Shattered Vendetta

Hidden Compartment Chapter 14

Amara:

I stood outside my father's office, taking a deep breath to steady myself. I needed to ask him for permission to go out with Daniel. I knocked on the door three times. "Come in." His voice boomed even with the door between. As I entered, I found him surrounded by paperwork, he was typing on his computer, and he looked pissed off. This was definitely not the right time but now it was too late.

He looked up and asked if everything was alright. I nodded, trying to appear casual, and then mustered the courage to ask him about going out with Daniel.

"Father, Daniel and I have made plans to go out for lunch, is it alright if I go?" I asked, my fingers fidgeting with the white sleeves of my dress. My father looked down at his paperwork and I felt a pang of disappointment.

"Can't Daniel come here instead?" He sounded annoyed, I knew it was a bad idea to ask him this silly question in the middle of his work but I can't wait any longer.

"He... well, we made plans to meet for lunch and then we will hang out at his place." I stuttered a bit and I hated myself for stuttering, it made me sound not confident about my decision. He seemed to contemplate it for a moment, and I added that I never get to go out.

"Sweetheart, you had gone out for dinner with Leo a few days ago, and not only that almost a week ago we had all gone to our family gathering." I should've known my father would have brought this up, he thinks going out twice a month is normal but I should know better after all I am a part of this world. Staying quiet and never being able to voice out my thoughts should be normal for me by now.

I sighed, "That is different, you know Leo is my... fiancé, so it was allowed." My father seemed to be considering my request again, and finally, I couldn't help but plead with him.

"Take Milan with you." I nodded eagerly and thanked him before leaving the room. However, I hadn't actually made any plans with Daniel; my real intention was to apologize to him for keeping such a significant secret from him. I knew he wasn't contacting me because he was still mad, the only way to get him to talk to me is if I go in front of him and actually talk it out.

Rushing to my room, I grabbed my purse and was about to leave when the thought of the knife struck me. I always carried it whenever I went out, but now it was with Leo. I scolded myself for forgetting to ask him to return it to me and reminded myself to make sure to take it back from him.

To retrieve my alternative weapon, I quietly opened my closet and carefully removed the layering of the floor that concealed a hidden compartment. It was an idea Kiara and I had come up with, a secret place to stash our candies, snacks, and later cigarettes and small bottles of liquor. Memories of my sister flooded my mind, and a faint smile touched my lips. Kiara was taken from me too soon.

"You will get us killed." I was still reconsidering if we should cut the floor in half with a saw when our parents are out for a party.

"You'll thank me later." She shot me a two-finger salute that she and Daniel always do, I rolled my eyes at her comment. Kiara dug the saw deeper and the sound of the floor thud boomed through the room and a scream left from my mouth to which Kiara laughed. We both removed the now useless square piece of wood and Kiara squealed.

"I told you!" She exclaimed and quickly wiped off the dust and wood chunks away from the compartment. I took the candies and snacks and placed them in the compartment as Kiara grabbed a few packs of cigarettes and bottles of liquor from her school bag. My eyes widened as I saw her placing them in the compartment.

"Kiara Romano-"

"No, you don't get to scold me when you also do underage drinking." She winked at me-

With a gentle touch, I placed the wooden floor back on the ground next to the hole and pulled out the gun hidden inside. I blew off the dust, checking to ensure there were still bullets in it. Satisfied, I secured the gun in the band strapped around my thigh, just as I used to do. I put everything back in place and stepped out of my room.

My heart was heavy, thinking about Kiara, and I felt a pang of guilt for not being honest with Daniel. I have no idea what I am going to tell Daniel when I get there but I know that I have to first get there. As I walked towards the door, I found Milan standing outside, I should've known Father would immediately inform her about this the moment I left his office.

"Ma'am, Mr. Jung's house or the restaurant you will be meeting in?"

"His house, please." Milan nodded her head as we walked out of the house and she opened the car door for me and drove towards Daniel's house.

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