Owned? - Chapter 73：A simple yet effective plan

•Azalea

I woke up and found Nora asleep beside me on the bed. Caesar was sleeping on the couch while Arius was nowhere in sight.

I got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom to freshen up.

When I got out I noticed that Caesar was up and was talking to Arius who was leaning on the door.

He noticed me and sighed.

His action felt odd, he looked at Caesar again  for a few moments then looked back at me, “Azalea. I need to talk to you. Come with me.” He turned and held the door knob, “Caesar wake Nora up and have the car and bag prepared.”

Caesar nodded while Arius opened the door to leave. I began following him but before I exited I saw Caesar’s failed attempt at waking Nora up. He poked her arm but Nora reacted by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in bed with her.

I saw the panic on Caesar’s face and I couldn’t help but giggle.

Waking Nora up can be a bit hard.

Good luck to you Caesar.

***

I walked to Arius’s room with him. He went ahead and sat down on the sofa near the window.

I took my seat next to him.

“What did you want to talk about?”

He looked at me, “You like Matthew a lot right?”

His question was strange and I couldn’t get why he was asking me that, “If it’s about this morning and him being my crush and all-”

“No.” He shook his head, “As a person. You’re attached to him right?” I nodded, “And his mother?”

“Miss lebberly?” I tilted my head, “Of course. She was like a mom.” I smiled warmly, “They both were a blessing.”

“I see…” He sighed.

“Hey, is something wrong?” I moved my hand to place it on his shoulder when I stopped. A sudden thought made me halt and my eyes went wide, “Arius?”

He saw the fear in my eyes and nodded, “Your suspicion is right.”

“No.” I retreated, “That’s impossible. Miss Lebberly is too nice! She couldn’t have done that!”

After seeing my reaction he spoke calmly, “I won’t say anything. I’ll show you the rest.”

***

Arius sat quietly on the sofa staring out when the door opened.

It was miss Lebberly, she was probably here to clean but the moment she saw Arius her legs got weak, the color started leaving her face and she leaned against the door frame to keep herself standing.

Arius turned his face to her, an ominous smile plastered on his face.

“Welcome Lebberly.” He gestured to the seat in front of him, “Would you like to sit down. It seems like you can’t keep standing.”

“W-what brings you here so suddenly young master?” She tried to sound confident but the stuttering gave her away, “Y-you d-didn’t inform anyone.”

“Oh Lebberly.” Arius scoffed, “I’m sure you know the answer to that better than anyone.” Lebberly clenched her dress, “Do you have anything to say in your defence?” He leaned his face to rest on his hand while his arm was on the sofa’s back.

I watched the whole scene while I stood in the closet

“I-I-I” She stuttered even more as she searched for words to say. I saw beads of sweat forming on her forehead. All the while Arius didn’t say anything, he just kept his eyes on her.

It was deadly.

This was his plan all along, to not give the other person even the slightest chance to prepare.

After a few moments of silence miss Lebberly dropped to her knees and bowed her head so low that it touched the ground, “Spare me. Please!”

I felt my heart drop.

“Please!” She begged without raising her head from the ground.

“Hmm.” Arius folded his arms, “I don’t see the point of sparing you. Because of you I had to lose someone important to me.” There was a slight shift in his voice. I could sense the anger.

“I-I didn’t know it would turn that bad.”

“Oh? I’m sure you were the one who composed the letter for the skull spiders. That means you were who would have been responsible for Azalea’s death, If I didn’t intervene.”

“…”

It didn’t cross my mind until now but now that I’ve heard it I feel angry.

The memory flashed in my mind.

When I first met her here she was shocked to see me, now I realized it wasn’t because she met me after so long but because she had signed me up for death.

“Young master please.”

“What?” Arius seemed unbothered, “Do you have something useful for me?” He was more interested in his nails.

I couldn’t see miss Lebberly’s face since she was still bowing but I could feel the pressure she was under, I could see her body trembling.

“I-” There was a pause, “I don’t have anything.” I sensed the tremors in her voice. She was close to crying.

“Oh that’s too bad.” Arius took out his gun and stood up. When miss Lebberly heard the gun get loaded she raised her head to see it.

She was now completely white. Sweat was flowing down the sides of her head.

“Please young master!!” She begged, “I did it because I had no other choice. I made a deal with Derulo years ago.”

Arius walked and stood in front of her, “Your deal was with Derulo. Not Ryan.”

“It was with the Blacks!” She tried to defend herself but Arius paid her words no heed and raised the gun to her head, “Please!Please! Young master!!” Tears started flowing down her cheeks and I was tempted to step out and stop him.

I placed my hand on the closet when Arius shot his face towards me, his eyes gave a deadly look, it made me freeze in my position.

“Any last words?” He asked her, “Some for Matthew maybe?”

The realization was probably hitting her bad that she should never have gone to the Blacks for help. She should have went to Richard, he would have helped her because she was the widow of his soldier but the hatred got the better of her.

Sad how none of us ever realize where hate takes us.

She was now about to lose everything, all she worked for, her son and her own life.

“Young master please!! I have one thing!!” She shouted.

Arius kept his gun in its place, “Really now?”

“Ryan Black has a secret club he loves visiting. He’s the most defenseless there because he takes the least guards there.” There was a lot of desperation in her voice, “He visits usually on wednesdays, It’s a private club for politicians and businessmen.” She searched his eyes to see if she got any luck but Arius didn’t show her any hope, “He’s a fanatic when it comes to beautiful women…” She dropped her head in defeat, “That’s all I know…”

“Interesting information.” Arius agreed and miss Lebberly looked back up with hope but was met with the cold metal pressing against her forehead instead, “It will come in handy. Thank you for your service Lebberly.” He gave her a mischievous smile, “Good bye.”

I slammed my hands on the closet to open it and got out.

“Arius no!!!” He spared me a glance along with miss Lebberly who turned her tear streaked face to look at me. She looked miserable.

Just the next second, the echoing sound erupted throughout the castle.

Arius had fired the gun.