“We’re sorry, Captain.” David stammers. “P-please forgive us.”
“That depends.” I push Chris up when he almost falls to the ground.
“On what?” Michael asks.
“Tell me everything you saw that night.” I glare down on Chris. “And you. Tell me why the fuck you’ve been sleeping with Astrid’s stepsister.”
When the three of them are finished, the image starts forming in my head.
I’m only missing one link.
Just a little something.
And I have to risk my future to see the end of it.
For Astrid, it’s fucking worth it.
“K-King?” Nicole stares up at me with wide eyes as I stand in front of their door.
I spent all night watching footage after footage of that party and keeping screenshots and short clips for evidence
There a few interesting things that came to light.
Nicole casts a cautious glance behind her then closes the door and steps outside. “You’re not supposed to be here, my stepfather will kill you.”
I glance behind her, even though the door is shut. “Is Astrid here?”
She twists her lips. “You should leave.”
“Not going to happen.” I push past her, stop and look down at her. “There’s something I’m curious about, Nicole.”
She licks her lips, flipping her blonde hair back. “What is it.”
“Did you fuck Daniel after you put something in his drink?”
Her face turns white. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I pull out my phone and show her two clips that prove her implication. She put pills in glass shots and offered one to Daniel. He took the other and shoved it in Astrid’s hand.
Nicole starts shaking and swallowing hard.
“Now,” I continue, “There are no cameras inside the rooms, so tell me, were you fucking Daniel while Astrid had an accident?”
“K-King, I… I… didn’t mean for it go that far, I promise.”
I barge into her space. “I have enough evidence for Daniel to sue you for rape.”
“That… that’s not…”
“What was your plan exactly? Have him and Astrid fuck? Are you a voyeur or is this some other fucked up kink?”
“That drink was supposed to be mine, not Astrid’s! Daniel is supposed to be mine, not hers. But he had to snatch my damn drink and give it to his stupid Astrid. I studied with him all my life but she waltzes in here one day and he becomes best friends with her overnight. What does she have that I don’t?”
“So you decided to rape him?”
Her lips tremble. “I… I didn’t. You don’t know what happened, so shut up.”
“Then, mind telling me why you whored yourself to Chris after?”
“I only did that to make Daniel jealous.”
“Let me guess. It didn’t work. So you used Chris to find out if anyone knows what you did that night or if there’s any footage to implicate you.”
“No. I didn’t even know there were cameras. Do you think I’m stupid enough to have done it if I did?”
Huh. That changes things.
The door opens and Nicole wipes her cheeks, murmuring, “Please.”
“Is something the matter?” A woman asks in a posh voice.
Victoria Clifford, Nicole’s mother, stares between us with a cool, welcoming expression.
“Nothing is wrong, Mother,” Nicole pleads with her eyes again.
She’ll end up falling, but I don’t have time for her now.
“May I help you?” Victoria asks me.
“Yes. I’m here to see Lord Clifford.”
49
Levi
The king always falls down without his queen.
* * *
Astrid’s father stares down at me even though we’re both sitting at his office.
Uncle says that aristocrats are like that. They like to look down their noses at people. They like thinking they have royal blood and whatnot.
At the end of the day, moguls like the King Enterprises are the real royalties.
However, it’s not my name that I take pride in as I meet Lord Clifford’s icy stares.
It’s not my past or my present.
It’s the future. Mine and Astrid’s.
Lord Clifford listens with a blank expression as I tell him everything I uncovered.
Once he finishes watching the clips of footage I sent, he closes the laptop. Aside from the slight tightening in his jaw, he doesn’t show any reaction.
Man of steel. Just like Jonathan.
His desk is large and made of mahogany wood, but aside from the laptop and his glass of scotch, there aren’t many belongings.
“You do realise that there’s enough evidence to implicate you for arson and withholding evidence. You’re already eighteen, so it’ll be full charges,” he speaks in a calm and composed tone as if he’s in a meeting at the House of Lords.
“Actually, there’s no proof of me doing any arson. I know all the cameras, so I made sure to move in their blind spots. As for withholding evidence, the police lost the footage. Their incompetence isn’t my fault. Last I checked, recovering a spoilt flash drive I found lying about on our property isn’t a crime. Putting all that aside. In case of any charges, Jonathan will make sure I come out unscathed.”
Lord Clifford’s lips pull in a sardonic smile. “You’re that scoundrel’s blood indeed. Does he teach you to be dicks?”
“It’s natural. Comes with the family name.”
He raises an eyebrow. “But he’s holding you on a leash. What you just did will ruin your future and force you to spend seven more years under that tyrant’s hands.”
“How…” I clear my throat. “How did you know that?”
“You think I wouldn’t search the background of someone I found in bed with my only daughter?”
“Touché.”
He takes a sip of his drink without breaking eye contact. “You chose to process this evidence despite threats from Jonathan?”
“Yes,” I say without a sliver of doubt.
“Why?”
“Because I want justice for Astrid.”
“How about justice for your father?” His calm question catches me by surprise.
I look down, trying to school my expression. Since Uncle told me about the accident three years ago, I’ve been having a constant battle with myself.
What I want and what I need.
What I lost and what I can have.
The past and the future.
But I already made the choice.
“You already know.” Lord Clifford puts his glass on the table with a clank.
I nod. “But I still want to see where this goes with Astrid and —”
“Absolutely not.” He cuts me off, standing.
“With all my due respect, Astrid and I have nothing to do with what happened in the past or the feud between you and Uncle. We’re our own people and deserve to be treated as such.”
“You’re not naive enough to think that, are you?” He strides from around the desk to stand in front of me. “The feud between me and that scoundrel King is because he blamed Astrid’s mother for the accident, saying she killed your father. I’ve been trying to prove that something wrong happened. Jasmine was a careful driver and never got a ticket in her entire life.”