One Night With Mr Braxton

” Our dearly beloved might still be alive.”

Talia didn’t know what to make of the news and so did the only thing that seemed right at the moment.

She laughed. Talia laughed so hard that one would think she might have lost her senses. On the other hand, her mother watched her without a word, waiting for her to get serious before they resumed their conversation.

” You’re not serious. Come-on! If you don’t feel like talking, it’s fine. You honestly don’t need to go through these lengths to keep me in check.” She said with a forced chuckle, attempting to waive it off.

” I never met Emma. Neither did I lay hold on all the documents or information they had gathered about me.” Mrs. Steele said and brought out a file from her drawer. ” I was only able to get these.” She threw it over to her daughter’s end.

Talia, now recognizing the seriousness of the conversation, kept her mouth sealed and opened the file before her. She read through the many personal and shady deals which involved her mother, it was all carefully marked out and interpreted.

Whoever put it together was surely a

professional. But then again, Talia couldn’t understand what the file had to do with Emma. In what way does the file affect them and the discussions at hand?

Talia’s confusion was visible to her mother, who finally spoke, aiming to clear every sort of reservation or misunderstanding between them.

” If you check properly, you’d notice there are a few pages missing. Some of them are haphazardly torn away while some were totally ripped out of its place. As opposed to the careful hand that compiled everything.” Mrs. Steele said, still driving in her point. ” So far, I’ve been able to draw some possible situations after a long pondering and consideration.” She said to her daughter who was totally immersed in their conversation, having confirmed the words of her mother in regards to the missing pages. ” It’s either she escaped from their hands and somehow managed to grab some things for herself at the time, or they were betrayed by one of their own who took Emma prisoner and only managed to get some important details before the big escape.” She explained.

Talia was blown away. Her mother’s intelligence and brilliance was something she thought she was well aware of but in a nutshell, she managed to see that she had barely scratched the surface level of her mother’s intellect.

For a moment she wondered if her mother actually needed her help in the few times she’d requested it or was just trying to gauge her capabilities and prowess.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

With just the level of observational skills and killer instinct her mother nursed, she could only imagine what it was to take full reign of the family matters.

” Okay, but what exactly are we basing off on? What is the guarantee she’s still out there? Last I heard, that place was totally out of it and submerged into the woodlands. If she escaped, it would only be a matter of time before she runs out of whatever keeps her away and returns to her rightful position.” Talia said, her mind working overdrive.

” And what if she didn’t escape? What if she was taken by someone hostage? What about the meager documents in question? We can’t rush into any kind of thinking, at least until we are sure of the situation.” She explained while relaxing on her chair. Her posture screamed relaxation but from the storm in her eyes, one could tell she was greatly bothered.

” What’s wrong? We could definitely make our findings, know exactly what happened and how it happened. That way, we’d know the next step.”

” There isn’t any next step from there on. At least for her. It’s in our best interest if she remains dead. The only thing is that we need to be assured that she is either dead or permanently disabled.”

” Our best interest? What is enclosed inside the file? How bad could it possibly be?” She asked, genuinely curious.

” With the processing of these documents, it’s safe to assume it has something to do with the estate and general business of the Steeles. If she got to know she still had power to do certain things or even influence the decisions, then she definitely would return to claim back the estates and business. She’s of age after all.” Mrs. Steele reasoned, it seemed like she was trying to explain things to a little child. Explain very bad things.

” No! She can’t! She has to stay dead. What do we do? How do we stop her?” Talia said, already panicking. Emma needed to die or her reign would be altogether brought to an end. She couldn’t afford that. They’d gone too far to go back now.

” I second that. Another reason why I’ve sent some guys to comb the bushes and places at the outskirts of town. My guess is that if she needed something then she was going to have to find a place to eat and rest. She’s not built enough to handle herself out there, thereby making her a whole lot harder to get rid of.”

” You already set fire on the bushes, it’s been on the news for a while now, we just have to safely examine the bushes and see if there was any turn up.” Talia said, adding in her little way.

” That, my dear, is in the works. If anything turns up, we’ll be the first to know. But in order to maintain a sense of calmness, it’s best they all think she’s Dead. It’ll give us ample time and opportunity to lay hold on whatever it is she had before closing that chapter.”

” And if it all goes the other way around? What if she’s been taken prisoner and someone else has her and the information? What do we do then?” Talia said, her mind spurring into action as expected.

” That would be very tricky. As much as it’d be very serious, it might also get the actual work done. We could just pay for her execution and with time, execute the Executioner. What do you think?” Mrs. Steele said, totally enjoying their little conversation.

” I’m honestly short of words. I’m glad you finally decided to speak with me and everything is making sense to you. It’s clear why you are the way you are.” Her daughter said, meaning it in the most positive way.

” Strong is the hand that holds the crown. It’s only a matter of time, you’d be swamped up with so much that you may not be able to keep up with. It’s going to be a process nonetheless.”

” I don’t even plan on having kids.” She said to her mother’s bewilderment. ” Let’s just focus and find her out before something goes wrong.”

” I will pretend I didn’t hear that because we have other pressing needs.”

” Thank you for sharing. ” Talia said, standing on her feet.

” Don’t go. Not yet. We need to discuss the collections, Remember? ” Mrs. Steele said and together, they discussed business matters and their next point of action.

Talia felt a certain kind of way. Her mind felt heavy at the thought of being sidelined but now, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

One thing was certain though, she wasn’t giving up her joy to anyone. Regardless of whom it may be. The day Emma signed her rights away was the same day she celebrated a new found beginning in the mansion which resulted in a party that left her grounded.

In all, she was thankful to be acknowledged and with that, they settled their differences and planned for the near future.

*****

Meanwhile, on the other hand of things, Colton hadn’t been himself since he heard of the supposed death of Emma. He often found himself thinking about her and developed some sort of animosity towards her family which unconsciously made him avoid the company of Talia.

He thought of what it meant for his future and family if he was to get married to Talia and ever since then, nursed the thought of requesting a break to properly digest things.

The only downside being that he didn’t know how well it was going to be taken by the Steele family. He wasn’t about to offend them, seeing what they were capable of.

Ever since the last time with Talia, he’d been having nightmares which included the mother and daughter duo. The dream was so terrifying that he’d oftentimes found himself being brutalized and just basically being tortured by the women duo.

His mind space was a mess and it was affecting his work productivity. Being the head of a company, every other sector suffered if he happened to be inefficient.

A state he’d been reduced to as a result of his supposed fiance. Of course Talia noticed the odd space and avoidance she’d been getting from her husband-to-be and felt a little bit worried.

At first she chalked it down to him being busy but as time progressed, she had a strong feeling that it wasn’t that simple.

It couldn’t be that simple. Something had gone wrong.