The Vindication Gents

Chapter 3.13

Kiara Hoffman’s POV

After I was approached by the boss, as he liked me to call him that, he took me to his secret place. You know, one of those places that no one knew but that was in front of you all the time. Yup, Boss brought me to the lab that was a few blocks away from the boxing arena. It was in Zurich, mind you, the place where I have been sitting since I worked at the travel agency.

“So, you wanted to kill Charles Debrun. May I ask you why?” He asked as he was arching his eyebrows at me. I scoffed at him as I was crossing my hands in front of my chest.

“He’s my enemy,” I said simply. I mean, his father was the enemy of mine, so naturally, he was the natural enemy of me.

“Interesting. Do you know why he became your enemy?” He asked again.

“Does it matter?” I asked as I was putting my hands on my hips. He laughed before he shook his head.

“As I asked you before, why is he your enemy? Does he kill your parents?” He asked. I shook my head.

“Took your virtue?” He asked. I blushed at the blunt question, but I shook my head.

“Took something precious of you then? Your research, your reputation, your property?” He asked as I shook my head.

“None of the things that you asked me. But it is only natural that his father was an enemy of my father. Hence, I will treat him as such. My enemy, that is,” I said as I was looking at the Boss. He was staring at me before he chuckled as he shook his head.

“Ah, youngsters. So much energy but not so much on intelligence,” he said as I turned sharply at him. I narrowed my eyes at him. My blood was boiling.

“Listen here, mister—“

“Did your father tell you why Charles’ father was his enemy?” He asked. I blinked a few times. Ever since I met my father, he has never told me anything about why. Why did he hate Albert Debrun so much?

Why must I take revenge on Charles? I shook my head as the boss nodded at me.

“Thought as much,” he said before he took something from the shelves. I didn’t know there was a shelf near the lab.

“Do you know about this?” He asked me. I shook my head, as I didn’t have any idea or clue about the journal that he held in his hand.

“This is Albert’s journal. Well, a copy. Maybe you should take a look when you are home,” he said as he was handing the journal to me. I took it as I was looking at the worn leather and weariness of the journal.

“How do you know this is his father’s journal?” I asked him as he was smiling at me.

“Easy, because I am his colleague as well as your father’s. You will learn everything inside when you read it. Oh, one thing, read it until the end,” he said before he shoved me out of the lab as I was looking at the journal. It was not a too light or too heavy read. It was okay to read.

I shrugged before I went out of the street and took public transport to my apartment. I lived alone as no one cared enough to know about me. I took a bath as I went to eat some light dinner of yesterday’s leftovers. Then I went to put it all away and focused myself on this journal as my new reading.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to read it,” I said as I opened the first page and I looked at the cursive handwriting.

Dear Charles,

If you are reading this journal, it means that I am dead and the last defense to the serum has been killed. It was your godfather, the man that raised you. He was my best friend, he and I went back to when we were only a toddler. But I have regarded him as my brother.

The reason why I asked him to raise you was to conceal you from the truth. You have no idea how much it broke my heart to leave you. I know that you never knew your mother as she was my wife and colleague on this mission of ours.

Danial Clarke made sure that we would be working more than we should. I told him to stop but he was obsessed with teleportation. And when I discovered that he had used his wife's serum, it broke my heart that she was unable to walk again. More devastatingly, she was with a child. His child, to be exact.

I never knew his child about that matter, but I know this. Do not contact Danial Clarke or his association, including his daughter. You will secure this journal as his goons will search for it. Trust no one, even though it is the woman that you love. Look what happened to Danial’s wife.

You are in Zurich, the capital of finance and banking. I know you will make the right choice to invest in those routes as they will never come out. Build your empire and maybe, just maybe, you will find justice to our demise.

Forever your loving father,

Albert Debrun.

I never knew that my father was being cruel to my mother. I thought they were in love with each other, as my mother said in her letter. Maybe that’s why she tried to protect me as she ran away from my father.

But fate was cruel as I was to be told by my father to use my power for evil, to do his bidding. Now that he is gone, I only know the truth behind everything that I did in my past. A tear was sliding down my cheek and I don’t recall I ever cried. Even when I read my mother’s letter. It was nothing until now.

Until I know the truth.

And so, I wept like a baby and I think I might have to forget this vengeance after all. He killed my mother and I have turned that anger into someone innocent. Someone like Charles. I have a new determination in my body as I will be doing some justice to my mother.

And some apologies to a certain someone.

When the morning came, I was at the travel agency again as I went to work. I was happy as I had been crying all night and I knew my eyes would most likely be bloodshot. I sighed as I was rubbing my eyes before I saw someone standing in front of me.

Charles Debrun.

Was he here to demand justice for his father? Was he here to tell me that he would demand me to go to jail as I would be willing to do so, knowing how much my father had broken his family? I sighed as I went to greet him.

“Mr. Debrun, was it?” I started the conversation as he was looking at the ground before lifting his hazel eyes to me. I drew a sharp breath as my heart was beating wildly in my heart.

“We need to talk,” he stated. I smiled at him before I looked around. There was no one, but it was hardly the rush hour yet.

“You mean, right now?” I asked him as he nodded. I looked at my watch as it was 9 AM. I should check-in and maybe ask him to talk with me tonight, maybe go out to dinner, my treat, of course. It was the least I could do for him.

“I’m working right now. Perhaps if you are not too busy for dinner tonight—“

“I can’t. I have to go to Denmark after this,” he said as my heart was tugging at him. I was the one that booked his flight. Why should I make it today?

“If it pleases you, I can change your flight to tomorrow night, if you like,” I said as I was trying to buy some time with him. Maybe I wanted to make sure that I apologized to him correctly before we developed our relationship, perhaps friendship.

I highly doubted it.

I could see that he was thinking about something before his jaws clenched. I was hoping that he would say yes as my heart was beating so hard I hoped that he would not hear it.

“Very well, tonight then, and a change of schedule. Perhaps I need as much,” he said as he was smiling at me. I never knew that he would smile at me. I was his father’s enemy daughter, the killer of his family.

He should not be smiling at me, at all.

“Well, see you then. At 8?” I asked him as he nodded. I nodded before I was about to get inside the room. Charles stopped me from going inside as he held my hand on the door handle.

“Will I pick you up at your house?” He asked, whispering into my ear before I turned to look at him. His face was mere inches from me as my breath mingled with his.

“You don’t know where I live,” I said as he smirked at me. My heart was beating faster as he was looking at me with his hooded eyes.

“That’s why I was asking you,” he said before I nodded at him. Our lips were barely touched before he stepped back as I wrote my address on a piece of paper.

“Here,” I said as I handed it to him. He took it as he touched my fingers. The heat lingered even after he retreated his hand.

“I will see you tonight, Kiara,” he said my name as he was turning away from me and walked away. I released the breath that I didn’t even know I was holding before I went inside the office with a flushed face and tonight to look forward to.