It was the congratulatory party inside the Gomez's mansion. Prince promised to hold a party for the Gomez family for being supportive and cooperative with The Marriage Proposal. As the toast started, and the guests piled up in the tables, standing, conversing with each other a little, Prince was waiting with her aunts for Bryce Fajardo to come.
He's one of the people who made the plan possible. But he screwed up, and now, the other half of the plan is ruined. Aria was still on the hospital, knocked out on IV, and Prince checked her every now and then. It will be suspicious to kill her in an instant, and even though he had the time to do so, if she's not destined to be dead.
Prince chinked glasses with her aunts and uncles, and he received a lot of congratulations.
The stage has a national television in it. And when they opened it, everyone turned to it, waiting for the news to come.
Patricia, his aunt, asked, "Did you get rid of Avery's body well? I'm afraid everyone can smell her decomposing body."
All of them laughed. Prince answered, "Of course, Auntie. We buried it deep in the mountain, and no one can find it but us."
Everyone snickered. The whole family of Gomez was delighted to have the bloodline of Cortez-De Leon to get wiped out. This would be a thrilling end to the accusations in their family. Although Prince couldn't promise to his father about reducing his sentence to a minimal, still, he'd be grateful.
The one who put him in a misery, their late friend Zion Cortez, should repent for his mistakes in Hell.
"The late Zion Cortez doesn't have my respect, you know, our dear Prince. He was the one who put my brother in misery inside the prison. Along with Nathan, he's the reason why my brother will suffer forever in prison." The anger in their voices indicated how much they despised Avery and Aria's existence. Prince should help them in every way they can…
But whenever he thinks of Aria, Prince couldn't help but to remember her pale face and the way she pleaded for help. He gave a little smile, and drank the rest of his champagne. Prince turned to the door, and saw a familiar head bobbing up, looking everywhere. He put down his glass, and excused himself.
Prince walked to the red carpet down to the door, reached Bryce, who was looking fresh and brand new, and tugged his suit. It's a little late for Bryce to see it was actually Prince. They went out of the mansion, down the side wing, and Prince threw him by the railings.
Bryce held onto it, turning to him. He composed himself, standing in the same stature Prince was.
Prince raised his eyebrows, placing his hands on his hips as Bryce's eyes met his.
"You have the face to show up here when all you do was let Aria loose in your grasp, huh?"
Bryce didn't know if he should kneel down, to say sorry, or to get rid the woman he loves. Prince waited for his answer.
"What… you lose your wits when she said she's pregnant, right? Your thoughts screamed out loud not to do it, yeah? Your subconscious was whispering to you that it's an evil thing to kill a pregnant woman, right?" Prince was wicked, and Bryce was just doing it for the sake of following his plan. He never wanted to decline his father, and they're the ones doing the dirty work.
Bryce knuckled his fists, turning to Prince, asking him, "Aren't you feeling guilty of what we did, Prince? You killed Avery, and I should kill Aria, but I didn't do it."
Prince shook his head. "Why would I when they're the daughters of the one who brought our fathers in prison?"
"They're the child! They're not Zion Cortez, Prince!"
Prince couldn't help but to punch Bryce in his face. Bryce flew out, but regained his stance right away. He wiped the blood in his lips, and it made him wince. First thing when he came here was to get a punch as a reward for holding Aria. Bryce turned to the building's side, and sighed.
"We have a lot of things to clean up but you brought a mess, Bryce. We are here for revenge, but you ruined it!" Prince shrieked. Bryce turned to him, and shook his head.
"It's not like my father wanted to do it. Your father was the one who wanted it…"
Prince reached forward, grabbing his collar, and tugged on it, shaking Bryce. His face touted with anger. Prince doesn't want to let anyone talk ill about his father.
"Don't you ever talk ill to my father! You don't deserve to talk back to my father, alright?!" Bryce swallowed. Prince was dangerous when he's angry. He wouldn't develop any second thoughts to not even pull that trigger. Bryce pushed him away from him, and straightened his suit.
Both of them stayed silent.
Bryce calmed down, asking in a low voice, "So what are you going to do now with Aria? You didn't tell your father I didn't kill her. Your family must have not known that I didn't kill Aria."
Prince turned to him, uttering, "You owe me, Bryce. I planted a fake body to the spot where you should kill Aria, but since not everyone knew her… you could just say you killed her. Good thing I didn't place you to assassinate Avery De Leon, or else our plan will be ruined and both of us will be already be in jail."
They're law defenders, but they're doing this evil thing of murder. Bryce clenched his jaw.
"So now what? Are you going to hide her?"
Prince was still thinking of a way. "It's better to kill her."
Bryce came up close, the horror in his face. Prince turned to him. "No, Prince, you can't do that."
Prince nodded, muttering, "You wanted to see the child in her womb, right? That's why you didn't kill her?"
"Prince, please," he pleaded. Bryce's eyes formed the guilt. Prince hadn't been that kind of a softie like he was.
Prince got angry, bawling out, "Did you know our fathers are suffering inside the prison and now you're thinking of that woman?"
Bryce isn't determined to kill her. "Hide her, Prince. Can you please do that? I'll help you with it."
Prince chuckled. "Do you even hear what you're saying, Bryce? We're two against all of Gomez and Fajardo. We're the one assigned to this task of execution, and we failed the first mission ever. Do you think they'll let us off the hook?"
"Only… if we're caught!" Bryce confronted. Prince couldn't believe Bryce still had to explain everything to find an escape with his failure. He guffawed, looking at the night skies, and turned to Bryce.
"Prince, please. She has my child. I don't want her to die just because we seek for revenge. I'll help you on hiding her."
Prince confessed, "Did you even think she'd go near you? She'll never do that again, Bryce. You're leaving me alone with a single choice."
In his part, he was pitiful. When he helped her, Aria was bleeding. She might lose her child that time if Prince didn't help her. She's in hospital and in good monitoring. Aria might save her child in no time, just less of the rigid activities she played last time.
"I'll watch her from afar. Do the actions from me."
Prince doesn't want to be in favor of someone else. As he turned to meet Bryce's eyes, he said, "I have to have a single wish from you. I'll claim it after I'm done with your job."
Prince fixed his tie, adjusted his collar, and leave Bryce in the cold air. He walked away while Bryce was staring at his back.