Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Telling The Truth

"How are you?" asked Joe the next day when he met Briana in front of Briana's room.

"I feel much better. The pain in my hand has also disappeared," Briana replied quietly, then looked at Joe intently.

Joe returned Briana's gaze. For a few seconds they looked at each other without saying anything. Joe seemed to be bewitched by Briana's hazel-colored eyes.

"You still need to rest to recover," Joe said quietly. He reached for the glass filled with orange juice, gulping it down to half.

"But I'm fine." Briana protested Joe's words. As long as she was here, she felt like she was in prison.

"Well, if you feel that way. I won't keep you," Joe replied. "You're free to do whatever you want."

Hearing that, made Briana jump up and hug Joe. She smiled broadly to express her joy. After that she pushed Joe's body away.

"Thank you," Briana said and went downstairs.


Joe was in his office with Antonio not long after. He was listening to some information that Antonio had gotten. Joe chose to remain silent until Antonio finished speaking.

"Madam Elizabeth has no relationship with Briana, other than a working relationship," Antonio explained at length.

"Is that all you got?" Joe squinted his eyes, as if not believing Antonio's words.

"Yes, that's right. In that club the employees only knew Briana as one of the employees there just like them." Antonio continued. He then handed over two sheets of paper containing the results of the investigation on Briana.

"Very suspicious. They should have known about Briana's origins before working there."

Antonio shook his head slowly. "They didn't know. Madam Elizabeth didn't make a big deal of it either."

"Thank you. I want you to get more information," Joe concluded, and then he asked Antonio to leave his office.


"Maria, do you know where Briana is?"

Joe met Maria in the kitchen when he didn't find Briana anywhere. Bad thoughts crossed his mind after finding out Briana wasn't in her room. Maybe the girl had run away again when everyone there was caught off guard.

"She's been at the stables since an hour ago," Maria replied without turning her attention to the ingredients she was preparing to make breakfast.

Joe left the kitchen immediately. He walked quickly to the stables. His face looked stiff from holding back his anger. He asked himself what Briana was doing there.

"Good morning," Briana greeted with a wide smile as Joe stopped in front of her. She slowly patted her palm from the dry straw.

"What are you doing here?" Joe's voice sounded very agitated. He had never expected Briana to go to the trouble of doing manual labor in the stables.

"I'm baling hay. Maria said one of your workers was sick and couldn't work. So I decided to take over for a while," Briana replied casually.

Joe groaned loudly. "I didn't tell you to stay here to work."

Briana turned her head. She looked the other way to avoid Joe's piercing gaze. Right now she felt like she was being intimidated by Joe's overreaction.

"I have nothing to do. I find it boring to stay in my room doing nothing." Briana ventured to look at Joe.

"You'd better get back to the house. Maria has prepared breakfast for us," Joe snapped, still looking annoyed. Then he walked away from Briana.

Briana didn't argue. With long strides she followed Joe who entered the big house first. She took off her gloves and gave them to Maria.

"How long are you going to keep me here?" Briana asked bluntly during their meal.

Joe's body immediately stiffened upon hearing Briana's question. His head was raised. His eyes looked straight at Briana.

"Until I find out the truth," Joe replied briefly. He then resumed eating his food.

"What do you want to know?"

Joe snorted in annoyance. "You already know the answer, so why are you still asking."

"I already answered it, but you still don't believe me," Briana snapped.

Joe took a deep breath. The days he had been going through lately had been very hard. The efforts he had made seemed to have ended in vain.

"What is your real name? What is your reason for killing my father?"

"Charles Green. Try to find information about the owner of that name, then you'll find the answers you've been looking for," Briana said in a calm voice.

Joe shook his head quickly. "I don't want to. I want to hear it from your own lips." Joe looked straight at Briana, locking the girl in place.

Briana took a deep breath. Her lungs felt tight. Her mind was racing. Should she open the memories she had sealed in the glass box?

"Why are you keeping quiet? Are you afraid I'll kill you after this?" Joe said in a challenging tone.

Briana smiled sarcastically. "No, I'm not afraid at all," Briana retorted. "In fact, I was expecting to die after I killed that man. But, apparently the poison I drank didn't have any effect on me." Briana returned Joe's gaze. No fear appeared on her face at all.

There was a look of surprise on Joe's face, but it was only fleeting. The next second he was able to control himself well. He tried not to look away from Briana's face.

"If you want to kill me, you can do it now so I can catch up with my family," Briana said curtly.

Joe shook his head quickly. "I want to know who told you to kill my father."

"No one told me to. I did it myself."

"Briana ...." Joe snapped loudly as he pounded on the table.

Briana bowed her head. Her eyes were tightly closed. It seemed she had no other choice but to tell the truth. Even if it meant she had to open the Pandora's box that she had closed long ago.

"I killed your father because he killed my entire family," Briana said softly.

Joe widened his eyes. He never expected Briana to say that. It was such a shock that he was devastated.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter