CHAPTER 16: QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS
1815 Words
The ride home from the university felt strangely quiet.
Not because there was nothing to say.
But because none of them quite knew where to begin.
Daniel leaned against the window, occasionally glancing at Nate.
Nate sat with his arms folded, staring ahead.
The image of Angela kneeling in the cafeteria replayed over and over inside his mind.
It hadn't felt like an apology.
It had felt...
Forced.
The sedan slowly rolled through the gates of the Blackwood Estate.
Adam parked near the entrance before stepping out to open the rear door.
Nate thanked him absentmindedly before making his way inside.
He had barely taken a few steps into the mansion when a familiar voice stopped him.
"Young Master Nate."
Damien.
Nate turned.
"The First Young Master is waiting for you in his study."
"...Now?"
Damien nodded once.
"Yes."
Nate let out a quiet sigh.
"I'll go."
...
A few moments later...
Nate stood outside Derrick's study.
He raised a hand and knocked.
"Come in."
The room looked exactly as it always did.
Books neatly arranged.
Reports stacked in perfect order.
Everything in its proper place.
Everything except Nate's thoughts.
Derrick looked up from the document in front of him.
"You wanted to see me?"
Nate walked inside before quietly closing the door behind him.
"No."
He looked directly at Derrick.
"I wanted to see you."
Derrick waited.
Nate took a slow breath.
"...Did you do something?"
Silence.
Derrick didn't answer immediately.
Instead...
He closed the file in front of him.
"...Didn't she apologize?"
Nate frowned.
"So you did."
"I spoke with her father."
"That's all?"
"Yes."
Nate looked at him for several seconds.
"...I don't believe you."
A faint smile almost appeared on Derrick's face.
Almost.
"I informed him of what happened."
"And?"
"I reminded him that actions have consequences."
Nate let out a slow breath.
"So..."
"You threatened them."
"I didn't."
"You just made sure they understood exactly what they stood to lose."
Another silence.
"...Yes."
Nate rubbed his forehead.
"I knew it."
He walked toward the window, staring out into the gardens below.
"I didn't want that."
"I know."
"I told you yesterday."
"I know."
Nate turned around.
"Then why?"
Derrick remained calm.
"I respected your decision."
"I left the Trinz family untouched."
"I made no demands."
"I signed no orders."
"I simply informed a father that his daughter assaulted my husband."
The room became quiet.
"You expected him to do nothing?"
Nate couldn't answer.
Because...
He probably wouldn't have done nothing either.
Just...
Not like this.
Derrick stood from his chair.
"The Blackwood name carries weight."
"I cannot change that."
"If people choose to fear disappointing me..."
"That isn't always because I threatened them."
Nate lowered his eyes.
"...I still don't like it."
"I know."
"And I still don't want innocent people paying for Angela's mistakes."
"I know."
Derrick walked a little closer.
"And I remember our agreement."
"If Angela leaves you alone..."
"So will I."
Nate looked up.
"...You mean that?"
"I do."
Relief slowly settled across Nate's face.
"...Thank you."
For the first time...
The conversation ended without either of them raising their voices.
Nate quietly excused himself and left the study.
The door clicked shut behind him.
The room fell silent once more.
Several minutes later...
Another knock came.
"Come in."
Damien entered carrying a thin black folder.
"There is something you should see, First Young Master."
Derrick looked up.
"What is it?"
Damien hesitated.
It was unusual.
Damien rarely hesitated.
"...While investigating Miss Angela Trinz..."
"We found something unexpected."
Derrick's gaze sharpened slightly.
Damien stepped forward and placed the folder on the desk.
"I believe..."
He paused.
"...this may leave you with more questions than answers."
For a brief second...
Derrick simply looked at him.
Then he opened the folder.
The first few pages contained exactly what he expected.
Angela Trinz.
Age.
Family.
Academic records.
Business connections.
School history.
Nothing unusual.
He turned another page.
Then another.
A small photograph slipped free from the file and landed softly on the desk.
Derrick picked it up.
The picture had clearly been taken years ago.
Two children stood side by side.
A little girl.
A little boy.
The little girl wore two neat braids and smiled brightly at the camera.
Beside her...
A young Nate Carter.
Several years younger.
Smiling.
A genuine smile.
One Derrick had never seen before.
He studied the photograph for a long moment.
Then slowly looked up.
"...Explain."
Damien lowered his head.
"I can't."
"The photograph came from one of our sources while tracing Miss Trinz's school records."
"The only confirmed information we have..."
He paused.
"...is that Miss Angela Trinz and Young Master Nate attended the same elementary school."
Silence settled over the study.
Derrick looked back down at the photograph.
Two smiling children.
Standing close enough to suggest they had once known each other.
Perhaps even been friends.
Nothing about the picture matched the hatred he had witnessed.
His fingers tightened ever so slightly around the edge of the photograph.
Finally...
He asked the question lingering in both their minds.
"...Then why does she hate him so much?"
Neither of them had an answer.
Outside...
The evening wind stirred the trees surrounding the Blackwood Estate.
Somewhere beneath years of forgotten memories...
A story neither of them knew had already begun.
Angela pushed open the front door of the Trinz residence.
The atmosphere inside immediately felt wrong.
The living room, usually quiet and immaculate, was filled with tension.
Her father paced back and forth with a phone pressed tightly against his ear.
The landline rang.
His cellphone rang.
Another phone on the coffee table rang moments later.
The calls simply wouldn't stop.
Across the room, her mother sat on the sofa, quietly sobbing into a handkerchief.
Richard Trinz finally ended the call.
The moment he looked up and saw Angela...
The disappointment on his face was impossible to miss.
Slowly, he walked toward her.
Without a word...
He threw a document against her chest.
It slid to the floor between them.
Angela lowered her eyes.
It was her dismissal letter from the university.
She stared at it without expression.
Richard let out a long, exhausted breath.
"Do you know what that letter almost cost us today?"
Angela remained silent.
"My years of hard work..."
He pointed toward the ringing phones.
"...almost disappeared because of your foolishness."
His voice rose for the first time.
"We almost went bankrupt because of you!"
Still...
Angela said nothing.
"Do you understand what you've done?"
Silence.
"Do you know how many calls I've received because of you?"
Silence.
"You embarrassed this family."
Angela didn't defend herself.
She didn't apologize.
She simply stood there, her expression unreadable.
Richard closed his eyes for a brief moment.
When he spoke again...
His voice was tired.
"Angela..."
He shook his head.
"Whatever happened between you and that boy..."
"...let it go."
"It's over."
Another long silence.
Then he pointed toward the staircase.
"Go to your room."
"And stop causing me problems."
Angela turned without another word.
She climbed the stairs.
Then...
Angela slammed her bedroom door so hard the sound echoed through the second floor of the mansion.
The crystal vase beside the entrance rattled.
Outside the room...
Her father let out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Angela!"
His voice carried through the hallway.
"You are not leaving this room until you've thought about what you've done!"
There was no answer.
Only silence.
Richard Trinz rubbed his temples before turning away.
The humiliation at Blackwood Holdings still weighed heavily on him.
One careless decision.
One reckless daughter.
And twelve years of trust had nearly disappeared overnight.
He walked away without another word.
...
Several minutes later...
A gentle knock came from Angela's bedroom door.
"Young Miss?"
No response.
The elderly woman slowly pushed the door open anyway.
She found Angela standing by the bedroom window with her back turned.
Her shoulders were stiff.
Her fists clenched tightly at her sides.
The nanny smiled sadly.
"Young Miss..."
"I've been by your side since elementary school."
Angela didn't respond.
The woman stepped inside and quietly closed the door.
"Your father only means well."
"He may be strict..."
"...but he doesn't want anything to ruin your reputation."
Angela let out a cold laugh.
"My reputation?"
She finally turned around.
"You think that's what this is about?"
The nanny hesitated.
"...Isn't it?"
Angela's smile disappeared.
"No."
"It never was."
She walked across the room toward her dresser.
Without hesitation, she unlocked the lowest drawer.
Hidden beneath neatly folded scarves sat a small wooden box.
Its once-polished surface had faded with time.
The edges were chipped.
Tiny scratches marked the lid.
It looked exactly like the sort of keepsake box children made in elementary school.
The nanny's expression slowly changed.
"...You still have it."
Angela didn't answer.
She lifted the lid.
Inside were small pieces of a childhood long gone.
A faded ribbon.
A tiny bracelet made from colorful plastic beads.
Several worn toys.
A silver-colored badge.
A delicate butterfly hairpin.
Each item rested exactly where it had been for years.
Untouched.
Waiting.
Her fingers moved carefully through them until they reached the very bottom.
There...
She found an old photograph.
The edges had begun to yellow with age.
Angela stared at it quietly.
In the picture...
Two children stood shoulder to shoulder.
A little boy.
A little girl.
The boy smiled brightly at the camera.
Around his neck hung a gold medal.
Beside him...
The little girl wore silver.
Their uniforms matched.
Their smiles did not.
The nanny slowly lowered her eyes.
"So you've never forgotten..."
Angela's fingers tightened around the photograph.
"Forget?"
She almost laughed.
"How could I?"
"You know Nanny, he still smiles like that, so brightly, like everything in the world is just fine."
"I hated that smile then."
"I hate it even more now, all I think about is making it fade away forever."
Another pause.
"I lost once."
Her expression darkened.
"I won't lose again."
She looked directly at Nate's smiling face.
The room grew unbearably quiet.
The hatred in her eyes wasn't fresh.
It wasn't born from yesterday's humiliation.
It had been growing...
Year after year.
The nanny took a cautious step forward.
"Young Miss..."
"Whatever happened back then..."
"...it has been many years."
"Perhaps it's time to let it go."
Angela slowly lifted her eyes.
They were frighteningly calm.
"No."
She looked back at the photograph.
Her thumb brushed lightly across the smiling face of the little boy.
"Nate..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"This is far from over."
Another pause.
"I'll make sure..."
"...I erase you."
The photograph trembled ever so slightly in her hand.
Outside...
Dark clouds slowly gathered over the Trinz estate.
And somewhere else in the city...
Derek Blackwood was still staring at the very same photograph.
Only now...
He had one question that refused to leave his mind.
What happened between these two children?
- Writer
