N0 B0DY, N0 CRIM3 | Bang Chan

A wolf in sheep's clothing

Terror should have filled Kiera when Philip asked the secret service members to leave. She was under the guise that the conversation would be simple. She didn't know what Philip wanted to talk about, but it couldn't have been much.

He led her into the living room and perched himself down on the end of a black leather couch. Their private living quarters had been designed with a modern day twist. Everything was black and white. Beverly called it simple and classy before she died, Kiera called it drab and boring.

The walls were white and the furniture was black. All the accents and decor were black. The artwork hanging from the ceiling was black. Color had been sucked out of the room entirely. The place felt like a prison cell and void of any happiness.

Kiera settled herself into a recliner and glanced over at Philip. Her fingers were free from the grease of the grilled cheese she ate twenty minutes ago, but the glossy sheen on her lips remained. "What did you want to talk about?"

Philip cleared his throat and pushed himself further to the edge of the couch. His hands clutched each other and hung in his lap. "I don't want to accuse you of anything, but I don't think you were lying in those videos."

Kiera stiffened in her seat.

"You're the kind of person that rarely gets angry. Your parents have done a damn good job at painting you one way, but it's clear that you're filled with resentment. You might not be aware of it, but every time you're around your father, you tense up. When he comes near you, you unconsciously hold your breath."

Her voice remained steady. "I don't know what you're talking about." Her eyes never left Philip's face.

His blonde hair had grown longer since the last time she saw him. Her father was at some meeting, but Philip either didn't have to be there or he skipped it. The usual suit he wore was replaced with a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. A pair of gray socks sat covering his feet.

"I think you do and I think you believe nobody is on your side. I understand how much of a monster your father can be. I've seen it first-hand when he decided to hire someone to assassinate your mother."

"Then why didn't you stop him?"

"Because I was selfish. Once news leaked of your mother's affair, I wanted to protect my image too. The murder would have taken up the news stories and it did. I didn't want to get on your father's bad side. He didn't hesitate in hunting down a hit-man for his wife. If he could easily get rid of her, he could easily get rid of me too."

Kiera remained silent. Philip's words made sense. Deep down, she was afraid of her father too. He had too much power and it went directly to his head. He walked around all high and mighty, rightfully so. Nobody had ever turned against her father.

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you are a damaged young woman who was forced to do things against her will, but I think, at some point, you changed. I think that group you were with made you realize the truth to things you were oblivious about. I think they swayed you eventually and you found people who understood you. They believed in you and you believed in them which led to the videos coming out about everything."

He shifted and went on. "I don't think you were lying in those videos at all. That photograph in the latest video of my driver's license, that's a real photo. Everything matches up with my real one. Someone sent that photo into a dark web website and made it look like I placed a hit on you. I think we both know your father had something to do with that."

"You threw me under the bus," he paused, "because that's all the information you had. You were grasping for straws trying to make people believe you and that was right there. You didn't have proof your father did it, so you used me. I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're worried about. You said it yourself, you were held against your will, but I don't believe you."

"How?" Kiera's voice cracked slightly.

Chan told her not to trust anyone, but she was failing miserably. Finally, someone close to her father was realizing the truth. Someone knew exactly what had happened. They were smart enough to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. It was difficult to keep everything held back and not just spill the truth entirely. Nothing good would come if she did that.

Philip's words were genuine. "You carry around the same rage your mother did. Sometimes your father made her mad and she became angry. Her brows would furrow just like yours. Her eyes would narrow and her hands would shake due to all the rage exerting from her body. The exact same way your hands did in the latest video."

"I hate that you compare me to my mother because I swear she hated me unless she was toting me around like an accessory."

"She didn't hate you at all. How do I say this? She got caught up in a lot of things. She knew how to love, but she knew how to love herself more. Vanity was always your mother's downfall just as your fathers' is his ego. Your parents had a doomed relationship from the get go and it's unfortunate you got caught up in it."

"Well, it fucking sucks," Kiera grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest annoyed by the situation. She wanted to go back to her room and pretend that this never happened. "Are we done with the conversation now?"

"Don't you want to discuss what happened to you?"

"No, I do enough of that with my psychiatrist."

"Can you, at least, tell me if you were working with Stray Kids or not?" He leaned forward desperate to find the truth.

"Whatever happened with them, it doesn't matter anymore, does it? I was taken against my will, things happened, and I'm here now. That should be good enough for you. Just be happy I'm still alive."

He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Kiera left the room before he could get it out.