CHAPTER 62: PANIC 2

Ian opened the message courageously as being a wimp wasn’t going to help anyone.

When he opened it and began to read the contents of the message, Ian’s facial expression was very unsightly. As a man in his late sixties, he already was having signs of wrinkles on his face even though he tries his best to maintain himself but at this very moment, the frown on his face was enough to qualify him as an old grandpa.

It was unsightly, Ian repeatedly read the message three times with his fists clenched and when he checked for the fourth time that he wasn’t hallucinating, he threw the vase on the floor angrily.

His head was fuming with anger and if he were a smiley, he would be that red smiley on fire. He had never been threatened so shamelessly like this in his life.

“How dare you?” he angrily bellowed as his fist hit the mahogany desk that didn’t even shake despite the strength that Ian had used.

Because the office was soundproof, the secretary and the assistants didn’t hear a single thing so Ian was could only get angry by himself in the office.

As he was so angry, Ian was not feeling well, he had been taking high blood pressure pills for five years now and after reading the message that angered him, if he didn’t take pills, he was going to meet his maker and he wanted answers so dying was out of options.

Ian swallowed the pills and drank some water but his heart was in so much pain he couldn’t help but read the message again for clarity.

[I wonder how you sleep at night knowing that you and your family killed two innocent souls! Was it worth it covering your evil deeds and sacrificing that woman who only loved you? I am coming for you! If you don’t find out the truth about what happened to Hope and Cleo years ago, I will make your life a living hell! I will start with your beloved daughter Pearle, after all, she enjoyed sending Hope and Cleo to their end!]

As a father and as someone who had been wronged for over a decade, how can he tolerate such blasphemy?

His only crime was to betray Cleo who had relied on him, loved him, and gave him her heart. He was so greedy at that time that he didn’t fight it when his family convinced him to marry a woman he didn’t love.

For his future and ambition, he married and hypnotized himself that his love for his wife will develop and grow as they lived together but that changed the moment that he met Hope again.

That reunion was just so epic and he felt love again but hearing the news of his wife being pregnant pulled him back and he decided to be a good father and husband.

He broke his relationship with Hope and concentrated on his family but who knew that one day his wife will die like that. Even after several investigations, the cause of death came out as suicide and it ended like that.

He was hurt, he mourned and after several more years, he met Hope again with his daughter and that fire rekindled again. He didn’t want his child to live without him and having a mother for his children was also a bonus.

So, Ian got together with Hope and brought Cleo home, as he was a busy man, he never thought that Hope, the angel in his heart would mistreat his children as Hope had always shown him the good side of her and never the devious side.

Cleo was spoiled and it was already too late to straighten her. He felt guilty for not being in her life for over ten years so he pampered and spoiled her more but who knew at the end of the day, Cleo wasn’t his child?

When the police arrested Hope, Ian had no idea and the shock was astounding. He didn’t know what to do at that time and the only thing that he wanted was answers but Hope had kept saying that she was innocent and he had believed her.

But when the evidence began to be revealed one by one, he became powerless. He still remembered the day when Hope was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

All color on his face was completely drained and he sat there blankly looking at Hope who was acting hysterical and calling his daughter names.

It took him a while for him to digest everything that it was Pearle who had managed to find the evidence that Hope was the one who murdered his wife years ago.

And it wasn’t just her who did but Robert the young man who had proved his love for his daughter on numerous accounts. With evidence in front of him, he knew that the other party was guilty but he never managed to hear the truth from Hope until the day she died.

Having Hope in prison and with his unanswered questions, the news about Cleo was exposed too and it became a double heavy blow to him. To think that the child he pampered and loved as his own wasn’t his, he felt as if he had been used and toyed with all his life.

“Dad, Hope had never loved you. If it wasn’t for your status and wealth, would she even look at you? She not only killed my mother but let you raise a wild child, forged the tests, and mistreated us for years! They both deserve what is coming to them! Hope should even suffer a fate worse than death! How come she gets to live while my mother died in such a wrong way?”

This was the first time that Pearle, the obedient little girl had an outburst. It was also on this day that Ian realized that things were truly serious and he had neglected his children a lot.

He had been blinded by love and lust that he threw his responsibilities away and looking at Pearle who only had hatred in her eyes, he could only apologize and pray that his children will forgive him and give him a chance.

Before he could even seek forgiveness from his children, he received a message and he guessed that it was from Cleo. The other clearly stated that her mother was innocent and she had the evidence.

She was supposed to come and see her but he didn’t hear from her at all as the news that he heard was of Cleo having died in a car accident. Cleo died with the answers he wanted and when he told Hope, all hope was lost as the woman followed her daughter to death. And now it was coming back again.

He was angry because someone was threatening him with the people, he loves the most but at the same time, the threatening message made him feel as if the hope that he had lost years back was finally ignited.

In his panic, Ian decided to go to the bottom of the story and get the answers that he wanted and, in the process, protect his children at the same time.