CHAPTER-36 ( changes can be risky as it's always too good to be bad and too bad to be good)

Brandon took a sip of coffee from his mug.

"And what's the condition?"

"You'll never disbelieve or suspect me ever again in the future."

"Noted and accepted…" Brandon shook his head. He actually enjoyed the childishness of Luna's condition. 

"And you'll never call me kiddo or kid or little girl or anything like this.." Luna shoot out her 2nd condition. 

"Hahahah…" Brandon couldn't help but laugh. 

"Wasn't there only one condition?" He asked.

"I added one more…Do you have any problem?" Luna twisted her lips…

"Okay my little princess, I accept." 

"No…don't call me princess too…Always call me by my name. I like it when you say "Luna"....." 

"Okay, anything else…"

"Yeah…. Tell those sculptors to make a statue of me at the center of the biggest fountain. So that you can see me when I'm not around." Even though Luna said in a serious demeanor, it still sounded funny. 

Both of them laugh out loud. The heavy environment turned lighter.

"I'll consider it when you'll do something greater that will blow my mind one day. Only then I'll establish a sculpture of yours…hahaha" Brandon assured her mockingly.

Miss Rossi was standing at a distance. She came back with snacks a moment ago but didn't dare to go towards their direction, seeing them clinging to each other. 

Now that everything shorted out, Miss Rossi placed the food trays in front of Luna. 

"Thank you ." Luna expressed her gratitude. 

Brandon gave her some tissue papers to wipe off Luna's tearful cheeks as it doesn't suit her smile and he himself took some to swipe the portion of his t-shirt that got wet by her tears.

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In The Evening :

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Arthur returned home as early as he could. Even though Brandon told him to make Mr Toussaint stay in the office until  late at night and keep an eye on him all the time. 

But Arthur's whole focus was stuck on Luna and the fact that she's with Brandon. 

Actually this morning,he gave the order of monitoring Luna to one of his personal servants. But that cowardly guy couldn't gather his courage to go to the ist floor to spy on Luna in Brandon's presence. So every time when he called that guy, his reply was blurry and full of disappointment for Arthur. 

Thus he was not only distracted from his work but also deliberately sent Mr Toussaint back instead of making him suffer in the waiting room. And then he hurried back home, barely finishing the rest of his work . 

Yet it took the full day up to the evening for Arthur to come back. 

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Arthur glanced over the gardens from both sides as soon as he got down from the car. 

His stupid spy told him during the reporting hours that the whole afternoon,Luna was chattering with Brandon all around the garden. 

But Arthur  couldn't find any of them except some gardeners working here and there. 

With a fearful and fidgety heart, he ran inside the villa. 

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Arthur entered the living area and his restless mind finally felt at ease seeing Luna and Brandon in a relaxed and polite environment. 

All the time in the office, he was worried for nothing. 

Brandon is just normally sitting on the sofa and working on his laptop. And Luna is circling around Brandon as he(A) expected. Although Luna's activities are entirely abnormal as always. She's bending her face close enough to Brandon's ears from behind while leaning on the backside of the sofa through her elbow and talking with him in a whispering sound. 

Arthur let out a sigh. Yet he doesn't know if it's a sigh of relief or frustration. 

"Just like a demonic witch enchanting my poor uncle's ears with her black magic spells" looking at Luna Arthur thought in his mind, ridiculously twisting his lips. 

But the ridicule converted into a charming smile as soon as Brandon's gaze fell on him. 

"How's the day, my lion?" Brandon asked, turning his face back to the laptop screen. 

"Good…..But why are you working here instead of your bedroom or study? Wasn't that more convenient??" Arthur replied, adding another question.

"Oh…don't ask. Just consider it as a change of my regular nature." Brandon avoided Arthur's question with an excuse as he didn't want to tell him the real reason. 

After wandering around the garden, Brandon thought of working for a while. 

But if he would work inside his room, Luna would have followed him there as well. So it was a better idea  to work in an open space such as the living room instead of his closed bedroom in solitude with Luna only.This might lead people towards unnecessary misunderstanding and that could hurt Arthur's feelings too. So calculating all the circumstances, Brandon decided to stay in the living room as long as Luna is with him.

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On the other hand, even after seeing Arthur, Luna didn't move from her position a little bit and shamelessly kept hanging her face beside Brandon's shoulder and her eyes on the same laptop screen. 

Without looking at Arthur, she professed,

"Why did you return this late? I've missed you so much, baby…"Luna carefully teased Arthur in a serious tone without attracting Brandon's attention. 

Arthur understood her teasing. 

"I missed you too, my sweet wife. I hope you behaved yourself and didn't disturb my uncle that much." He replied, grinding his teeth.

"Not at all….. Everything was good here. I was just getting bored without you. You should have come before afternoon." Luna gave a misbehavior smile. 

Suddenly Brandon noticed the fact, leaving his work.

"Wait…. he's not late.. He actually came home much earlier than I thought." Brandon turned his head towards Arthur.

           "Didn't I say to you to make Mr Toussaint wait until late at night?" 

Arthur became bewildered and afraid. Yet he tried to make himself look natural.

"Yeah…. And~and I ~ tried ~ my ~ best. But he went away early. Maybe he understood that you won't meet him today. And we're flexing with him….." Arthur lied with confidence as he knew Brandon would ask him something like this. And he(A) doesn't want to let him(B) know that he(A) left his work in the middle and came back home. 

Meanwhile, the driver walked inside with a pile of files in his hands. He looked at Arthur for instructions.

"Keep them in my room. " He ordered. 

The driver went upstairs.

"Okay then… I'll go back to my room and freshen up. I have a bunch of file to review and sign..... BRAN!! I DON'T LIKE THIS KIND OF WORKS. WHERE THE HELL ON EARTH DID YOU TRAP ME…." Arthur complained, making a pathetic face. 

"You've to learn, my strong boy.You're a newbie…. That's why the pressure is extra for you. Don't worry, you'll adjust with it slowly. I've faced the same challenges at my initial periods…."Brandon Tried to console him. 

Arthur turned his face towards Luna.

"Hey,you…. Bring some cold water into the room. I don't want any stale water ."

"Okay, you go first and I'll be there in a moment." Luna obediently accepted Arthur's order as she didn't want to make a fuss about it in front of Brandon. 

Arthur was about to step on the stairs but he stopped and turned back again. 

"Oh, Bran… I forgot…" He said.

Brandon was fully absorbed on his laptop screen but hearing Arthur, he(B) raised his head. 

"What…?"

"Maxwell died… it's been more than a week. I've handled everything according to your order. But none of us went for any legal procedures as you were absent. The police closed the case saying it is a suicide. But they didn't really had any official investigation. So this whole incident spreading rumours and the other employees having negative impact because of this. Why don't you assign some police to reopen the case and perform a fair investigation. Thus the rumors will be stopped and all the employees will feel secured while working in MILLERS." Arthur explained. 

 Luna and Brandon suddenly turned pale. Both of them looked at each other. 

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"You've suggested the right thing , Arthur. In fact I was about to do the same. As I'm going to the office in an hour,I'll tell the manager to arrange everything. And I, myself will give a proper explanation of his death to the employees of the secret department. They all might be terrified because of this." Brandon tackled everything with his wicked words. 

But Luna kept standing frozen. 

Arthur walked away asking Luna to come along signaling through his eyes as if he's going to teach Luna a good lesson for not listening to his order that he gave in the morning.Though he didn't notice if Luna was following him or not. 

"Luna..." Brandon called her name.

She didn't respond. She kept thinking and staring at the designer tiles on the ground. She didn't even care about what is waiting for her on the upstairs. She only kept thinking about the death of Maxwell.

"LUNAA…" Brandon called in a high sound. 

"Hmm…" Luna absentmindedly responded to his calling. 

"Don't worry. I'm here. I'll take care of everything. I've said it before and again saying so. Nothing will happen to you or me. So calm your head and go back to your room. Arthur is tired. GO ACCOMPANY HIM." Brandon put extra force in his last sentence. 

Luna nodded silently as she felt a little better.

Then she went to the kitchen and took out a bottle of cold water from the fridge. After filling the jug with the water she came out from the kitchen with the jug in her hand. 

But before Luna was about to go upstairs, she looked at Brandon. 

"Bran….!!" She called out.

"Hmm…." Brandon didn't look at her but answered. 

"Do you need any help regarding this?"She asked affectionately. 

This time Brandon raised his face and looked at Luna. He thought for a second.

"I do need a helping hand. I'll have to erase some extra useless data before I announce the reopening of the case.And I'm going to ask Newton for this." He again lowered his face to the laptop. 

Luna created a riddled face. 

With a prudent voice she advised,

               " Don't you think, it'll be better if you keep all the secrets within the family!!"

"You mean…..!!" 

"Yeah…I mean…."

"I should take you with me instead of Newton!!??" A clever smile arose on Brandon's lips.

"No one can understand me better than you." Her whole body and mind tingled with ecstasy.

"Meet me at the parking lot after an hour." He commanded.

"Yes boss." Luna saluted him, holding the jug with one hand. 

Then she went upstairs with a cheerful mind. 

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To Be Continued…..