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“Dev’sthe one who heldDamonat gunpoint before kidnapping him,”Piyacountered.
Shitalhad enough. “Thisis absurd.Mybrother would never hold someone at gunpoint or take them captive.Youdon’t seriously believe this, do you?”
“Howcould you turn your back on your family?”SoniaimploredPoppy, stuck between bitterness and anger. “Didyou forget this man killed my son?You’llgive up your dream of being theCEOfor a man who killed your cousin?”
“Actually,”Zanewalked into the room with my brother, father, andSophiein tow, shocking everyone.Iknew the other two would comply with my request for this meeting, butIhad no idea howZaneconvincedDadto attend. “Poppyis to become theCEOofAmbaniCorpeffective immediately.OrI’mpulling out my assets from your company, andPiyawill start selling her stocks untilAmbanislose controlling share.”
Zanewasn’t a part ofPoppy’sfamily.Rather, he was sort of an independent contractor who was family adjacent.Nonetheless,Iurged him to back us.Foronce, he came through to be the fatherPoppyneeded him to be.Atmy advice,Zaneinvested his life savings intoAmbaniCorp, becoming their biggest client and throwing them a lifeline to help with their depleting business.Theyhad to agree to his demands if they didn’t want to go belly up.Thiswas part of the plan we had concocted over the weeks.
“Furthermore,”Zanecontinued, “Damonhad nothing to do withRayyan’smurder.Rayyandied from a drug overdose.”
“That’simpossible,”Soniasaid, the irritation evident in her voice.
“It’strue.Hehappened to be sitting too close to the edge of his terrace and fell to his death.”
Thereinlay the problem.
Rayyanfell off the terrace of his home that overlooked the ocean.Hisdeath was similar toRose’smisfortune.Itwas an unfortunate coincidence they both fell from tall heights, andIhappened to have engaged with them right before the separate incidents.However, the family refused to ignore the stroke of misfortune involving the same man, especially aMaxwell.
Rayyandied the night ofPoppy’seighteenth birthday.Theywent to a party, whereIpropositionedPoppyand ended up in an altercation withRayyan.Poppy’srejection had pushed me to act rashly, andImade a blunder.Iended up at her place, waiting for her to come home soIcould watch her sleep for a few hours.Iwas out on her balcony, inhaling a few angry cigarettes instead of practicing my usual caution.
SinceRayyanlived inSandsPointand the party was in the city, he was to stay the night inPoppy’sguest room.Uponstepping inside,Poppyimmediately noted three things that weren’t how she left it, including the open balcony door.Luckily, she couldn’t see my silhouette sinceIwas off to the side, but she called security and her mother.
Piyafreaked out, demanding bothPoppyandRayyanreturn toSandsPoint.PoppydroppedRayyanoff at his house on the way toPiya’s.Shejust didn’t knowIwas following them in my car.
“Rayyanwas on a lot of drugs and fell.Thiscould have been prevented if you paid attention to how out of control he was getting.Ifyou don’t believe me, just take a look at what we found.”Zanenodded at my twin.
Cadenstepped forward with a folder in hand.Hehanded it toSoniaand spoke to her in a gentle voice, “Wespoke to four different rehab clinics.Rayyanhad been forced into numerous court-mandated programs for his drug usage, but he’d covered up his tracks for years.Thatis where he was whenever he told you he was going away on vacation.”
Soniagasped, her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes widened in shock.Shenever believed the toxicology reports presented by the police.Butthe evidence was undeniable as she sorted through the documents and the photos ofRayyanchecking in and out of various clinics.Despitethe numerous rehabs and expensive treatments,Rayyanreturned to his old habits after being released into society.
Thewheels inSonia’shead were turning, wondering how well she knew her own flesh and blood.Amorsel of my empathy extended to her.Ihad gone through similar emotions afterMompassed away.Noone wanted to believe such a thing could be true about their loved one.
Soniadropped the papers on the floor, causing them to scatter.
“Iknow this is hard to accept,”Piyastarted softly. “ButDamondidn’t pushRayyan.Rayyanwasn’t aware of what he was doing and simply fell.Hehad an ongoing drug issue.Iknow we don’t want to believe the worst in our children, but that’s the truth of what happened.”Piyaextended her arms forSonia, butSoniastumbled back just out of reach.
“No.”Denialcoated her voice. “That’snot possible.”Shelooked around frantically until her gaze landed onSophie. “She.”Soniapointed atSophiewith an accusatory finger. “ShesawDamonthat night.Sophiesaw him leaving the property.”
Sophie, who had been quiet this whole time, had her gaze on the floor.Meekly, she looked up and addressed the room. “I-IthoughtIsawDamonthat night,” she came clean. “Butit-it was dark, andIhad a few drinks.Later,Irealized thatIwas mistaken.”
“No.”Soniashook her head, unable to accept the confession.
“WhenIrealized my mistake,Itried to fix it.ItoldDamonIwould retract my statement, but he asked me not to.”
Sonia’sjaw dropped, glancing at me. “Whywould he do that?”
Piyastepped forward. “BecauseDamondidn’t want to tarnish theAmbaniname by letting everyone find out aboutRayyan’sdrug problems.Rayyanwas being groomed just likePoppy.Ifthis information about the future leaders of the company went public, there would be no more shareholder meetings.So, even thoughSophiewas mistaken,Damonlet it be.”
“B-Butit would’ve cleared his name,”Soniasaid, bewildered.
Piyashook her head sadly. “Damon’sin love with my daughter.Heknew hurting her family would only hurtPoppy.Damondid nothing other than protect theAmbaniname at all costs.Heknew the charges against him were fraudulent and wouldn’t hold up in court.Hethought it’d be the best way to protectPoppyand her entire family.That’sthe truth.”
Atthat,Soniadropped into an armchair near the door and broke down in tears.Everythingshe knew and believed had been turned upside down within seconds.Shedidn’t know how to process it.
“Youdid all this to protect us,” she forced a whisper out of her mouth. “Whywould you do this?”
“Thesame reason he protected me.”Devemerged out of the blue, turning everyone’s heads in his direction. “Tosave us from ourselves.”
