Her Secrets

23

I was definitely gonna hack into it—but Sean didn't need to know that.

What could that drive possibly contain that Sean was willing to be nice to my sister to acquire it? Whatever it did, I sure as hell was eager to find out.

"The original plan was to have someone infiltrate her room while she was going to be busy dining with me," Sean spoke up, casually leaning against the wall, "but since you offered, you'll be doing it."

"When's that date of yours?"

"It's not a da—" he cut himself off, shaking his head as he let out a helpless sigh, "—never mind. The dinner is going to be at six. I'll keep her there for as long as I can."

"May I have your attention please?" Both Sean and my attention were diverted to the stairs where Clarissa was standing, holding a mic in her hand as she stared down at everyone. Once everybody present had their eyes on her, Clarissa smiled, "I want to thank you all for coming here tonight, for joining me in celebrating my success. I have a few words to say—a few persons to whom my success is dedicated to."

"Your success is dedicated to no one but yourself," Sean muttered making me look at him as he continued, "your sister's business isn't going to last with her—mentality."

"You might be surprised—or not—but I do not exactly care about her business," I grinned excitedly as I say, "now, watch her say," I cleared my throat and attempted to mimick her voice, "my parents and my sister."

"I would never have been able to do this without these people. So, my success is dedicated to them. I love them with every fibre of my being. These people are my parents and my sister." Clarissa resumed making me look up at Sean and shoot him a victorious smirk.

He rolled his eyes in response. Clarissa shared a few more words before she finally stopped talking and walked down the stairs again while everyone around us—except Sean, applauded her. He turned to me, "remember you have to come to Nick's birthday. He's gonna expect you."

"Right, I forgot about that," I sighed resulting in a scoff from him, "of course you did."

"When is it?" I inquired, raising my brows to which he replied, "next week, Thursday precisely."

"I don't know where their house is," I muttered, "or wherever it's going to be held. Wait, you do know that we need to keep up with the dating act, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he groaned dramatically making me roll my eyes, "it's hell, really. Anyway, I'll come to pick you up. And don't forget about your task."

"The one which requires me to sneak in my sister's room and steal your flash drive while you distract her?" I asked and he shot me an unamused look in response. I only smiled innocently as I continued, "don't worry. I won't forget."

"Good," he muttered, "I'll see you around." Then he walked away, leaving me there, leaning against the wall. My eyes caught sight of Clarissa who was talking to a very familiar man. He looked rather old, wearing a red suit and had his black—almost white hair styled. I knew that man all too well.

Jackson Walton.

One of the men who were friends with my mother and participated in the ruination of my childhood.

I thought he was in China, though? Doesn't matter. He was here now and I was going to finish the job. The sooner, the better, right?

I grabbed another glass from the bar and gulped it down in one go before making my way towards the two. Clarissa caught me coming and she smiled, "hey, Athena!"

Jackson turned around and his eyes flashed with recognition and fear as he saw me, "A—" he cleared his throat, "—Athena. Hello."

"Hello, Jackson." I greeted, flashing him a fake smile while Clarissa stared at me in confusion, "do you know everyone here or what?"

"He's the last one," I responded, giving my attention to Jackson who was beginning to sweat, it was visible on his forehead and under his nose. Bringing a hand to his forehead, he wiped it and licked his lips out of nervousness, "how are you doing?" He asked making me smile again.

"I'll leave you two then." Clarissa said before she walked away, not giving me the time to say anything. I shot Jackson a glare as soon as she was out of sight, "how are you doing?"

"F–Fine." He stuttured out, eyes looking everywhere but me. That only amused me as I tilt my head to the side, "have you heard of your friend's disappearance?"

Fear flashed in his eyes while he nodded, whispering, "I d–did. I kn–know yo–you did it."

"Then you know what's going to happen to you," I whispered back, mocking his tone. He nodded again, "I do."

"Why are you being so—" I clicked my tongue against my cheek, "—I don't know, submissive? Like, why aren't you denying or getting away from me? You're literally listening to me telling you that I'm going to kill you and where's the fun in that?"

"I regret what I did," he gulped, "that's why. I know what I did was wrong and I deserve to be punished for it. If it's you who's going to do it then so be it. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"Go to hell, Jackson. Your sorry isn't gonna fix shit and you're no fun, dude." I seethed, wrapping my hand around his wrist before dragging him towards the basement. To anyone else, it would look like I was leading him somewhere nicely and calmly but my nails were digging so hard into his wrist that it was drawing out blood.