MainNovelChapter 93: Chapter 93
DEMI
Mrs. Amber Regan’s his a quaint radiance along the highbrow area called Alpha district, a gated community
of pricey homes affordable only to the extremely rich.
According to her, her husband's parents who are wealthy folks gifted them the home. Amber and her husband
live in the duplex with their daughter Katherine and get visited frequently by their son Maddox.
"Please, make yourself at home. My daughter is out with a friend. | would have loved to introduce you." Amber
tells me. | smile back and recline on the sofa, my feet angled towards the fragrant heat from the fireplace.
"I'll surely caround again. | can’t wait to meet her."
My eyes dart around, admiring her home. | have been so spoiled by the opulence of the mansion and literally
every building owned by the Rollins family that | have forgotten what beauty simplicity can hold.
"You have a beautiful home, Amber." | repeat, mirroring the warm smile on her face.
"Thank you. I'm not much of a decorator but Kat loves it. She tries to redecorate this hevery tmy back
is turned but | always end up putting things back the way they were, especially here in the living room. This
place holds a lot of memories forand | feel like redecorating will causeto lose those memories."
"I can understand."
She smiles at me. "Your mother usually paida visit. She loved that very spot on the sofa you're sitting on
right now. You remindso much of her with your quiet curiosity and understated charm."
"Thank you. That's really good to hear." | drop my juice and sit up. "Tellmore about her. What was she like at
work? | never knew that side of her."
Amber tosses her back and inhales. "Camille was a breath of fresh air. Before she joined my department, she
also interned like you. She was a workaholic and constantly tried to prove herself as being worthy of a place at
the HQ. She couldn’t be blamed. She was competing for the sspot with another formidable intern. Your mom
spent long nights at HQ. She didn’t do it to get noticed by upper management unlike her competition. She was
only trying to push herself to be excellent."
1 blink away the tears forming in my eyes and continue to give her my rapt attention.
"She finally made it through her internship and was fortunately picked to join my department. We were very glad
to welcher. She and | grew close because of her impressive work ethic. You see, normally, new recruits lose
their fire after they get hired. Your mother was different. She only got better, learnt the ropes faster than anyone
| ever had to supervise. We grew to becfriends."
"She makesfeel lazy as an intern right now." | chuckle. Amber nods sagely.
"Imagine how | felt. | felt bad going to the restaurant or the cafeteria for lunch because your mom had hers
handy and worked while she ate in her office. She started winning titles like employee of the month, most
punctual, most innovative and many others. She grew popular not just in our department but in the entire HQ
because her enlarged portrait was put up almost everywhere to commemorate her awards."
"That must have been tough."
"Your mother shared the ssentiments. Despite being married, she started getting approached by sof
our male colleagues. She handled herself with grace and politely declined the advances." Amber pauses to sip
her juice. | have a feeling that the story is set for a dark turn and grab my glass as well. Mom's life couldn't have
been all rosy if she died the way she did.
"What happened next?"
"One day, the chairman asked to see her. No, it's not what you're thinking. | also feared the sbut when
Camille returned, she toldhe only called to personally commend her for her sterling performances in the HQ
and to hint at an early promotion if she keeps up the good work."
"Amber, | really appreciate you tellingabout my mom like this. I just want you to know that you don’t have to
sugarcoat anything or hide anything from me. My mom’s dead. Her memories are all | have. Please, don’t
hesitate to telleverything you remember, how you remember it. | can handle it."
Amber exhales deeply. "Your mom made a few more trips to the chairman’s office and after stime, she grew
wary of visiting him. She wouldn't tellanything but she made excuses not to go to his office. Later, she told
and accessories as you know and she felt she would excel there too. | was in support of her decision. However,
her application for a transfer was constantly declined. She grew frustrated as she didn’t want to quit working at
the HQ when a job at the Rollins Mall wasn’t guaranteed."
"I knew she loved fashion but I didn’t think she wanted to work in a mall."
"She didn’t. she just felt suffocated at the HQ in her small office and the pressure of work. The burnout finally got
to her as she explained to me. Though the pay at the HQ was very high, she wanted to switch to the mall and
have shifts so she would have more tto spend with you and your dad. It worried her that she was missing out
on your childhood. She wanted to fix that by working under the Rollins Group with their good pay structure but in
an environment that would allow her tfor her family."
"My guess is that never happened because she never had tfortill she died."
I remember my missed birthdays. She was even absent when | got my period for the first time. It was so difficult
having father-who was super clueless- assistthrough it all.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
"No. After several declines, your mom gave up and remained in the HQ. Things seemed fine for a bit until one of
the quads started getting death threats at the office."
"At the office? Wait, the quads all used to work at the HQ?"
"Of course. That's where they got their basic training and did their internships too before they all went on to
head other subsidiaries. Ah, it was a difficult time. Most of them were difficult to work with. One in particular, he
was known as the crazy one for a reason. The chairman put him under your mom's supervision and he got her
into trouble all the time. He snuck whiskey to work almost every day and would get drunk before lunch. The
chairman blamed only your mother for his behavior even though he couldn’t handle his son either."
This is fresh. | never knew the quads once worked at the HQ. That's certainly something I should look into more.
It would hold answers to a lot of my questions.
"You mentioned death threats?"
"Yes. One of the quads was getting death threats for murdering the chairman’s former bodyguard who passed on
when the boys were very young. | wasn’t surprised that someone would stoop so low to attack the young boys in
that fashion because a lot of people tend to be jealous of the golden boys. | felt really bad for them. The one
being attacked suffered major PTSD. It was difficult watching him react to the threats like a bloody knife on his
desk in the office or being delivered the bodies of lifeless chickens all stabbed in the neck. It was gruesome."
Ashley, I think.
"Was the culprit found?"
"Much later. It happened to be one of our male colleagues in the office. He was the first son of the murdered
bodyguard. His nwas Samuel Woodley. He bore a grudge against the Rollins family."
"You said ‘was’. What happened to Samuel?"
"He was arrested and locked away for months. His brother and sister kept coming to the office to beg the
chairman to free their brother but got chased away by security. They were relentless and always returned. One
day, your mom tried talking to the chairman. He warned her not to interfere. | told her to let it go but she was
adamant, claiming that she had a gut feeling that Samuel was innocent. That's when she started making secret
plans and phone calls to leak the matter to the press so a more thorough and fair investigation would be
conducted and Sam set free. She didn’t necessarily believe Sam’s accusations against Ashley Rollins, she just
wanted Sam set free. He was still grieving his late father and was in bad state which led to his poor decision.
That's how your mother felt."
My fingers curl tightly around my glass. Amber eyessuspiciously.
"Are you okay?"
| force a smile. | am just shocked at how similar mom and | are. | always thought | was more identical to my dad
but it turns out that mom and | share similar traits and think alike. | would have done the exact thing if | was in
her shoes.
In a manner of speaking, | am doing the sthing in my own way. The only difference is my motive for doing it.
Mom's reason was more honorable but if | have learnt anything about the Rollins’ family, they're anything but
honorable. Hence, chills run down my spine as | wonder how badly things panned out for my mom.
"I'm okay. Please go on."
Amber doesn’t look convinced. "You said you could handle it."
"I can. Carry on."
Sighing, she sips her drink one more time. "Your mom called and spoke to journalists. Back then, we didn’t have
blogs like Billion-Err where one can anonymously leak information. Your mom also made the mistake of using the
company WiFi and her computer to conduct research about Tobias Woodley. | begged her to stop but she refused
to stand and do nothing. The chairman allowed his son, the one being attacked, to transfer to the fashion
subsidiary. He began working at the mall as the manager of the mall and soon found his rhythm again.
Everything seemed to have calmed down until the news about Ashley and Samuel Woodley aired. The whole of
Danvarr started taking Samuel's side and giving Rollins group hell for unjustly arresting the poor man. The
company stocks crashed badly. Ashley went into a spiral once more, especially as Samuel's release was
demanded. Samuel got out."
"He did?"
"Social currency is a different kind of power here in Danvarr. If utilized well, even billionaires can’t always have
their way. Your mom knew that. The atmosphere at work was hellish. Everyone was on edge. There were massive
staff cuts, threats against the whistleblower and rewards for anyone who had any information regarding the
whistleblower. Everyone walked on eggshells. | thought of quitting out of fear but Brett Rollins would have
peggedthe whistleblower and lockedup as a scapegoat so | stayed."
"And my mom?"
"She also carried on for the sreason as me. Then one day, the crazy quad who was still working at the HQ
with Asher even after his brothers had been sent to other subsidiaries, found the business card of a major news
reporter on your mom's desk under a stack of papers. He went on to search her computer and her research was
flagged. | think he had one of his father’s men tail her and got pictures of her speaking with reporters and
Samuel's siblings. He was very disappointed in her and felt betrayed. You see, your mom had been instrumental
in helping him mend his ways. He had gone from being regarded as a joke and a failure by his father to being
one of the top performing junior workers in the HQ. He was even far more impressive than Asher, all thanks to
your mom. Their bond was like that of a mother and son. Even his mom grew jealous seeing how he interacted
with Camille."
Ashton and my mom? There is so much to take in here. My heart starts pounding in my chest. Mom had written
fondly about Ashton and then there were bits in her journal where she described him as irrational, hot-tempered
and other bad words. It was almost like she was describing a mixture of the other three quads. Her entries about
him stopped without giving more detail about what happened between them.
"My mom kept a journal but she was terrible in making entries. | don’t think she understood how to chronicle
one’s experiences in a journal. Her entries were mostly terse. However, she mentioned the crazy quad, Ashton
but these details were left out."
"Intentionally. | told her not to empty all her thoughts in one book, especially anything to do with what she had
done at work so she leaves no clues in case someone found her journal. She tried to write as little as possible,
enough to help her to personally recall details of the events but to a stranger, the info would seem harmless. She
thought she had covered her tracks but forgot about the business card. Ashton is computer savvy so he was able
to uncover what research she had done using her computer. Do you need a refill?" Amber asked, pointing to my
drink.
| look down at my empty glass. "I do but I'd prefer something stronger at this point." With a small smile, | follow
her to the kitchen and watch her mixa drink.
"Ashton got into it with your mother that evening at the office. It was a shouting match. He accused her of
betraying his family and biting the finger that fed her. She tried to defend herself but he only grew madder and
stormed away. Your mom was very scared. | think that was on your birthday because she planned to go shopping
at the departmental store for your present. After the fallout with Ashton, she grew scared. | hid under my desk
the whole tso | could understand how she felt. Still, | encouraged her to get you the present she had been
saving up for. As a staff under the Rollins Group, we get shopping vouchers at the departmental store so your
mom planned to utilize it that night. Here you go."
| take a bracing sip of my vodka and wince. "That's really strong."
"You'll need it."
We return to the sofa and Amber carries on.
"I convinced your mom to go ahead with her shopping as planned, trusting that Ashton will calm down and
reason with her. We trusted that he wouldn't rat her out knowing how his father is."
"How his father is?"
"Brett Rollins is a scary man. No one can hurt him, his family or his business and go free. I've never heard of
anyone surviving that. Ashton knew that and we trusted that he wouldn't risk your mother’s safety like that. Your
mom went to the store to shop by six pm that day. It was almost closed when she got there but she begged for a
chance to get you a gift. As an employee of the HQ, they let her in. She calledlater that she had gotten lost
in there and the mall had been closed. Your father had been calling her nonstop and she wanted to start going
home. | told her to givea few minutes while | tried to call scontacts on my phone. She later called to tell
| take a longer sip of my drink, hoping to be drunk enough for the rest of the story which | know doesn’t end well.
"The last call she made to me, she was in a panic because Ashton and his family cto the mall that night.
This was after she had spoken to Ashley about leaving and he directed her to an alternate exit. Brett Rollins
ordered your mom to cto him in Ashley’s office and she knew Ashton had ratted her out. She tried to escape
but when she got to the exit, it had been locked. She was on the phone with me, scared shitless." Amber sighs.
"It got worse when she saw Samuel Woodley cout of hiding in the store and head for Ashley's office with a
knife. There was no way she could warn the family in time. Everyone had dispersed to look for her leaving Ashley
and his father in the office. Your mom overheard the commotion upstairs and accidentally screamed when..."
"When what?"
"When Samuel was thrown off the railing from the second floor. He broke his neck on impact. Brett saw that your
mom had seen everything and ordered his sons to catch her."
"Oh my god." | close a hand over my belly to hide the tremor.
"lI am only giving you what | know Demi but | trust you'd be smart and not make the smistake your mom
did. I am telling you all this because | feel like | owe you the truth as far as | know. Don’t be stupid and try to do
anything about parts of this story that hurt you. It’s not a battle you can win. If your mom was here, she'd tell
you to let sleeping dogs lie. She wouldn't want you to follow her footsteps, trust me."
"lI understand." | reply with a shaky breath.
"This also happened a long tago. | wasn’t physically present but | could have misheard or misunderstood
things. | am still alive because | didn’t insist that | knew exactly what had transpired that night. Please, don’t
makeregret telling you all this."
"You won't, Amber. It was a long tago. People make mistakes and learn from them. | am not here to reopen
old wounds. | just need to find closure to the death of my parents. It might takestbut I'll get over it
and the part my in-laws played. They've been nothing but kind to me."
"I'm glad you're thinking that way." Sighing, Amber struggles to keep her tears at bay. "I bet they just wanted to
explain that what happened to Samuel was self-defense. They were prepared to forgive her for leaking
information to the press but your mom was too scared to listen to everything the chairman was telling her over
the megaphone. She cut the call onto call your dad who had been calling her nonstop. | don’t know if she
explained the situation to him. She never calledback to share how everything went down. The next morning,
the elevator accident was aired and | recognized your parents."
At this point, | am crying a bucketful of tears, and so is Amber.
"The family met withbefore the police did and confided inabout what truly happened. Your father had
showed up at the mall and he was let in to help find your mom. Brett assured your father that he wouldn't take
drastic actions against Camille for being the whistleblower and hoped your father would lure her out so he could
talk to her. Your mother found a way to communicate with them and asked to leave with your father and never
return to Danvarr. She was prepared to leave her job but Brett wasn’t satisfied with that plan. Your father
managed to escape them and soon, he was reunited with your mom. Ashton ran into the couple and tried to
convince them to trust him and that no harm would cto them but they refused. Instead, they got into the
closest elevator hoping to get to the ground floor and use the door that was still open. Ashton kept warning them
that the elevator was out of order. There was even a tape across it but your mom was willing to take her chances
because she couldn't trust him. The rest is history."
| wipe my eyes. "What is it? Why do you look uncertain?" | ask Amber.
"When talking to the Rollins family, | omitted sof the details your mom shared with me, like the fact that
Samuel Woodley was there that night." She threwa heartbroken stare. "Your in-laws never mentioned
anything about Samuel or his death. They only said your mom had been so scared of being punished for leaking
information to the press that she becirrational and dragged your father into the faulty elevator to escape.
Months after, Samuel was reported to have died of a drug overdose."
"They lied about Samuel?"
"If they lied about him, I hate to think they also lied about the elevator and everything else that transpired after
your mom hung up on me."
"My mom would never have put my dad's life at risk like that. She knew | was halone. If anything, she would
have sacrificed herself just so | could have a parent to grow up with."
"| think so too." Amber sets down her glass and comes to wrap her arms around me. "Whatever the true story is,
| want you to move on and believe the last thing your mom would want is you sniffing around like she did with
the sfamily that may or may not have ended her life. | understand why you kept your relationship a secret
now. | fear how your family will react if they knew you were Camille's daughter." She cups my chin. "You can't let
them suspect that you know more than what the police said or that you're holding grudges, Demi. Promise me!"
"| promise."
She hugstightly, sobbing softly. "Camille would want you safe and happy above all else. If you've found love
with Ashely, please forgive and savor your new relationship. Revenge is never as satisfying as it is made out to
be and don't feel like your parents would have wanted you to avenge them. | am a mother and if | had been in
Camille's place, | know | wouldn't want Kat and Maddox risking their lives to execute srevenge plot. | would
want them to move on and live their lives to the fullest. That's how | know Camille would want the same."
| get Maddie's text just then. It's the address of Ashal’s penthouse. | pull away from Amber's hug and wipe my
eyes.
"Thank you so much, Amber. You've cleared a lot of the doubts I had. I think | can finally move on. | won't make
the smistake my mom did." | won't get caught; | add in my head while smiling at Amber.
Of course, Ashal refused to letin. | expected that. Maddie's follow-up call seems a bit strange too. Olivia
seems happy from the pictures sent by Maddie and the latter's explanation about her sister's relationship with
Ashal would have been believable and watertight except that | have already confirmed their secret marriage.
Maddie lied about Ashal and Olivia not being married.
"Did he also threaten you, Maddie? Why did you change your mind about rescuing your sister? What's really
going on inside this penthouse?" | wonder as | stare at my phone after she ends the call. | must admit that the
quads are scarier than they look. | have to pretend to be more naive than | am to play this gsafely.
| call Ashal like Maddie would expect and try my best to quell his suspicions. Hopefully, he believes me. | won't
pester him about the penthouse anymore. That would be too obvious and risky for the sisters. I'll find another
way to expose him.
My brows knit in a frown at Kira’s call. What does she want now?
"What is it, Kira?"
"Demi??? Please help me." She whimpers frightfully. What new is this?
"What the hell is going on, Kira? | don’t have tfor this."
"Iman. He's gone crazy. He isn’t lettinggo unless you get here."
"What?"
"Please Demi, csettle your scores with him. | want no part in this. Oh my god, he’s returning. Please hurry
Demi! Getout of his apartment. | want to go home!"
| stare at my phone after the line cuts. What the hell? Why would Iman abduct Kira? Is this real? | call aunt but
she hasn't seen or spoken to Kira since morning. She sounds worried because Kira got a call earlier from Iman. |
am so sick of Iman’s sorry ass showing up and making my life more difficult. | have to end this. I'm sure it’s
money he wants.
"IMAN? OPEN UP!!!" | yell, banging on his door. Ashton hasn't replied my text but | am hoping he gets here soon.
This will not be a good day to ignore me. Iman unlocks the door and | shove past him. "WHERE IS KIRA? WHAT
HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER? KIRA? KI..."
Kira steps out all dolled up with a smile on her face. There are no traces of tears in her eyes. | clench my fist as
she strolls to Iman and pecks his cheeks.
"She's all yours, buddy. Makeproud."
"What the hell is this, Kira?" But she ignoresand walks out. When | try to leave too, Iman slams the door shut
and engages the locks. "You're mistaken if you think | chere alone. Ashton is on his way and a bunch of
other people know exactly where | am right now."
"Was that supposed to be a threat? Tsk Tsk. Poor Demi, when will you ever learn that your new life is an illusion?
You didn’t gain a new family; you threw yourselves into a pack of wolves. The quads are not coming. You're all
alone, with me. Don’t worry, | have better taste in women now but | have been dying to give you a good beating
for every pain you've causedsince you broke up withso tically. It’s your turn to feel hurt."
His right fist rams up my jaw in a flash and sendscrashing on the floor. My head spins. Behind me, he laughs
maniacally. Blood oozes from my nose just before it all goes dark.
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