STEEL CITY

Chapter 21

Mira stood in front of the manor dumbfounded as stared at the retreating car. She remembered Arthur saying he was going to see Daphne, didn’t he think that she maybe wanted to see Daphne too.

Mira turned around to go to her car when she met Grey standing a few steps away from her which made her shriek.

"I'm very sorry to have startled you ma'am," Grey apologised in a monotonous tone.

"It's fine," Mira said, walking past him towards her car.

She decided against going to the station to give Daphne some privacy with her grandfather. She also didn't want to go home yet because she hadn't forgiven her dad for what he did.

She decided to stay at a hotel for the night. She would have stayed longer at the hotel but she wanted to meet Quinn the next day.

She drove herself to THE CADENCE hotel knowing fully well that her father’s men were tailing her and reporting her location to him.

The Cadence was owned by the Cys so getting situated in a room didn’t take a lot of time. When she plopped on her bed she stared at the white ceiling with a small smile as things were seemingly falling into place.

Her smile dropped as she received a call from her father.

“I thought I told you not to get involved,” Edward asked, his calm voice ringing through the phone.

“You did and I didn't get involved for two years,” she responded.

“That doesn’t matter,” he said.

“I only went to get her grandfather to help her,” Mira countered.

“You still went against my orders and got involved. I am doing this to protect you,” Edward said.

“From what public criticism, your business rivals, kidnapping” Mira asked, emphasising the last word.

The line went silent for a minute.

“Are you coming home tonight, your mother is worried sick,” Edward asked.

“No, I'll be back tomorrow morning. Is there anything else you would like to discuss,” Mira responded.

“No,” Edward said then ended the call. When he sent Mira abroad he did it to protect her from damaging her reputation not out of spite.

He knew his relationship with his daughter would suffer but not to what extent. He was beginning to regret his decision.

At the station, Arthur Ross had arrived. On his way to the station he had contacted the chief of police concerning Daphne’s release.

When he got to the station the chief’s assistant was already present waiting to greet him at the entrance.

“It’s an honour to have you here,” the assistant said.

Arthur didn’t acknowledge the man's word and started making his way into the station. Moments later Arthur was sitting in front of the chief.

“I thought you would want to see your grand-daughter first,” Mark said.

“I want her out of there as soon as possible,” Arthur said, going straight to the point, ignoring Mark’s statement.

“This is something that is out of my control,” Mark said.

“There is nothing concerning this issue that is beyond your control. You either don’t want to help or you have a backer, orders from above. I would guess it’s the latter considering the fact you didn’t even come out to greet me. Already cocky,” Arthur said with a mocking smile.

Mark’s expression fell but he immediately schooled it but not fast enough as Arthur noticed the shift in his expression. Ever since Arthur got to the station and was greeted by an assistant he knew something was wrong.

Arthur had deduced that the person who was backing Mark was from one of the big four families and he had his eyes set on the Cy family.
His suspicion began when Mira divulged a lot of information to him which he was grateful for but noticed some gaps and inconsistencies in the story like why she disappeared for two years. Additionally, the big four families, the Cy’s excluded, have similar power levels so it was only plausible that the Cy’s were backing up Mark.

One may think Daphne couldn’t get out because her family wasn’t supporting her but the truth was she could get out on her own with some of her connections with the underworld but wasn’t able to as someone powerful behind the scene wanted her in prison.

The question on his mind was why is the Cy family trying to get rid of Daphne?

“The Cys are backing you up,” Arthur stated.

Mark's eyes widened at how quickly Arthur figured it out but said nothing to affirm or deny Arthur's statement. Mark’s silence only solidified his resolve to confront the Cys.

“Are you going to tell me why,” Arthur asked knowing he wouldn’t get anything from Mark.

“I don’t understand the questions you are asking me. Your grandchild was convicted for first degree murder, she pleaded guilty during her trial. Nobody is keeping her in prison, she is simply facing the consequences of her action. You pride yourself in integrity and the innocent getting justice, so where is this bias coming from,” Mark said.

“Since when did I become a lawyer to fight against injustice against the innocent ?” Arthur asked with a sly smile.

“I’m a business man Mark, don’t ever forget that. I’ll take my leave now,” Arthur said standing up.

On Arthur’s way out of the office, he stopped and looked Mark dead in the eyes.

“I’ll be coming back for you. It’s nothing personal but I hate it when people provoke me,” he said.

After leaving the chief’s office he decided to visit Daphne but was denied permission as today wasn’t one of the visitation days.

“Let him through,” Mark said, coming from behind.

“This doesn't change anything,” Arthur said with his back turned to Mark.

“I know,” Mark replied.

Finally, Arthur was taken to the visitation room. His cold eyes were filled with warmth and sadness as his grand-daughter was escorted into the room with two officers by her side like she was some dangerous criminal.

After the officers who escorted her left Daphne stared at her grandfather with a small smile, you could see the relief swimming in her eyes as she stared at Aurthur and for the first time in two years a tear drop fell from her eyes.

“You came,” she whispered.