Tuesday,
James ran. All the way from the airport to Kassandreau's residence. His heart sank the moment he stood before the silence of the mansion. The place that had roared with laughter, arguments, and mockery now stood like a silhouette of nothing. The massive gates opened as he walked forward. The garden was still fresh and living. The path was tidy — but his legs wouldn't carry him easily through that door. The same door where everything had begun with a surprise now opened onto waves of sadness.
James exhaled, anxious. He looked at the dining table — empty and strangely hollow.
Kassan came downstairs. She looked weary, defeated — failure worn like a label around her neck. Her whole frame seemed to pull downward under the weight of it. A woman who had owned success, now left with nothing but allegations and silence. She collapsed into a chair, dropping the newspaper onto the table in front of her — the headline printed in bold, talking wrongly about everything she'd built.
"...Kassan." He whispered, barely audible. Disbelief. She probably didn't hear him. Her mind had gone dead the moment the world turned against her, the person she'd trusted betrayed her, and her spouse walked out when she'd needed her most. Everything had ended at once.
"Should I prepare something for you, Madame?" the maid asked, hesitantly. Kassan didn't glance up, eyes fixed on the headline. She shook her head briefly. "How many times do I have to say no?"
"But... you haven't eaten since Ms. Ngawang left. We're all worried about you, Ms. Dupen-Lee." the maid said quietly. Kassan didn't reply and didn't look at her. She only gave a small nod. James stepped fully inside, pushing his luggage to the corner.
The footsteps echoed. Kassan looked up. Her stomach dropped. Her heart skipped the beat. Something in her ached— a kind of longing. James crossed the room quickly and pulled her into a hug. She broke down immediately, fingers twisting into his shirt.
"Where were you...? Where were you, James?" He didn't answer — just rubbed her back, steady and gentle.
"Your brother... I never expected that. Why...? Am I not giving enough to your family, James?"
She sobbed, and he felt something he had never felt before rise hard in his chest. His fingers balled into a fist at the sound of his brother's name. His stomach twisted with anger.
"I will find that bastard, Ms. Kassandreau. I will make him pay for every single thing he did to you." He held her tightly, letting the words carry the weight of a promise.
Kassan pulled back from the embrace, looking at him.
"I trust you, James." He gave a firm nod.
"I won't disappoint you."
She settled back into the chair, glancing at the paper. "What your brother did isn't something small to move past, James. I trusted him more than I should have, and he proved me wrong from every angle."
"I had no idea what his intentions were when he agreed to be your EPA. I should have watched him more carefully."
"That isn't your fault, James. You trusted your brother. He's the one who didn't understand what that meant."
He glanced at the maid. She stepped quietly out of the room. James turned back. "I'm sorry, Ms. Kassandreau." She looked at him, hollow. "I need your brother in front of me within 48 hours, James."
"Your wish will be granted, Ms. Kassandreau."
As he moved toward the door, his foot caught the remote on the floor. The television blinked on. The sound erupted into the room.
"VERITAS HARMONY is on fire. Reporters on the ground confirm the blaze has entirely consumed the building. It has been noted that no one inside the company survived — the meeting being held on the top floor left them no way out." The reporter turned to the man beside her.
"What do you think — is this AUREXIS's doing? Vengeance for the allegations?"
The man answered without hesitating. "It certainly looks that way. And if so, it only confirms that the allegations against AUREXIS were true all along."
Kassan and James stood completely still, staring at the screen. Neither of them could process it — the enemy they had been preparing to face was no longer there, burned to nothing, while the whole world swung back against her again.
Against Kassandreau Dupen-Lee.
James looked at her, emptied out. Disbelief sitting heavy in him. She blinked twice, anxiously reaching for her glasses. She dropped into the sofa, head falling into her hands.
"Tristian — AAH!" She screamed and grabbed the vase — the one still holding the last lavender stems — and smashed it to the floor. James watched her, swallowing hard, saying nothing.
•••
Monday,
"Mrs. Dupen-Lee, the patriarch... is here."
Andrew stammered. Exia glanced up from the documents in her hand, brow arching.
"What are you talking about, Andrew? How could Father be here?" She dismissed his words. But the footsteps from the hall were already echoing. Their eyes shifted to the entrance. A man in a black suit and leather shoes walked in. Exia shot to her feet, stunned.
"F— father?" She gasped, moving toward him and offering her hand to support him. "When did you arrive? You didn't say a word — I would've sent someone for you."
"Where is Kassan?" He said, low and direct, already moving into the living room.
Mr. Dupen-Lee came downstairs, reading his wife's expression. He gestured silently — what happened? She looked away. "Your father is here." That was enough to send a chill through him. His heart dropped. He moved quickly to the living room and found his Father growing colder with every passing second.
"F— Father," he whispered, walking in carefully. He took his seat across from him, waiting as the old man finally spared him a glance — raw and cold.
"You should be resting, Dad. What brought you here?" he said. "I cannot rest when Kassan's life is falling apart in front of me. And I do not know whether you are even trying to pull her back from it." His voice came out low, grounded, and final. Mr. Dupen-Lee's eyes moved anywhere but his Father's face.
"Father, we tried everything we could. But the allegations are too deeply planted — it is difficult to shift public opinion back toward AUREXIS now."
"Then dismantle the one who planted them."
"Father?"
The old man rose, hands locked behind his back. His eyes drifted to the sky beyond the window — the kind of gaze that had already decided. Then he spoke, and the words moved everyone in that room.
"Destroy VERITAS HARMONY." He looked at his son with those cold, sharp eyes. "Send people in with bombs. Tuesday morning, this week. Before they open." Low. Deliberate. Meant every syllable.
Exia and her husband stood frozen. They understood exactly how far this could go — and what it would cost Kassandreau if it went wrong. Their thoughts circled back to her, to what the fallout might do to her permanently.
Exia looked at the old man. "If this happens, the allegations against Kassandreau become even more believable, Father."
"They will blame Kassandreau first — yes." He nodded once. "But when they discover that Tristian fled the moment the building came down — that a significant amount of money vanished from VERITAS HARMONY's accounts the same day — the blame will follow him. Not her."
•••
Back in the present, the television was nearly switched off by James when the next announcement broke through.
"It has now come to light that Tristian was seen departing the country at the exact moment the incident occurred. Investigators have confirmed that a substantial amount of money has also gone missing from VERITAS HARMONY's internal accounts." The reporter turned to the man beside her.
"Officers are now suggesting Tristian may have fled abroad with the funds. Did he use VERITAS HARMONY purely as a financial scheme?"
"The investigation is ongoing. Stay tuned — we will return with further updates after the break."
Kassan reached over and switched it off. The room sat in silence.
"What is even happening?" she whispered. James stood beside her, just as lost. He looked at her and said, "I wish these things came with subtitles."
She stared at the blank screen for a long moment.
"Is this the end for me — or for Tristian?"
~* END *~