Jade paused for a moment to captivate her audience, "I was already looking into it. Your father did not take his life. He was murdered. And your mother was involved," Jade said, and Lisa's cutleries slipped from her fingers as it crashed on the floor, while Tiffany and Bernice looked at her, their faces mirroring stunned surprise.
Although they had been suspicious that their mother had a hand in it, hearing it this way was very shocking. Hearing that their father had not taken his life as they had thought this whole time but had actually been murdered, was heartbreaking.
"What?" Lisa asked as tears gathered in her eyes, ready to fall.
"You heard me. And I think you need to know that your mother made an attempt on my life yesterday because she suspected I was looking into your father's death," Jade said, and their eyes rounded in horror and disbelief.
By now, nobody was eating, and Candace was too busy watching the reactions of the sisters to look at her food.
"What happened? How? Why?" Lisa asked, and Jade wasn't sure if Lisa was asking about their father's case or about the attempt on her life.
"Why were you looking into our father's death?" Tiffany asked after she recovered from her initial shock.
"Because I was digging up dirt on her and it came up," Jade said, and Tiffany's frown deepened.
"Why were you digging up dirt on her?" Tiffany asked, and Jade had to admit that Tiffany was very smart.
"Tiffany, that should be the least of our concerns right now. We should find out what she knows about dad's death," Bernice said once she recovered from the shock.
"We also need to know why she was looking into mother for dirts. What if she was looking into us too, and we gave her all these information?" Tiffany asked her sisters.
"You are right. But you should know that you didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know about you before today. I know you are a lesbian involved with your housekeepers. I know about your sister's affair with your husband. I know about your mother and Adam and her many other lovers. Lisa is the only person who seems to be clean. And perhaps Anita whose flaw was causing problems for my brother and his partner. Why do you think I offered to represent your husband? Do you think I don't have better things to do with my time?" Jade asked, and all three sisters looked at her in stunned silence.
"Why? What do you want with us?" Tiffany asked in a shaky voice now.
"You don't mess with a member of the Hank family and expect us not to react. Your mother and Anita got our attention. It's a good thing for Anita that she had a change of heart when she did. And the same goes for you both. But your mother? After what she did yesterday? I'm going to put in all I have to see her behind bars," Jade promised.
"What did she do to you?" Bernice asked curiously, and Jade explained how Rebekah had sent her hitman after her.
She only tweaked the story by telling them the hit man had died in the process. That way if they planned to report back to their mother after now, they still wouldn't have the complete information.
"I don't mind. You can do whatever you want with her. But can you tell me what happened to my father?" Lisa asked, and Jade told them all she believed they needed to know about their mother, her numerous affairs, and how she and Mr Bateman had duped their father of all he had and killed him.
By the time she was done with her story, all three sisters were sobbing quietly, "Please let us know how we can help. We want Justice for our father," Lisa said, and her sisters nodded in agreement.
Now more then ever before, they were determined to teach their mother a lesson. For ruining their father's life and eventually murdering him, she was going to pay.
Candace looked at Jade in admiration, not missing the fact that in all Jade had told them, she had left out the important information such as how she got to know all she knew about them, the phone in her possession given to her by Mr. Bateman, or the fact that she had evidence to prove that Jack was innocent, and Adam was still alive.
As Candace drove away from there a moment later, Jade turned to her, "How did I do?" Jade asked, and Candace smiled.
"Great! You won their total trust and confidence by giving them honest but incomplete information," Candace said, and Jade grinned.
"Stop the car. I will get off here so you can go see Matt now," Jade said, and Candace pulled over.
"I'm not going to see Matt!" Candace snarled at her as she got out of the car.
"My regards to him. See you later," Jade said with a pleasant smile as she walked away, and approached the car where Harry's men were waiting for her, leaving behind a scowling Candace.
Candace picked up her phone to dial Matt's line so she could inform him that she was on her way, and then paused when she saw a text from a strange number.
[Hey, Candacey! Missing me? I miss you more. I'm alive. I'm safe. I hope you are too? How is my sweetest Jam? I dream of you both every night. Hopefully I can speak to you soon, or so the bastard says. Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I love you too much. Your favorite Brandy.]
Her lips curved in a smile of relief because she was overwhelmed with gratitude and relief that Andy was alive and well.
She tried to dial the number but the call didn't go through. It said the number did not exist. She tried to text back too but it bounced back.
Candace felt a sob rise within her and before she could stop herself her, the dam gate behind her eyes shattered and tears started pouring from her eyes as she cried uncontrollably.
Without thinking she dialed Matt's line, and almost immediately he received the call as though he had been waiting by his phone all day to hear from her.
"Are you on your way now?" Matt asked with a wide grin, and then paused to pay attention to the background sound.
"Are you okay?" He asked with a worried frown when he realized the sound he was hearing was sniffling.
"She texted, Matt. Andy. I just received a text from her," Candace said tearfully and Matt struggled to get what she was saying.
"Oh, that's great! Have you been able to speak with her? How is she doing?" Matt asked, glad that she had heard from her sister and that was the reason for her tears.
"No. The line is not connecting," Candace said with a sniffle.
"Alright. Calm, down sweet. It's a relieve that you heard from her. Now we know that she is fine. I believe she will reach out to you when she can," Matt said, trying to reassure her but she continued to cry.
"Where are you?" He asked when he heard the blast of a horn in the background.
"I'm by the roadside. I was driving down when I…"
"Where exactly are you? I will come over now," Matt said as he rose from the bed.
"You don't have to…"
"I want to. Tell me where you are," Matt insisted as he tugged on a tshirt.
"Alright. Stay there. Don't leave. I'm coming right now," Matt said after Candace had told him where she was, and then he hung up and instead of taking his car he ordered an Uber ride since she had said she was driving.
But the time he got to her fifteen minutes later, Candace had managed to dry her tears and was already feeling embarrassed that she had called him.
"You really didn't have to come," Candace murmured as she wind down her window to talk to him.
He was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses which Candace knew was more for disguise than fashion.
"Too bad for you that I'm here now. Get into the passenger seat, I will drive?" Matt offered, but she shook her head.
"I'm fine now. I can drive myself," she said with a stubborn lift of her chin.
Amused by her attitude, Matt went around the car and got into the passenger seat, "So, we are going to my place?"
"Your place?" Candace asked with a frown.
"You forgot I have a house here in Ludus?" Matt asked with a raised brow.
"I thought we agreed to meet in a neutral place? I mean we had an agreement…"
"No. I said I'd figure out somewhere we can spend time without prying eyes, and I did. My house. I hardly have visitors there. I haven't even been there since I got into Ludus until this morning. It's discreet," Matt said matter of factly.
"This is not a relationship…"
"We are friends, aren't we? Shouldn't you know where your friend lives? I know your apartment. I've been there. You should at least visit one of my residence. Does it bother you to go to house? Perhaps you fear that you might develop some emotional attachment…"
"I just thought we were going to a hotel," Candace cut in irritably.
"You'd rather we go to a hotel where we can be spotted by anyone than we go to my place which is secluded and private?" Matt asked reasonably.
"Whatever," Candace muttered and Matt grinned triumphantly, knowing he had won this round of argument.
He intended to keep winning every little round until he secured a permanent spot in her heart and life.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com