"What are you trying to say?" Desmond was shocked too. He had a feeling that his mother was not just bluffing to cause trouble.

"It's Lucy." She cried. "She tried to kill your brother before but failed. I thought he was safe but she really murdered him this time. Honey, you cannot be with the daughter of the woman who wants to harm your family."

Zaria blinked when she realized that although she didn't want to admit it, Alyssa could be telling the truth. The accident on that day…

"Zaria!" Desmond ran after her when she suddenly dashed out through the door and headed for the parking lot.

"It was her!" Tears fell down her cheeks as soon as Desmond grabbed her hand. "She caused the accident that harmed my dad."

"What?" He didn't expect such a twist either.

"Let me go. I have to confront her." She tried to pull away. She finally understood the message she had been sent before, which warned that not every accident was actually an accident.

He pulled her onto his chest and hugged her tightly.

"Desmond! Did you hear anything about what I said?" Alyssa rushed out after them, frowning when she saw her son embracing the daughter of the enemy.

"I will investigate if Lucy was really behind Jaime's death." He hated his brother but because Alyssa was his mother after all, he didn't heartlessly dismiss her.

"She is the one behind it, I swear." Alyssa cried.

Desmond bent and picked Zaria up in his arms, brushing past Alyssa. "If she is, that's one thing." He turned to look at her seriously. "But if I find out that Lucy killed Jaime because he was on his way to hurt Zaria, you have to know that I will do nothing about it even if I have evidence against her."

"You only think about that woman!" Alyssa pointed at Zaria who was crying in her son's arms. They both ignored her and went back into the house, all the way to Desmond's room without turning back to spare her a glance. Didn't the life of his brother matter? Even though they had been rivals all their lives, they were still brothers albeit half brothers!

…

Desmond placed her in his bed gently and kissed her tear-stained cheeks. "You cannot go to find Lucy now."

"Why?" She so badly wanted to, but she felt weak. Her entire body had been drained of strength from the sudden shock and she could only rest her head on Desmond's chest.

He sat on the bed next to her and gathered her into his arms. "Love, things aren't always the way they seem. If you confront her in your current state, it is highly possible that you will merely hurl insults at each other and solve nothing.

She snifled while trying not to think about it. "She is such a pretender, Desmond. I thought she actually cared about dad. She even lied about not being able to hurt him because he is the person I care about deeply. Yet she actually…"

"My love, don't think about it." He kissed her eyes. "Let's think of some happy thoughts. Do you want me to tell you a story?"

She nodded. She wanted anything that could keep her from thinking about Lucy and her evil schemes.

Desmond pulled the covers over them and patted her as he gently narrated. "It's actually about someone I know. Her name is Alma. She was engaged to her childhood boyfriend, Garret. However, her parents were against their relationship because a wealthy man-the head of the Preston family-was in love with Alma. Her relationship with Garret was bound to be broken. After all, the Prestons were also rumored to be a mafia family. Besides, Garret had zero power against Martin Preston."

"Amelia Preston, Liam's mother?" Zaria was shocked when she understood who he was talking about.

"You catch up quickly." He teased her ears.

"What happened?"

"It's just like you can imagine." He continued. "Alma and Garret vowed to fight for their relationship no matter how hard the fight got. It was never easy for them for an instant. She thought they would stick together regardless and if worse came to worst, they would die together. However, reality was cruel. Not only did Garret abandon her after receiving a sum of money, but her parents also forced her into a wedding gown and practically dragged her to the altar to marry Martin."

"That's awful." She frowned. She would never have expected that behind Alma Preston's cheerful smile in interviews was such a sad story.

"It was." Desmond sighed. "She blamed Garret for leaving her and hated her parents all her life. They were the worst traitors that she didn't want to see ever again."

"And they never talked again?" Zaria asked. She thought it was pitiful for a family to completely break apart for something that happened three decades ago.

"They did when Liam was little." Desmond explained. "Her father finally revealed the truth while on his deathbed. It turned out, Martin threatened them and Garret with her life. She was in danger and if Garret didn't leave and her parents didn't make her marry him, she would have been killed. He also sent a lump sum to Garret to make Alma hate him."

Zaria looked up at him in shock. Just what kind of darkness loomed in the Preston family? She knew that they had secrets but she didn't expect some of those secrets to be this dark. "What happened to Garret?"

"I don't know. No one has heard of him ever since he left Alma." Desmond sighed.

His words rang through her mind. Things weren't always the way they appeared.

"I want to see her." She declared, referring to Lucy.

"Right now?" He checked the time. Finding that it was not as late as he expected, he gave Lucy a call. It would be better for the two of them to talk now, before Zaria's mind filled with all sorts of thoughts through the night. Besides, he also wanted to know the truth.

Lucy arrived faster than the duo expected.

"She is here." Desmond announced.

Zaria nodded and crawled out of bed. She was feeling better than she did when she had just discovered that the accident that almost killed Theodore was her mother's handiwork. He went to cook her something to eat as she went to the living room where Lucy was sitting on pins and needles.

"Zaria?" Lucy stood as soon as she saw her daughter. She went to hug her, only to be ignored by the latter.

"I'm sure you know why I'm here." She gave Lucy a stern side glance. When Lucy tried to hug her, she crossed her arms. "Which is why I do not understand why you are still putting on a farce."

"Zaria," Lucy felt her heart tremble when she thought about the only possible reason for Zaria's behaviour.

"You hurt him. You almost caused his death and after that, you lied about not being capable of harming the people around me. Why, Miss Roatta?" Zaria fought back her anger and hurt as she tried her best not to explode.

"It was an accident." Was all Lucy could say. She massaged her nose bridge. Both she and Zeus knew that it really was an accident. But how could she prove it to Zaria? Theodore and Jaime just happened to be on the same road when the accident happened, and the truck that was hired just happened to lose control and end up running into innocent cars? What were the odds of such a thing happening?

Still, she looked at her daughter. "Zaria, please believe me. I was aiming for Jaime. I knew he was trying to hurt you. Zaria? Please say something." She became worried when her daughter stared at her blankly without saying a word.

Zaria hugged her arms, her gaze still cold. "Let me ask you this. If we are walking on a bridge together and I trip, pushing you off the bridge coincidentally, and you fall to your death, is it an accident or not?"

Lucy was helpless when she heard the hypothetical question. She knew that her daughter was trying to trap her but there was nothing she could do aside from answering her. "It is an accident."

Zaria nodded in satisfaction at the anticipated answer. "But I killed you nonetheless, didn't I?"

Lucy sighed and stepped forward to close in on Zaria. "Please forgive me, my dear. I should have asked them to be more careful."

Zaria frowned and pulled away, repulsed by the woman before her. "I would have forgiven you if it were really an accident. But you hid the truth and tried to make up for your actions."

"I…"

"Not only that, Ms Roatta." Zaria interrupted her. "You also used Zeus' name to make me give up my search for the truth. What was that about me only using him when I needed help?" She saw the shock in Lucy's eyes. Clearly, she didn't expect her to have known that the message was not sent by Zeus. She huffed. "If you are innocent, why did you delete part of the security footage?"

________

Song recommendation: Tu n'es plus là —Amel Bent.

I listened to it on repeat while writing this chapter.