CHAPTER 61: 61

AN: every location and event that is mentioned here is all fiction.

As the late afternoon sun bathed Parc de Saint-Cloud in golden light, the tranquility was suddenly shattered by the distant roar of rotor blades. Heads turned skyward as a sleek helicopter emerged from behind the trees, slicing through the air with powerful precision. Its matte black exterior gleamed against the bright sky, a stark contrast to the peaceful park below.

Students strolling toward Les Jardins de Saint-Cloud paused, shielding their eyes from the low-hanging sun, captivated by the aircraft’s unexpected arrival. The steady thrum of the blades grew louder, reverberating through the air as an unknown figure descended gracefully, kicking up a gust of wind that rustled the autumn leaves and sent loose papers swirling.

The helicopter hovered briefly above an open clearing before gently touching down. Onlookers whispered in hushed tones, their faces a mixture of curiosity and excitement. Some clutched their jackets tighter as the wind whipped through the crowd, while others stepped closer, intrigued by the arrival.

As the rotors slowed and the noise subsided, a sudden, heavy silence took its place. All eyes remained fixed on the helicopter, waiting to see who or what would emerge. The air was thick with anticipation. But when they saw the figure step out, they couldn’t resist rolling their eyes.

"What is she doing here? I thought she was suspended."

"She’s got some nerve showing up after what she did," they whispered, too afraid to speak aloud, though their disdain was evident. Despite their hatred for her, none dared to voice it openly.

"You’re here, Carmela?" Professor Henny approached with a smile, but it was met only with an eye roll as Carmela hauled her luggage out.

"Why? You thought I’d want to spend another session with you?" she retorted with a suffocating aura, making the professor wonder who she had offended to deserve such a student. Once sweet and manipulative, Carmela had returned from the holiday as a devil in human form. Worse still, Professor Henny couldn’t do anything about it without risking her job.

Is this what the education system has come to?

"We didn’t see you at school, so we.."

"Stop making assumptions with your dead brain and just do your job, okay?" Carmela snapped, her voice dripping with disdain. "The only reason I didn’t meet you at school is because I don’t waste my time on people who aren’t worth it."

She targeted the one person she desperately wanted to be rid of. As if suspension wasn’t enough, she had been forced to write an apology letter to this ’ugly doll,’ as she privately referred to her. When she was the true victim in this situation.

"Hmm... I must say, I don’t appreciate this tone, Carmela. It’s not nearly as sweet as the one you used in that apology letter," The root cause of the entire situation remarked, making Carmela scoff.

"Apology letter? You must be dreaming if you think I wrote that. And as for my tone, you’re awfully confident for someone with a botched plastic surgery." Her words, though calm and flat, carried a sting of mockery.

Unable to bear the escalating tension, Professor Henny stepped between the girls, acting as a barrier. "Alright, everyone, let’s head to the guest house."

"Uh, Professor, there’s a problem," the teaching assistant interrupted, earning a raised eyebrow. "About the rooms there aren’t enough. When making the booking, you didn’t include Carmela, so I.."

"Shit," the professor muttered under her breath.

"You didn’t even want me here in the first place. Isn’t that just wonderful?" Carmela mocked.

"Calm down, we’ll.."

"Stop being a hypocrite, Mrs. Henny. I’ll just.. "

"Carmela!" A voice rang out, sending a chill down her spine. She couldn’t be sure who it was, but her body recognized the voice. Her face paled, eyes widening as her pupils dilated in shock. Her lips parted, a shallow breath escaping as her pulse quickened. For a brief moment, pure terror flickered in her gaze.

But just as swiftly as it appeared, the fear vanished. Her features hardened into a mask of cold indifference. Her jaw clenched, and her lips pressed into a thin, straight line as if nothing had fazed her. The only trace of her fear was the faintest shadow in her eyes, quickly concealed behind a steely, unreadable stare.

"Mr. Dean," Professor Henny called out in relief, glad to be spared from another word between the two girls. She still didn’t understand why this trip had been planned for her class alone or what feud existed between these families, but all she knew was that keeping her job was essential.

"Aren’t there disciplinary measures for students this rude?" Nix’s voice was calm but tinged with anger.

"I’m sorry about this. We’ll handle it when we return. For now, we need to find a place for Carmela to stay at the guest house is fully booked." The professor’s nervous gaze darted between the students, ready to lash out, and Nix, who seemed irritated for reasons she couldn’t comprehend.

"Take the rest of the students. I’ll book a room for her at the hotel I’m staying in," Nix replied before walking away, leaving Professor Henny to silently thank her luck for providing a solution. All she wanted was to secure the promotion Nix had promised by the end of the trip. After that, she couldn’t care less about this class or its high-status students.

"Carmela, don’t keep Mr. Dean waiting. He’s not known for his patience," she warned before leading the rest of the group toward the guest house.

Carmela glanced at her luggage, then herself, wondering why she always had to deal with one psychopath after another. Her personal maid was nowhere to be found, and she had no intention of searching for her. With a reluctant sigh, she followed behind Nix, her mind blank. She wasn’t sure why, but spending even a moment with him felt dangerous.

After all, she had to be a good daughter and obey her father.

She sighed again as she opened the door to his car, carefully placing her luggage in the back seat before settling into the passenger seat. As she had hoped, Nix said nothing as he drove off, but the silence made her uneasy. She stared out the window, watching the scenery pass by, and for a brief moment, a smile crept across her face until an unexpected jolt of electricity made her flinch. At first, it wasn’t serious, but the farther they got from Parc de Saint-Cloud, the more intense the pain grew.

"I’ve implanted a proximity sensor in her. If she’s pretending and tries to meet someone, we’ll get a signal but only if her heartbeat stops. If she exceeds the distance from the server I’ve placed in her maid, the electrical stimulus will dry up her blood," she recalled overhearing the scientist say to Damian.

"That damned man!" she cursed, clutching her chest. Without warning, she threw open the door and tumbled out onto the asphalt. Her hair streamed behind her like a banner as she rolled and bounced onto the pavement. Shocked by her sudden action, Nix slammed on the brakes and rushed out to confront her, but his words died in his throat when he saw her writhing on the ground.

"What..." He tried to speak, but his voice faltered when he noticed her growing pale.

"Ella... take me back to Ella," she murmured, though he didn’t understand her plea. He could only assume it was the handiwork of the scientist. Without hesitation, he scooped her into his arms, turned the car around, and sped back toward Parc de Saint-Cloud.

...

My eyes couldn’t divert from Carmela’s recumbent form. I was at a loss for words, unable to comprehend what was going on in her head. Whatever it was, I couldn’t allow her to handle it alone.

"Has such a thing happened before?" Zamiel threw his question at Ella, who I doubted was ready to speak up. All she did was shrug her shoulders.

"Well... I can only come to one conclusion. There is a proximity sensor implanted in her, and I think she’s aware of it. That’s why she jumped out of the car and asked you to bring her back to her." He pointed at Ella, his eyebrows knit together. "And Ella must be the server. In other words, she can’t exceed a certain distance from her. If she does, the same incident that happened a few hours ago might happen again, but it could be even more severe." He paced around the room.

If the scientist had implanted a proximity sensor in Carmela, then it only hinted that he didn’t trust her despite his experiments. But why implant the sensor in the substitute he created?

"What’s next?" I questioned, but he only tilted his head, his gaze shifting between Carmela and Ella.

"Finding the proximity sensor would be difficult since I don’t have my equipment, but the sensor could be found and..."

"And implanted in her. That way, there would be less suspicion," I concluded, but his face said otherwise as he pouted towards Ella.

"Would she agree to work with us?" I read his lips. But that wasn’t the issue I was ready to make even the devil mend his ways if it meant benefitting me.

Snapping the pen I was twirling. "Excuse us," I said, picking up the knife from the fruit basket and approaching Ella. She subconsciously took a few steps back.

"I’ll make this quick, and I hope you do too."

"W-what do you want?" she stuttered.

"Well, it’s simple. Tell me everything you know, and I’ll spare you." I twirled the knife. "I know you’re well-informed about my every activity, so you must know how ruthless I can be when I make someone my enemy.. and I’ll ask one more time tell me everything you know, and not only will I spare you, but I’ll also shield you..Spill one lie, and I promise not even the devil will be happy to see what I’ll do to you." My tone sounded menacing, and I saw her fidget with the hem of her shirt. I forcefully placed her hand on the table beside the bed and stabbed the knife next to her fingers.

"Let’s play a game," I began, moving the knife slowly between her fingers. "Will Ella tell me the truth, or will she lose her fingers?" I looked up to find her eyes trembling, but I just smiled, seeing how scared she was at this little threat,when the real danger was her ambition.. becoming the heir. "I’m just kidding.. Here’s the real game will I chop you into little pieces.. or.. let the scientist finish you off? Let’s find out." I tightened my grip around her wrist, feeling my excitement rise.

She had always been selfish from the start so I really doubt she was going to sacrifice herself.

As I was about to move the knife,"I’ll speak!" she screamed,

Just as I had expected. Even though I had no intention of harming her, rumors about me being a psychopathic murderer must have gotten to her.

"I... I don’t want to die. If you can guarantee that, then..."

"No harm will come to you if you oblige and work with me," I retorted, taking my seat.

"The server was implanted in my left foot, and I’m not sure what both the scientist and Alpha Four are planning, but I’m sure Carmela is with them..

I overheard them saying something about punishing you for the series of deaths you caused years ago, but I’m not too sure about that,but the one thing I’m certain of is that whatever they’re planning, they’re going to execute it during this trip," she blurted out.

"Then why was the proximity sensor implanted? If Carmela is on their side, why would they want to harm her?" I raised an eyebrow as she sighed.

"The scientist never fully trusts anyone, not even his partner.. And I doubt he truly wants to monitor Carmela. From what I overheard, he wants to kill her but can’t. It... it seems like he’s afraid of someone."

Afraid? That was out of the question and who could this someone be? Who could be the fourth party involved in this?

I truly doubt that this someone is Damian, cause though he has a bad record in the dynasty he doesn’t have the capacity to shake the core of the scientists. "Tamila, he keeps mentioning this name and I suspect it is the source of his fear." Her words seemed unbelievable,but yet convincing to an extent..

If the scientist didn’t fear my father, the former heir to the dynasty, how could he fear a woman who was once his wife?

"So, the scientist is scared of a woman?" I narrowed my eyes trying to piece together the puzzle "Not a woman, but a man..The voice I heard belonged to a man."

’Another man?Who could this fourth or fifth party be, and what do they stand to gain from Carmela?’ my thoughts seemed to go haywire as every secret I discovered led to another secret. "That’s all I know.." her words pulled me out of my thoughts "Now you have to keep your end of the bargain," she said seriously, but her words made me chuckle as if they were a joke.

"I will.. I will if you answer my last question." My question was obvious, but I still needed someone to tell me otherwise, as it was the only affirmation I needed to carry out my next plan. "Did she truly lose her memories?" A heavy silence followed as she seemed to debate whether to answer. I watched her fidget with the hem of her shirt, heaving sighs as her eyes darted between me and Carmela.

"If you and Carmela were to go up against one another, who would have the upper hand?" This question had never crossed my mind, and I never considered such a scenario. But truly, if it were to happen, who would emerge victorious was hard to determine, as we were evenly matched.

"That’s nothing you should worry about," I said, not batting an eye. "She has all her memories intact, but I don’t know why she’s pretending."

"How sure are you?" I questioned the authenticity of her words. If they were true, Carmela would be the first to contact me, as we had a plan. But...

"I’m not one hundred percent sure. But before she decided to assassinate the presidential candidates, I overheard her telling someone over the phone that André Dubois is the only man she can trust to support you in the dynasty. That’s why she’s giving him as much power as she can."

Mr. André Dubois had been a loyal friend to my grandfather and to the Deans, but he had never sought power. Placing him in a high position could only benefit me as the heir, which is undeniably true.

If she hadn’t lost all her memories, why was she gambling with her life?

Could all this be related to the event back at the sea?