party was going on.
She was still in some hallway that had similar Presidential suites like on the floor above.
She wandered aimlessly in the hallway, her thoughts in a disarray.
"Did you do it on purpose?"
Her footsteps came to a halt when she heard the familiar voice.
She looked to her left. The door to the suite was half-ajar and her brand-new husband was standing there, looking like the hot mess that he was. Cough... With one of his hands tucked in his pockets.
Her gaze quickly swept past his sexy forearms which were visible because of his folded sleeves, before roaming up to his upper body. The top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned giving her a glimpse of his chest.
He was holding his suit jacket in his hand and his hair was messy she assumed happened because of his fingers raking inside them.
Elvina's gulped.
What was wrong with the direction of her thoughts? Why was she describing Archer as 'a man written by a woman' in her mind?
What the hell got her being all philosophical like that?
''Must be the stress, duh...'' Elvina mumbled under her breath.
''Answer me!'' Archer looked frustrated but Elvina caught a glimpse of something complicated in his dark eyes, ''Did you choose this venue on purpose?"
Elvina tilted her head to the side to look at the other person but she could barely see anyone from her angle.
She could only see Archer.
''Ah... Is it that woman...?" Elvina thought back to the flowers that she received in his mansion in Silverton, ''Isn't it too early for him to be fooling around out in the open?"
She agreed that it was a no-strings-attached marriage but still...
Her eyes narrowed, and a weird sensation stirred in her heart.
''Is he planning to keep mistresses or what?" Elvina squared her shoulders and flipped her hair as she stepped forward, ready to slam the man for being immoral.
It was common in their world for one woman to have many men but it was going to be humiliating for her if this man kept mistresses given that she was not keeping any men.
A man stepped out of the room.
Elvina's footsteps staggered when she saw the man. So, he was here with a man and not a woman?
If Claire was here, she would have recognized this man as her 'handsome kisser'.
As Archer turned around, Elvina hurriedly looked for a spot to hide.
But the hallway was huge and empty except for a waiter walking in her direction with a food trolley.
The man grabbed Archer's wrist to stop him.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Elvina ran towards the waiter and got inside the curtained layer of the food trolley cart.
''Ma'am, what are you doing?" The waiter stepped back, visibly stunned by her actions.
Elvina's lips twitched. The man had a high-pitched voice but there was no need for him to flaunt his vocals like that. It must have gained the attention of the other two men who were standing outside the suite.
Elvina removed the curtains slightly, without making any movement to step out.
Since the covered portion of the food trolley was facing Archer's room, she was certain that he could not see her.
'You did not see me. There is no one here. You were just absent-minded,' Elvina mouthed, looking into the man's eyes. His eyes closed for a moment.
''What happened? Who is there?"
The man who was with Archer spoke up.
''Nothing sir,'' The waiter bowed, ''I was just absent-minded after talking to my wife.''
Elvina sighed in relief as she adjusted her dress. As soon as the man walked past this room, she will get out of the food trolley.
The waiter pushed the trolley, wondering why it felt somewhat heavier than before.
''Come inside. We can have a proper discussion unless you want us to be all over the headlines tomorrow.''
Elvina could hear the voice of the other man who was there with Archer.
They seem to be close to each other and she inwardly chastised herself for assuming Archer was here with some woman who sent him flowers.
She waited for the trolley to move past that particular room but...