"What the hell?" Na-ri flinched. "What is she talking about?!" "Has Ophelia lost her mind?" "How can she push the blame on Nikolai?" "What has gotten into her?" "This is outrageous." Startled murmurs swept across the room. Everyone became extremely tensed. "Are you... very sure, ma'am?" The interviewer asked. "I mean, this is quite heavy because everyone believed Mr. Jagger killed you. Although, your body was missing, but we all believed you were dead because Mr. Nikolai said so." "Did you say Jagger?" Ophelia scoffed. "If there was anything Jagger did, he saved me. He witnessed what happened, how Nikolai had shot me. And when Nikolai noticed he was a witness, he decided to put the blame on him because he felt everyone would believe him since he was the son of a rich man, and also because everyone already thought that Jagger was a bad man. But the truth is, I was saved by Jagger. So, he doesn't deserve to be locked up." She paused and sniffed. "I'm not saying this because I want Nikolai to be arrested instead. No, I consider what happened back then as a ... mistake and have no intentions of pressing charges. Hell! I don't even have the strength for a court case right now. I just want to be with my family and recover all the time I've lost with them." The interviewer glanced at the opened book on his legs. "But... if you were fine the whole time, why did you stay hidden for ten years? I mean, you could've easily returned home, right?" "You won't understand." She chuckled. "It wasn't as easy as you think. I was in so much shock and needed enough time to heal. Also, I kind of fell in love with the new life I had. You know, the place Mr. Jagger had taken me to was quite peaceful and by a river side. I made a couple of friends and got to love my simple life. It sounds crazy, but I just wanted to enjoy that moment before I come back to this..." she pointed her hands around. "To this drama." "This lady has gone nuts." Bellamy huffed. "Who the hell is gonna believe these lies? She's trying to say she chose to remain hidden for ten years all because she loved her simple life? What in God's name?!" "Okay. But... it's kind of hard to believe that Nikolai would do such a thing to you over a light argument." The interviewer continued. "Did you say light?" Ophelia scoffed. "Trust me, you know nothing about Nikolai. That guy is extremely aggressive and has anger issues. You won't believe it, but he's the overly jealous type and can kill if he gets the slightest idea that his woman is with someone else. Even his present wife, Adira is currently facing the same fate from him. You know, I have a recording here that can prove what I'm saying." "A recording?" The interviewer's eyes beamed. "Yes." Everyone watched as Ophelia reached for her bag and took out her phone."What is she doing?" Mr. Vincent murmured. Tapping at her phone a few times, a voice recording began playing: 'You saw a little of my dark side the other night. I'm possessive, extremely jealous. I always want to dominate my woman and make her mine alone. Iknow it's wrong to be this insecured, and I wish I could control it, but I could hurt you, Adira. I could hurt you if you make me feel the slightest envy. So, tell me; can you love a man like me?' It played loud and clear, no doubt of it being Nikolai's voice. Startled gasps rippled through the room. "Oh, my God!" Adira raised her hands to stifle her gasp. Her heart threatened to explode from her chest. That was the conversation she had with Nikolai three weeks ago. How did it get there?! How was it recorded?! "What's happening?" Bellamy asked fearfully, sliding her gaze between Adira and Nikolai. "Yvonne." The name slipped Adira's lips. She was the only possible suspect. It had to be her. That explains why she had gone missing all of a sudden. It was a plan all along. Yvonne was a spy! They were completely unaware of the storm brewing within Nikolai, not until he stormed towards the stairs. "Nikolai?" Adira ran after him. He was so fast. He got into the room, grabbed his car keys and when he tried to leave, Adira held his hand. "No, please! You need to calm down and think." She pleaded, but his eyes indicated he had lost all form of reasoning. "Let me go, Adira. Don't let me hurt you." He gave a snarl of rage and forced his wrist from her grip.He flounced out of the room. "No! Nikolai, wait." Adira ran after him, but he didn't spare her a glance Getting to the sitting room, his parents tried to stop him. "Where are you going, Nik? Hold on." "Get out of my way. I need to see her. I want her to look me in the FACE and tell me how the heck she could fabricate such lies against me!" His voice rumbled with resentment. "Okay, I perfectly understand how you feel, but I need you to calm down and wait for the right time." Bellamy spread her arms apart, standing in his way. "Trust me, you're in no mood to confront her right now. You'll only end up hurting her in public and confirming her accusations." "I don't care. I don't bloody care!" Nikolai shoved her away stormed out of the house. Bellamy would've fallen to the floor, but thankfully, Finn was there to stop her.Adira ran after Nikolai and got into the car with him. His guards that had been outside jumped into the backseat as well. "Please! You need to listen to us and calm down, Nikolai. Believe me, this isn't the right time." She pleaded. Nikolai turned on the ignition and started towards the gate. The rest of the purple were already out of the house. "Don't open the gate! Don't open it!" Mr. Vincent yelled, loud enough for the gatemen to hear. Nikolai approached them with a speed so fast, the men became scared. They were tempted to open the gate for him, but they knew his parents had a good reason for instructing them not to. Not wanting to get hit by the angry driver, they stepped out of the way. "Nikolai! You need to stop the car! Stop it now!" Adira yelled fearfully. He was still going on a high speed, despite the fact that the gate was closed. His unthinkable self had taken over - that part of him she had seen that night. His anger was uncontrollable now and she knew he wasn't thinking straight. He might get them killed! "Nikolai! Nikolai!" She shrieked when she noticed they were closer to the gate. And just as if her scream had gotten to his inner consciousness, he stepped on the brakes. But they were too close to the gate already and rammed into it. For a few seconds, the air crackled with chaos. Thankfully, neither of them got hurt, although the car and the gate had damages due to the collision. "Oh, my God." Adira muttered breathlessly, shaking from the imagination of what would have happened if Nikolai hadn't stepped on the brakes. It would've been pretty crazy. She looked at him and found his head down on the steering, his fingers clutching tight. "I didn't kill her." He spoke in ragged breaths. "I didn't kill her. He made me do it." Adira's emotions clashed like crashing waves. His words sent tears to her eyes. "Come on, Nik." She pulled him into a hug, patting his back. ****†****† It took a while to get him calm. Aware that he needed solitude at the moment, Adira led Nikolai to the garden where she brought his favourite wine and served a glass to him. Taking One for herself, she sat beside him and did a long time, they just drank in silence, refilling their glasses when empty. "It's all because of my mum," Nikolai finally said, after what seemed like forever. Adira had been waiting patiently for that. She just didn't want to be the one to strike up the conversation. "Mr. Jagger used to be my mum's lover, before she was made to marry my dad. He was a very poor and rough guy back then, so my grandparents didn't think twice about ridding him off my mum's life and making her marry my billionaire dad. At first, my mum was hurt. But in time, she got to fall in love with my dad and started detesting Jagger when he kept pestering her life. "When Jagger realized my mum's love for him had turned sour, he shifted all the hate and blame to my dad and...us - their children. And since I was my dad's favorite, he picked me as his victim. "The day Ophelia and I were abducted, we indeed, had a misunderstanding. I got to know she had spent a night with someone he used to be my friend. And according to her, she did it as a form of payback because she found out I'd been sleeping with Na-ri." He paused to exhale, staring into the ether. "Yeah, I was a cheat, and I know it was wrong. But I was furious to know my lady had warmed another man's bed. I was.... deeply angry and laid my hands on her. And that was the moment Jagger and his men arrived and abducted us." "I thought he was going to kill me. Instead, he decided to torture me mentally. He tortured and taunted Ophelia and I for hours. Then, he took us to this cliff and put a gun in my hand. He asked me to shoot her to save myself, else, I'd get killed instead. I didn't... I never wanted to do it." He dropped his gaze to the floor. Adira could see how much he was trying to box his emotions. "I never wanted to do it. And when I hesitated, Jagger shot me in the leg." Adira flinched. What the hell?! "I was in so much pains, I became confused. I.... I became selfish." He shook his head. "Ophelia felt pity for me and begged me to pull the trigger. She had tears running down her cheeks, and she begged me to do it - claimed she'd never be able to live with the fact that I died because of her. It was so difficult, Adira." His voice cracked in the end - slightly. "I became selfish and I...pulled the trigger." He lifted his head and sighed. Adira's heart cracked all over. She's never seen Nikolai that way before - trying so hard to put up with the mask on his face. "For ten years, there's never been a day that goes by that I do not regret what I did, Adira." he went on. "It scarred me mentally, made me become sensitive to touch and made me even scared of falling in love again. I... I suddenly felt like Jagger would come back and take my next lover from me again. I knew I wouldn't survive it if it happened to you, that's the reason I was so scared of falling for you. That's the reason I wanted this to be for two years alone. I..." his words snagged in his throat. Adira stood up immediately and went to him, pulling his head to lay on her waist. For ten years, Nikolai gave the world a different version of himself. He made the world think he was so strong, yet, he battled such emotional trauma every day of his life. How could Jagger be so evil? A man like him deserved nothing but death. "It's going to be fine, Nikolai." she spoke softly, stroking his hair. "I promise you, it's going to be fine." "Can we go away for a while?" Nikolai asked after a while, his voice as soft as the flutter of a butterfly's wings. "I feel like I'm suffocating around here. I just need to... get away for a while." Adira blinked rapidly. "Of course. We can go wherever you want."