Gotcha (2)

Chapter 105: S2 Episode 6 - Gotcha (2)

Henri Lucas grinned to himself as if he successfully hunted a vulnerable bunny.

She remembered this picture because this was the photo her mother showed her oh so many years ago when she was still alive.

Her mom had explained that the boy in this photo was the young Henri Lucas whom she had taught and that this was the last photo they'd taken together before she had gotten married to Keiko's father at the age of 22. In any case, Keiko did her best to conceal her shock but it seemed that the cunning man had noticed her expression that she'd tried so hard to hide.

"This picture was taken 15 years ago at the St. Marie Academy in France where I studied at the age of 13. The woman in this picture was the world-renowned patissiere, Ella Fournier. She taught me all of the things I know and this was the last memoir she left me after she'd left to get married to a Japanese man who was a prosecutor," Henri Lucas explained as Keiko stared deeply into that picture as if her eyes were going to burn a hole right through it.

Just like she saw before, she could see her mother's sweets spirit, Sucre. The spirit had long, golden-blonde hair with a pink bow on the right side of her head. She looked like a noble fairy girl in a light pink dress, holding a golden staff with a spoon at the end. She, too, was smiling in this picture.

Fraise observed the picture next to Keiko and a sullen expression formed in her eyes after seeing her missing master in this picture.

"Master Sucre…" Fraise muttered quietly to herself in longing and it was at this moment that Henri Lucas seemed to have driven Keiko and Fraise into a dead end.

"Where did you get this?" Keiko asked fiercely at the man who had put the picture back into his pants pocket.

"There are only two copies of this picture in the world. One was in the possession of Ella Fournier, and the other is in my hands." He shrugged as he looked down at the girl who seemed as if she was going to burn a hole through his head.

After her mother had died, Keiko and her dad had moved out of the house they lived in with her mother and it was at that period of time where Keiko had gone completely out of it.

She recalled how her mother got hit by a speeding car that day no matter how much she wanted to pull her hair out and forget about it.

The photo album her mother showed her was buried in the storage closet of their new house where they currently reside, yet she'd never taken a look at that album again after that day. She never wanted to even look at it because she feared that all of those horrible memories would come back and haunt her again.

Once she took a look at that picture of Henri Lucas and her mother, she recalled that time when her mother had shown her that photo album that she hadn't touched since then. It was a bittersweet memory to recall and she had once thought about it when she decided that she'd wanted to transfer to St. Marie Academy (refer to Chapter 1).

Keiko realized that she'd become completely distracted due to that picture and she took another glance at Henri Lucas who looked at her with a smirk. She finally figured out what he was trying to do.

'Ah, so I've been played… Just when I thought I was hiding it well, this guy really is something else,' Keiko thought with a bittersweet smile after noticing her slip up.

The goal of her ignoring him at first was to make Henri Lucas get straight to the point, so she played along… until she fell into his trap. Now, there was no way that she would deny it anymore. He'd already figured it out—No, he'd already known.

"What made it so obvious to you?" She asked him and Henri Lucas gave a winning smile once she'd given up.

"Well, you look similar to her. The only difference is the hair color, otherwise, the bright blue eyes, hairstyle, and even your facial structure are practically the same. When I was judging you during your entrance exam, I could see your mother in you by how quickly you moved and how proficient you were in your techniques. I also looked at your student report once you were admitted," Henri Lucas confessed and Keiko raised her eyebrow in annoyance.

"You did a background check on me!?" Keiko said in irritation but he shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn't help it.

"Schools are required to do background checks on all students. Your mother's name was written on it which confirmed my suspicions," Henri Lucas admitted but Keiko still did not look too happy.

"What was the point in all of this? Why did you bring up my mother all of a sudden?"

She wanted to get straight to the point which caused Henri Lucas to sigh inwardly.

'This is it. I got the picture to work, now I just need to bring it up to her…' Henri Lucas thought to himself as he looked at the beautiful and timid young girl before him.

As he stared at her, it was as if he was looking at his teacher which caused pain in his heart.

She taught him a good majority of the things he knew, and she was the one who inspired him to become a famous patissier, yet she was dead and there would be nobody who could replace her, and that was the sad truth. He couldn't let go of that fact but he would do his best to avenge his teacher who had influenced him to become a famous patissier in France and in Japan!

"Your mother—she died in a traffic accident, right?" Henri Lucas asked cautiously and Keiko didn't respond immediately. Instead, she looked far off into the distance, as if she'd gone numb.

"I'm sure you've heard about it all over the news and media 6 years ago. *sigh* But yes, she died by getting hit by a speeding car," Keiko spoke as she crossed her arms.

"Are you sure?" He inquired, raising his eyebrows in suspicion.

Keiko looked at the French man with a look of disbelief. What did he take her for? She was Ella Fournier's daughter! Of course, she was sure!

'I don't know if it's because this guy is French but does he have any manners? He already knew I'm Ella Fournier's daughter but now he's asking if I was sure she died in a traffic accident? He's quickly getting on my bad side…'

She glared up at the man with her piercing blue eyes.

Keiko had turned her back around to cut a piece of her finished dessert. She placed the cut dessert on a ceramic plate and it seemed as if she was completely uninterested in the topic now.

"Are you doubting me? I was there when I saw her get hit, Mis-ter Hen-ri Lu-cas," Keiko enunciated her words with a rough tone as she gritted her teeth. She really wondered if her mother had taken in an insensitive guy as her student. What business did he have questioning a girl who her mother was? Let alone, if she was sure how she died? Unbelievable!

"I am not doubting you but there is something that is bothering me about your mother's death," Henri Lucas consulted and Keiko turned around to face the man as she held the plate of her dessert.

"Haha, are you saying that she didn't die by getting hit by a car?"

Keiko laughed with no emotion in her voice as she was about to take a bite of her food with a fork. As she laughed with a cold tone, the man's expression grew darker than she'd ever seen before.

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. Michiko Keiko, I believe that your mother was deliberately murdered 6 years ago."