DYLAN'S POV
It took Anisha a long while to calm down, but she was not completely back to her usual self. Her hand was already bandaged; for Joey had taken care of it. She looked up at me and cried, "Dylan! That man almost raped me!! That man almost raped me, Dylan!!"
"Shh, it's all ok now, my dear. He is gone. The cops will take care of him."
She cried bitterly and her tears fell on my chest. I continued to comfort and assure her that she was safe.
"Dylan, why do bad things happen to me all the time? Why?"
"Don't think too much about it. It's just that Logan came up with this stupid idea. …..Listen Anisha, do you remember what happened? Who brought you inside the suite?"
"It was Raelynn. Raelynn drugged me and arranged for me to be raped," Anisha spoke without any hint of hesitation. She sounded very confident and sure of what she was saying.
Raelynn! I could not help but wonder why Raelynn would do such a thing. As far as I knew her, I had always believed Raelynn was a good person who wouldn't even harm a fly. She was usually quiet and seemed to always mind her own business; yet here she was, being accused of such a terrible crime!
Anisha looked up at me and whispered in a shaky voice, "I want to go to my mum, Dylan. I want to go to Hallowcave. Please, Dylan, take me to my mum. Take me to Ms Meyerton. I want to go to Ms Meyerton. Ms Meyerton…" she broke into tears afresh.
I brought her close to me to comfort her, and I assured her, "I will personally take you to her. Don't cry, Anisha," I kissed her on the forehead.
***
When Pete finally confirmed that indeed Raelynn was part of it all, I immediately knew that the matter was much bigger than it appeared. I did not want to believe it. I did not want to believe it; but Pete already knew that I dreaded hearing it, and as difficult as it was for him to say it; he still said it. My mother. My very own mother; Mrs Shimmer de Milo, was the mastermind behind it all; according to Raelynn.
Pete and I set out to dig deeper into the matter and find out what exactly was happening. Were there more people behind the issue, and if so, who? Did Iris know more than we knew, and even if she knew, with her loyalty to my mother, was she even going to disclose anything?
Sweat balls formed on my forehead as Pete and I started the investigations. Our first task was to take Anisha to my mansion, leaving her with Mrs Silva and with strict instruction for her never to remove her eyes off the beautiful lady. I ordered the head of security to increase the number of security guards, and we left.
Good for us, the rooftop celebrations were going on smoothly. Since there were no speeches expected of me at that time, I believed many did not even realise that I was missing. Of course one or two people would have loved to congratulate me in person, and as much as I felt bad for being absent, I badly wanted to take care of the business at hand.
The first person we spoke to was Carl, asking him why there was no one in the control room, and why the western exit points were not guarded. Carl called in the chief of security, and I failed to believe my ears as the man narrated how they had received an instruction not to guard the western exits, and also to leave the control room unattended. By who? Who would have sent such an email? We asked what the reasons were; for not guarding the western exit, and the chief of security said no reasons were availed to him.
After we asked to see the email, it was nowhere to be found. The head of security, together with two other security staff members, swore on their lives that they had seen the email. The email was supposedly send from deMilo5@clearoplamanor.com. Well that was an email address which Arianna had created some many years back. She called it our family email; and no one really used it.
Our whole family had access to that email; meaning that any one of us could have sent an email to the head of security using the said email. It was not me. I was sure it was not my dad. Arianna? There was no way Arianna would have done anything like that. And Ciera? Knowing Ciera, I doubted if she even remembered that such an email existed. That left only one person as the most possible culprit. Of course I had already been told that my mother was involved, but I was still in denial. I still wanted to find a reason to exonerate her; for she was my mother, and i was having a tough time believing that she was capable of going that far.
Pete and I inquired on how they could have just carried on such an instruction without asking further to find out why security measures were just being changed all of a sudden, worse still on the night when the place was full of guests. The men apologised.
Pete and I were stuck, not knowing how to go forward with the inquiry. Raelynn, on the other hand, continued to insist that my mother was the mastermind behind all that. It was tough for me to accept it; for even though I had known for years that my mother did not like Anisha, going to the extent of arranging for her to be drugged and raped sounded exaggerated to me.
***
Pete and I reported the matter to the police, mentioning only Logan as the culprit. Our idea was, once Logan is arrested, then the police will help us find the answers to the many questions that we had. Of course Pete and I knew that the case could be very much complicated than met the eye; but reporting it felt like the right thing to do.
As soon as all the guests had finally left and staff was beginning to clean up the place, we packed our staff and left Clear Opal Manor.
***
On a bright Sunday morning, Anisha and I were seated in the Woodruff's garden, enjoying some nice herbal tea with Liam. Anisha was still very much traumatized by the rape attempt, and I had arranged for her to get some emotional help.
We did not stay too long at the Woodruffs. We soon left as the three of us were going to visit the grave; Mrs Larissa la Martina' grave.
Anisha knelt at the foot of the grave and held Liam in her arms. She said a few words about bringing Liam over to see his mother's grave, and when she looked at Liam, the little boy broke into a smile and spoke out, "Nisha!! Nisha!!"
I also stood there and put on the grave a bunch of lilies, before I said a short prayer. She put the child down and picked the two big bunches of lilies, one in each arm.
"Lilies were her favourite flower," she smiled sadly and knelt on the grave.
After a while, she started to become emotional, and I felt she needed to be excused. Anisha wept bitterly. I was holding Liam in my arms, and because I did not want him to see Anisha crying that much, I walked a few steps away and faced the other side. However, it appeared I stood close enough to hear what she was saying,
"Ma'am Larissa, I am very sorry that I took this long to visit this place. I am heartbroken, ma'am Larissa. I have Liam with me here, but I am not staying with him full time. He is in a foster home. If I could adopt him, I would. Believe me ma'am Larissa, if I could adopt Liam I would. I would make him my own little boy, my son, my first child.
While I worked for you, you showed me love like I had never been shown before, except of course by Ms Meyerton, who I consider to be my mum.
You treated me with love so great that sometimes I asked myself what I had done to deserve such an employer.
Do you remember those days, when you would call me to feel Liam's kicks, when he was still in the womb? Oh what violent kicks we used to feel from the boy!! And do you recall when you brought him home for the first time? I was so happy to meet him! He was the tiniest, cutest baby ever!
Ma'am Larissa, I really wish you were here!! I really wish you were here, ma'am Larissa! And now, sir Lucas is dead. I don't know where they buried him, but he is dead.
I feel the burden, ma'am Larissa. Not in a bad way; but I feel that the responsibility is heavy. I ask myself, if I fail to take care of Liam, who will? I promise you, ma'am Larissa, I will see Liam every Sunday without fail. Even if I am to fall sick, I will crawl, ma'am Larissa! I will crawl to go and see him…..
I will work and go to university and once I finish my studies, I will make Liam mine. Yes, ma'am Larissa, I will adopt him! That's the news I wanted to tell you today! I want to adopt Liam, once I am in a good position to do so. He shall be my first son….
I brought some flowers, ma'am Larissa. White lilies; your all time favourite! My friend helped me to buy them….at the moment I can't sustain myself, but I will soon get back on my feet. Do you remember how you always used to tell me that your second child, if it was a girl, would be called Lilly! Well, we brought lilies! I will place them here! Oh it's too windy! I just hope the wind won't blow most of them away…
I came with my friend. His name is Dylan. He's from the de Milo family. We are here, ma'am Larissa, and each time we get a chance, we will visit you. I will always love and miss you. You were the best person I ever met; and your love to me shall never be forgotten, my dear Mrs Larissa la Martina."