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[[ Veronica's Pov ]]

The winter night seemed longer than the whole span of a day in my life. The interrogation room wasn't stifling me in reality but the anguish of losing my sister was slashing every inch of my heart.

I could still hear the commotion going on outside. The chatter of reporters was still hot in the air. They had implored and contended to invade inside. Well, it wasn't because they cared about my pathetic state. They were persistent to meet me to fetch a hot headline for tomorrow's newspaper.

" VERONICA KNIGHT HAS KILLED HER SISTER OUT OF JEALOUSY"

" VERONICA KNIGHT, THE NEW SUPERMODEL HAS ERASED HER MAIN RIVAL SISTER "VICTORIA KNIGHT" FROM HER PATH"

It was supposed to be their headline tomorrow. I sighed drooping my head down under the bulb and tugging inside my hair messily. I was exhausted from crying, sobbing, pleading, and explaining repeatedly that I didn't kill Victoria.

How can I kill my flesh and blood? She is my idol, was my idol, and always will be my idol and beloved sister!

The metal bar of the interrogation room rang loudly inciting me to jerk in my spot. I shut my eyes in frustration and waited in anticipation.

Some heavy footsteps began to approach me from the doorway. I tugged my jeans nervously and finally mustered up the courage to confront the man who just walked in.

I noticed a man in his fifties. With his wrinkled complexion and a few white hairs, he defined his old age perfectly. Lowering my eyes to his tag name, I figured out that he was the deputy commissioner who came to interrogate.

Surprisingly, the man exhaled a deep sigh and pulled out the chair in front of me. Having seated properly, he inquired straightforwardly,

" Miss Knight, Please admit it now. I can understand that young people like you are bound to get envious of a successful woman. But at least, tell us! Where did you hide her body?"

I was awestruck by his words. I couldn't believe that people had accepted me as the murderer so easily. I painfully grunted, stubbornly holding the tears back and emphasizing each word,

" I didn't murder.. here...I didn't even know that the gas cylinder was leaking...It was just a coincidence that I went over there...Why on earth will I kill my sister? Jealousy? I have always visualized her as my idol. Why will I kill her?"

" Step-sister", the old man corrected with a harsh voice. My voice dumped me midway after hearing this bitter truth. Just because she was my step-sister, everyone had already surmised that I was jealous of her. In reality, I cherished her more than anything else in this world.

I silently gulped the pain and mumbled incoherently,

" I didn't do anything...I didn't..I didn't know how she followed me over there..."

The old man didn't interrogate her anymore. He sighed deeply and spoke while standing up from the spot,

" Since you don't change your statements, I have nothing to say here. You have a visitor."

I blinked between my weepy eyes and watched the man leave silently.

Visitor?

A deep frown appeared between my knitted brows. A part of me solemnly wished that it was my father. I still didn't know whether he would believe me or not.

I declined my eyes down in distress and heard a pair of hasty footsteps rushing inside. As I heaved my eyes up in hope and anticipation, my heart plummeted instantly. It was none other than my brother-in-law, BLAKE DAVIDSON, the current dominant businessman in our country.

He walked down to me transmitting dominance and intimidation in every step. He came and ceased in front of my desk. My brown eyes stared up at him as I was perplexed about how to greet or talk. He was at least six feet tall with a robust body that was probably numerous man's dreams. His pitch-black eyes were glued on me unleashing a devilish aura as if he was here to deplete my soul. Two buttons of his black custom-made suit were opened out highlighting his perfect collarbone that had a shiny layer of sweat. His breathing was raspy, apprehension was occupying each moment that we spent in silence. His intense whiff of masculine cologne invaded my nostrils as I stared up at him blankly.

We had probably only met two times. Half of my lifetime was spent abroad and by the time I got back to pursue my dream as a supermodel, my sister was already married to Blake Davidson and was the top model of our country. I had only spent a year here before today's incident happened. I used to hear about him a lot from my sister who had proudly boasted that Blake treated her like a queen. It was all over the news that Blake was madly in love with my sister. We had met two times at a party. He only gave two simple 'hey' and that was all the family relationship we had. I was more immersed in my modeling career thus I never paid much attention to my sister's personal life.

Without any prior warning, Blake suddenly gripped my chin so harshly that I flinched in pain. He compelled me to confront his murderous eyes and growled like an indignant beast,

" Why did you kill her? Why? She treated you like her own sister but you turned out to be a snake."

I stuttered between his harsh grip,

" I..I didn't... trust me..It..it was an accident.."

His countenance didn't seem convinced even a bit. Instead, it dimmed further which caused me to gasp in pain as his icy voice rang in my ears like a midnight nightmare,

" You were the only one who went inside the kitchen. Tell me, why did you need to turn on the stove during a party? Tell me, why did she have to use the damn washroom from the kitchen instead of her room? When the whole ship was busy at the party, why did you appear in the kitchen all of a sudden? Do you think that everyone is a fool like you?"

I almost shrieked at the sudden force that he pressed on my chin. Yes, it was my fault that I went there to prepare some herbal tea to get over my hangover state. But I didn't even know that Victoria would be using the washroom at that time.

I stammered struggling to inhale a proper breath,

" I..I don't know..I swear that I only went for...a..tea...

I didn't have an ounce of the idea that the gas cylinder was leaked..."

I didn't expect him to believe me but suddenly he let go of my chins. I barely sucked a lungful breath. My eyes shifted up to him as he shoved his hands inside his pockets.

Before I could come up with a thought about what was going to happen, he pulled out some pictures and threw them off on my face.

My eyes traveled around the pictures that lay sprawled on the desk. The pictures were taken that evening when I was giving autographs to my fan who was nearly my age.

Then I heard him uttering with a disdainful sneer,

" You will still deny, won't you? This man is the leader of a mafia gang. He is a sworn enemy of mine and probably was targeting Victoria for a long time. What were you doing with him? Tell me?"

My sanity almost stopped working when he uttered those words. I couldn't reckon that this man was a mafia leader who seemed in his late twenties.

Why was everything going against me?

I replied in disbelief,

" Brother-in-law.. Trust me..I had no clue..He..he was imploring for an autograph..I..."

BANG!

The rest of my words were stuck in my throat as he kicked off the chair in resentment. He charged forward dramatically pressing his fingers down on the desk and held my frightened eyes to his furious eyes. His voice came out like a king of the devil,

" If you cook up any more fancy stories, I will forget that you are Victoria's sister, Veronica. So many times! Victoria told me that you were following her each step like an obsessive child but I never paid attention to her words. How I wished that I would have believed her back then! Perhaps she would have been alive today. Now even her body is missing. How far can you go to pursue your goal?"

My mind became obfuscated after hearing his harsh words. My lips shivered violently in pain when the inner thoughts of my sister had come out of Blake's mouth.

Did she think of me as her rival? Then why didn't she ever tell me that she didn't like me following her path?

I figured out that there was no point in contending with Blake anymore. He had enough reasons to loathe me but it didn't change the fact that I had no hands behind this incident. I was going to stick to the truth.

I encouraged myself. Fisting my palms together, I finally mustered up the courage to speak,

" It doesn't prove that I am behind all of this. Did you find any solid connection between us? Show me solid proof where I have contacted this mafia or caused this fire burn."

A surprised look promptly flashed across his eyes when I spoke with authority. His jaw clenched in resentment as he spoke in a husky and dangerous voice,

" Veronica, don't try to play tricks with me. One signal of my finger is enough to destroy your whole career."

I laughed bitterly at his words and stared through my heavy eyelids,

" I am already destroyed, brother-in-law. What will happen further?"

As he pursued his lips to spit out more venomous words, we both heard an urgent voice coming from the doorway,

" VERONICA ISN'T AT FAULT!"

[[ Veronica's Pov ]]

The voice wasn't unfamiliar to me. I stared up at the doorway with the hope of a glimmer in my eyes. I muttered under my breath in relief,

" DAD!! "

My dad walked in followed by a poker-faced lawyer who shot Blake a cold glare. Whatever he was doing with me here wasn't accepted by law. He wasn't a police officer nor belonged to any army. But powers gave him the advantage of interrogating me in such a way. My dad wasn't a simple figure in the country at all. He had his own well-established company and had quite an influence on higher-ups but unfortunately, it was no match with Blake's power.

Blake craned his neck towards my dad. His anger didn't ease up a bit instead it grew further at a dangerous rate. He chuckled in a deep voice,

" Mr.Knight has finally shown up to save his dearest daughter."

My dad corrected shooting him with an unfathomable look,

" Both are my favorite daughters. But that doesn't mean that I will let you torture her."

Blake lifted his weight and growled beastly pointing at my dad,

" You know everything that your daughter is doing. Your one daughter has left this world probably but you come here to support a murderer who caused the death of my wife and unborn child. For what reason you thought that I am going to let you take her away from punishment?"

The word 'unborn child' caused a clench in my stomach. I had no idea that Victoria was pregnant. Tears started to gather again as I stifled down the uncontrollable sobs in my stomach.

No wonder Blake was so furious!

My dad sighed deeply and reasoned patiently,

" I know Blake that you suspect Veronica. But you haven't seen her doing with your own eyes, did you? Besides, everything must be just a co-incident. I believe that Veronica won't ever be so cruel to her sister. She loved her dearly."

Blake stomped on his feet causing my dad to furrow deeply and heard his enraging voice,

" Bullshit! She was there with the foreign mafia. She lit the stove on her own. What's more, do you want as proof, Mr.Knight?"

My dad rebuked sharply,

" It doesn't prove that Veronica is behind everything. I am going to bail her out now. Without any solid proof, you have no right to file a complaint against her. There is a law in our country. Your words aren't law here."

My dad signaled at the lawyer who slightly nodded in approval and headed off to continue the procedure of my discharge. I smiled gratefully at my dad. He was the only person left who believed in me.

Blake's eyes changed color as if he was holding his patience not to kill my dad. He suddenly laughed, his laughter reverberated in the walls and caused me to jerk in my chair. His tone became threatening this time as he emphasized each one of his words,

" Of course, your law can get her out of this prison, Mr.Knight. But outside the prison, there will be only my laws."

My dad frowned further at his words and tried to read through his intention. Blake resumed in a dangerous voice,

" You might have forgotten the last incident that happened with Winston's empire, Mr.Knight. It will take only a few hours for me to burn down your whole Knight empire."

He paused shooting me a side look and continued with a smirk,

" Regarding your daughter, she can forget about being a model or show her pretty face in front of the whole world."

My dad's body stiffened lightly as he kept staring at Satan in human form disbelievingly. Shortly after, he replied in his cracky voice,

" Bla..Blake...We are family..."

Blake formed into a hateful sneer and replied looking up at my dad hatefully,

" Family? My relationship started with Victoria. Since she isn't here anymore, why must I show sympathy for your family? I strongly believe that your second daughter has something to do with my Victoria's disappearance. I am not going to let her go and roam around freely unless I gather a piece of solid evidence against her filthy crime."

My dad stammered in anger,

" You..you..."

I could see his body shaking after Blake's allegations. I knew how hard it was for my dad to raise us alone without my mother around. I couldn't sit back and watch Blake destroy my dad's hard work just because he held grudges against me.

I interrupted my palms to muster up the courage,

" Dad! Let him say what he wants! I don't want to cause you any more trouble. Please!"

My dad was going to deny it again since he knew what kind of monster Blake was. But I shot him a pleading look and shifted my attention to Blake whose aura emitted like an erupted volcano.

Since he didn't care about our family relationship at all, I called him by his name nervously,

" Mr.Blake, what do you want now exactly? Don't drag my dad into this mess, please. Since you think that I am at fault, I will cooperate from my side gladly. But let me repeat myself that I am not involved in Victoria's murder or the missing case."

Blake tilted his head back at me after a moment and narrowed his gaze dangerously as if he was irritated over my repeated statement.

He tugged his fists inside his pockets and tiptoed towards me in his predatory steps. I maintained a calm posture but deep down, I was sweating and hard.

His tall feature was towering me though I was tall enough as a Runway model, his height was a few inches higher than me. He took a moment to pick up his words and narrated with dominance, authority lacing out from his voice,

" Since Victoria's body isn't found yet, I believe that she is alive out there. Even if she managed to stay alive on an island, I am afraid that she will be in the hands of Raven Mafias who rule over the nearby states that end after BNS ocean. I want to stay by my side till I find Victoria from overseas. Even if I have to dig out the whole world, I will find her off any corner of this world. Unless I find her, you are still my suspect Veronica."

My dad replied first before I could decide to reply,

" You are going to keep my daughter as your prisoner? Blake? Aren't you going too far? She has her own life."

Blake barked shooting him a challenging glare,

" Victoria had her life too, Mr.Knight. I can't believe that you are biased towards someone who is the main suspect behind your elder daughter's disaparence. Shame on you! Talking about her career, who will offer her a job when half of her reputation is already ruined?"

I kept hanging my head down and dwelled in my thoughts. Blake was pointing at the truth. Even If I managed to get outside, nobody would offer me an opportunity until I proved myself innocent.

I nudged my bottom lips nervously and finally gave him my answer,

" I will follow you around."

My dad looked astounded and stared at me madly. I dodged his dagger-like eyes and looked up at Blake who seemed utterly blank,

" Since I am the reason behind this accident unintentionally, I will accompany you until you find out my sister. But that day, I will prove that I am innocent, you must let me go and my dad."

Blake took a while to decipher the sincerity of my words and promised through his gritted teeth,

" Deal! I don't have any fantasies of keeping you as my guard anyway."

I hung my head down and muttered oddly,

" It's settled then."

My dad was furious and didn't utter a single word. He left us after giving us a huff and closed the door with a loud bang. After he left, Blake ordered coldly,

" Follow me outside! We will leave for the C nation tomorrow morning. You are going to stay with my people."

I hummed at his response and dragged my tired footsteps behind his hasty footsteps. After taking one step clumsily, my vision turned blurry. I shook off my head to stabilize my mind and stubbornly took another step.

This time, I couldn't stay on track anymore. The following moment, I gasped loudly before my whole weight fell into the air. Before I lost my consciousness, I heard someone cursing in a low voice. Surprisingly I didn't fall on the floor. A pair of slender arms quickly wrapped me like a piece of ironic shell and I fell deep into the world of darkness.

I heard Victoria's accusing voice in my subconscious mind,

" You killed me and my baby, Veronica! "

" You killed me! "

" You must die too! "

" Killer! You are a killer! "