ZAC’S SPECULATION

Hazel stared after the fast-driving car and then looked back at Daniel’s non-smiling face and said, “That was Nick. He came to drop me off,”


Daniel’s brows creased deeply, “A guy?”


“Yes, a guy,” Hazel answered honestly while nodding her head.


“And why would you accept a guy’s lift in the first place, Hazel? You should have called me and why didn’t you go out with your car? Is there a problem?” Daniel rushed his words, trying not to sound as peeved as he was but it was clearly written all over his face.


Hazel shut her eyes and scratched her hair lazily,“I left my phone inside, Daniel. He only dropped me off here and that’s all,”



Daniel ruffled his hair and moved closer to Hazel. He was feeling a big mess in his heart and thought he might go crazy soon.


When he’d tried to reach Hazel over the phone but she wasn’t picking up her calls, he thought Hazel was probably in danger because in his thought, that could be the only reason Hazel would refuse to pick his calls.


As far as he was concerned, he didn’t remember upsetting her during their last meeting.


He rushed here to her apartment like a crazy man and kept calling her phone but the same result.



And seeing her car outside, meaning that Hazel had not gone out with her car, Daniel became more confused and had no idea of who to call.



However, when he’d sighted Nick’s car earlier and turned out to be relieved when Hazel came down from it but he became troubled again when he realized that it was a male that gave her a ride.



And now to make all his feelings worse, Hazel wasn’t saying all that he needed to know.



“Where are you coming from, Hazel?” he asked gruffly.



Hazel just smiled and shook her head to herself, saying in her mind that this guy's jealousy is so bad.



And with that, she explained everything to him. How she’d rushed to Ava’s hostel when she couldn’t get through to her over the phone and how her car had misbehaved, causing her to go there in a cab.



For the first time in hours, Daniel felt a whole lot of relief in his entire body system but he was still not back to his usual self with the fact that a man dropped Hazel back here.


“Be honest with me, babe. D-Did he get your contact? D-Did he say he likes you? And did he look at you the way I look at you?” Daniel tumbled on his words as he stared into Hazel’s eyes as if he was about to cry.


Hazel nodded her head sharply and immediately took her lips into her mouth to stop herself from laughing at how broken Daniel was looking at that moment.


Curling a hand around his neck and bringing his head to her face, she said, “He did look at me the same way you look at me but I didn’t look at him the way I look at you. I made him understand that I have a boyfriend and I love him a lot,”


A huge grin filled with relief transformed Daniel’s face as he eagerly wrapped his hands around Hazel's waist and hauled her closer to his body.


“Tell me more, baby. What was his reaction? Well, I’m sure he would never think of coming near you again after hearing that. Did you tell him how much I love you too?”



Hazel beamed, her head reeling and filling with excitement.


 She brought his head even closer since he was much more taller than her and kissed his lips with all the feelings inside her.


Her lips moved on his hungrily and her body pressed closer to his.



On the other side, in Zac’s villa.


Ava watched as Zac frantically paced back and forth in the living room with his ten fingers ruffling his jet black hair. He’d not stopped doing that since he’d started pacing from an angle to another angle of the space.



Ava stared at him with regret. She thought in her heart that she wouldn’t have told Zac anything about how her parents have treated her in the past if she had known it would make him this restless.



“Tell me, Ava. Which parent still grounds their children in this century that we are and to think that they’ve been doing that for a long time,” Zac huffed and stopped his pace abruptly before fixing his blazing brown orbs on Ava.


Moving closer to where Ava was sitting on a single couch, he continued, “Why would you keep up with such a thing from the beginning, Ava, and would you be begging me not to take legal action against your parents?”



“Or do you think I would probably let go if you’d told me all these while we were still there?”



The banked-up rage in his eyes couldn’t let Ava form any right words to say to him at that moment.


Moreover, she didn’t think there were any possible words that could soothe him at that moment so she just kept mum and watched him quietly.



“Zac, they are still my parents_”


“Do not fucking tell me those people are your parents, Ava,” Zac interrupted Ava’s words in a low menacing voice that nearly sent Ava to her feet and run away.



She cowered on the couch, looking everywhere but Zac’s face as he was emanating an artic coldness at that moment.


“I’ll make sure to throw them into jail until they spill the fucking truth,”


Hearing this, Ava couldn’t continue sitting down and watching him. She stood up in a swift movement and shook her head strongly, her eyes pleading with him.



“No matter what they’ve done to me in the past or might still do in the future, they will always remain my parents and nothing can change that, Zac,”


“I know how much you love me and care for me but getting my parents arrested is completely out of it,” Ava’s chest was now heaving up and down when Zac’s livid face remained the same.


“Watch me,”


Zac spun around after those two words and headed out of the house without a backward glance.


Ava’s shoulder slumped in sheer defeat as he watched his back view disappearing out of the door. Of course she’s very much aware of the kind of man her man is and knows that trying to change his mind is like pulling teeth.



However, she couldn’t understand why Zac could assume her parents aren’t her real parents. She had grown up with her family and she’d never heard them say anything peculiar about her birth.


 So, in Ava’s opinion, just because her parents do not treat her well doesn’t justify that they are not her biological parents.


*******


Reid marched into the nightlife club where some of the women were half-naked, shaking their asses and dancing crazily under the blend of blue, green and red lights.

Two sweaty ladies in only bra and panties approached him when he was about to take the stairs that leads to the second floor to the VIP lounge but he shot the both of them a dangerous look that had them scurried off in fear.


“Bitches,” he muttered before ascending the stairs hurriedly and soon arrived on the floor.


 Unlike the luminous colorful lights and cheery atmosphere on the first floor, the VIP base had an extremely dim yellow light that Reid could barely see the few people sitting around in there.


He tilted his head in the direction of his boss’s usual spot at the corner-end of the space and saw his figure sitting there even though he couldn’t see his face clearly but as it is, no one except him dared occupy that place.


Reid found himself drawing in a long breath before finding his way toward the corner where his boss was sitting alone.


“How’s Igor? Has he been taken care of?” he asked in his usual cold voice as soon as Reid had settled down on the single executive chair across him.


Confusion creased Reid's brows as he stared at his boss and only friends face in awe. He was silently thinking in his mind that since when did he start calling him out to ask such trivial questions about their clients.


“Yes, boss. I was able to escape before his men got suspicious but he should be dead by now,” Reid explained in as simple a sentence as he could pronounce since his boss isn’t fond of a talker.


“And I’ve asked Lee to take care of the cash_”


“I didn’t ask for the cash, Reid. I called you out here for something more important than that,” Zac interrupted his words, managing to hide his impatience.


Reid nodded his head as he already thought that Zac would never ask to see him only because he wanted to ask about a damn drug lord.


“What’s the matter, boss?” Reid asked carefully, leaning on the table and was now able to see Zac’s sharp eyes under the small light.


“I have this strong feeling that Ava’s parents are not her real parents, Reid” Zac began remotely, dropping one of his clenched fist hands on the round table in their middle.


Reid instinctively sat straight and began watching Zac’s face with keen interest.


“I’m certain no parents would ever do that to their own child so therefore, they’ve crossed their limits by leaps and bounds by treating her in such a dreadful manner,”



Reid shook his head secretly, feeling sick in the pit of his stomach knowing that it was because of Ava all along.


He knew he should be asking Zac what her parents have done to their child for him to have such speculations but anything related to Ava is absolutely none of his business. He really doesn’t give a bone about her beef.



“So, what do you want me to do, boss?” he asked on a little exhale, trying his best to keep his animosity in check.


“I need you to get her sister to like you, Reid, and from there, I’m sure she will definitely tell you the truth about Ava,” Zac ordered, shifting his gaze away from Reid’s face.


Reid’s lips fell apart immediately as he looked at Zac like he’d just said something dumb.


Zac could feel his gaze on his face so he returned his attention back to his face with his eyebrows lifted.


“You didn’t mean what you just said, did you?” Reid asked, his eyes widening significantly.


“What are you talking about? Have I ever said what I didn’t mean before?” he asked naturally, his shoulders shrugged.  


Reid huffed and scratched the back of his head, “I don’t understand, Zac. You can easily find an answer to your question by locking her parents up and threatening them until they tell the truth. Why must I go to such length because of that?” he didn’t mince his words nor did he hide his fuming expression.

For a few seconds, silence surrounded them like a heavy, dark cloak filled with tension. Only the indistinct sound of the music playing could be heard.


 Bit by bit, Zac rose to his feet and tucked both his hands in his pant pockets.


“I could have easily done that, Reid, but I can’t as I wouldn’t like to hurt Ava. She didn’t support the idea of me locking her supposed parents up and I have to respect that,”



Hearing this from Zac’s mouth, Reid made a face palm with a muffled grunt – knowing that there was no way he could get himself out of this but had to do it.


He looked up at Zac who was staring into the void and stood up as well.


“I just can’t imagine how that little girl had managed to trap you, Zac. You are becoming someone else entirely. You’ve gone all soft and it’s a sign of weakness, Zac. She'll ruin you,” he advised in a firm tone, swallowing bitterly.


“Make sure she falls for you completely, Reid. I don’t mind getting involved to win her attention,”


With that said, Zac turned away and walked out of the place, leaving Reid dumbfounded totally.