Chapter 74: Jona's POV

I hated him when he abandoned my sister for more than two months. Char cried every single day while she was in hospital. She cried while looking at her phone and watching all his calls and texts and emails. And she cried again when he stopped contacting her for a week or two claiming maybe she needed some space. However, no amount of crying could compare to her wailing each time she went on Lauren's social media accounts. That girl didn't even have the decency to make her accounts private. She posted pictures of her and Lucas Greyson every hour of every day. They were always together. They ate together, they drove together, they went to class together, they studied together, they seemed to even go on short weekend get aways together. Nigel and I had to pry the phone away from Char because she was going insane. She knew as well as we did that Lucas Greyson had enough money to take a private jet and come see her. He could have gotten the police to check in on her and report back to him while they were in two different states, but he didn't do any of that. He didn't want to. He wanted to be with Lauren and she had to accept that no matter how hard it was. I knew I'd hate this man when she told me she needed to get in touch with him again. She had only been going to therapy for two months when she insisted that she needed to talk to Lucas Greyson. She made a bunch of excuses. She said she needed to warn him about the Mitchells and what she planned to do to them. I told her an email or text would suffice, but she said she had to do it in person. Then she said she needed to see him and see if he was well. She lied to me and to herself and said she wanted to see if they could at least be friends because he was and will always be her best friend. She claimed she would have been okay with just being his friend. I tried to talk her out of it. I really did, but she and her therapist had decided that it was time for her to get in contact with the man who left her in her time of need. And there was nothing I could do about it. It took me years to convince her to go see a therapist and the first thing that quack of a doctor did when Char finally took my advice, was to tell my sister to go running back to a man who showed how little he cared about her. I was powerless against the Greyson charm. She got back together with him over a weekend. That's how long it took that man to make my sister fall for him after going five years without seeing one another. And in that weekend, she decided I needed to step away from her when she was on the cusp of making partner. She wanted me to work for a man she knew I hated. I wanted to say no, but how could I say no to her when I'm the reason Brian did what he did to her? How can I ever say no to her when I'm the reason she might not be able to carry her own kids? I had to say yes. I hated working with him ... at first. I was disappointed to find out that Lucas Greyson is as smart as my sister said he is. He sees the bigger picture and the smaller details all at once. He works hard, efficiently and is as obsessed with organisation as Char and I are. Char and I move in sync, but we tend to bicker because we're so alike. There was none of that with Lucas Greyson. We worked in sync and at some point, I started thinking about staying at Greyson Corporation permanently. The work is complex, it's a lot and unlike practicing the law, it's not filled with people who say one thing when they actually mean something else. I didn't have to constantly have my guard up, expecting a colleague or boss to steal my work or try to isolate me from the team. Engineering is predominantly about getting the work done and less about disarming enemies. I felt more at ease working with him than I've ever felt working as a lawyer. But of course I could never say that out loud. I could never say yes to all the job offers he's made since i started working for him. And I could most definitely never say it to Char when she needs me now more than ever since she's pregnant. It was hard enough to accept that he isn't some dumb, rich asshole. But it was harder to accept that the man genuinely and unconditionally loves my sister. Women aren't allowed to touch Lucas Greyson unless they're giving him a handshake. He flaunts my sister to the world. He spoils her, he carries her in public, he French kisses her in public. He pauses meetings if there's a phone call from her. He has ended a meeting with department heads because Joshua told him she didn't look okay after a therapy session. He gives in to her every whim without protest. He worships her and leaves no room for an ounce of doubt. Char is a fool for this man, but I can't deny that he is also a fool for her. He's made it really hard to keep hating him ... and then he goes and takes a bullet for me. How can I hate someone who took a bullet for me? Why would he take a f*****g bullet for me when I was waiting to see a jerk who would abandon my sister at the first opportunity he gets? . . . Time tends to speed up when guns get involved. And that's precisely what happened when Brian Kim tried to shoot me. Forest stifled a groan when he got shot with a bullet that was meant for me. Brian roared when someone shot right back at him. And then suddenly mom had a gun in her hand and out of nowhere, two devils stormed out of a nearby black car. Lawrence and Liza Mitchell. Of course. They have no money, no people, so they had to go to the one person who would always want to hurt Char - her own father. Char's spy is getting f*****g comfortable if Brian Kim is holding a gun to my face that I didn't see coming. I only feared for my life for a few seconds when Brian tried to shoot me. However, after that I couldn't be scared anymore. Lawrence looked and smelled like a dead man ... and he knew it. How could I be scared when he looked so terrified? He was getting betrayed right before our eyes and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He kept looking at mom who was holding a gun, but I think he could tell that mom's gun was fake. If he couldn't, he could definitely tell that mom wasn't the one who shot him or Brian. He was trying to explain all this to Brian, but he was too scared of his impending death to string a coherent sentence together. If Brian is here ... if Lawrence is here ... if Liza is here ... then they're not with Char. That's the only thought that kept popping in my head. If these people are here, it means the lackeys were left to deal with Char. It means they don't deem her as a big enough threat to tend to themselves. It means they chose to redirect their attention and resources to deal with mom and Forest. Or maybe only Forest is deemed as the big bad threat? I don't know. Why isn't there a single security guard here to help us deal with this? They couldn't have all betrayed us or gotten scared or killed. If we're alone, it means Lucas Greyson wants us to be alone. He wants us to be in danger. I've only known him for a few months, but I know that this man is always five steps ahead of his enemies. I'm here because I wanted to stop him from finding out a secret Char wants no one to know of. I didn't see this coming, but surely he suspected that something like this might happen. Right? He might not have anticipated Brian Kim being here, but he should have known Lawrence would try something like this. Char has surgery in two days. Why is he putting people in a position to kill him? Lawrence was on the verge of crying, but I couldn't take any pleasure in it. He was begging Brian to kill David's son, but Brian refused. I couldn't enjoy his fear and desperation. All I could think about was Char. If they are here. Who did they send to deal with Char? Unease and panick started ebbing through my entire body. I really f****d up. I'm supposed to be on a flight to New York right now, but I'm still in London. I was supposed to protect her secret ... but now it's out. Mom showed him the pictures, the videos, the police reports we tried to file, the complaints against prosecutors, police captains and entire precincts. Char is so ashamed about what happened to her that she refused to open a case against that man. I was the one who tried to get justice for her. She tried to pretend that her father didn't try to kill her. She carries so much shame about what he did to her that she'll break and never recover if she finds out that he knows. She doesn't want him to know. She doesn't want anyone to know. And now ... He can't tell her that he knows. He can't. It will kill her. The shame will kill her. Lawrence was still begging and pleading, but I was hardly listening. Char can't know that he knows. Char can't know. Things went dark before I could conjure another thought. *** I couldn't tell how much time had passed. I woke up in a moving vehicle and Brian, Lawrence and Liza were still arguing about whether Lucas Greyson should live. I heard Forest groaning. I'm assuming from the pain of getting shot, but I couldn't be sure because I couldn't see him anywhere in the dark vehicle. My head was pounding. I was exhausted. I was thirsty. But all I could think about was Char. She has her surgery in two days. Is it still in two days? What if today is the day of the surgery? She might die. I have to be there. I have to hold her hand and tell her she can't die. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I couldn't. My eyelids felt so heavy. Everything felt heavy. *** "I think he has people following us!" I heard Lawrence's nervous voice in the dark. "You need to kill him, Brian!" He begged again. "Dealing with your daughter will be a piece of cake if you kill her husband." "You need to shut the f**k up." I heard Brian's low voice. "Two days ago, I found out that the reason my family's company is on the brink of bankruptcy is because of that girl. I found out the reason I've buried two sons is because of that girl! Plans have changed, Lawrence." He growled. "I need to do damage control. David's boy is the only way I can do damage control or else Kim Group will go under." I wanted to laugh, but I didn't have the strength to do that. Char is set on burning Brian, his family and anything that brings them pride, joy or any peace to the ground. She would have let his family be, but after they tracked down her number and texted her and sent her videos telling her how they wish Brian had killed her, she couldn't leave them alone. If Brian thinks he's cruel, he has no idea how cruel his daughter can be to those who have wronged her. It took him too long to realise that Char was getting her revenge. He's too late. Kim Group will fall and another engineering power house will take its place. I have a pretty amazing sister. That's why she can't go into that surgery without me. I have to be there. *** I was woken up by water dripping on my head. My hands were still tied up, but at least my legs were free. My body felt heavy, exhausted and I was so thirsty. How long has it been? I struggled to sit up, but I managed to roll on the wet floor and sit up right. I was in a dark and wet basement that had one weak light bulb as a light source. There were multiple cells in the basement, but only three of the cells were occupied. Mom was in a cell, but she didn't look scared. But then again, she's not known for getting scared that easily. Forest was also in a cell and he was clearly in pain. His shoulder was bandaged up, but it was still bleeding. His hands weren't tied like mine and mom's, but he was definitely worse off than us. "You can't tell her." Those were the first words I said in this dark, damp and smelly basement. "You weren't supposed to ever find out because ... because ..." I couldn't finish my sentence. What if there are cameras in here? What if they're listening? They'll know that she doesn't want anyone to know what Brian did to her. They could use it against her and reveal it to the world. But still ... he can't tell her ... "I know." He said in a low voice that was laced with so much pain that it elicited a sob out of mom. "I know, Jona." I sighed and tried to take deep breaths. I'm struggling to keep up with all the secrets I'm keeping from her. She doesn't know I'm her brother. She doesn't know I still talk to mom from time to time. And now I can't tell her her husband knows her biggest secret. I can't keep doing this ... but I don't think I have a choice ... It's too late to come clean after all these years. She'll hate me and I just ... I can't lose my sister. "I really messed up. Didn't I?" He asked. I knew what he was referring to. He wasn't talking about what was happening right now. He was talking about what happened back then. "Yeah." I answered honestly. "But she wants to forget about it. So," I took a deep breath, "forget about it." I watched him clench his jaw. He had more to say, but he also understood that this wasn't the place to talk. So, the three of us stayed in our cells, in the dark and in the silence. I shouldn't have trusted mom. I trusted her with Char's secret because she was there. She was with Char from morning till sun down every day when she was in a coma. She read to her, she helped the nurses to bathe her. She helped to turn her so she wouldn't get bed sores and changed her catheter. She brought oils to help her scalp heal and to help her hair growth. She held her hand and cried and prayed for her to wake up. She was there until the day Char chased her away, so I made the mistake of trusting her with her daughter's secret. I won't make that mistake ever again. The silence between the three of us was sombre. It was the kind of silence that settles when people are grieving or when they've given up hope. I never want to sit in silence like this ever again. So I found myself being grateful when Brian and his two lackeys broke the silence and barged inside the dark basement. . . . Lawrence was still scared. Brian was still angry, but seemed hopeful that Forest would fix what Char broke. Through it all, Forest's eyes never lost that grief I saw when I found him in mom's house. He was angry, but mostly, he was mourning the part of Char that Brian Kim killed that day. ... that's what I think ... Brian was too confident to see the grief in the man's eyes and Lawrence and his wife were too scared to see the fire and rage that ebbed behind Lucas Greyson's eyes and slowly took over his grief. They were yapping and bickering and Brian was proposing how Greyson Corporation could fund Kim Group. So none of them noticed when the shadows started to morph into people with each passing second. Those very same shadows pointed guns at the three of them the second Lawrence handed his phone to Forest. He was trembling while his daughter went on and on about being entitled to another person's affections. Liza on the other hand, looked like a grieving mother for some reason. I felt sorry for them. I really did. The Mitchell name has been around for no less than a hundred years and yet, it's about to get wiped from existence because they went after someone who refused to cower away in fear. I feel sorry for everything they're going to go through after today because Char and I will make sure it's a hundred times worse than what we've done to them so far. When that phonecall ended, only a few words were spoken before the one light in the dark basement got shot leaving us in complete darkness. Shots went off again. I laid on the floor and hoped I wouldn't end up with a bullet in my head. People fought, screamed and groaned and then people rushed inside my cell with flashlights pointed at me. "Brian is the one person who CANNOT get away!" I heard Forest roaring. "Search every corner of this place! Search this entire country. I can't risk him going after my wife. He CANNOT GET AWAY!"