3

CHAPTER 3

"You! Boy! What happened?!" She inquired, her heightened emotions and internal turmoil laid bare. "Where is Martha?! Where is my daughter?! My only child?! What did you do to her?!"

The 'nice mother-in-law to be' had gone out the window. Her maternal instincts had taken over, and only the past relationship he had with her daughter and her family stopped her from pulling off her shoes and shoving a heel in each of his eyes.

You think she would not do such a thing to a person?

I'm pretty sure a rich housewife whose main hobby is participating in underground fighting is not someone to be underestimated.

He tried opening his mouth, and although he succeeded, no sound came out. There was barely any air going in or out of him.

'Is this how I'm going to die?' He thought as his vision began to get blurry. 'Strangled to death by my soon-to-be mother-in-law?'

'I haven't even accomplished any of my dreams yet!' He lamented inwardly.

The iron grip on his neck abruptly vanished, and he drew in lungful of breath after breath, his vision slowly regaining focus.

He placed his right hand on his neck as he could still feel some pain there. He looked up from the hand on his neck to see the person that had stopped his girlfriend's mother from killing him.

"Calm down, honey." The redhead man who appeared to be in his 40s with a chin beard and thick sideburns wrapped his arms around his wife and held her in his muscular embrace. He was clearly one that used his gym membership. "How is he supposed to answer if he can't even draw breath?"

"…" The woman did not answer her husband but rather slapped him on his chest a couple of times. It looked playful at first glance, but they were actually quite painful, evident by the slight twitching of her husband's face whenever he was hit.

While the couple shifted to the side, the doctor and nurses finally approached Cassian and started asking him some questions;

"How do you feel, Mr. Rush?"

"Any headaches?"

"Look here," The doctor flashed a torch directly into his light brown retinas.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"What color is this?"

"And this?"

"What is your date of birth?"

"What is your phone number?"

"Your mother's name?"

The doctors didn't take more than five minutes to check him out before informing him that he should be in the clear to check out of the hospital; however, if there are any signs of overbearing migraines or anything else seems amiss, he should check back in for further testing.

After the doctor and nurses informed Cassian and the onlookers that he would simply need some rest before being discharged, they stepped out of the room, leaving them to converse.

The next person to come before Cassian was the man who appeared to be in his 60s or 70s, sporting hair that had lost its color and a red mustache that had some gray mixed in.

"Mr. Whyte." Cassian spat the name of the man, greeting him as he usually did.

He was the CEO and sole founder of one of the most powerful companies in Sterling City and its neighbors, Whyte Corp.

His first name was quite common though. It was John.

"Young Cassian;" The man started to speak, his face betraying no hint at his real emotions, not even fake ones. "Tell us. What happened? Be as detailed as possible. No matter how minute, a hint is always a hint."

"…" Cassian opened and closed his mouth like a fish for a few seconds before words managed to come out. "Martha… How is she? Did I manage to stop her?"

John Whyte's brows twitched slightly for a split second before returning to their previously neutral positions.

"Just tell us what you remember." The man pressed, his tone leaving no room for argument or dawdling.

"Martha, she…" He inhaled and exhaled, starring downward as the memories flooded back in.

His entire being trembled as a potent concoction of emotions overcame him.

He was torn.

'Should I really say the truth?'

'Should I mention the book?'

'They won't even tell me what happened to her. Did she really jump?'

'Did she survive or is she dead?'

'Who am I kidding? If she jumped from so high up and survived, she'd not be regarded as a miracle but a monster.'

'If she survived then I could keep hush about the book and leave everything for her to explain at her own discretion.'

'However, if she's gone…' He could see the sadness on everyone's face. 'Would they believe me?'

He checked himself and the surroundings but could not find the book; the cult's 'bible'.

"Who brought me here?" He finally asked.

"I did, young Cassian." His Grandfather-in-law's personal guard, Ms. Jamie, stepped forth.

"I found you lying at the top of the stairway, unconscious. Your breathing was shallow too. I checked the rooftop but could not find the first young miss so I informed the boss and called an ambulance while searching for her.

Young Cassian, where did she go? How did she disappear from there? At first, we considered the worst, that she had jumped to her demise, but there was no body."

"...Uh…" He blinked a few times, his heart rate rising. "When you found me, did you find any book nearby perchance? Green in color?" He tried to dodge her array of questions.

"No, young Cassian;" She answered. "I do not recall seeing any book there;" Her brows furrowed as she asked; "But what does this book have to do with the young miss's mysterious disappearance?"

"…" He sighed audibly when he heard her answer.

"Boy." Mr. Whyte's voice went an octave lower than what Cassian was used to. "I asked you to narrate what happened not ask us questions. Cut to the chase and spill before I lose my patience. I do not have all day."

Raising his head to meet his grandfather-in-law's stern gaze, he sighed again before shutting his eyes tightly and opening them again with resignation in them.

"Good heavens…" He swallowed; resigning to telling them the whole truth. "I'm not sure if you'll believe me. Heck, if anyone told me what I'm about to tell you yesterday, I would beat them to death with bare fists."

At his words, everyone grew completely silent and attentive, the tension palpable.

"This all started about three months ago when she cancelled our preplanned date for the first time." He began to narrate his experience.

"I didn't think much about it back then… happened again and again… for some gathering, a meeting… had a lot of work to last night so I fell asleep and woke up late… left me in bed… found something in her bag… it was a green book… I opened it… I read it…

Its contents were shocking… The contents were… That's how I put two and two together… Called Mr. Harry… Met Ms. Jamie… Rooftop… Brought to door… Was relieved until…"

He inhaled and ex

haled audibly before adding; "And then I woke up here."