He is nice enough!

I was puzzled when Lavinia asked me about Ricker. I haven't seen him for one week. How can I know where he is.

"What do you mean? He must be at his home" Emma said.

"No, he is not. He was searching for you and we could not find you. Now you are telling me that you were getting married to Theo and I can't wrap my mind around it. What is happening?" Lavinia asked in confusion.

"It is hard to explain" Emma answered.

"What is? One week ago, you disappeared and now, Ricker is missing" Lavinia said.

"Why are you saying that?" Emma said in utter annoyance.

"I told you I can't find him, no one can. Kol is going berserk" Lavinia told Emma.

"Even Kol doesn't know. How could Kol not know? He is Ricker's best friend" Emma said surprisingly.

"That is the whole point," Lavinia remarked.

"When did he go missing?" Emma asked.

"This morning," Lavinia said.

"This morning? It does not make any sense" Emma said.

"Kol told me that he was speaking to Ricker over the phone when Ricker received some parcel or something, I am not sure and neither Kol is but Ricker sounded at the edge," Lavinia told Emma.

"Edge?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. We can't get in touch with him since then. He is not picking up our calls or responding in any way. We can't find him" Lavinia said in a panic.

"You are panicking for no reason," Emma said and looked away.

"Emma, how could you say that?" Lavinia was baffled listening to Emma not caring about Ricker.

"He has done it before. It is like a pattern; he tends to repeat" Lavinia said.

"Babe, what about you? You and Ricker have been dating for the past year and today, you were getting married to Theo. What pattern is that?" Lavinia asked in a slightly angry tone.

"No pattern, just life" Emma answered.

"Fuck you Emma… do you have any idea what you are talking about? If Ricker ever finds out about any of this, there will be a bloodbath" Lavinia reminded Emma.

"Lavinia, thank you for coming here but right now, I can't think of anyone else than dad. He is the one who needs me for real" Emma stood up in anger and left.

***** Emma's Point of view *****

I left to see my dad. I left Lavinia because I don't want to answer her questions. I don't want to explain her. I just don't expect her to understand and truly, I needed to be with my father. What happened to him?

"Doctor? Where is the doctor? Where is he? I need to talk to him" I asked around.

"Emma… I already met with the doctor. It's a heart attack" Theo told me.

"What?" I was shocked but before I could have said anything, I saw the men in uniforms. Theo was quick to handle the situation. I felt helpless and horrified at the same time.

Theo took one of the officers inside my father's room where he was resting. I tried to follow them, but the other officer stopped me from entering my father's room. Without any other choice and argument with the officer, I stood in the corner waiting for Theo to come back. They took nice fifteen minutes to come out but that time felt longer than what my watch recorded.

Officers left and I found my chance to make an inquiry myself.

"Hey, what was that about?" I asked Theo.

"It is nothing, just a regular procedure," Theo said but Emma knew Theo was lying.

"A procedure? For what?" Emma asked.

"Nothing really. These officers had some questions" Theo told me.

"What questions? My father had a heart attack so what was so important that it can't wait" I asked.

"His car," Theo said.

"C-car?" I exclaimed.

"Yes, his car was stolen. Didn't he tell you?" Theo said. I could not hold my anger anymore.

"Theo, keeping things from me is one thing but lying to be on my face is something I take as an insult," I said angrily.

"Emma- is…" Theo tried to explain but I did not give him a chance.

"Don't Emma me. Just don't say anything. Leave it. I am going to find everything myself whether you want it or not" I left Theo.

I entered my father's room. The room felt silent, and I felt that my heart would explode looking at my father lying on the hospital bed. He looked calm, his face was calm, but that calmness bothered me. I heard a continuous beeping sound of the machine attached to my father monitoring his heart rate. I looked at the machine but could not figure it out. I did not know medical equipment, but they always scared me. I slowly stepped towards my father's bed. The strong, powerful, scary man I know lay there powerless, defenseless, helpless. I could not hold my tears anymore. I sat beside my father's bed. His eyes were closed. My tears fell down my cheek, and my sobbing sound woke him up.

"Emma, my darling. I am alright" Greg said looking at his daughter in distress.

"No, dad. You had a heart attack. You are not alright" I said wiping my tears from my face.

"Emma, don't be like that. You are a strong girl and you need to be stronger now, more than ever" Greg said.

"What does that mean daddy?" Emma asked.

"Our enemies are gathering around us to attack because they think we are weak. But we are not. Don't let anyone know your weakness" Greg told Emma.

"What enemy's daddy? Why were police here?" Emma inquired.

"Emma, I told you before. I am in trouble" Greg said.

"Are you in trouble with the police? What did you do?" Emma asked.

"Nothing Emma. I did not do anything wrong. You have to trust me on that. Say you trust me" Greg said.

"I trust you, daddy," Emma said.

"People will tell you things. Horrible things about me. But your trust in me is everything. You need to stand on your grounds firmly. Hard times are coming" Greg warned Emma.

"Dad, please tell me what is going on? I might help" Emma offered her help.

"And you will by marrying Theo," Greg said.

"Dad, you are in hospital and police are searching for you. I don't think marriage is a solution here" Emma said.

"Emma, listen to me. I might get arrested soon" Greg told Emma.

"What? For what crime? You are ill. I won't let that happen" Emma asked.

"Emma, my darling. I know, I know, you want to help but you can't. not right now. We need protection and only Theo can provide us that" Greg said.

"How can Theo help and I not. Don't you trust me?" Emma asked.

"Emma, you are young and naïve but Theo is a grown-up man. He is powerful, he had influences, connections to get us out from this mess" Greg said.

"You are powerful. You have connections" Emma said.

"And this marriage will make sure that a strong connection is maintained between the two families. It is an alliance based on trust" Greg said.

"An alliance. Dad, if Theo can help, then you can ask him to help. He is nice enough like that. Why do I have to marry him?" Emma asked.

"Emma, you are asking too much from Theo without anything in return. You are asking him to put everything online for your father and he will do that for you, you know why, because he loves you" Greg said.

"Dad, but I don't love him," Emma told her father.

"You can fall in love later; the emergency is right now that you get married. You must get married" Greg insisted.

"I don't feel good about it," Emma said.

"Why not? You just said, he is nice enough. He is willing to provide you a strong position and you need it" Greg said.

"I don't think it is right" Emma whispered.

"You are right. It is not right. It is necessary. The lawyer is on his way" Greg said.

"For what?" Emma asked.

"Your ceremony was interrupted. At least you can get married legally and exchange vows later" Greg said.

"Isn't that procedure that a lot of time?" Emma asked.

"Theo took care of it because I asked him to. He has that influence and he was that considerate. Now I can't force you, my child. You must sign the papers of your own will. I wish I would not force you to do this. It is my fault. I started it a long time ago and now it is coming to bite me after so many years" Greg said bitterly.

***** 20 years back *****

"Someone has come to meet Mr. Davison. He calls himself, Mr. Greg White" Sarah, the housekeeper of the Davison family informed Robert Davidson who was speaking to his wife, Ella Davidson.

Robert stood up and Ella smiled at Robert before he left to meet his guest in the living room.

Robert saw Greg white staring at one of the paintings he is proudly in possession of. Robert approached Greg and announced his presence by saying, "Ah, Mr. White"

"Please call me Greg. We are familiar enough to call each other on a first name basis" Greg said.

"That is very true, Greg. As you said, we know each other well, I know that you must not have just come for a talk. What is the purpose of your visit?" Robert asked.

"I came to show my condolences for you and your family," Greg said.

"I did not understand what you are talking about," Robert said.

"I hear you have lost your fortune in a dangerous gamble," Greg said looking at Robert intently and he witnesses Robert's facial muscles get tensed.

"How do you know that? It is not common knowledge yet" Robert said in discomfort. He did not show how offended he felt by Greg's remarks but Greg knew, how much pain his words were for Robert.

"And yet, I possess this knowledge as you call it" Greg boasted.

"You are here to mock me," Robert said.

"Oh no… I am here to help you. I have a proposal you can't resist" Greg said.

"I am listening," Robert said.

"You are in the business of art. I am planning to expand my business" Greg said.

"You are entering my field of business," Robert asked.

"Yes. I am a bit fan of maintaining heritage, customs, and cultures. I am fond of art, antiques, and many other things you deal with. The problem is I am like an admirer, I don't really understand them" Greg said pointing at the paintings and artifacts around the room.

"So, you are offering me a partnership in your business," Robert asked.

"Robert, I might be an amateur in art but I know the business. I want your collaboration for a single consignment. I am not here to make an alliance forever. I can't keep any such promise and neither can you. To be a partner, you must invest in the business, and sadly, you don't have such funds. I am not trying to insult you but you don't" Greg said.

"So, what do you want from me?" Robert asked.

"I am willing to share twenty percent of my profit in this consignment. I will invest and you take care of everything else. It is a good offer" Greg said.

"Why do you need me?' Robert asked.

"Because you have the means to do it efficiently. It is my first consignment and it is a big investment. I don't want to fuck it up. I am not willing to take any chances, you see. You are a pro in this field. You bring such arts from all around the world and sell them to the riches and people with deep pockets. You know how these things work. You have experience and the margin has great profit on every artifact. Honestly, I don't understand why would you just try something new when you already have something this great" Robert explained.

"You are trying something new here," Robert said.

"Yes, and I am not doing it alone," Greg said.

"So that is why you need me. So that you don't repeat the mistake I did in the first place" Robert said.

"Greg, you should know this, I don't make mistakes," Robert said.

"Yet you did, didn't you," Greg remarked.

"It is a good offer and I am on board but a twenty percent share is not enough," Robert said.

"It is more than enough coming from your position. You know you have nothing else. This is the only thing you have got" Greg said.

"I will think about it," Robert said.

"You should but don't take long. It's not only you in this business. There are many fishes in the ocean" Greg said.

"You did not come here to catch a fish, you need a shark," Robert said.

***** Flashback ended *****