"Stop right there! How could you say this to your mother?" Alyssa called after Desmond who was making his way towards the staircase.

He turned with a slight frown on his face. "Let's not argue about this—or anything else for that matter. I'm in too good of a mood to ruin it over meaningless chatter. You can go to sleep in the guest room, mother."

Alyssa gritted her teeth as he really walked out on her. Her hands clenched to fists, knowing that there wasn't anything she could do to change his attitude.

It irked her to the core. How could he not see that their troubles began the second Zaria started investigating their family? It was uncertain what exactly she wanted but she was making the Fort family fall apart with everything she did.

Even though she had told the truth in court in the end, she was only doing so to gain Desmond's trust.

…

Although a few people knew that Jaime was behind Samantha's murder, there wasn't sufficient evidence so he was only arrested for his father's murder.

Samantha's funeral was held a few days later, and Alyssa didn't want unnecessary people present. First, it was her husband and now her daughter. She didn't want to let other people witness her family's personal matters, so only close family and friends were present.

Zaria felt awkward being present, she had only come along because Desmond wanted her to. He stood by Samantha's headstone, deep in thought while no word left his mouth.

She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Feeling the small comforting pat, he turned to her with a smile. "I'm not devastated. I'm just conflicted." He sighed.

Samantha had turned out to be a selfish woman, one who cared about nothing but herself. She had made him and Liam go through so much pain in the past and even accused their mother of murder. She had even turned out to be Jaime's pawn. But before that, she was his beloved little sister. Sometimes he hoped she could revert back to her usual self. But what happened had already happened. It was in the past.

"Desmond, come here." Alyssa called out of the blue.

"I'll be right back." Desmond patted Zaria's head, then walked to Alyssa who had just stepped away from her friends.

"Mother, do you have anything to say to me?" He asked.

"What a question." She crossed her arms with a frown. "Why are you letting your fiancée get close to Liam?" She nodded at Natalie who was talking to Liam not too far away.

"They are friends." He shrugged. Although Liam and Natalie weren't very close, it wasn't unusual for them to talk so it made no sense for Alyssa to speak of it insinuatingly.

She was irritated by her son's indifference, especially when she saw Natalie laughing at something that Liam said. "You know what I mean. Don't pretend to be dumb."

"I'm not dumb nor am I pretending to be. I'm just not going to overthink matters when Natalie and Liam are friends. We have all been friends for years." He retorted. Even if him and Natalie were in an actual relationship, he would never suspect her, nor to mention now that her real boyfriend was Devonte.

Alyssa scoffed to his claim." Huh, friends. Wait until you have to take care of a child who isn't yours."

"You mean like father did with Jaime?" He didn't believe that she had the audacity to talk about unfaithfulness when he had recently found out that his brother wasn't even his brother.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" She lowered her voice and looked around, hoping that no one had heard him.

He raised an eyebrow at her denial. "I know the truth. That Jaime wasn't my brother. You don't need to pretend and come up with excuses. He was the reason why you and father started fighting in the first place, isn't he?"

"Son, how could you insinuate such nonsense?" She pulled him farther away from everyone else.

However, he wasn't intending to keep listening to her. "I trusted you. Don't wreck whatever is left of that."

Alyssa let out a breath, not intending to fight with her son anymore either. "What is that woman doing here anyway?"

"She's my executive assistant as well as my girlfriend. Why can't she be here?" He answered matter-of-factly, rendering her speechless. Why did he sound like he was proud of cheating on his fiancée?

She glanced at the two of them who were now together, talking about heaven knows what. "Look at them. Natalie is more beautiful, has a better figure, smarter, not to mention, she is from a respectable family and…"

"She' s the perfect choice for you, mother. Go after her. Since you like her, I won't try to win her over and besides, Zaria is more beautiful in my eyes." He walked away after saying his piece, rendering his mother speechless.

__

"Let's go." Desmond took Zaria's hand to lead her away when he returned to her.

"People are watching!" She shrugged his hand away, reprimanding him for being too careless despite knowing that they were in public.

"Don't worry. I don't think anyone here is bold enough to open their mouths." He grinned and led her back to his car.

"I'm tired. Do you mind driving? Call my chauffeur if you are tired." He slumped into the passenger seat.

"It's okay, I'll drive." She entered the car and was yet to fasten her seatbelt when her phone chimed. She had a bad premonition, especially with how often Zeus had been texting her lately.

She checked and sure enough, it was him.

[I heard Samantha is dead. Should I be happy for you?]

"Uhm…" She felt awkward knowing that he could have accidentally seen the text message. Luckily, he had his eyes closed.

She rolled her eyes before sending a random text over.

___

In the outskirts of Imperium.

Zeus glanced at the text message that Zaria had sent and laughed.

[Get a brain and let it help you think better.] Read the text, with a sneer sticker at the end of it.

"Of course I will get one, and I use it to find better ways to protect you. Everyone who hurt you will get their fair share. Liam Preston, take care or you might just be next."

__

"Is someone bothering you?" Desmond asked as he opened his eyes, realizing that she looked distressed for a moment.

"It's just Zeus." She massaged her temples. Why exactly did he keep hovering her life? Not to mention, he kept doing things that made her question everything she knew.

"Are you certain that it was Jaime's fault?" She wanted to ask whether Jaime really was behind Samantha's murder but couldn't entirely ask it in the end, thinking of what a sensitive topic it was at the moment.

However, he already knew what she had in mind so he nodded. "Did you think that Zeus has a hand in it?"

"I don't know what to think." She started driving and tried not to let her mind run wild, but it did anyway. "What if it's…him?"

Desmond felt chills go down his body as he wondered about the unsaid name, then it dawned on him. "Is it…the person who tried to hurt you before?"

She shook her head, jolting from the sudden thought she had just had. "He's dead. I'm thinking too much."

"Don't give me that look. It will be alright. I just felt paranoid because he knows too much, that's all." She smiled to stop him from worrying too much.

He nodded, but as soon as they arrived at Preston and Fort Group, he gave Skeleton a call. "I want you to investigate someone."

"Who is it? I will flip out all their details including all about their great grandparents." Skeleton exaggerated, glad that he had finally been given something to play with.

"Zeus." Desmond dropped the name, making the latter go silent for seconds.

"Are you trying to get me killed?! I swear, I didn't do anything wrong to deserve this kind of punishment!" He wailed on the other end.

"Punishment or not, you have no choice. He is a human, and I'm giving you three days." He declined in his office chair with no intention to negotiate about it.

"Then you should at least give me a lead." Skeleton demanded.

"His past with Zaria, if there is any." Desmond hung up immediately, and he hoped that the result wouldn't turn out to be some twist of melodrama. If Zeus turned out to be the man who hurt Zaria before, then they would have something difficult to deal with.

…

Skeleton investigated Zaria instead of Zeus, and he was done within a day instead of the agreed three. He made his way to Desmond's house soon after the latter arrived.

"I found something. Instead of Zeus, the one you should be wary of is Zaria." He announced.

"What do you mean?" Desmond was tired and wanted the latter to get to the point.

"There are five whole years missing from her past. It's as though she turned eighteen, then blinked and turned twenty-three. I couldn't retrieve the missing information no matter what."

"Forget about it." Desmond guessed that it might be related to either Zeus or that man or both, but he was afraid of accidentally touching a scar she didn't want to reveal.

Skeleton slumped onto a couch. "More than that, she might be the daughter of Lucy Roatta."

Desmond's eyes flew open just as he was about to ignore Skeleton and take a nap. "What did you say?!"