I entered Andrew's house and it looked just like it had looked before. Except one thing, the servants were now referring to me as 'My lady'.
I have to say I was enjoying this, but in just a few hours, I didn't want to be called like that. The whole day, I wasn't in a good mood at all.
I lay on my bed and recalled my conversation with Charlotte.
"No, it's alright. What happened?" I asked.
She looked down and bit her lip. I sat beside her and patted her back.
"On the day of your wedding, I went to wake him up. I kept calling him from downstairs and then I realized he wasn't there. I tried calling him on the phone multiple times. No reply. I had no idea where he could have gone." She said, her voice becoming heavy.
"That whole day, everyone was searching for him, not seriously though. We didn't know he was in this condition, and just thought that he went away. You see, he often goes away without telling anyone."
I nodded. Why did he have to play with everyone all the time? And when he was actually in trouble, nobody came to his help. Reminds of that story, The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Well, I shouldn't blame him. It's me who should be blamed.
"Then how did you find him?" I whispered.
"We didn't actually, it was a stranger who found him. In a dark alley. Almost dead.." her eyes were filling with tears.
"Oh.."
"Obviously when he got to know that it was Andrew, he posted a footage online and called the police. The public got to know and a huge commotion was there. We rushed there when we got to know about him and then had him admitted here. We couldn't attend your wedding and well, I was so immersed in dealing with the reporters, I couldn't find time to inform you."
"Don't worry about that. Any thoughts on who could have done this?" I asked.
"He has many rivals in the model world. It could be anyone." she answered.
"What about the police?"
"They haven't found much."
"What did the doctor's say about his recovery?"
"They said he was strangled first, since there were hand marks on his neck and signs of struggle. He also tried fighting them as his knuckles were swollen and then somebody hit him on the head, probably with a metal rod as they say. It might take him a long time to wake up." She said, looking at me now.
We remained quiet when her eyebrows suddenly furrowed.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"Now that I think about it, it might be Charlie."
"That is?"
"Their rivalry is well known. It must be him. Jacob did surpass him on the ranking.." She ignored my question and nodded her head lightly.
"Who's Charlie?" I repeated my question and I think she heard me this time.
"He's a damn bastard! I swear! I don't know why nobody sees his true face." She stood up suddenly.
"Uh. Charlotte, calm down." I said, surprised by the sudden rise in her energy.
"Who could have does this? Why do I think that it's.. No, why would it be them? No way." I looked at myself in the mirror.
I sighed.
Knock, knock!
I shifted my gaze from the mirror towards the door.
"It's Andrew. May I come in?", I heard a muffled voice from outside.
"Oh, um, just a second." I said and ran to get my pants. I realized I was in shorts, which were, well, really short.
"Uh, yeah." I said, putting my hair behind my ears.
He opened the door and looked at me. "I hope you reached safely and are comfortable here." He said.
He looked tired, his lethargic eyes stared at me. I think he just returned from work, considering the fact that he was still in formal wear.
He had removed his tie and was still at the door.
"Um, yeah I am. Come in, don't just stand there." I said.
He came and sat on my bed.
His hair were pretty messed up and I wanted to laugh. I walked to him and ruffled his hair.
He closed his eyes and then looked at me.
"Was work tiring today?" I asked.
"Not really. So what did you do?" He asked.
"Well, my friend is in the hospital. Jacob, I think you remember him. You both met a few days back."
He remained quiet and then said, "Right, I remember him. What happened?" "He was ambushed, on the morning of our wedding. And well, it's my fault." I said. "How is it your fault?" He held my hand.
"Um.. The night of our wedding, I couldn't sleep. Jacob couldn't as well. We decided to meet up. And I think when we split ways later on, he was attacked. If I hadn't called him at such a bad time, all this wouldn't have happened." I said, holding my head.
"Relax, it's really not your fault. What did the police say about it?" He asked.
"They don't have any traces."
"I could send a few detectives." He said, lowering his voice.
"Oh no, I can't trouble you with that." I said.
"Trust me, that's no trouble for me. How did you get to know about him?"
"I saw the news on one of the billboards when I was coming here. From there, I ran to the hospital, because, my car got stuck in the traffic. I met his sister there."
"I didn't know he had a sister."
"Obviously, you wouldn't. You just met once. Oh, by the way, do you remember that girl who we met at the cafe that day?" I asked, with a small smile.
"Hmm, yes I do." He nodded.
"That was his sister, Charlotte." I said.
His eyebrows rose and I smiled.
"What a coincidence, honestly." He said. I laughed a little.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.
Well, that was unusual. Why did he ask if he could ask something?
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead." I said.
---------------End--------------