"Tonight?” Angela asked, surprised it was happening rather quickly, but then, she thought again. It was actually for the best. Charles was no longer needed on the surface of the earth. He had exceeded his stay, and all he did was cause problems for her, and her mother. Her poison plan had failed woefully, so it was best another one replaced it, and it had better work out. She was about to ask for more details to be certain Charles would be finished off without failure and any more disappointments when her phone buzzed, and she, upon seeing the message, she stopped. She had totally forgotten all about an issue she was yet to fix. “Excuse me, mum.” She said to her mum, whose phone had begun to ring. “Sure.” Mrs. Penny replied, and picked her call. Angela left the living room to her room, and when she closed the door behind her, she stared at the text on her phone screen. Her heart began to pound and, for some reason, cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She sucked in a deep breath, and swallowed. Mark had sent a message, asking to see her. She dialed his number immediately, but as usual, his number was unreachable, so she couldn’t even explain the situation to him. Angela almost bit off the fingernail of her thumb, as it easily became the victim of her restless teeth chewing. How was she to tell Mark she had failed? She would rather not disappoint him. She could tell him their mother had a plan that was definitely going to work, but he would never trust her anymore. He'd ask why she hadn't stayed to confirm Charles was dead, but there was no way she could have done that. Or could that have been the right thing to do? Was she to make a fuss, and delay so he could die before she could get help that would take him to the hospital? Already the maid was in the prison, and she wasn't ready to replace her. Mark had asked to meet on a kind of mountain, which was a bit farther than she'd like. She was going to go through the woods, and climb all the way up so she could meet him in secrecy. Would he rage at her? Or simply ask her to leave? “Shit. How could you have messed that up?” She asked, running a hand through her hair. “Wait. It wasn't your fault, was it? You administered the poison, and he drank it. Wasn't that what you were supposed to do?” She asked herself, plopping down on her bed, but she still couldn't help but feel she had opened a gateway for trouble. If they happened to find out the maid wasn't guilty, then they'd start investigating afresh, and they'd find out she had been alone with the wine, and Charles had drunk it without much thought. It would spell serious trouble for her. She could spend years in prison, and she couldn't afford to waste her life in prison. Angela dug her hands in her hair, messing it up, and falling against the bed with a scream of frustration. She had to hope the case would end with the maid in prison, if not, it could really be trouble for her. After thinking, and lamenting for a while, she got up from the bed, and went into the bathroom to take a shower. By the time Angela was done dressing, it was almost time for her to meet with Mark, so she left immediately, so she wouldn't keep him waiting. Angela hailed a cab after making it to the street, and in the cab, her hands kept on getting sweaty. “It's not a big deal, Angela. You did what you ought to do. It's totally fine. You do not need to panic. It didn't work out, but it's not your fault. Charles just got lucky. He's a lucky asshole.” She said, consoling herself as she wiped her sweaty fingers with a handkerchief. It took a whole hour for Angela to get there, and by the time she did, the sun had already sunk low in the sky. Angela looked up at the mountain, and sighed. Was she really going to start hiking? She had known she had to climb since he had called it a kind of mountain, but she had still wanted to wear a short skirt. It was all thanks to the angel in her mind who had suggested she went with denim bum shorts. So there she was, dressed in black denim shorts, and a large white T-shirt with 'Rock' written on it in bold black letters. Angela began to hike up the mountain quickly at first, but when she got halfway, she was panting, and dying to sit with her back against a tree. So far, she had seen only a few people, and was shocked when she spotted a little house. “Who lives high up?” She had remarked, wondering why someone would live in a place where they had to do exercise whenever they wanted to return to their house. Angela continued her hiking, breathing hard, and eventually half-dragging her legs when they got too heavy to lift. Finally, she got to the top of the mountain, and looked around while taking in noisy breaths. The wind whipped her hair across her face, and she regretted not taking a hair scrunchie along with her. She tucked her hair behind her ears, but it didn't help. Her hair was all messed up, and got into her open mouth. Finally, she spotted him standing a distance away at the edge of a cliff. What was he doing there? It was already scary enough being so high up. Did he really have to stand at the edge of the cliff? He was dressed in all black, with a face cap turned low over his face, which was half covered in a mask. Angela looked around just to ensure no one was watching, and walked briskly to Mark. As she approached him, he sensed her presence, and turned around. “Angela.” He called, and tugged his face mask down. He had a smile on his face, and she returned it uneasily. “I… “ “Did you doll up just to tell me the good news that might be a little bad for everyone else?” He asked, still smiling, and Angela closed her eyes, trying to shatter his joy, and let him know Charles escaped death once more. “Was it that hard? Unnerving? Was the blood spilling out of his mouth nasty? Well, no. The poison I got isn't one that leaves such messy evidence as blood. I hope you took care of everything because it's definitely going to be discovered during an autopsy, and I wouldn't want anything linking me, or you, to it. Maybe there's someone you can frame, any…” “Mark!” Angela found herself calling rather sharply, and Mark fell silent. Angela's wide eyes opened slowly, and he got the message before she could even say a word. She had been unable to do it. His jaw stiffened, as he awaited her reply, but Angela found it hard to say the words. She blinked away, turning her gaze to the little patch of bush behind him. “What did you do with the poison I gave you?” He asked, and Angela's face went red. “I… I gave it to him.” She stuttered, tucking her flying hair behind her ear, and still avoiding his gaze. “You didn't, did you?” His voice came out cold, and Angela cleared her throat. “The thing is, uh, I put it in his wine, but something happened, and he accidentally spilled it himself.” She admitted, still unable to meet his eyes. “What?” Mark asked, in disbelief. “Yeah, I didn't know how fast it'd work, I just put the whole thing in there. I didn't have a spare, but wait, wait…” She explained, hastily, finally looking at him. “I got another one. Exactly the one you gave me. I had someone examine the particles, and have that same poison found for me, and they did, and…” She was saying, but he suddenly grabbed her wrist sharply and pushed her towards the edge of the cliff. Angela screamed, and stared at him with wide eyes. Was he going to push her because of that? He couldn't push her, could he? Angela's hopeful thoughts piled up like a house of cards. He couldn't possibly do it, but the fierce look in his eyes scattered her hopes, and they also fell like a house of cards.