27. A Betrayer's daughter

Rory was back in her room. She didn't know how to feel after the conversation she had with Mr. Dangerous Man. He told her to call him by his name.

Derek.

How was she supposed to? And why would he want her to call him by his name? She had never heard anyone call his name before. They all called him boss. She called him sir. And now she was supposed to say Derek? That would be tough.

A knock interrupted her, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Who was there? Wait, why was she suddenly scared?

She went to the door and opened it. When she saw Esther, she sighed and placed her hand on her chest.

"Hey." Esther said in a hushed tone and looked around. "How are you? I was so scared when you weren't coming back." She maintained her hush voice.

"I'm fine. Why are you whispering?" Rory said in a normal tone and smiled at Esther.

"He's... not here?"

Rory looked around. "Who?" She turned back to her.

"Oh, I... I thought the boss is with you." Esther said, a bit relieved. "What happend? Did he hurt you?" Hayford told her she was fine but she wanted to hear it from Rory herself.

"Relax, Esther." She smiled. "Nothing happened. He didn't do anything to me."

"Really? Then... Why did you keep that long?"

"He asked me to eat with him."

Esther eyes bulged in surprise and her jaw dropped.

"Hayford came to pick your food but... I didn't know he was sending it to boss' room!" She sounded surprised.

Hayford looked angry and only told her Rory was fine and went away. She had even sneaked up to her room once to check on her, but met her absence. She had been on tenterhooks since then. It was when she saw the boss walking to the underground area that she decided to sneak up again and check on her.

"I'm sure he needed someone to talk to." Rory sighed. "He seem... so lonely." He really was. He had no family. "He has so many things going on with him but no one to share them with."

"Did he talk about his family?" Esther asked curiously. She had never seen him talk freely with anyone. Well, aside work related issues, and he always looked serious in such situations. So hearing this came as a big surprise to her.

And she became more curious when Rory nodded to her question. He really talked about his family? To a stranger? The daughter of a betrayer. Someone he should stay away from!!

After they spoke about other random stuff Esther left. She couldn't help but think.

No.

Something smelled fishy here. How did it even start? She could see that the boss was slowly letting his guard down around this lady. To think that she was even brought here to be killed, or tortured. Wow!

On her way to her room she met Hayford. He probably went out to smoke.And she confirmed her suspicion when she smelled smoke on him when he neared. He looked grim and still looked a bit angry. What happened up there?

"Hayford..." She called when he almost walked past her. "What's wrong? You don't look good."

Hayford stopped a few feet away from her without turning to look at her.

"Did something happen up there?" She pressed. Hayford wasn't all friendly but he wasn't this grim either. He was almost like Derek, straight-faced, just that he expressed emotions sometimes. Just like now.

She saw how he clenched and unclenched his fists as if trying to control his emotions. Was it that serious?

"She is trying to fool you too, right?" He finally said, still having his back on her.

Esther frowned. "Who?" What was he talking about?

"That girl..." He spoke through gritted teeth and turned sharply towards her. She flinched a bit at his sudden mood.

"Which girl, Hayford? What happened?" She blurted and her frown deepened. Hayford took a deep breath. He realised his mood had not been any better even after the number of sticks he smoked. He took a few steps towards Esther and she keenly looked at him inflinchingly.

"That girl... Whatever her name is, don't you think she's trying to fool us?" He said, his voice a bit calmer now, but she didn't miss the clipped ends.

Was he talking of Rory?

"Are you... referring to Aurora?" She asked.

"Yes!" He almost snapped. "You see how she subtly got the boss' attention all of a sudden? Oh, and I have seen you with her a couple of times recently..." He shook his head and raked his fingers through his hair and turned around looking frustrated.

Esther averted her gaze and seemed to be in thought. She was earlier thinking something was off. Could it be? Could it possibly be true that Rory was fooling them to win their trust? No. She didn't look like someone who...

"She looks innocent. She's very beautiful and f*ucking charming and she's using it to win everyone over. Don't forget, a crab never gives birth to a bird." Hayford spat in anger. "If that man could do same, let's not underestimate his daughter."

Esther watched as Hayford took long strides inside. She couldn't bring herself to refute his claims. What if Rory was just fooling them? She shouldn't be surprised but she didn't seem to believe it either. There was no way she could do that, right?

"Esther?" She turned to the sound and saw Rory. "What are you doing out here by this time? It's cold."

Rory came to sit by the fireplace and thought she would meet Esther, but then she saw Hayford walking in and leaving the door unclosed. She left to close it, only to see Esther standing there with a slight frown on her face.

Esther looked at her. She tried to see the wrong in her. She tried to look at her the way she was supposed to. A betrayer's daughter. Someone who probably came to seek revenge for her father. Someone who was planning to bring them all down. Someone who...

"Esther?" Rory reached over and touched her shoulder when she seemed to be lost in thoughts. "Are... you okay?" She looked around and them back to her face.

Esther's eyes were still fixed on her. Rory became worried. What was wrong with her?

"Come on, let's go inside. It's really cold out here." She held her arm and slightly pulled her towards the parlour. Esther allowed herself to be dragged, not knowing what to think anymore.

Rory led her to the fireplace and helped her sit down. She looked troubled and Rory was genuinely concerned.

"Let me get you some water." Rory said and took a step but Esther spoke.

"Don't bother." She said, and Rory stopped and turned to her. "I'll go to bed now."

Rory frowned.

"Esther..." She called and walked back to her. "What happened?" She asked and sat by her, but Esther quickly got up, leaving Rory surprised.

"Good night, Aurora." She said and left.

Rory looked at her retreating back, still surprised.

Aurora?

Why was she suddenly calling her by her name and not her nickname? Her heart raced. Did.. did she perharps do something to her unintentionally?

No! Oh no! God please. She prayed.

Esther had slowly become her life in this mansion. And with her talkative nature, if she continued to give her this cold treatment then she would break. She wasn't used to this kind of attitude. She didn't want to lose her...

Her eyes burned as she made her way to her room. Her head began to hurt from thinking too much into the issue. She went through her mind, searching for what she could have done to Esther, but she couldn't pinpoint anything. Fresh tears rushed to her eyes and she allowed them to fall.

Midway up the stairs, her peripheral view caught on something and she looked ahead. Hayford was just about descending the stairs. He was probably coming from Derek's room.

She quickly wiped her tears and forced a smile at him, but he gave her a cold stare and walked past her, confusing her even more.

What was happening? She sensed something bad.

It wasn't like Hayford had been cool with her before, but that look in his eyes... It was chilling, if he had looked at her for a long time she was sure she would freeze to death.

Her stomach turned and she felt nauseous with all the bad feeling and her head spun, making her feel dizzy. She tightly held unto the rail for support.

Unable to take the dizziness anymore she turned and sat on the stairs where she had reached. She had a few more to go, but she would have to walk a little further after that before getting to her room and she needed to calm down.

Deep down, she could tell something was definitely not right.