"In life, you think you're doing the right thing, but truth is, you aren't." - Raghad

●●●●●●

I shoved my clenched hands inside my pockets, listening to the old man blabber about how successful the businessmen were, and how working with them would benefit me.

But I couldn't get hold of anymore words.

Because I was facing Jonathan.

And he knew I was glaring.

"I heard you closed a deal with a rising company," another businessman with slightly orange hair asked me, interested.

Or at least he looked interested.

"Yes."

"Isn't it too risky?" he asked, and his question seemed to grab the attention of all the others, including Jonathan's.

I shook my head, forcing my eyes to look back at him, "Other companies worked with it and they all were successfully completed. Plus, it is a rising company, and when I say rising, I mean its records are sky rocking by now."

He looked at me with a weird expression on his face.

"Also," I started again. "Nothing is for sure in the marketplace, it's always too risky."

Everyone nodded.

Including Jonathan.

"You're right," another businessman agreed. "I once worked with a big company-let's not reveal names-and lost the deal because of the immaturity of the owner's son."

I ran my fingers through my hair, stealing glances from Jonathan...trying to figure him out.

I stared-glared-at his wrinkled face and his freshly shaven jaw. I looked at his icy eyes as they switched from one person to another. I overheard his voice whenever he spoke, trying to recall how he was the one who killed my parents, with me almost watching.

He smiled at whatever someone said, and I could swear I saw the crookedness behind it.

How greedy he was.

How ugly he acted.

He turned to face me after several minutes, and I turned, not wanting to get caught.

"Have you been to Australia before?" he asked, a fake genuine smile on his thin lips.

I tried reading his eyes, but like Rose...nothing was there.

Everything was masked.

Somehow.

I nodded solidly, watching him as the next words slipped off my tongue "With my parents."

Something crossed his face briefly.

"No one ever met them," someone interrupted, and my eyes snapped to the source's direction. "After they have been the highest for as long as I remember."

"They stopped working." Because they're dead.

"And where are they now?" another one asked.

Six feet under ground in a cemetery I don't know. "Away from the media's eyes."

"Did your father give you advices when you first started working?"

He died before he could, but I lied anyways. "Yes."

"Mind sharing?"

"Don't trust anyone."

●●●

"Rose called an hour ago," Amanda informed me once I closed the door behind me and sat comfortably on the leather seats of the car.

"What did she say?"

"She wants to talk to you."

I nodded, "Is it something urgent?"

"I don't really know."

"Then dial her number."

A shocked expression was painted over her face before she picked her phone with a sly smile curving her red-coated lips. Her face lit when her fingers touched Rose's number, and her smile grew wider when she handed it to me, urging me to take it.

I held the phone against my ear and listened to the ringtone, up until her voice flew inside my ears again.

"Amanda, I really do want to talk to him-"

"I am him."

"Ethen."

"Yes."

"I want to stop this."

I sighed. "Stop what?"

"The silence," she breathed and I could almost feel it against me. "I hate it."

"You chose it."

"I know, and I want to end it."

"I'm busy now, Rose. I have tons of things to work on."

"But, Ethen, I swear," she took another breath. "It's over now, the thing I was doing."

"You're not making any sense."

"I'm not trying to."

"Then why did you call?"

"I miss you."

"So you did all this to get to miss me?"

"No."

"What happened then, Rosabella?"

"A lot."

"No shit."

"Ethen, I can't tell you. It's dangerous."

"It can't be, Rose. I know how to protect myself. From anything."

"I just wanted to tell you that I miss you, that's all."

"Are you expecting a response?"

"No."

"Good, because I wasn't giving one."

●●●

I woke up the next day, late and tired, and got ready for the conference with a high chance of me missing it because of my alarm snoozing.

I yawned as I made my way to the bathroom and got dressed, not really excited for the rest of the day to come.

After a cup of coffee, and several pointless conversations with Amanda, I finally fully woke up.

"Hello?" I asked, walking away from my car and into the conference, the phone glued to my ear.

I slid my other hand into the pocket of my pants, breathing the cold air of the conditioned building.

"Ethen," a familiar voice roamed around my brain.

"Yes?"

"It's Aurden."

"Oh, hey."

"This is very important," she started, and I stopped dead in my tracks. "Listen to me carefully."

I strolled outside the building and away from the chattering people who didn't seem to stop their buzzing. "Spill it."

"Jonathan Smith is with you at the conference, right?"

"Yes, I met him yesterday."

"Don't go."

"What?"

"Leave the conference, the building, the whole country."

"Aurden-"

"He knew that we knew, Ethen," she cut me off, and I could feel my heart jumping inside my chest, trying to break through my caging ribs. "It's dangerous now."

"He can't do anything-"

"He can do everything," she said, hesitation extinct in her solid voice. "Leave. Tell Amanda to apologize. Just don't," she breathed.

I could hear her exhale and inhale deeply.

"Just don't attend the conference."

She inhaled again slowly.

"For your safety, Ethen."

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Raghad