The almost petrified scream left Geneva, and she was up on her feet, immediately followed by Alex. They stormed up to him in anger, desperation, fear and all the related emotions one could think of.
Shelby slumped back in the seat, blood draining from her face at once, and she shook visibly, trying to hide her trembling hands in the oversized jacket she wore.
To her, James was just one part of the equation, as she knew what he was capable of, so if he were the one who had lost his life, she wouldn’t care so much. On the other hand, she had no idea what the man had done to be in that state.
’Isn’t that a double standard?’ A voice said in her head.
’You wanted your stepfather gone, but you question why he killed this person?’
Geneva and Alex had arrived by his side, furious, and looking at Ian’s indifferent face, they freaked out!
’Calm down... agitating him will not solve the issue at all. Calm down...’
It was as if their thoughts were in sync. The husband and wife exchanged looks; nobody knew who should talk to or reprimanded him first.
The line of workers was a miserable mess. A couple of them fainted right away. Surprisingly, it was Suzie who held her ground the most. Her heart beat so hard that she thought it would jump out of her chest. The man directly next to the one who had been killed peed on himself. His eyes were tightly shut as Ian came to stand in front of him next.
"Y-o-u, Is this how we-"
Ian raised his hand at his parents, signifying that they should shut up, and then turned to Shelby as if they were saying unimportant things to him. He took two long strides, leaving his baffled parents behind.
He knelt before the seat in front of Shelby, and that was the next jaw-dropping moment for his parents.
Ian? Kneeling down? The man was the epitome of ’top of the food chain’, and that scene made it feel like they were dreaming.
"Pinch me, Alex...." Geneva whispered.
"I am sure that our son never came out today, right? This is all a dream. He just did not kill a whole human being, a-nd he is not kneeling. Is he? Because if he is, then that is not my son! He is n-"
Even though Alex looked on thoughtfully, Geneva would have been scared shitless of the thoughts running through his head then. Currey was the only truly calm person in the room, and he was the one who interjected into the conversation between them.
’We should find a place for the body....’ Was the only viable thought out of Alex’s mind, as unbelievable as that sounded.
"You better shut your trap, young man, before I make you join the one who has departed us for the afterlife."
Currey took a small step back warily, never once doubting Geneva’s words, ’Like mother, like son!’
"No, no, I did not raise my son this way... what- OMG ...." She was getting stifled by the turn of events.
"Get Geneva back to the room to rest and get her some calming tea as well." Katie moved her shaky legs to her madam’s side as fast as she could, never once looking at the dead employee. She wasn’t in any better state, but as the head of the domestic household, she could not afford to fall apart in front of everyone.
’Stand your ground, stand your ground.’ Katie kept repeating in her head as if that would change the situation.
"I am NOT going anywhere, Alex!" Geneva stood her ground even though her pale face gave her away.
Sighing, Alex directed Katie, "Help her to the settee and get her that calming tea."
This time, Geneva let herself be directed back to the seat she had just vacated. However, it wasn’t clear who needed the tea most between the two women.
After they were out of earshot, Alex leaned towards Currey and asked, "What do we do about this?" He gestured towards the body.
"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it!"
Alex nodded and then looked over at where the line of workers was, shaking his head silently.
"Where did I go wrong with my son?"
"You did everything right with him...."
"Did I?" He looked straight at Currey, and the lanky man just smiled.
Ian had no second thoughts about snapping the man’s head, but as usual, his little one was the only thing that got him to overreact. When he saw her petrified face, he rushed to her side immediately, disregarding that the wait and non-dismissal were making people utterly devastated because they were not sure whether he was done or not.
His endearment, which would have made her upset and pout, but had no effect this time.
"Hey," he whispered and leaned close to her,
"Does that bother you that much?"
She tried to nod and then shook her head. Inside, she kind of had some belief in him. More than anyone else in the room. ’If he had killed him, then he must have had his reasons...’
Ian saw how pale she was and leaned close, hovering just by her face. He only paused to check her reaction, but Shelby did not shrink back, making him release a deep breath. He raised his hand to push her hair back but dropped it, thinking, ’It’s dirty!’
"Trust me, he does not deserve the breath that ran in his body."
He kissed her eyebrows and asked,
She nodded slightly but was not convincing. He turned and scanned the line of workers, making all of them take a small step backwards in apparent fear.
His eye landed on the miserable Suzie, who was trying to maintain some bravado.
Someone from her back nudged her and Suzie nearly fell.
Following the person’s nudge, she looked over and saw Ian beckoning her.
She took one step forward and stumbled. Straightening herself, Suzie used all her will to walk to the couple in an almost comical way. However, no one was in the mood to laugh then. Ian knew all there was to know about Shelby, so he obviously knew who served her.
"Get her one of those calming teas and take care of her."
"Yes, Master Ian!" Suzie was very surprised by the tone Ian used when talking about her mistress.
Ian chuckled at her brave front, pecking his ’little girl’ once more, he strode back to his unfinished business, all ’softness’ gone from him.
"Did you have to kill him? Was there no other way with this!?" Ian looked at his father, who had asked the question or rather demanded it.
"What other way, Old man?"
"Even if he spilt information about you, that did not warrant him a death sentence. There are always other chances for a-"
Ian let out a long exhale as if he were dealing with a child and patiently explained,
"If you give second chances, then you’ll have to give third chances and the fourth... Do you get my drift, Old man?"
"... Also, he may have given out harmless news about me today, but you don’t know what he will give out tomorrow! It always starts with the small ones and then to something else..."
In all this, never once did Alex doubt that Ian had got the wrong person. He was only clearly frustrated and exasperated.
"But now that you just kill him.... he is gone forever! How do you know what was leaked out? Besides, you just can’t go around killing them all? If they all leaked info, are you going to kill all of them?"
"If all your staff is leaking information, then you are doing something very wrong! But don’t worry, I think we have one more rat left... isn’t that right?"
Ian’s cold tone made them all shiver down to their bones.
"Are you going to make me come for you again?"
It did not even take half a second before another man dropped to his feet, banging his head on the ground, and almost shivering in agony.
"I- I am sorry! I don’t know what came over me... I -"
Ian would have wanted to finish everything then and there and snapped his neck too, but his ’little girl’ was terrified, and he did not want to compound it.
Currey stepped forward and dragged the man out of the place as he screamed and begged for his life.
Ian’s eyes swept back to all of them, and they shrunk back in unison.
"Now, I don’t believe this lesson needs to be re-taught, right? Nothing should ever leave the Thornston estate. I believe Katie, there made sure you understood this perfectly well."
They all nodded vigorously.
Just before his words were completed, a man they had all forgotten about spoke out. James was all but forgotten, and he was petrified and mortified beyond reason. His mind could not function, and at that time, he really wished for his dose of drugs. ’What have I walked into?’ All his bravado was gone. That was, if it ever existed!
He did not even know where the words had come from, but he knew there and then that he did not want to be in the space as the devil incarnate, who had dominated the space they were in. But by Ian’s definition and how he did things, this was nothing!
"I’ll t-erminate the contract! I don’t even want the penalty fee."
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