“Good job.”
That was the first thing Diana said to the girl after she returned to the Juan family.
The compliment was given without much emotion and was merely to express Diana’s appreciation for the girl successfully completing her mission. The girl did not see any other emotions on Diana’s face.
The Juan couple sat and rested on one side of the room. Meanwhile, Lazer stood behind Diana to allow the two girls to stare at each other. They wore the same nightgown and looked like a mirror image of each other. The first thing that the girl looked at was Diana’s neck—the scar was barely noticeable now, and the girl felt slightly relieved.
“There must be many people welcoming you back,” said Diana, looking at the girl and subsequently making eye contact with her.
“Yes, miss, several maids cried tears of joy,” replied the girl, smiling.
Diana showed a quick smile. Occasionally, she would take pleasure seeing her double a bit relaxed, and she sat back gently on the soft pillows that were placed on the bed.
“We are overjoyed to have you back, Diana,” Carmelo interjected when the timing was right. “Lazer has been in the city investigating the activities of the other families. He informed me that you learned from Shaquille that Jharif was also involved with the kidnapping. Is that true?”
Shocked, the girl blushed quickly.
Although she had talked big about how she was going to find out from Shaquille who the mastermind was, she had not; Lazer did. She had psychologically prepared herself to be reprimanded for her failure, so she was utterly speechless when she found out that Lazer had unexpectedly attributed his accomplishment to her.
What exactly was Lazer planning to do? To make amends, or to cover up for his actions?
“I was going to bring her back earlier, but she volunteered to stay with Shaquille. That was how I learned about Jharif,” said Lazer with a straight face, as if he had practiced the line.
Lazer’s remark made the girl feel guilty, causing her to lower her head. However, Carmelo and Idnan smiled.
“Good girl. Looks like you have matured after all,” said Idnan with a pleasantly surprised tone before letting out a chuckle.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“I thought Shaquille could be trusted. Maybe Jharif got to Shaquille by using his ambition or inciting disharmony between us,” Carmelo remarked as he rubbed his chin, going into deep thought.
“Perhaps Jharif noticed that Shaquille needed money to secure his position,” Idnan shrugged. “We did reject Shaquille’s requests several times before… but I do not believe that the amount he was asking for was enough to make him betray our friendship.”
“At any rate, Jharif is the true winner here. No one found evidence tying him to the kidnapping, and he was able to annex the property that Shaen had sold. Jharif made enough even if he was unable to recover the ransom.” Carmelo smiled gently, barely revealing his fangs. “I have to think of a way to deal with him, but not now. We have not found any damning evidence yet.”
“My dear, it is not a good look for us if we drag this on. We have to fight back as soon as possible,” wailed Idnan.
“I know, of course.” Carmelo shook his hand. Everyone could see that he had plans. Nevertheless, he did not want to appear overly calculating in front of his daughter. “It is late now and not the time to discuss serious matters like this. Let us talk about what we will do tomorrow. I will hold a banquet for Diana. All the servants are welcome to participate to celebrate Diana’s return—” Carmelo turned his head to look at the girl. “You can take this opportunity to rest for a little bit.”
“Thank the Snake God! I can finally get out of this room,” sighed Diana heavily.
“Go to bed early, my girl. It’s time for us to rest as well.”
The Juan couple stood up and waved goodbye to everyone. The girl looked at a reactionless Lazer, surprised that the conversation had ended so abruptly. Although he did report a majority of what had occurred, he did not warn the Juan couple about Jharif’s subsequent plans. This was remarkably unusual.
—Did Lazer stay quiet because he did not feel the need to inform the Juan couple of such, or did he simply plan not to inform them at all?