บท 11: The explosion

"What the fuck do you mean by you've been arrested?"

Malcolm screamed into the phone. He did his part by slandering her in the club, and Mina also executed her duty by drugging Iris. Even the fake investors were ready when he left Bowman Corporation yesterday. They successfully set all traps, and the most important milestone left was for Iris to sign the damn papers.

"Tell me this is a fucking joke. Why would you be in jail?" He just finished taking a long bath to wash the filthy hospital smell from his body. To make his act real, he pretended to collapse, and that was the last thing he remembered, as he mistakenly fell asleep and had to be rushed to the hospital.

As soon as Malcolm woke up, he left without being properly discharged. His anticipation was on his company shares rising, but everything remained as it was. Now Mina just called that she was in jail. 'I'm not ready for any errors right now.'

"Is Iris dead already? Where are the documents?" He fired at Mina, causing her to go pale at the other end. The recording system logged calls like the one she just made, but it appeared that Malcolm didn't give a hoot.

[Knock!] [Knock!!] [Knock!!!]

"Who the fuck is that?" Malcolm cursed before heading for the door, not bothering to alert Mina to hold on. She called out severally and finally ended the call in anger.

[Flash!!!]

Malcolm's face was momentarily stunned by the flashing lights of various cameras before he quickly recovered. He was on cloud nine. 'Iris must be dead. They're here to find out how I feel. Hahahhha! We did it!' Malcolm mused in glee.

"Mr Malcolm Miller, you are under arrest for drug use and possession. Anything you say or do will be used against you in a court of law... You have the right to..."

Malcolm turned ghastly pale as the police officer flashed a warrant in his face. When he felt the cold handcuff on his hands, his world shattered.

"Mr Miller, were you high when you made that video accusing your fiance?"

"Why did you slander your fiance in the video?"

"How often are you high, Mr Miller?"

"Mr Miller, do you do drugs with your fiance?"

"Did your fiance push you to do drugs?"

"Say something, Mr Miller…"

"Are you an addict?"

"How long have you been using drugs? Care to tell us your drug plug?"

Many questions about drugs flew from every direction, and the cameras were blinding him. It was only 10 a.m. but the sun was shining so brightly. Coupled with the flash of cameras, he had to shut his eyes as the police led him away.

"Mr Miller, is this why you've been cheating on your fiance?" The last question caught Malcolm off-guard, and he turned his neck backwards to see who just spoke. However, the next thing he knew, he was lying face-flat on the floor.

His face scratched the bare floor, and he felt a liquid trail down his nose. The pain was excruciatingly unbearable. When the police lifted him he saw blood. Malcolm's body ached badly, but his hands were secured behind him by the handcuffs, so he couldn't even touch his face.

"So sorry about that, Mr Miller. Please watch where you're going next time." One of the arresting officers spoke half-heartedly. He gave Malcolm a provocative smile before pushing him into the vehicle.

Even at the point where the police car drove away, Malcolm could still not understand what was going on. He couldn't get anyone to explain the situation to him, as Mina was equally in jail.

============

"Speak!"

Tyler spoke into the phone when he noticed who was calling. The caller spoke for a while, but he still didn't hear what he wanted. Though the message wasn't totally bad news, he was still displeased with what the caller said.

As he cut the call and placed the phone back, he took in the sight of Iris Bowman's sleeping face, and his heart fluttered like a teenager. All the butterflies in his stomach suddenly did a break dance that set his system into overdrive.

"What would I do with you, Iris?" Tyler was confused about how to handle the situation with Iris, as the young lady made it clear that she didn't wish to see him around her anymore. It was more appropriate to say that the entity occupying her body wants nothing to do with Tyler Harper.

Casting his mind back to the time they shared in Rachel's villa, his look turned murderous as he envisioned the image of a woman in his head. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he hugged Iris tightly from behind.

Tyler gripped her hair to hold her in place before whispering into her ear. It was as if he didn't intend to wake Iris up, but was still speaking to her at the same time.

"Listen to me real good, Minerva, you will remain where you are. You would not take over this body at will. If you dare make a fool out of my woman… You know what I can do."

Tyler then pecked Iris' ears and let go of her hair. She emitted a cold aura that only made him smirk. When he looked at her once more, he felt Iris was a miracle.

"A frail mortal like you can awaken Minerva? What does that witch want with Iris? What is her goal? How did this happen? Fuck! I need answers!"

Earlier on, when Rachel met Iris with a knife to Tyler's throat, she blurted out her questions without thinking for a second that something monstrous was brewing in her sister's subconscious.

At the moment that Iris used to acknowledge her sister, Tyler knocked her unconscious before catching her from falling face-flat. Rachel was so scared that she couldn't believe the damn stranger had the nerve to kill her sister in her presence.

"She'll be fine, Rachel. Just unconscious." Tyler explained in a calm voice. He was so understanding and indulging Rachel because of Iris, and what the young lady did earlier to save his life.

"Please take care of my sister. I'll have to leave for now.

The young lady rushed out of the room after confirming that her sister was okay. Her supervisor threatened to query her about missing work under the flimsy excuse of being sick. She could only leave Iris in Tyler's care.

To calm his nerves, Tyler wound his arm around Iris' waist and placed his head in the crook of her neck. Her scent was so intoxicating that he was quickly pulled into a deep sleep.

Soon, morning came and Iris stared menacingly at Tyler, only to watch him smirk carelessly at her. She felt exhausted for no reason, as Tyler didn't dare to take advantage of her.

"Some of my men would follow you from henceforth. You need protection." Tyler declared with finality.

"You must be crazy. Why do you think I'd allow you to monitor my movements in this manner?" Iris fired a retort.

"Your safety is my priority, even if you don't believe it," Tyler responded in all seriousness.

"Delusional jerk!" Iris mocked while scrambling for her belongings. She wanted to get as far away from this nuisance as possible.

"Bowman Corporation headquarters explosion wasn't an accident."