THE DRY CLEANER'S MESS

CHAPTER 24

"Madame Martina."

Arielle stared at the maid blankly. Martina? Why would she even do something like that. Why would the doctor see her as a threat? What did she have against Luke? A few statements came to her mind in that moment.

You shouldn't underestimate the power of walls. The walls have ears.

It's the worst pain. I would do anything to avenge my child.

She was the mother of the late Leon so was she blaming her son's death on Luke? But her husband was The Eye that spearheaded the death sentence of her son so why should she fault Luke who as Chef de famille, didn't even have much say in council meetings?

"Comment est-ce arrivé? Je veux les détails, Julia."

The frightened lady nodded quickly. Arielle could barely hear what she said as her stuttering made comprehension very difficult so she ordered the maid to repeat herself. "Je faisais la tâche que vous m'aviez confiée. Une nuit, j'ai surpris le docteur Martina dans ta chambre et je l'ai confrontée."

Arielle narrowed her eyes in mild confusion. Julia claimed she caught Martina in her room while she was doing the job she had given to her before she left for Jameston with Luke. "Et alors, qu'est-il arrivé? N'étiez-vous pas censé me faire un rapport à mon retour ? N'était-ce pas le plan?"

Julia nodded frantically. "Oui, oui."

"Alors, qu'est-ce-qu'il s'est passé?"

The maid looked like she was seconds away from passing out as she explained her ordeal. "Quand je l'ai vue avec la montre, elle m'a demandé de dire à Mr Xavier que je l'avais trouvée dans votre salle de bain."

Arielle swallowed the shocked gasp that wanted to fall out of her lips. She was finding it to hard to imagine the friendly woman asking someone to frame her. "Elle t'a proposé de l'argent?" Julia gulped in nervousness before nodding in affirmation and Arielle wasn't surprised. Of course, she'd offer the maid money. "Combien?"

"80,000 dollars."

Arielle's eyes widened at the amount. Why would Martina pay that kind of amount to frame her? She was very sure she wasn't even worth that amount. "Wow." She muttered and turned back to the cowering Julia.

She tilted her head to the wall and ordered Julia to face it. In a twinkle of an eye, she used the Lidocaine-filled syringe in her neck and ignored the other woman's howl of pain. After a few seconds, the numbing effect of the drug kicked in and Julia crumbled to the floor. Arielle used a plaster to seal her mouth before going to search through the medicine bottles in the bedside drawer. She saw one that had sedative boldly written on the body and used it on the still limp Julia. As expected, her eyes fluttered shut and she was out.

Arielle heaved as she dragged the unconscious lady across the floor and set her on the king-sized bed. Staring at the door key on the floor, she contemplated going out to look for Luke but decided against it. If any Brother saw her, it'd just complicate everything. So she sat on the bed beside the sedated Julia and bided her time.

A quiet knock made her jump from the bed and she looked into the peephole before opening the door to an antsy looking Luke. The giant man breezed inside the room and she locked the door. He jerked his head at the bed.

"How was it? The torture process." He scrunched his face in concentration as he stared at the unconscious body on the bed. "Where's the blood?"

She chuckled softly. "There wasn't a need for that. It wasn't even a torture, she was singing like a canary after I threatened to chop her body in pieces and hide it under the bed. She was so chicken-hearted, I was surprised she didn't pee her pants. That was a really pitiful sight."