Chapter 3: Chapter 3- Mountaineer Avenue
Polly stayed silent in the taxi, staring into space. She looked at her finger where her engagement ring had been, its absence a cruel reminder that everything that happened was not a figment of her nightmares.
Her father was quite famous in Dunecliff city, but unfortunately, she lost him in the hands of death itself.
Her father owned this huge firm in Dunecliff, quite known to be the second-best in achieving greatness. But what defines a successful individual like her father if he lacks adversaries?
She still remembered when her father had disappeared from their home on a fateful night. No one knew exactly where he went, but what they heard next from the news report was that her father committed suicide. They said he jumped off a cliff and ended his own life— a catching, yet devastating news that spread like wildfire within Dunecliff city, and she was only thirteen at that time of the incident.
Since his mysterious death, a lot of rumors have spread around the city. Some claimed he was in partnership with a mafia and failed to meet their demands. Some claimed he sold his soul to the devil–a reason behind her father's booming business, and of course, she was aware that no one except her father's adversaries would instigate the rumors.
Though not many believed it, people steered clear from her and her brother, but also respected them out of fear. Aside from partnership businesses, there was no other relationship they had with folks living in Dunecliff city, and that was when Andrew approached her.
At first, it was out of business deals, but when they spent more time together after the partnership contract, he was one of those people she thought she could lean to whenever she was down.
He was nice to her, he respected her, loved her—or so she thought until now. Even when his company was at the verge of collapsing after an untimely bankruptcy, she forced her brother to help him out.
Without her, he wouldn't even be in the position he was today. She supported him, sold half of her shares to aid him, she literally gave him everything he wanted, but in the end, she was the 'desperate' one, the 'competitive' one, just because she fell in love?
Like that wasn't enough damage to her heart, he further accused her of being the cause of her own father's death. The Andrew she knew would never say something like that.
What happened to her Andrew?
The taxi driver watched her from the rearview mirror, and he was starting to worry about the young woman's health. Her eyes were red and teary, her cheeks rosy, and her red hair was all over the place.
She wouldn't stop staring at her ring finger, and it made the taxi driver wonder if she had lost her husband in an accident or something relating to that. Whatever it may be, he felt pity for the stunning woman sitting at the back of the car's seat.
"Miss?" He gently called, "do you have somewhere specific you want to go?" he inquired, and he watched as she closed her eyes, with tears escaping from the corner.
"Mountaineer Avenue." She finally responded.
It was a twenty minutes drive from Andrew's hotel to the mountaineer avenue. The avenue stretched its way through the rugged terrain, and Polly gazed at the snow-capped peaks from outside the car's window.
Quaint cabins and cottages lined the road, and in no time, the taxi parked at a fancier looking cottage, secluded from the rest of the other houses. Polly got down from the taxi and paid the driver, then quietly made her way inside.
Her car was still right where she parked it this morning, and that could only mean the mechanic she called must have fixed it.
A slim-looking man who appeared to be in his early forties stepped out of the house to dust off the carpet, and he was muttering to himself as he did so.
"That young man still acts like a child! He should have been a female instead of a male! That lazy brat–" and he paused at the sight of Polly.
"Miss Polly?" The man, who seemed to be more of a caretaker, spread the carpet on the railings attached to the front porch, and he noticed the gloomy demeanor on his favorite person's face.
"Miss?" The welcoming smile on his lips faltered, and Polly stood in front of him.
"Are you okay? Did something happen?" He queried, his concern setting in, but he was even more taken aback when Polly hugged him. He was perplexed by the sobs that escaped her lips, and his own panic set in.
He was super sure he had seen Polly leave the house with the sweetest smiles on her lips, so what could have possibly deteriorated her mood?
"Malcolm." Polly pulled away, her tears flowing freely as she said, "Andrew… Andrew's seeing another woman behind my back. I… I caught him…"
"Oh, dear." Understanding where the rest of her sentence was heading to, Malcolm did not bother to hear the rest, and he took her inside their home.
In the cozy living room, Polly's twin brother had fished out his phone and was dialing a certain number, but Polly snatched the phone from his grasp before he went ahead and did something stupid.
She asked, "what are you planning to do?" She immediately ended the call that was forwarded, and when she looked into his green eyes that mirrored hers, she could see he was feeling her pain for her.
"What does it look like I'm freaking doing?" He arched a devastating eyebrow at her, "I'm calling my boys, and they would not spare Andrew until every single bone in his useless body is broken. I will not spare that man!"
"You will do nothing of that sort." Polly's voice held a finality to it, and her brother was more irritated because of that. "We don't have to do anything to him. I've ended our relationship, and I don't want to ever see him again. If you do something out of rage and he dies, you will be the one who ends up in prison, not him."
"I agree with Miss here." Malcolm nodded his head in agreement, "we don't always have to resort to violence. We can always bury him alive instead, no one will find his body."
"Malcom!"
The caretaker of the house shrugged, and since he believed what happened to his Miss was unfair, they should also treat the matter unfairly to make it fair.
Polly sighed heavily at both of their awful suggestions, sinking onto a couch, but now she believed Andrew was wrong. She could never be alone with Norman and Malcolm by her side, and even when she smiled at how affected they were by her moodiness, her sour brother did not buy her smile one bit.
"Those silly smiles of yours won't fool me, I will make Andrew regret doing what he did to you, and don't try to get in my way." Norman clarified, for he knew the sacrifices his stubborn sister had made to ensure that she made that man happy. Malcolm was at the back, nodding his head in full support.
"Who needs Andrew anyway, Miss here is much more deserving of someone better." Malcolm's eyes softened as he looked in the direction of Polly, "I will make you your favorite snacks, that will cheer you up, and remember, you are the one who called the cards by choosing to let him go. He was never really special."
"She got her sight back at the nick of time." Norman added before looking his sister's way, "freshen up and come down for dinner. You look awful."
"I have a meeting to attend with the board by nine. I'm already late as it is." Polly quietly informed him, stealing a glance at her wristwatch to check the time, but what she met was her brother's disapproving stare, and he repeated..
"Upstairs, freshen up, now. I'll call the board and tell them to reschedule whatever meeting you have today."
Malcolm, who was in the kitchen already preparing something tasty, smiled as he watched how Norman nagged his sister into moving, but it was his own way of saying he hated how sad she looked.
Polly obediently went upstairs, and she keeps wondering why she always listens to him when she was technically the eldest.
When Polly was out of sight, there was a knock on the door. Malcolm knew Norman wouldn't answer it, so he went to open the door himself, wondering who it could be.
When the door opened, there was no one outside, save for an envelope lying on their doorstep.
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