Kamri tried to calm me down. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't resist myself from shivering. How could he do this? We respected him! We relied on him! Heck, we trusted him! But now look how much of a grand guy he is! I feel like throwing cans of smelly fish on his face. We had thought of him as a nice person. Someone we could trust and share things with! It's hurting to know he had been cheating on us all these time. He had been feeding us with his lies. I glanced at Ian. I could see the pain of betrayal on his face.

'Take a deep breath Gen.' Kam spoke in a low voice. I just turned around and engulfed her in a big hug. Both of us needed it. I pulled back after sometime and tried to smile.

Keyword being tried.

'It's going to be okay guys. We will figure something out!' Asa finally spoke.

'No Asa, not this time. Elijah cheated us! He has been using us all this time and now we are even doubtful of our safety. How did we get stuck!?' Ian sighed with pain.
........................................................................

Few minutes back.

Ian pinned in the pendrive. The four of us leaned in to read the document. My heart was beating wildly. It looked like a witness report or something.

On July 17, 2016, I was driving back from office when I saw Asher Owens coming out of a cafe. Elijah followed him. I observed them keenly. Asher got into his car and Elijah into his. I started following them. By the route Asher was taking, it seemed like he was heading home. Just as Asher was about to take a turn, Elijah raced his car and hit the back of Asher's car with great force. I was too shocked to move. I watched Elijah in horror as he got out of his car, made sure Asher was unconscious and drove away. Quickly calling the police and informing them about Asher, I followed Elijah again. His next stop made bile rise to my throat. He stopped at an eerie lonely place and started burying something heavy. Since I was observing him from a little distance, I couldn't really make out what he was burying. But as the news of Audrey Carter going missing and Asher dying came out, I had to somehow accept Elijah, my assistant at office, was behind all these. But now, he is acting all innocent and trying to characterise me as the culprit. Telling my staff that I am making them deal with drugs and all. He even tricked those kids just to earn money by fooling them. Hopefully someday, the truth will come out. It is true that I took over the company from Asher but he handed it over to me. Elijah is a murderer who's crazy about money. He killed three innocent souls. Asher, Audrey and Oliver. I wonder what grudge he had against poor Oliver. And as for the other two, he wanted to get their power and position. I hope he won't harm those kids.
~Delano Miller
........................................................................

PRESENT:

Finally giving up, I burst into tears. Elijah killed all of them! The same Elijah whom we trusted! The same Elijah whom we relied on! I furiously wiped my tears. But it continued to flow freely. I glanced at Ian and saw a lone tear escape his eye. Asa comforted him.
After sometime, we were all kind of steady to talk.

'What next?' Kam broke the silence.

'Cut all ties with that man. ' Asa spoke with disgust.

'Then?' Ian asked.

'We shall try to involve only trustable mediums to find the truth. Like the police.' I suggested and sighed. They all nodded sadly.
...........................................................................

UNKNOWN'S POV

I smirked proudly. I did quite a good job I guess! This was necessary for my safety. All these years nobody had really doubted me so I should just keep on being the innocent cat and succeed in my mission.
...........................................................................

GENEVIVE'S POV

'Let's go bake something. Maybe some brownies or cupcakes?' Asa suggested. We nodded and went in to the house. Ian's house always reminded me of Mrs.Audrey. She was a nice lady. A second mother to Kam, Asa and me. As if sensing my thoughts, Kam patted my back and sent a reassuring smile my way. I too smiled back at her.

'Let's bake some samoa cupcakes.' Ian said. We all agreed cheerfully.
........................................................................

'Ian!!! I can't find the baking powder!' Kam shouted from the pantry.

'Who even called you to bake? You should be sweeping the floor or better cleaning the toilets!' Asa shouted with a smug look.

'We are not talking about which job matches you mister!' Kam yelled back again. I covered my ears with a laugh while Ian shook his head and went towards the pantry. Few seconds later, Ian came out with the baking powder and a sheepish looking Kamri.

'So now you are blind too?' Asa snapped at Kam again.

'Umm, Asa? ' Kam spoke with a soft tone surprising Ian and me including Asa.

'Yeah? ' Asa replied giving a weird look to Kam.

'Mind doing me a favour?'

'Yes! I do mind.'

'Ughh!'

'Okay okay, what's it?'

'Can you please shut up that good for nothing mouth of yours? ' It was Kam's turn to smirk while Asa gave her a death glare. Ian and I burst into laughter. It felt good to have these people around me.

Not just the people, but a certain somebody.

My subconscious chipped in. I couldn't help but agree. I quickly shook my head to get rid of such thoughts.
........................................................................

'Gen! Add a little essence in here please!' Ian spoke from beside me. We were kind of having a cupcake competiton. Ian and I on one team while the other two against us. (Kam and Asa had to team up because they said they "shipped" us.) I added two to three drops of essence. Ian put his finger in the batter and tasted it.

'Hmmmm! ' he moaned and I chuckled.

'Ian?'

'Yes Gen?'

'There's some batter on your nose.'

'So?'

'So wipe it off!' I say while rolling my eyes.

'Yeah wipe it off!' Ian said with a smirk.

'Me?' I guess the old Ian is back now.

'You see anybody else here?'

Oh boy.

'Ummm.'

'Come on! Quick, Gen! We have to win, remember?' he smirked again. I huffed. I raised my finger and wiped the batter off his nose slowly. Heat rushed to my cheeks and my stomach was in hysterics. Not to mention my heart. For a second, I feared it would pop out of the ribs.

'Earth to Gen!' I was broken out of my trance when I heard Ian.

'Where are you lost my lady?' Ian asked with a smirk. I was too startled to even reply. I blinked a few times. Ian laughed. 

My lady. My lady. My lady.

The only two words I heard when he spoke. I managed to glare at him while he shrugged.

'Let's get back to baking young man!' I tried changing the topic.

'You think I am young huh?'

'For god's sake you are 17!'

'Yeah yeah? So don't you think I am handsome?'

'Yeah a very handsome potato!'

'Really Gen? A potato? I am offended.'

'Serves you right.' I said and chuckled.
........................................................................

'Guys, Asa may or may not have burnt the cupcakes. So we give up!' Kamri said while throwing daggers at Asa.

If  only looks could kill!

'I already knew we'd win!'  Ian said proudly.

'All because of this dickhead.' Kam spoke pointing at Asa. Asa shrugged sheepishly.

'You yourself are not an expert woman! ' Asa retorted back.

'At least, I didn't burn those things.' Kam snapped back.

'Okay okay! I guess that's enough for today!' I quickly interrupted.

'You guys mind sharing those?' - Asa asked pointing at our cupcakes while scratching the back of his neck. We all burst into laughter.
........................................................................

'You'll stay at my house right?' I asked Kam. We were about to leave Ian's house since it was going to be dark soon. We had homeworks to finish.

'Yeah! ' - Kam replied. We bade our goodbyes to the boys and drove off.
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A/N - Vote and comment.
                  ~Daneen and Falaq.