𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡

𝐟 𝐢 𝐟 𝐭 𝐲 - 𝐧 𝐢 𝐧 𝐞

A country that I've lived all of my life up till six months ago felt foreign to me as soon as I stepped off the plane.

I left for Russia early the next morning at Singapore time and reached around noon Russia time. After everything that Helena told me, I had been thinking about talking to Anton. It was not like I had any choice since he was the only one in the love square who was still alive. Other than that, I also get to see Peter and Marlene, both of whom were tied up in the plane crash that killed my biological parents.

As soon as I made it through security, I saw Peter waiting for me at the exit as he said he would in his text. He was elated when I told him I was returning to Russia, even though it was only for two days. I would stay a few days longer if I could, but I have school the following Monday. I gave him a friendly hug before we made our way to his new car; looks on the expensive side too, which he was a proud owner of.

We managed to have continuous conversations throughout the car journey to Adequate Diner. I talked about my ridiculously expensive lessons with my prestige tutor, Susan Hargrove and about my successful adjustment into the school in Singapore. He shared his experiences of hacking into firewalls of security companies to up his game as he now helps small companies with their security systems.

As I walked into Adequate Diner, I remembered the first time I stepped foot into this place. I had just gotten out of the police station from questioning Zari's murder thanks to Detective Barnes courtesy and had planned to meet with Viktor as he had information about my biological parents' death. I took a sit with Peter at a booth right next to the window and felt my stomach grumble as I looked through the menu.

I was going to pay for the burger, fries and milkshake that I ordered but Marlene insisted that it was on the house. It was nice to see Peter and Marlene had gotten along and even he occasionally helped out with the administration part for the diner. Both of them had lost Viktor; it was wonderful to see in spite of the travesty, two grieving souls managed to form a bond.

"I told him she didn't have good intentions when he went on the first date!" Marlene was currently retelling the story of this woman who Peter went on three dates with a few months back turned out to be married.

"And I listened to your warnings!" Peter countered back. "On the third date, I hinted at her subtly if we could go to her house and she suggested some cheap motel. Of course, that isn't suspicious, but she was wearing a Rolex watch and carrying a Chanel bag. So why would someone rich suggest to go to a cheap motel unless she has something to hide?"

I nodded in approval of his smart tactics. "So how did it all play out?" I asked, curious to hear how he handled the rest of it.

"I faked an excuse that something important came out and went off. Was hoping she didn't contact me after that but she did, so I sent her a text asking if she's married and she blocked me. The end." Peter ended it dramatically.

"Boo, how anti-climatic." Marlene deadpanned and I chuckled at that.

After I was done with my meal, I helped out with washing the dishes for a while as Peter as some urgent thing came up with his client. Peter and I then head to his apartment where I would be staying for the night. I was already quite tired when we reached even though it was only late afternoon, but since Singapore's timezone was five hours ahead of Russia's, it was night time in Singapore and the time difference was affecting me.

Peter's apartment looked simple; too simple actually. You could clearly tell he was a simple guy based on the lack of nicknacks in his apartment, it almost feels like an Airbnb. Since there was nothing much to look around, I made myself in the spare room before falling asleep not soon after.