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"Work," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
I still felt guilty about my behavior towards him in the car earlier that day, and I wanted to make amends.
"You have a tough job, especially with a tough person like me," I said, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier. I was in a bad place, and I took it out on you. I'm really sorry."
He offered me a small smile, and I felt a little better. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.
"What's your name?" I asked, trying to break the silence.
"Juan," he replied with a slight nod.
I introduced myself and offered him a handshake. "Let's start on a fresh note, Juan," I said with a smile, hoping to ease the tension.
I invited him into the house, and we sat down in the living room and continued to have several random discussions. I told him about my travels, and he shared a bit about his job as a driver. It felt good to talk to Juan, and I found myself opening up to him in a way that I hadn't with anyone else.
As the sun set and darkness crept in, I realized that I had taken Juan away from his post for too long. I stood up and bid him farewell, promising to talk to him again soon.
I headed back to my room, expecting my father to home any minute. As soon as I heard a car pull over in the compound, I quickly switched off the TV I was watching and headed outside to greet him.
He stepped out of the back seat of the car and told Anthony to be on his way home. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't even give Anthony a chance to speak with me. As Anthony respectfully got back in the car and drove off, I felt my frustration building up inside.
"Why?" I asked my father as soon as he entered the house.
"Sometimes I expect you to catch on to things without me having to explain them, but you always choose to use your words rather than your brain," he replied, taking a seat on the couch.
"Honestly, Laura,” he continued, his voice softening, “I don't care who you date or who dates you, but when a man comes to talk to me like Anthony did, it means he wants a serious relationship with you. Let him prove that he wants to be with you for the right reasons and not just for the protection from his enemies."
I stared into space for a long time. It wasn't such a bad idea, but it also made it sound like he had a reason to doubt Anthony. My mind was conflicted. I hadn’t initiated this; my father had. I supposed I just had to go with the flow.
"Okay, I will let you have your way, Dad," I responded, but the old man appeared indifferent. He was going to intimidate Anthony regardless. It seemed no matter how I felt, he was going to do what he wanted.
Chapter twenty-one
Anthony
It had been an excruciating twenty-four hours since Laura's last text, and my heart was pounding with anxiety and restlessness. I tried every possible way to reach her, but all my attempts to contact her were unsuccessful. The constant ringing of my phone and the unreturned messages only made matters worse. The thought of what could have gone wrong gnawed at me, and I was afraid that something terrible had happened.
Suddenly, I remembered Juan, the new kid who had driven Laura to her father’s house. Maybe he could shed some light on the situation. So, with that in mind, I set out to find Juan.
I scoured the garage, moving past the parked cars and other vehicles. Finally, my eyes locked on Juan, who was lying on his back between the cars. I approached him hesitantly, unsure of what to expect.
"Excuse me, Juan, can I sit?" I asked, pointing to the slightly elevated ground near him.
Juan nodded, "Yes, please go ahead," he said, standing up to face me. His friendly demeanor put me at ease, and I began to pour out my worries to him.
"That day, yesterday, I mean, when you escorted Lau— the boss's daughter home, did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Like something might be wrong?" I asked nervously.
Juan's expression turned serious as he revealed what he knew.
"Yeah, I definitely noticed something out of place. Her dad put her on house arrest, and she's been trying to fight him off. She's a feisty one, but none of that seems to be helping her."
I thanked Juan profusely for the information and took off on foot to get some dinner. I was about to grab some Mexican food at a new place that had just opened up nearby when my phone rang. It was Faith at the boarding school. I picked up the call, and all I could hear was Faith panicking on the other end. Her voice was breaking up so badly that I could barely understand her.
"Faith, calm down. What exactly is going on?" I said assertively, trying to steady her voice.
"I don't know, everything is wrong, Anthony. They came, they are here, they said if your daughter isn't identified, everyone could be dead, please, please help us," she sobbed and screamed as the call cut off.
I immediately began to run back towards the mansion, my heels almost touching my neck. I dashed into the compound like a madman, running directly into the boss's office, where I sighted James.
