~23~

"The only defense against evil, violent people is good people who are more skilled at violence," Rory Miller.

***

Even after several attempts, Cyrus couldn't comprehend the situation. For what reason would Lynn idiotically accept that he'd acquire his dad's business when the man had a few other children? Why, and why?

He had a lot of cash to assassinate somebody; for what reason didn't he use that money to start his own? If by some coincidence, or used his strategy to make the business successful. His father would have been pleased with him and could even be letting him manage the corp. The guy did nothing useful except hold a high position to boss skilled and hard-working employees.

"We get an allowance from our grandfather every month. Even his other children and grandchildren in other countries get it too," Louise explained.

"I am sure it's not a small amount; he could have done something," said Cyrus.

"Well, he drives an eight million dollar car. That's something,"

Cyrus gasped, "What? You don't own one of those, do you?"

"Why would I buy a car for eight million? Am I crazy? I've got employees to pay," said Louise, who was savoring a carrot cake.

"Well—"

"They are gifts from my family members. My most expensive car is 1.5 million, which I got from my uncles."

Cyrus made a face and said, "That's still a lot of money."

"That cake is good," Louise moaned.

"Are you going to tell the police or—it has been a month. Did you even let your family know?" Cyrus asked in concerns.

"It's complicated. I can't let the police arrest Lynn. It's going to be hard on Gregg, my father, and my uncle," Louise sighed. "I am going to talk to him."

"Talk?" Cyrus raised his brow at her.

"Yes," Louise answered firmly.

~~~

"You don't talk to a guy that has murder on his mind," Cyrus said, trying to reason with Louise.

"Lynn doesn't know that I know."

"He won't take you serious with that outfit," Cyrus pointed. "Those pants—"

"What's wrong with—"

"You look like a careless teenager. Then again, you always look like one—"

"Mmh! You love me like that," she casually answered.

"Can't argue with that," he shook his head. "I feel sick these days."

"Me too," Louise said, scrunching up her nose.

"We haven't been sleeping—it's probably that."

"I think so too."

~~~

"Miss, it's rare of you to visit," Mr. Joe said. "The bell—"

"Ah! I forgot the password. Where's Lili?"

"Suspended!"

"By who?"

"Mr. Lynn."

"That bastard, he doesn't know how to stop," Louise kicked a gallon that was in front of her. "Where's everyone?"

"They are inside. Go ahead! I'll go back to work."

"Thanks, Mr. Joe."

~~~

"Ms. Nie, Cecilia," Louise called as she walked inside the house.

"Cahir! You're here," Cecilia appeared, jumping on her for a hug. "What brings you here?"

"I am just passing by," Louise smiled, patting her so-called aunt's back. "You look more beautiful."

"I can't compare. Look at the way you dress. You don't change. Who's this?" She asked, glancing at Cyrus, who stood beside Louise, charmingly.

"You got married!" Cecilia clapped her hands excitedly, seeing that Louise was wearing a ring.

"Well—"

"You don't need to call me aunt, just Cecilia," she said, stretching out her small hand for Cyrus to shake. "Your husband's handsome, Cahir!"

"Nice to meet you," Cyrus smiled, showing his perfect canine to her.

"Mom, Cahir's here with her husband. Sit down, guys."

"Cahir? Dhan's daughter?" Ms. Ni asked. You're so tall. You're even taller than Lynn. My God, look at you. You're so beautiful."

Ms. Nie was her grandfather's fourth wife and Ben's mother. She was a gentle, loving, and graceful woman. The time Louise spent with her, she treated her as if she was her granddaughter. "Dear, look at you. You've grown so much. Come home more often."

"Yes, Ms.Nie."

"Mom, her husband," Cecilia said.

"You got married?"

"Well—"

"Let's talk about it later. Ah! Your grandfather has been asking for you. He has something he needs to talk to you."

"You guys have guests," Lynn said, smiling, coming down the stairs.

To outsiders, Lynn was every girls' ideal man. Lynn was sweet, friendly, and respectful. He drove an expensive car, was good-looking, and looked cool.

"Cahir! Hey," he greeted politely. "I haven't seen you—stand up, let me see how well you've grown."

"Hi, Uncle." Louise gave him a vague smile.

"Wow, so tall, I'm embarrassed," he said. "Who's this?"

"Her husband," Cecilia answered. "Isn't he attractive?"

"Ah! I am her uncle, but you can call me Lynn," he said, shaking Cyru's hand.

"What brings you here, dear? No, where's your aunt?"

"Aunt Diane got into an accident last month—"

"Wasn't she staying with you? Is she alright? Which hospital is she at?" Cecilia asked. "Nothing happened to little sister, right?"

"What happened to Dianne?" Lynn asked, looking as concerned as he could. Louise took a dramatic pause and stared at everyone.

"Cahir!"

"Oh! She came through after three weeks being in a coma," she smiled. "But, she had to undergo facial surgery. She doesn't look the same. I am sorry I didn't tell you guys earlier. I thought my father would—"

"It's good that she's fine," Ms.Nie breathed in relief. "Where is she now?"

"She's staying with Kate while Sammy investigates the case," Louise said, glancing at Lynn in her peripheral vision, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Sam finds something yet?" Lynn asked.

"Uh, not really!" Louise answered, noticing that his shoulders and eyes had relaxed. She smirked! "But, we've found that..."

"What?" He asked, not letting Louise finished her sentence. Louise stared at him, an amused grin on her face. "Well?" He demanded.

"We've got a certain Jamie Black, but he's not..."

"Did he say who sent him?"

"Uncle, I'm beginning to think that you sent him. I didn't even say anything, yet, you assumed that someone sent him. Did you do it?" Louise got up and walked towards him.

"Why would I hurt my little sister? I love Diane," he said, darting his eyes away from everyone.

"Right?" She smiled, showing her teeth, "You couldn't hurt your family. I'm sorry for doubting you, but uncle..."

"What? I didn't do anything!"

Louise swung her head backward as she laughed out loud. "Lynn! Did I say anything? Why are you so defensive?"

"What do you want?" Asked Lynn, standing up to face his niece.

"I was going to ask you about this check. I got it from Jamie; that's your girlfriend's signature, isn't it?" She handed it to him as he rudely snatched it from her.

"You mean my girlfriend paid someone 500K to kill Diane?" He laughed dryly. "This is ridiculous."

"Aww, did I say that?"

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know," Louise shrugged, handing him the fingerprint report she got from Sam.

"Lynn, what did you do?" Cecilia asked.

"Dear, what did my son do?" Ms. Nie asked in a panic voice. "He didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"And? It didn't prove that I did it," Lynn said, trying to recover from the shock. "My girlfriend could have done it to frame it. So, where's the money?"

Louise snickered, "You still want to deny it?"

"You don't have enough evidence to put me in prison," Lynn marched forward and whispered to her. "Was that supposed to scare me or something? Go get something solid, kid!"

Lynn's and Jamie's fingerprints were the only two found on the check, and per his girlfriend's background, she couldn't have afforded that amount.

Louise smiled and launched a punch in his face. "Go get something real, child?"

"Dear, why are you fighting your uncle?" asked Ms. Nie, rising from her seat. "Calm down, please."

Lynn licked the corner of his lips and tasted blood. He smiled, "Nice!"

"Lou Lou, let your dad and Uncle deal with him, huh?" Cyrus whispered.

"Mm," Louise nodded in agreement; she felt tired those days and didn't have the strength to argue and fight with Lynn.

~~~

"What did you tell my brothers?" Lynn demanded as he shoved Cyrus, who ended up hitting his head on the glass table.

"Darling—"

"Who did you tell about this?" Lynn pulled Louise back and threw her against the wall.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Cecilia screamed. "This is your niece."

"Lynn Shep, stop this nonsense, right now," said Ms.Nie in a stern tone, hoping to stop her son from his actions.

"At ease, Cecilia, check on Cyrus," Louise ignored Lynn though he had his hands around her throat menacingly. "How is he?"

"He's waking up. How do you feel?" She asked him.

"Cahir? Hey, you, what are you doing? Loulou, are you okay?" Asked Cyrus, who immediately got off the floor to pull Lynn off of her.

"Don't!"

"Cahir!" Cyrus roared, his fist clenched. "You expect me to watch my woman—"

"Please! Trust me, okay. Don't hit him. Let me take care of it."

"If you can't take care of him, don't expect me to listen to you," Cyrus said but agreed.

~~~

"What did you tell my brothers?" Asked Lynn, adding more pressure on his hands.

Louise sighed, 'I've never met a stupider murder instigator in my life. Do I look like someone people can bully?' With her free hand, she dug her thumbnail in his neck.

"Ah!" Lynn released his hold on her, taking a few steps backward, and checked his nape.

"Lynn! What did you do? You must have done something," Ms. Nie said.

"I just tried to get rid of a bug," he smiled.

"I am going to let uncle Ben deal with you. I'll pretend that you didn't try to kill me."

"Brother, did you send people to hurt sister?" Cecilia asked. "Diane's our little sister."

"So, what? Don't you know that dad is planning on passing the business to her? After everything I've done."

What exactly has he done? The employees under him handled all his projects when he should have been the one to do them. Lynn couldn't even handle a simple one by himself. 'After all, he has done? Don't make me laugh.'

"Besides, you can't have them arrest me. You've got nothing on me," Lynn said, challenging Louise.

"How can you be so greedy, Lynn? Our father abandoned us. He married his mom and adopted us. And you want to kill his precious daughter? How many adopted sons out there get to drive an eight million dollars car and live in a penthouse? Huh, tell me? Be grateful, you bastard!"

"So what?" He yelled, "After all the work I did for his company. He wants to give it to his daughter, who has never done anything."

That triggered it. 'That motherfucker!'

"Mom, say something," Cecilia said to Ms. Nie, who was much too shocked to say anything. How was she going to face her husband?

Louise had enough. She didn't come to fight Lynn; after all, he was still her older uncle, but he wasn't remorseful or had the idea to repent himself, even a little.

Lynn tried to launch himself once again at Louise; she saw him coming her way, turned her body to the right, facing away from him. Louise looked over her right shoulder at Lynn, swept her leg back in a big arc; Lynn smiled, thinking that he had foreseen her move, then she thrust her kick backward.

Louise snapped the kick as she approached Lynn's side, hit his stomach with the sole of her foot, swept through Lynn, brought her right leg down in the starting position.

Cyrus's eyes widen as he watched Lynn hit the floor. 'Damn, woman!'

"Stay down! I don't want to fight you. Really!"

"Cahir!" Cecilia pleaded.

"I am not going to prison," he shouted, going for Louise's legs. Cyrus rushed to pull Lynn back, but Louise pulled out her firearm.

"You're not going to shoot me! You won't call the police either. That'd affect your dad's business."

"Lynn, shut your mouth—"

Pow!

Louise shot him, a bullet through his calcaneus. "No, I won't call the police. I never said I was going to call."

It was the first time she shot somebody. Louise had only brought the gun to threaten him. She thought, 'Maybe he'd confess if I show him the evidence if he's remorseful—'

"You shot me!"

"I did. Tell me, what has Diane done to you?"

"Answer me," she shouted.

"Nothing," Lynn cried in agony. "I am sorry. I am sorry."

"I am truly disappointed. You can call the police if you want to go to prison," Louise said, pressing on the injury.

"I am sorry, Cecilia. I am sorry, Ms. Nie."

"For what? He's not dead. That ungrateful son of mine needed a lesson. Your grandfather spoiled him so much. How can he turn—forget it. Cecilia, call the doctor to take care of him," Ms. Nie said, her heart broke for her son and Diane.

She felt ashamed. Her husband was so good to her kids, but Lynn repaid him like that. She felt grateful already that Louise didn't send him to prison; perhaps in the future, Lynn could atone for his sins.

"Tell me, dear! Would you have done that to Ben?"

"No. I'd have shot uncle Ben twice."

~~~

"Where's that big brother of mine?"

"Grab him, Cyrus," Louise said. Dhan and Cyrus held Ben down.

"Let me go!"

"Look at him! He'll die if you do something to him," Dhan said. "He's our brother; that should do it."

"This isn't over, Lynn," Ben said. "Hands off, now."

Cyrus looked back at Louise and Dhan; how could a woman resemble her father so much? Unlike Louise's family, he wasn't a small guy; Cyrus felt short, like Louise, her father and uncle were also people of 'Grand Taille.'

"He can't have someone killed just because he doesn't like them. What did Diane do to him?"

"Diane's not dead. Let him off, for now," Dhan said.

"Okay, but Cahir, how come you waited that long to tell us?"

"Oh! It's because—"

"She didn't want you to worry," Cyrus said. "Hello!"

"Who is this?" Dhan frowned, looking down at Cyrus.

"He's Cyrus," said Louise, a smile on her face. "Dad, I've told you..."

"Loulou!" Cyrus caught a fainted Louise and carried her to the sofa. "Darling!"