Chapter 482
Ian:
Haiden was the first to almost snatch the key out of Mariana’s hand. Troy also took his key, but I noticed him walk after Haiden into his room, probably to check on him.
Fauna, who had been snapped at, lowered her head and walked away from us, and now it was just Mariana and me. I had some questions for her.
Ever since I heard her say that Messi had tried to kidnap Clementine before, new thoughts had been forming in my head.
“It is heroic of you to take a stand against what is wrong and at least try to figure out the truth,” I told her, using the same words of praise that she had used for me earlier.
The only reason I was doing it was because I had to get information out of her.
“I’m just trying,” she replied.
“But you have questions for me.” The moment I said that, I watched her eyes widen before she lowered her head and started to smile.
“It is almost as if what they say about you is true. You really are amazing. You know how to read minds, don’t you?” she asked, raising her eyebrow.
“No, it is more like I know how to read energy. And your energy told me that you were not done yet,” I answered, trying to keep my voice at a certain tone so I would not come across as rude, which I often am. I am not even apologetic about it.
“I just want to know how much you know about Clementine,” she asked, her eyes full of hope for answers.
I placed a hand on my heart and smiled at Mariana.
“More than I know my own heartbeat,” I replied, answering her in a way that made her nod, as if realizing that if anyone had to vouch for Clementine, it should be me.
“Do you think she is capable of lying?” she asked, her eyes fluttering as if they were ready to shed tears.
“Mariana, I will be honest with you. If Clementine were a liar, I would have known. I am not saying this because I am married to her, but because even if I were married to her, I would still call her out if she lied,” I explained.
As soon as I said that, she started to laugh. “So that means you would have never left her even if she were a liar p>
She picked up on details very quickly, and I nodded confidently.
“Well, I hope that kind of love finds me, but I can tell that it is not the love I am going to find with Messi,” she said. “I will look into it. Even though it happened many years ago, I want to find out the truth. And I want to punish Messi so bad for it,” she added, hissing under her breath. Her fists clenched before she stretched her neck a little and rubbed it.
“You used to have another friend with you. What is his name?” she questioned, rolling her eyes as if trying to remember, but I could tell it was an act. She knew about him and wanted to know where he was.
“Yorick is with his parents,” I replied.
“Right. I actually saw a kind of confession video from that girl Oriana and one of your ringleaders. It broke me to know what they had done to him,” she said.
She mentioned the confession video. We had all seen it, and to be honest, we were too stunned to talk about it. We felt guilty.
Troy and Haiden felt it the most because they had been close to him.
But a part of me also felt very bad, because when I think back to all the times I had negative interactions with everyone, Yorick was the one who always stood beside me.
“Miss Rue has already been punished for her crimes, whereas Oriana will face it too. Of course, now that the confession is out, I am sure Yorick and his family will hand Oriana over to the council for lying about something so serious and possibly reject her as well,” I explained, watching a faint smile appear on Mariana’s lips.
Once she noticed that I had caught it, she quickly straightened her posture.
“I mean, of course, I think it is the right thing to do. Yorick is a very good person. He deserves someone better,” she replied softly.
“Um, I want to ask something else,” she uttered. “Since you have been very vocal that Clementine has gone missing and that she was last supposed to meet with the council leaders, I want to ask if you think it is related to what Messi was trying to do many years ago. Do you think it is the same people who wanted to buy her then who have her now p>
Mariana surprised me when she spoke in one breath, explaining what had been on her mind.
“That is a very good point. I will look into it,” I replied.
She gave me a small smile and nodded before leaving.
“Come for snacks and dinner. You do not want to miss anything my father says,” she added.
That was her way of telling me that even she thought her father knew more than he was showing. After saying that, she briskly walked away.
As she disappeared from sight, I saw Fauna return.
“I brought you fresh juice,” she said, handing me a glass of orange juice.
I knew it was not really meant for me. She only brought one for me because she planned to use the other glasses to talk to Haiden and possibly make it seem like she was simply being nice by giving one to Troy as well.
“Thank you,” I replied, stepping toward my room as I jiggled the keys.
I watched her knock on Haiden’s door. I felt bad for her because I knew she was about to get a sharp response from Haiden, who was not in the mood to entertain Patrick’s daughter.