“Sorry. Did I wake you? I saw an annoying insect up there. It was buzzing loudly and I felt really anxious. I saw your pistol and thought it was the only way to bring it down”
…..
“Ariana knew about the camera and brought it down. She lied that it was an insect. Rhoda…C’mon! What are you up to? You and Ariana…What are you both up to?” He whispered.
***
“Rhoda?” Ariana walked and stopped, looking at her, distances away.
“What do you want?” Ariana asked, pocketing her hands.
Rhoda smirked and took her hand up, revealing the pistol she was holding.
“Wait,, What are you trying to do?” Ariana shifted back a bit.
“ki|| you,,, of course”
“Why?”
“I h@ťě you, Ariana. I h@ťě the fact I made myself lose cause of my foolish mistake. I h@ťě the fact Malcolm loves you now. And I gotta ki|| you cause Gilbert- Never mind”
“Gilberto?” Ariana muttered.
“What’s with him?” She quickly asked.
Rhoda shifted her head a bit.
“Why? Do you know him?” She asked, suspiciously.
“Yes, I do” Ariana swallowed.
“Why does he wants me dead all of the sudden?” She asked.
‘Why? Do you remember something?” Rhoda asked, hoarsely.
“Yes! I really everything now…but please, don’t tell anyone yet”
“That means, you know why you wanna ki|| Malcolm?”
“Yes…”
“I won’t allow you ki|| him!!” Rhoda shouted.
“Rhoda? Are you close to Gilberto?” Ariana asked, instead.
“What?” Rhoda whispered.
“It seems you’re now close to him now. It seems he sent you to ki|| me. It also seems you also know why I want Malcolm dead”
“Shut up! You know nothing!!” Rhoda shouted, holding the gun with another hand, with tears brimming in her eyes.
“You actually came from Italy to Korea for 4 reasons. 1,,, To actualize the bet…The bet we made back then concerning Malcolm,,, to check If he would truly love me. Though, I’ve broken the bet a long time ago,,, because I really love Malcolm now. That’s why you made me stay with him… to see if he would falter, despite boasting he wouldn’t back then in the mafia’s cartel”
“You don’t have to remind me!” Rhoda snapped.
“No 2,,, To protect Malcolm from me and Gilberto”
“No 3,,,, You want to help Gilberto get to the cabin of fortune since I failed tremendously”
“No 4,,, You wanted to make Malcolm fall in love with you again after you broke his heart”
“How do you know all these?” Rhoda raised her brows.
“Why wouldn’t I? I made sensible investigations and also, No one knows Gilberto than I do! Gilberto is willing to ki|| his own blood to get what he wants. He’s also willing to ki|| me since I didn’t achieve the mission… I fell in love, rather”
“Why are you saying all this?” Rhoda asked.
“I’m still gonna say more and why? Cause I want you to trust me” Ariana said.
Rhoda hand slowly went down.
“Trust you? Are you crazy? For what?!”
“Listen. Back then, You later reported to Gilberto that I secretly drew and painted Malcolm. Gilberto started his violence on me. He almost ruined my life!” Ariana cried.
“But after Malcolm betrayal,,, I pledged and renewed my loyalty to Gilberto. I promised him I would bring Malcolm down. I promised to get the cabin of fortune for him and went through Malcolm’s information and profile. In an instant, I knew a lot about him. His past, childhood, everything…You name it”
“I and Gilberto moved to Korea to achieve the mission. A code was later brought to us. A replica of the code Malcolm had. I decoded the code and got Come n’ Go where I went to”
“I met with Ma Clara but she never offered me the stuff I needed so I pretended like I wanted to lend money…”
“While Gilberto met with Dew and they negotiated their evil plans. Afterwards, we left…we continued investigating which led us to a gang named Man mok(as stated in chapter 1&2) who has been trading with Malcolm and his gang”
“So…we went to Man mok…who we bundled up. Using their address, we called in Malcolm to ki|| him. I was the one meant to end his life. But that day was bad. It didn’t end up well. At the course of ending his life, I ended up getting into a big accident instead which made me lose my memory”
“And that was when you appeared. Gilberto told you everything and asked you to stay with me and Malcolm. He also told you to see how far Malcolm would go with the fortune of Leo Da Cruz. But when Gilberto saw I was falling in love with him, He sent you…to ki|| me”
Rhoda smiled and raised her hand towards her.
“You do know Gilberto well, do you? Well,,, For that…I’ve to ki|| you” She touched the trigger.
“Then!!! I suppose you know how Malcolm betrayed us?” Ariana voiced out.
Rhoda eyes blinked.
“Why? Are you planning to shock everyone if you say it?”
“You don’t have to do this. We both know everything. Let’s just stop this once and for all. Let make Gilberto stay alone. Let make amends. Let’s forget about it and make Malcolm not to get worried. Let keep the fact I’ve gotten my memory, a secret too” Ariana said.
“Easy for you to say. If I leave Gilberto, Gilberto and the whole of Italy mafias,, will come for Malcolm. You know what I’m talking about. You also know why I’m doing all this for Malcolm! I’m only protecting him!!” Rhoda shouted.
“And,,, I’ll protect you…Its a promise. Let’s make everything right,,, please. For Malcolm’s sake”
Rhoda eyes let out tears and the pistol fell down from her hand.
“How do you know all this?” She asked.
“I said it before, I know who Gilberto really is and what he can do I have my memories back so its a small thing for me. I can interpret and predict Gilberto. With my sense and brains, I was able to think and trace everything and that how I got it. I’m right huh?”
Rhoda looked down, not uttering a word. Only her tears spoke for her.
Ariana sighed, went to her, and hugged her while she cried.
***
Malcolm red eyes were soaked with hot tears already.
He bit his upper lip strongly that it had marks around, and clenched his fist tightly.
He finally took his eyes away from the girls he had been watching since, and walked away.