Their eyes locked in a long, heavy silence. Fati bit her lip hard, waiting for a response that might quench the fire in her heart, while Jaguar stood bewildered, unable to speak. No matter how deep the apology or the justification, it could never erase the darkness of that night. If only he had taken her grandfather to the hospital; if only the hatred that blinded him hadn't drowned out her desperate pleas, he wouldn't be standing today amidst the ruins of the family he helped destroy.
Jaguar realized that words could never wipe that memory from her mind. He reached out his hand in a desperate attempt to touch her face, whispering in a wavering voice,
- Fati... how...?
But she flinched, taking a wide step back. Her eyes flashed with a razor sharp gaze as she hissed:
- Don't even dream of touching me again
Deep down, she had been waiting for an apology to mend a fraction of her shattered soul, but she realized his pride still obscured his vision. He hadn't even bothered to ask how she had survived those lean, bitter years. To her, he remained unchanged, and so she resolved not to be moved by him, no matter how hard he tried. The wall of ice she had built between them was too strong for a hesitant touch to break.
Fati curled her lips into a mocking smile and turned to cast one last look at the face resting behind the glass. In a voice that brooked no argument, she said,
- I compromised; I stayed in your apartment... in your bed, only to perform this surgery. I have achieved what I wanted. Now, I am leaving. You won't stop me, for I wish to depart, and the contract between us is over.
She expected resistance, perhaps anger, but he replied with a surrendered calm:
- Fine. Have it your way.
Fati turned to him, disbelieving. Had he given up so easily? But Jaguar was charting a different course; if he couldn't change the past, he would do everything in his power to shape the future, clinging to her in his own way. He continued, noting the shock written across her face:
- However... I am the one who will leave the apartment. Since my grandfather has regained consciousness, I will return to the palace to live with him.
He placed his hands behind his back, staring at his grandfather through the glass with a feigned coldness.
- I will send someone to fetch my belongings today.
Then, he turned to her, flashed a chilling smile, and walked away, leaving her standing there in stunned silence.
Even though Fati was the one who demanded he leave, his simple departure left a bitter ache in her chest. She felt as if being easily abandoned was the constant rule, as if she were an unwanted person who could be erased from the equation without a second thought.
"Am I truly that worthless in their lives?"
She wondered bitterly. But she quickly brushed off the weakness; she would never cry over the ruins of a man who had cast her out and deserted her for six barren years.
She turned back to the grandfather, who had closed his eyes once more, and whispered with a determined tone,
- It's alright, Grandfather... You must wake up to be the weapon I will hold onto. Please, don't fail me too. Come back in full health.
Meanwhile, Jaguar reached his office and buried himself in piles of work, desperately trying to drown out the memory of Fati's eyes. Her image kept intruding upon his thoughts, flashing across every document he read like annoying advertisements interrupting a television drama, refusing to grant him even a moment of peace.
Later that afternoon, Jaguar returned from one of his exhausting meetings to find a mysterious envelope sitting on his desk. He pulled out the papers curiously, and before him lay the life details of a woman named "Alina" an entire life story written between the lines. He frowned, trying to jog his memory. Why was this envelope here? And what did this woman have to do with him?
He called his secretary, his voice sharp:
- What is this envelope?
The secretary replied calmly,
- Those are the details the Madam (Fati) requested regarding the maids of her grandfather's old estate. This woman, Alina, was never mentioned in the official records because she was the private maid to the owner's daughter in law. Thus, her identity remained hidden for years.
Jaguar's eyes froze on the papers, a chill running through him. He commanded in a voice that brooked no argument:
- Come here quickly and explain this to me
He slammed the phone down, leaving questions gnawing at his mind: Why was Fati tracking this specific maid? And did "Alina" hold the key to the mystery that destroyed both their families?
Jaguar was swallowed by a whirlpool of questions. Who was "Alina"? If she was the maid to the owner's daughter-in-law, then she was his aunt Rosie's private servant yet he had no memory of her. What is playing in Fati's mind to make her dig through the records of my late aunt's forgotten maid?
The secretary entered, and Jaguar met him with a sharp gaze and a sudden question:
- Are you telling me that the report given to Madam Fati two days ago did not include this maid's name?
The secretary nodded.
- Yes, sir. Madam Fati asked me to re-examine the records with greater scrutiny. Upon further inquiry, someone mentioned this maid. Curiously, she changed her name from 'Zozalin' to 'Alina' twenty seven years ago and married a man living in the remote fields far from our city.
Jaguar froze in his tracks, astonishment sweeping across his features. Twenty-seven years? This timing aligned perfectly with the date of his Aunt Rosie's death. In that moment, a cold shiver of doubt crept through his veins; he realized that a secret lay buried beneath the dust of years, and that Fati was searching for something far beyond mere revenge for her dignity or her grandfather's death.
It seemed the late old man had not passed away before whispering a secret into his granddaughter's ear a secret that had shaken her very core. This is why Fati is now fighting so desperately to find those missing threads. Thoughts clashed in Jaguar's mind like turbulent waves:
"A case of what? And does my aunt's death have a hand in what Fati is searching for? Was it something much bigger than a simple family feud?"
He felt a tightness constricting his chest; if Fati was chasing the ghost of "Zozalin," it meant that what she knew could tip the scales of power in this palace forever. It meant her journey of search was what led her to accept staying in his lair not out of love for him, but to be close to the truth.
Jaguar sank into a heavy silence, his mind connecting the threads with terrifying precision. Twenty-seven years! It was the exact same date his family had drawn the curtain on his Aunt Rosie's life. He wondered bitterly,
"Why is Fati digging into the graves of the past? And what does my aunt's private maid have to do with her grandfather's death?"
He realized that "Zozalin" hadn't changed her name and vanished into those remote fields for no reason; behind that escape lay a secret bought with silence. He seethed with anger at the thought that Fati had begun conducting investigations behind his back, using his own private secretary to uncover loopholes in his family history that he knew nothing about.
He looked at the secretary and said in a glacial tone,
- Gather everything related to this woman. I want her exact location in those fields.
Jaguar now understood that the battle was no longer just for Fati's heart, but for a truth that might shake the very foundations of his grandfather's palace.
The secretary broke his tangled thread of thoughts with a cautious question:
- Sir... do you want me to hand this information over to Madam Fati?
- No,
Jaguar replied firmly, his gaze fixed on the envelope.
- I will be the one to give it to her myself.
He gripped the envelope, pressing it against his chest as if he had found a long lost treasure, a mysterious smile creeping onto his lips. He thought to himself triumphantly:
"And now... let's see which of us will cling to the other, Fati. This information has arrived at the perfect moment to be the shackle I use to bind you to my world once again. You won't leave before unraveling the mysteries of this secret with me."