THE DREADED LOVE

INTO THE PAST

Ever since the true identity of the new students was truly revealed, it's been a lot easier for them. As they knew where the problem was coming from, after all, 'Finding out the problem makes the problem half solved'. Merry had been doing well in being friends with Julia, who had already discovered who she was but still maintained herself as planned. She was more focused on using Merry's actions against her. She would at times loosen up and other times she would seem difficult, and this confused Merry a lot, but she didn't give up. She was on a mission and so was Julia.

It was a Thursday at noon. Merry had invited Julia for lunch. Usually, Julia would decline but this time, she agreed. "Jullie, would you have lunch with me today?" Merry asked her.

"Yeah sure. Why not?" Julia answered.

"That was easy. I was expecting a no". Merry said.

"Well, I said yes then. Aren't you happy?" Julia asked her.

"Oh I'm glad. I'll see you during lunch then". She said.

"I'll be bringing Ivy and Katie too. Hope you won't mind. After all, the more the merrier, right?" Julia said. It was time she introduced them to her officially.

"Oh really, that's okay. Sure, the more the merrier. After all, I am Merry". She replied, weirdly.

"Of course. You are true, Merry". Julia said, smirking as she left the classroom.

Merry stood there watching her as she left the classroom. What was that? She thought. She usually declined and now she wants to bring in her friends. She thought to herself.

"I must indeed be progressing". She said out loud.

*Merry's POV*

As soon as Julia was out of sight, Merry headed towards her so-called brother's class. On her way, she passed Jayd, who gave her a little wink. "Weirdo". She muttered to herself.

She texted Pax to meet her outside. His name was Conor.

"Well, did she accept lunch today?" Conor asked.

She's even inviting her friends, Ivy and Katie". She replied.

"You're doing well, I guess. Keep it up". He said.

"Michael has been a little friendly these days. He offered me a book the other day when I left mine". Conor added.

"And Julia has been... I don't know how to put it but she's been easier to handle, unlike the first time. She was a bit hard". Merry said, hissing.

"Keep pushing her. Everyone's got a breaking point". Conor said.

"Definitely". She responded, "Alright, let me get going. I've got a lunch date with 3 girls". Merry said, as they both separated.

"Keep pushing her indeed". Michael muttered to himself. He had been behind the door in the janitor's closet as they conversed, recording it all. Classic Michael.

Meanwhile, Julia approached Ivy and Katie, "We are gonna be having lunch together with her". Julia said.

"It's about time. Wasn't it?" Ivy asked, smirking at them.

"It was". Katie replied.

"We are just gonna act cool like always. No need to raise suspicions. Katie, you'll ask her mainly things about her. Ivy, you'll focus on telling her how much you already like her, just don't do it too much or too little. Keep it on a neutral surface". Julia stated, "I'll chip in once in a while". She added.

"No hate speeches either". Ivy said, referring to Katie.

"Uh, sure. I hate fake bitches. I'm sure she was forced into this s**t. Because, from the pictures, she doesn't even relate to Conor". Katie stated.

"When we get to the bottom of it, if it's worth it, we'll help her. I feel like she's being forced". Julia said.

*Lunch time*

As Merry approached the table, she already saw them seated and waving to come quickly. They seemed excited about meeting her as she approached them.

"Hi girls". She said as she sat down.

"Hiii. I'm Ivy and this is my sister Katie". Ivy said as Katie made a little wave at her.

"Jullie, your friends are so pretty". She said, complimenting them.

"Oh, thanks". Katie said, grinning.

"Cut the crap. You'll see how crazy they can be". Julia said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm Merry and I'm from Pesco. I live in Raldo Hills with my brother, Conor". Merry said cheerfully.

"Nice name. Merry". Ivy said.

"Yes, you seem so Merri-ful". Katie said as they all laughed.

"So, how do you like the school?" Katie asked.

"Honestly, it was a little boring at first, but having Jullie around made it a little easy for me. Plus, 2 more friends were added". Merry answered, smiling cheek to cheek.

"More like hell". Julia said, rolling her eyes.

"You keep rolling your eyes, they'd eventually fall off". Merry told her.

"Rollercoaster". Ivy said, laughing.

"Damn, we should give you a name". Merry said, laughing.

"I love your hair. Who's your stylist?" Ivy asked, touching her hair.

"Well, I did". Merry answered, feeling pretty.

"You've got to teach me or you'll do it for me". Ivy responded.

"No problemo". Merry answered, excitedly.

"What about your parents? Do they live with you both?" Katie asked.

"Not really, you see. It's just me and my brother. However, there's this our uncle that visits now and then. He's not that constant. He just comes to check in on us". Merry answered.

"Uncle?" Katie asked. "He must be caring". She added.

"Yeah. It's quite the opposite. He's always pressuring me to study harder and you know school stuff. I don't really wanna go to school, you see. I just want to be in the fashion industry. I used to work for a little fashion shop back in Pesco, but it shut down due to financial issues. It was owned by my Mom. I took over it after a while". Merry told them, as she looked down at her lap. She could feel her eyes watery. She knew she shouldn't have said all those things but she couldn't help it.

Julia, noticing the situation, held Merry's hand immediately."Don't worry and don't be sad. There's a fashion class here. Ivy is in it. She could help you register. At least you can start from there". Julia reassured her.

"Yes. I'd love to help. I'm into fashion myself. Let me show you some of my designs". Ivy said, taking out her phone, and showing her some of her clothes and dresses.

"You made these?" Merry exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, I did". Ivy answered.

"Do you mind telling us more about this fashion thing? And why doesn't your uncle want you to get involved? Katie asked.

"Well, my uncle lent money to my mom, back then in Pesco. She used the money to open the shop. She was good at making dresses, hair, and countless things. She was very good in the beauty industry too. Hair, nails, dresses, men, and women wear. She was talented. I took after her and started loving the work. I helped her in the store. I didn't go to school at all. I spent my childhood in that store with my momma. Until one day, she ran out of cash... My father was stealing money from us. He was an addict. Mom went to borrow money from her uncle but he refused and that was how it ended. The next thing, I awoke that day and uncle had come to take me saying that I should come to stay here in Raldo Hills and school. I didn't have any reason not to do it or go with him. I had nothing keeping me in Pesco". Merry narrated.

As she narrated all this to them, Julia's hands never left hers. Merry had told them the whole truth, she was happy to finally be able to talk to someone about her past. Conor didn't care at all, neither did Abel. They were after their mission and she was just a pawn in their chess game.

"Not to pry, but what about mommy?". Katie asked, knowing fully well she wasn't anymore.

"Well, I like to think she left me". Merry answered, she didn't like accepting the fact her mom was no more.

"Merry, we will always be here for you. No matter what". Ivy stated, giving her a warm hug.

As soon as Ivy hugged her, she broke into tears. It was the first time someone hugged her after she lost her mother.

"I've never had this opportunity of being this close to someone. Not after my mother died". Merry said with tears.

They hugged her tighter. "You have us now". Julia said.

They broke the hug and Ivy asked her, "So would you consider taking the fashion class? I love to help".

"Yeah, forget about your wacka-- uncle. You got us now. What about your brother?" Katie asked.

"He's always with my uncle. Like he has bewitched him with some sort of thing". Merry answered, bitterly.

"Wow... I thought siblings were meant to have each other's back, regardless?" Katie said, drawing Ivy closer.

"We don't have the same mother but we have the same father". Ivy said, smiling at her.

"Yeah, Ivy's mother died a day after she was born. Her dying wish was for our father to marry my mother. They were best friends. Our father hesitated before marrying my mother. She gave birth to me the same year. Since then, not minding the difference in maternal relations, we love each other and you will never know that we are different mothers. Most people like to think we are twins and we like it that way, and our father has never treated us differently". Katie told her as she hugged Ivy and held Merry's arm.

"You both have a lovely relationship. I thought the same". Merry said as she smiled. She had never been this happy in her life before.

"This your uncle, where does he stay since he does not come constantly?" Katie asked her.

"Honestly, I don't know. Conor is the one who knows a lot about him".

"Don't you care to know?" Julia asked her.

"Well, I like to keep to my business". Merry responded.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I guess". Ivy stated.

A while later, the bell rang and the girls stood up to head out. "In all honesty, I'm so glad I had this lunch with you people. You made my day so much more exciting and happy". Merry said, hugging them.

"We had a lovely time also. Don't forget to sign up for the fashion class. I'll be waiting for you. We have class tomorrow at noon, so I will be expecting you". Ivy said.

"Surely, you will see me there. Thanks a lot". Merry said as she left them, heading to the library.

"Well, that took a whole turn". Katie said as Merry went out of sight.

"Talk about a plot twist". Ivy said.

"You guys... we were right. She was forced into this sh-t of a thing. Her supposed uncle is Abel and from the pictures, neither Abel nor Pax relates to her. Something is missing here". Julia said as she tried to figure out the missing piece.

"We'll inform the others as soon as possible". Ivy replied.

"Maybe we can help". Katie said.

Meanwhile, Michael, on one hand, had followed Conor to the locker room.

"Hey, need help with that thing? You've been struggling ever since I noticed you". He asked, referring to the locker door that had gotten stuck.

"Yeah bro, been having issues a lot lately". Conor answered.

"Some days can be like that and others could be worse". Michael replied. "You seem new. I wasn't in class when you were introduced". Michael added.

"Yeah, I just moved in together with my sister. We live in Raldo Hills". Conor replied.

"Raldo Hill? Close to the fields?" Michael responded.

"Yeah yeah, there". He answered.

"You play on the field too?" Michael asked.

"No, not at all. I usually work after school with my uncle. I have got no time for playing". Conor answered.

"Well, cool then. See you later in class". Michael said, shaking his hands.

"Sure thing" Conor replied. "Play on the field??? Really? What am I? 11? pfff," Conor said out loud.

Later on, in class that noon, Chris met up with Julia in the free class.

"What's up?" He asked as he entered the class.

"Nothing much really. We had lunch with Merry. She's not safe". Julia replied.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked in awe.

Julia filled him in on everything Merry had told them that noon, leaving no details.

"Damn, that is one big twist there. Now it makes sense". Chris replied after hearing everything Julia had said. In the meantime, Chris didn't know how to ask Julia about her brother. He had been worried sick ever since his men told him information about him. He did anyway. "I've been meaning to tell you something. One of the pictures my men brought back the other day, your brother's pictures were found in them. I recognized him from a picture on your wall". He said, bringing out the old picture of Makly. Immediately she saw the picture, she grabbed it.

"They found this picture with Pax?" She asked him. He nodded in affirmation. She started sobbing. Chris got confused as he didn't know what had just occurred. He started consoling her.

"Hey hey cream, It's alright". Chris said.

"That picture was taken before he died. I took a picture of him. He had left the house with my mother. He was following her to an event to represent my father. Abel was our driver". Julia told him.

"That left him with a scar. He survived the accident". Chris answered as he hugged her.

"I don't like to believe that accident was a normal one. I believe that it was planned and I will find out who was behind this". Julia said as Chris wiped out her tears.

"I will always stand by you. We will figure it out together". Chris reassured her.

*Years ago*

Abel had been up to no good since he made himself visible to Julia at the Great Teen event that night. A few days afterward, he started working with Pax. Pax is the son of Mr. Robinson, who was Abel's father's brother. He and Pax were cousins with one motive; to take over Sylvia's and The Lair's Companies. Abel's father was Mr. Collins' right-hand man before he passed one. It would have been Abel who would have taken over as his right-hand man, but Abel wanted more than just to be the right-hand man. He wanted to be the boss and he would stop at nothing to get it. Pax's father died as a result of a failed mission. His father, Mr. Robinson, and Chris' father, Mr. Lair, went on a mission together in a basement in Dallar Arena. One of the most dangerous areas in Alfaro. It was a well-planned mission. They were to retrieve bags of cash which contained approximately $68.7bn that were being trafficked out of the country to another unidentified location. Unaware to Mr. Lair, Robinson had plans of his own. He would take the cash, kill Mr. Lair and loot the money with Abel, and his son, Pax. While he made out time to execute his hideous plan, Mr. Lair tried his best to fight off these bad guys. The initial plan was to save the money, deliver it to the correct location and get their share of it, but greed did not allow Mr. Robinson to dedicate himself to this plan, so he decided to create his way to do away with the money. He was not happy with what the owners would pay them. They had promised them 30% of the money, but Rob wanted it all for him. Lair had figured out what Rob was doing and alerted the owner's men on the other side. As they traveled, It was time for Rob to do away with Lair, but before he pulled out the gun to shoot Mr. Lair, a car drove by them, shooting Rob countless times. That was how Pax lost his dad. Pax believed that Lair killed his father for the wrong reasons, not knowing the full truth. Mr. Robinson didn't exactly tell Abel how much the money was worth, he only believed that Rob would give him some of it. Abel did a lot of investigating and found out the money was worth $68.7bn, he also wanted the money for himself. He set out to kill Mr. Robinson and Mr. Lair, when he found Mr. Rob trying to kill Mr. Lair, he shot him, killing Mr. Rob on the spot, while he shot at Mr. Lair, who was yet to understand the situation, Abel, who was disguised in a hood, shot him but the bullet missed him and it was the last one. Abel aborted the plan and drove into a bush. When Mr. Lair returned to the owners after he had buried Mr. Robinson. They handed the whole bag to him, telling him it was only a test to see who was loyal to the master. This was how The Lairs became wealthy.

When Abel got home that night, he announced to Pax, who was still young, that Mr. Lair had killed his father and made away with the money made for his father. Pax grew up with the hateful thought that Mr. Lair killed his father. This would allow Abel to have Pax on his side to help take over The Lairs' wealth.

Mr. Collins who Abel was now working for, after the death of Abel's father, Mr. Leo. Abel no longer hung around the Lairs as he was a suspect for many crimes. He fled from the Dallar base, where Mr. Lair used to stay before his wealth, and moved to Alfaro. Mr. Collins took him, pitying his state as a fatherless child. The night Makly and Rosanne died, Mr. Collins was meant to go with them, but he stayed behind to attend to other businesses, telling his wife to go ahead of him. Mr. Lair and Mr. Collins, before the death of his son and wife, used to be business associates. They had become very strong allies, until one faithful night. During an event, after signing a contract that would finally seal the two families into one, someone sneaked in and switched the papers framing the Lairs family for trying to steal the contract. This brought disunity between the two families and the ties broke off. They tried so hard to figure out who had done this to them but they couldn't. They ended all the business and contracts they had created together and promised to never cross each other's part anymore, as all trust and connections had been cut off that night. Abel wasn't successful in taking over Mr. Lair's wealth, but that didn't mean he wouldn't stop trying.

He focused on taking over Mr. Collins's wealth as his right-hand man was no more. His father. Mr. Collins had planned to attend an event on that fateful night with his wife but he had another to be at, so he sent his wife and son to represent him. It wasn't the first time he had sent his son or wife to represent him in an event or even an important meeting, but it was the last. The car which the wife and son drove in, that very night had been checked carefully and no faults of any kind were found in or out of the car. When Mr. Lair heard that Mr. Collins would be present at the event. He set out to meet up with him that night to make things right once more, as they did in the past before the unfortunate incident happened to make them cut off. Mr. Collins had agreed to meet with him but it would be later that night at the same event. On the way to the show, Abel had stopped by the road, claiming that the tires were making a weird sound and he wanted to check them. Mrs. Rosanne, who was unbothered, felt calm as she trusted Abel after all. After a few minutes, they were back on the road. Not long after one of the tires went off from the wheels, Abel tried stopping the car but the brakes had gotten stuck. He locked the doors of the back seat in the heat of the commotion, leaving his open. He drove the car to a nearby pole. Right before the car hit the pole, Abel jumped out, landing roughly in the gutter, while Mrs. Rosanne and Makly crashed into the pole. The pole fell on the car immediately as it exploded, killing them both immediately. A while later, Mr. Lair came and drove on the same road. The car was far burnt down and he stopped seeing the smoke still on. He tried to check for survivors only to see the famous necklace which Mr. Collins bought for his wife at an auction one time. Immediately, it came down on him that the car, which had been in flames contained no one but Mrs. Collins. He gasped in awe and quickly called the services to come quickly. As soon as they arrived, they couldn't do anything as everything was lost. All that remained were bones and metals that didn't burn down.

Mr. Collins, who was at another event, got a call from the hospital that Abel had been admitted to the hospital and that he had survived a ghastly car accident, in which, unfortunately, his wife and son died in it. Mr. Lair immediately blamed Mr. Collins for his wife's death, saying that if he had not made plans with him, maybe his wife would have been alive. First of all, he sabotaged the contract papers years ago and now he made him lose his wife. Mr. Lair once more tried to make him see things differently, but Mr. Collins was already blinded with anger, hatred, and bitterness.

After so much bitterness in Mr. Collins's heart, he couldn't afford any more losses, he had blamed the contract mishap and his family's loss on Mr. Lair. He never wanted to do anything with him again.

*Back to present*

Abel had been in and out of the building which Pax and Merry stayed in frequently, not knowing he was being watched constantly.

After class on a Thursday, Conor, and Merry headed home as usual.

On the way, "I see you're being comfortable with them". Conor said.

"They are quite nice, you know". Merry said, trying to defend them. She was now getting more than comfortable with them. She also started taking the fashion class and she had been doing brilliantly even though it had just been 2 days since she signed up.

"There's more to what the eyes can see alone. Don't forget why you're with them in the first place, Bell". Conor said, emphasizing her name as he stared keenly at her, sending shivers down her spine.

"I won't. I am only to get close enough to gather information about them". She said as if she were reciting it.

"Good. Abel's counting on us". Conor said.

"Can I ask a question?" Merry said.

"If it's necessary". Conor answered reluctantly.

"Don't you think he's using us? I mean I can feel it whenever someone is going against me and I feel it deeply". Merry stated.

"You know nothing. We are only taking back what he stole from my father long ago. The plan is to get to Julia and, in turn, get to Chris. Once you've developed trust in them. We'll bring them down and take what's ours. You'll have your fair share and leave the country while I take mine. Stick to that plan. It's as clear as crystal. And Bell, don't let me down". Conor said in a scary tone.

"I understand clearly". Merry responded as she felt defeated.

Minutes later, they arrive home. As soon as they entered, there stood Abel on the balcony.

"How's our little plan going?" Abel asked as they entered.

"It's going well Brother, we will succeed. It's a matter of time". Conor answered.

"And you, how is little Julia doing?" He asked as he directed her to come over.

"She's getting softer sir". She answered, rather scared.

"Don't be scared, baby girl. They'd never suspect you as long as you play your cards well". Abel reassured her.

Merry wasn't scared of that. She was scared that she had gotten emotionally attached to them and that the thought of breaking them apart or hurting them was making her scared. Somehow, deep within, she knew this whole Pax and Abel's plan was going to fall into a bottomless pit. It would never work. Julia and her best friends were clever and good.

Meanwhile, at the big house, Julia told them her information, while Michael played the recording for them.

"That reminds me that Conor called me by my last name". Julia remembered. "And no one aside from us, and my employees knows my last name. Last time I checked no one mentioned anything to him whatsoever. I guess he had been researching us all". Julia added.

"That son of a b--ch. Did he threaten you". Jayd asked as Chris clenched his fist.

"Nothing is such. He dare not". Julia replied.

"About Merry, Chris, please let your men accompany mine to Pesco. We need more information about who Merry is. Information like what or who killed her mother and who this her uncle was to her and how she got involved in this unknown society". Julia said.

"No problem. Michael make the call asap". Chris replied while Michael instructed the men to go to escort Julia's men to Pesco. They would leave at dawn.

"There's something about that girl that gets me every time. She's too innocent to be involved in such things and she seems harmless". Ivy stated.

"Not gonna lie, but I stand with you. She looks so fragile". Michael said.

"If she wants help, then we will offer, but if she stands against us. It will be her end". Chris said as he left the room, dismissing them.