Chapter 23: TRUST

ESTON CITY.

DUKE'S MANSION.

At the sound of the alarm, Anne dashed to the bathroom, opened the curtain, and peered through the window; her driver was waiting for her. She is an hour late for school. Fortunately for her, the hour times she set were six and nine, and each had a different tune, so she knew she was late because the tune that sounded was for nine o'clock.

"Fuck!" She muttered something under her breath and hurriedly took a bath.

Even while bathing, she kept thinking about what Ashley said, wondering how he was going to help her escape. Even if they were successful, she needed some time to get some money from her father's room so she could survive on her own in Coast City, but it was better than being depressed and receiving constant insults behind her back from so-called friends.

She heard a knock as she exited the bathroom.

"Come in," she knew it was her maid checking on her.

"Anne, your mother asked if you were feeling well," the maid explained.

"I'm coming out now, tell her," she said while applying body lotion.

"Yes, ma," the maid said as she walked away.

When Anne thought of her mother, she exhaled deeply. Her mother will be depressed and scared if she runs away from home.

"I'm sorry Mom, I'll miss you," she mumbled

Her door slowly opened as she spoke; it was her mother.

"Sh*t," she muttered. Why would her mother come to her when she was feeling bad about what she was going to do?

"Annie," Serena said as she approached Anne, taking a comb from the dressing table.

"Yes, Mom, I need to get to school, I'm already late, let's talk later," Anne quickly wore her clothes.

"I got an excuse from your principal because I thought you weren't feeling well, so I told him you'd be absent today," Serena smiled.

"How could you do that?" She screamed at her mother. She was supposed to talk to Ashley about his plans in school today.

Serena's expression dropped. That was not what she expected from Anne.

"Anne, I did it because I wanted to talk to you," she explained calmly.

"Oh," Anne exclaimed, pacing around.

"I talked to Dad about your decision," Serena continued, despite Anne's reaction.

Anne abruptly came to a halt and fixed her gaze on her.

Serena approached her, arranging Anne's auburn curly hair with the comb she was holding.

"Did he accept, Mama?" She inquired impatiently.

"You know that when your Dad says he'll think about it, it means he'll probably agree to it, so let's give it some time, okay?"

Serena said slowly, pausing from combing her hair and staring at her.

"I'm going outside," Anne said, looking down her nose and leaving her banging the door behind her.

"Am I being punished?" She muttered as she lay on Anne's bed.

-------

As the door to Samson's office opened, he dropped the book he was reading.

"Hey Roger, I'm sorry I missed the club party yesterday," he quickly apologized. Roger earlier invited him to a club party so he could get his mind off of Jane but he decided not to go.

"It's no problem, cousin; we have a pool party this evening," Roger replied as he sat in the seat in front of Samson.

"Who is the host? Isn't it Alex? Samson inquired. Raven's business partner, Paul's son, was Alexander.

"Yeah, you should come, so the rumors about Jane's disappearance die down, and who knows, you might see someone other than Jane," he tried to persuade him.

Samson scoffed. This was becoming too obvious; he needed to at least pretend that Jane was just another girl who left him; Roger wasn't wrong; he needed to go to the pool party to disprove all claims that someone had escaped from their cellar.

"About that, we should tell those cops to stop posting those missing posters already, it'll hurt, but she's gone for good," Rogers said, pulling a cigarette from the table.

"Boss, Rachel has started acting up!" Dave yelled as he knocked on the door.

Samson rose quickly.

"Leave it to me," Rogers said as he stood up and motioned him to sit.

"Oliver," Samson said as he turned to leave.

Roger took a sharp turn and faced him. "Why did you call me that?" He inquired, with an irritated tone.

Oliver was his birth name, and he hasn't used it since his father died.

"Sorry, I just felt like calling you that name, I didn't realize you didn't like it," Samson was surprised by his abrupt shift in tone.

"Don't call me Oliver ever again," he warned.

"Don't kill her, just do what needs to be done, Roger," Samson said as he let go of his hand.

He nodded and walked away.

"Why was he so paranoid, I just called his name?" Samson wondered aloud as he sat back in his chair and relaxed. He was thankful Roger was there to help him with the dirty work.

"Hey Boss, you finally came back, come and fulfill your promise," Rachel yelled seeing Roger as she struggled to break free from the man's grip on her.

Roger sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the room.

"Thank the stars Samson isn't a violent type," he said, squatting in front of her.

"I dislike calm men. Roger, you know why I obeyed your orders to..." Roger slapped her hard while she was still speaking.

"Stop telling lies; I never ordered you to do anything," He stood up and looked at Dave and Yohan, who were exchanging glances.

"Leave us alone," he said.

"You said, boss?" Dave questioned, his brow furrowed. How could Roger say something like that? For all they know, they need to keep an eye on Rachel because she has been taking various hard drugs without their knowledge since Jane escaped, and she is now becoming aggressive and insane. They wouldn't leave her alone with him!

"I told you to leave us alone!" Roger screamed at them.

"Yes, yes, Boss," Dave bowed and motioned Yohan outside.

As they walked away, Roger returned to his previous position and began rubbing Rachel's cheeks. She was already in tears.

"Stop crying, I told you not to say those things in front of them, no one will believe you," He said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

"You, you promised me..." She tried to speak clearly but her tears wouldn't let her.

"Shh Shh, you don't have to say anything," Rogers said, putting his fingers in front of her lips.

"You promised me that if I reported Jane, I'd leave," Rachel wiped her tears and spoke up.

"Well, I lied, and I apologize," Roger admitted.

"Samson said he will release me," Rachel smiled broadly as she licked the blood at the corner of her lips.

"Under what conditions?" Roger made an odd expression at her.

"It's a secret, so come let me whisper in your ears," she said quietly.

"Really?" He moved in closer, placing his left ear near her mouth.

"That I kill you," she exclaimed, laughing.

"Oh Rachel, you're really gone," Roger said, standing up and shaking his head.

—————

"He said to meet him here," Anne grumbled as they walked down a lonely road.

"Are you certain?" Sofia queried, her voice trembling slightly.

"Are you scared?" Anne inquired, having observed her behavior.

"Are you?" Sofia responded with a question.

"I'm not sure," Anne sighed. Ashley texted them the location where they would meet and talk because she couldn't come to school. They couldn't find him any longer.

"Can we rely on him?" Sofia inquired. She was already scared; perhaps it was a prank.

"He didn't seem to be pulling our..." While she was speaking, four guys jumped off the wall at their side.

"Hey lovely girls, would you mind bringing your bags?" said one of them.

Sofia snatched Anne's arms in an instant.

"I told you! He was pranking us," she said, her lips shaking.

"I guess you were right," It wasn't something she expected to happen, because she saw trust in Ashley's face and now she has to face the consequences of trusting someone.

Her mind stopped pondering as she noticed someone approaching them.

"What's going on here?" he asked, staring at them confusedly.