The Secrets Hidden In The Scars

      A new day. It's about ten o'clock. The home of Terrence and Raquelle. Violetta and Christiana are in the room of the latter one and getting ready for another hard day at work and planning what they should do today. The servants already put on a uniform and brushed their hair into a tail or a tuff. But while planning their day, Violetta and Christiana cannot contain themselves from talking about what’s happening in the lives of Terrence and Raquelle.       “I wonder, what's written in the letters that Terrence told us about yesterday?” Violetta asks, fixing her hair in front of the mirror.       “Do you mean the letters that he asked us to give him when his friend would come?” Christiana asks a little distantly, sitting on the bed, turning pages of a glossy magazine and being busy with what is written in it.       “Yes, them.” Violetta turns to Christiana. “Is there something special in those letters?”       “I wouldn't be surprised if it was a threat. I don’t know who might threaten them, but it seems like not everything is quiet.”       “Yeah, but what does Edward have to do with it?”       “Well, he could probably know something… Didn’t you notice Raquelle and Terrence were a little scared? As if they’re afraid to leave home and accept visitors!”       “Do you wanna say that guy has to do with what’s happening?”       “I don’t know, friend, but I don’t exclude it. Terrence did ask us to give him the letters when Edward would come here for the reason.”       “What if he just wants to ask for advice and find out what he thinks about it? Terrence gets on well with his friend and completely trusts him.”       “I dunno, Violetta…” Christiana sighs quietly. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy had his demons. Or I think up everything, and Mr. MacClife does really want to ask him for a piece of advice. Well… Or talk about his relationship… And the problems of it…”       “Yeah, about relationship problems! I heard they fought yesterday morning and then went on different sides for the whole day. But by the late evening, Raquelle and Terrence reconciled, acted as if nothing happened, and didn’t think of the fight.”       “Don’t you notice they’ve lately fought very often?” Violetta asks, frowning slightly and leaning on the dressing table, on which there are only some brushes and packs of hair pins and elastic bands. “They could easily fight for little things… I hope these fights won't bring them to a wish to break up.”       “I don’t think it will happen,” Christiana shakes her head. “Although those people fight, they calm down and reconcile later. They learned to stop in time and not to bring everything to a critical moment.”       “I think the pieces of advice from their relatives were good to them,” Violetta says with a slight smile, scratching the back of her head. “Raquelle’s relatives definitely had a good talk with them and taught them what they should’ve known. I guess Terrence’s mother added something and gave her pieces of advice.”       “And I think they got a good lesson and try to do their best to live like truly loving people. They realized all of their mistakes, and they don’t make them again. Well, at least, they’re trying…”       “The important thing is that they don’t fight now, when Terrence is worried about his band and probably has serious problems with Raquelle.” Violetta slowly starts to walk in circles in the room. “You know, when they wanna shout at someone, they may have only each other near. And then they take it out on each other…”       “But they’re holding on. They’ve got lots of problems, but every one of them supports each other. Raquelle is doing her best to give Terrence her support now, when he has so many problems with the band.”       “It’s clear… Without her, he wouldn’t find the strength to hold on and do his best to save his creation. That man would fall into a worse depression than the drummer, whom he and his pal are trying to help. And you understand what it might lead to.”       “Yeah, about Terrence!” Christiana sharply moves her eyes off the bright pages of a glossy magazine and moves them to Violetta. “Did I tell you I saw blood on Terrence’s clothes yesterday?”       “Blood on Terrence’s clothes?” Violetta rounds her eyes and sharply stops in the middle of the room. “But how did he get blood on his clothes?”       “I don’t know… When Terrence returned home, he came to me, gave me his clothes, and asked me to wash them well. I automatically wanted to put it in a washing machine, but then looked better and saw lots of blood on his jeans and t-shirt. Although the clothes were black, I managed to see bloody tracks.”       “Did you wash off the blood tracks? It’s so hard to do it, but if Terrence had them for a long time, the blood could get dry!”       “I did, barely! Those tracks were really dry, and I had to do my best to wash them off. I even checked the Internet to find something effective… Just only washing them in a washing machine wasn’t enough.”       “My gosh…” Violetta closes her mouth with a hand and shakes her head. “Do you have assumptions about where he got them?”       “I don’t know,” Christiana shrugs. “Maybe, he fought with someone? Beat someone’s face to the blood that he got covered with?”       “Maybe… I don’t know who he could start a fight with, but knowing his short-tempered character, I won’t be surprised if someone got him enraged.”       “And it seems like he started a fight for the second time in a while. Because Terrence recently also fought because he came back home with a big bruise under his eye.”       “Yes, I saw it and gave him some ice to put on the bruise. But it’s kind of gone…”       “Nope, it’s not gone yet. Sometimes Raquelle covers it, so people don’t stare at him, and journalists don’t make a scandal out of nothing.”       “Maybe… But I don’t understand what could provoke him for a fight? Isn’t Terrence afraid that if someone sees him fighting and especially records a video, his reputation will get much worse? And he won’t become a musician and be back to an acting career!”       “Who knows, Violetta…” Christiana sighs quietly. “He’s the only one to be able to answer this question. But none of us will be told because we’re just servants.”       “But I would love to know it…”       Violetta turns on the mirror and checks her hair again, while Christiana turns the pages of the glossy magazine for a few seconds. But then something gets her attention, and she sharply turns one page back, starts to examine what she sees, and rounds her eyes.       “Violetta!” Christiana exclaims excitedly. “Violetta, come here now! You’re gonna be shocked!”       “My gosh, Christiana, did you read some nonsense in the magazine again?” Violetta moans tiredly. “Did some actors get divorced? Or is someone expecting a child? Or are journalists making something out of nothing and publishing false articles?”       Violetta slowly comes to Christiana and sits next to her on the bed, looking into the magazine without emotions, and moves her eyes to what her workmate points at.       “You just look what’s written here!” Christiana exclaims.       “My God, friend,” Violetta pronounces quietly. “It’s just…”       Violetta examines the content of the page and runs her eyes over a phrase. She sharply rounds her eyes and literally stops breathing.       “The drummer of ‘Against The System’ tried to kill himself?” Violetta wonders and glances sharply at Christiana. “My gosh, it’s Terrence’s band”       “Exactly!” Christiana exclaims excitedly. “Read what they wrote!”       Violetta stares at the magazine and starts to read the article that is really called “The drummer of ‘Against The System’ tried to kill himself”.       “There is the information that yesterday, on September, 15th, Peter Rose, 25, the member of the rock band ‘Against The System’, was sent urgently to the hospital. The man was brought there in a hard condition after a possible suicide attempt. There is the information that he tried to open his veins and was found unconscious in his own apartment. There is proof from the witnesses, who saw doctors bringing the unconscious Peter to the hospital and getting him out of the building where his apartment reportedly is. A few Twitter users posted photos with a signature that said it was the drummer of ‘Against The System’, on which they tagged Rose himself, his bandmates, and their joint account.       The photos were taken at a far distance, but it’s possible to clearly see that the blonde, lying motionlessly on a gurney, is really Peter Rose. Moreover, it’s also possible to see his bandmates in some shoots – a guitarist and vocalist, Terrence MacClife, 27, and a bass guitarist, Daniel Perkins, 26. There is a rumor that they found Peter unconscious and called an ambulance. The witnesses say Rose’s colleagues were ‘very excited and not leaving their friend even for a second, as the doctors were carrying the drummer in an ambulance car’.       These pictures have been spread over the whole Internet, and ‘Against The System’s fans are excitedly expecting news about the condition of the drummer. At the moment, we know nothing about the condition of Peter Rose. And Terrence, Daniel, and the official representative of the band have not given comments yet. But some users of social networks are trying to reach out to the drummer’s colleagues with lots of messages on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube with the hope of finding out just something…”       At the end of the article, there is information about who “Against The System” are, how they got famous, and their plans to record a debut album. There are also low-quality photos published in it. It’s really possible to see Peter, who is carried out of the building where his apartment is, gotten into an ambulance car, and brought to the building of the hospital. There are also Terrence and Daniel, who look terribly excited and white from a scare after what they had to see and do not really leave the doctor alone until they get into the car.       “Gosh…” Violetta pronounces with horror in her eyes, closing her mouth with a hand. “Is that true? Did that guy really try to kill himself?”       “If it’s true, I’m starting to understand how Terrence got so much blood on his clothes,” Christiana says thoughtfully.       “There was much blood?”       “Yes, very much,” Christiana glances at Violetta. “And I think it’s not a fake article. I’ve read this magazine for ages, and they never publish a lie. I guess the Internet is full of articles about this piece of news, and people are talking about it.”       “I think Terrence and Daniel got covered with blood when trying to support Peter’s life until the doctors’ arrival.”       “Thank God, they didn’t get confused and called an ambulance,” Christiana sighs and looks around the whole room. “So sorry about that guy… Why did he decide to kill himself? Peter is so young, but he wanted to deprive himself of life!”       “Agree, what did he need? He doesn’t seem stupid, looks very sympathetic, and was given a talent. I think this type of talent mustn’t be hidden. That guy got fans after publishing covers and performing as an opening act.”       “I believe that’s why the band had problems. It has to do with Peter and his depression, which Terrence talked about many times. And I think I did even read an article about someone seeing signs of depression and cuts on his hands. But nobody paid attention to that article because the band wasn’t so famous.”       “Yesterday, Terrence came back home too depressed and quiet enough. He hardly expected something like that. And it’s hard for me to imagine what he and his friend had to see when they found that guy in his own blood.”       “Who could know it, Christiana?” Violetta throws her hands up. “Terrence didn’t think everything would be so hard. Besides, we don’t know all details, but just read the article.”       “He hasn’t lately been lucky. The band’s conflicts, those letters, fights with Raquelle… And now the suicide attempt of his bandmate…”       “Yeah, it’s just half of what we know. I’m sure they have lots of problems, about which we will never know. Maybe, his friend Edward really got into something, and Terrence would have to pay for the consequences.”       “Oh, gosh,” Christiana sighs heavily. “Poor Terrence… I’m sorry for that man. Truly sorry. I’m imagining how hard it is for him to take it.”       “Agree… But we can’t help him…”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, and then Blair literally runs into the room, wearing a uniform and holding the same magazine that Christiana read, being overwhelmed and looking at her workmates with widely open eyes.       “Christiana, Violetta!” Blair pronounces excitedly. “Have you read the article in the magazine about ‘Against The System’? They wrote that the drummer Peter Rose tried to kill himself!”       “Yes, we just read,” Violetta sighs quietly. “It’s terrible! I’m so sorry about this guy!”       “He’s so young but decided to deprive himself of live,” Christiana adds with sadness in her eyes.       “I got shocked when I read this article,” Blair replies quietly. “First, I didn’t believe it and thought it was a lie. But then I recalled you saying something about blood on Terrence’s clothes and assumed it could be true.”       “This magazine wouldn’t lie – they always publish the truth. And they published some photos… So, I’m sure the news about Peter’s attempt to commit suicide is true.”       “Oh, God…” Blair sits on the bed closely. “I can’t believe Peter’s problems were so serious. I wish he survived, got well soon, solved his problems, and came back to the band.”       “That guy is so young, even younger than Terrence…” Violetta notices with sadness in her eyes. “He’s a good guy. He is not rotten. Very sweet and gentle.”       “I hope he’ll survive,” Christiana sighs quietly. “If ‘Against The System’ loses the drummer, the band will hardly exist even if someone replaces him.”       “Agree,” Blair nods. “Without at least one of them, the band won’t be the same. Of course, it still needs something and doesn’t seem full, but if one leaves, everything will get much worse.”       “Yeah, I think so… Violetta sighs quietly. “But let’s hope the doctors will save that guy, and he will show a wish to get rid of depression and reveal his problems.”       “And those letters…” Christiana pronounces thoughtfully. “Terrence has problems with his band and got another…”       “Yeah, didn’t Terrence tell you about some letters?” Blair asks. “He asked me or one of you to give him those letters when Edward would come here? What does it mean?”       “We don’t know, Blair,” Christiana shrugs. “But he really asked us about it. And yeah, he got one of the letters a few days ago. It had no signature! Didn’t Violetta tell you?”       “Nope, what kind of letter?” Blair shakes her head.       “I don’t know, but one day, I took a letter out of the mailbox and gave it to Terrence,” Violetta says. “He didn’t like that letter shortly, and Christiana actually assumed it was a greeting from Simon Ringer.”       “Simon Ringer? But why do you think so? That man already got what he deserved! The judge gave him a harsh sentence that he is serving in jail! And fate punished him by making him disabled for life!”       “What if his accomplices are free?” Christiana assumes. “Anything may happen! Even Terrence’s friend could have to do with those letters.”       “Terrence’s friend? Edward? Do you want to say those letters and that guy are related to one another?”       “I will not say anything, but this version is also possible. Terrence asked us to give him the letters when his friend would come here for the reason. He didn’t want to show them at once, but decided to pretend he just received them.”       “Yeah, it also seemed suspicious to me…” Blair sighs heavily and slowly gets up from the bed. “Nevertheless, let’s not guess and meddle in what we shouldn’t. Of course, I’m also very sorry about what’s happening, but it’s none of our business. Nobody will say anything to us, and we won’t be able to help them.”       “Yeah, but agree, knowing what’s happening to them is interesting,” Violetta shrugs.       “Gosh, sometimes I’m surprised Raquelle and Terrence haven’t dismissed us for being too curious and meddling in people’s business,” Blair frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. “If we worked on much more severe people, we would be kicked out. Terrence and Raquelle are too kind to us.”       “Christiana and I thought about it, too,” Violetta chuckles quietly.       “Right, we believed people would think it’s a too weird reason to get dismissed,” Christiana says with a slight smile.       “But it’s quite possible if we meddle in people’s business,” Blair replies amicably. “And we would be judged for being too interested in the lives of our bosses.”       “C’mon, Blair, don’t worry,” Violetta pronounces funnily. “Someone always thinks up some rumors about Cameron and MacClife, and people can’t stop talking about their work and personal lives. I’m sure everyone is gonna get too excited when they learn about Peter's suicide attempt. Paparazzi, journalists, and fans will annoy them with questions about his condition.”       “Exactly!” Christiana agrees. “They’re used to being constantly discussed. So, don’t worry, Blair! I don’t think they’ll be mad at us. We don’t get insolent and don’t ask them about everything openly, just do our work, and get money.”       “Yeah, but still, we need to be careful,” Blair notices and looks around the whole room. “And yeah, let’s go down and work. We have so much to do, and our heads won’t be caressed if at least one of them is not finished.”       “You’ve lately been too worried about it,” Violetta frowns slightly. “You never said it and didn’t hurry us up to work.”       “Right, you always did your work quietly and weren’t worried about whether we’d do everything we wanted for the whole day,” Christiana adds, looking at Blair with suspicion.       “Do we need money?” Blair asks.       Christiana and Violetta hesitantly glance at each other and nod slightly.       “We do! Would we get money if we did nothing all day long? Of course, no! So, that’s why we need to shake up and go to work! Do what you want, but I’m starting to work now. Terrence and Raquelle asked me to do something. So, I’m leaving.”       Blair takes her magazine, quickly comes to the door, and leaves the room that she closes. Christiana and Violetta watch the young girl with a questioning look and look at each other.       “Oh, you can kill me, friend, but I will be saying that something happened between Blair and Benjamin,” Violetta says confidently. “I don’t doubt she decided to load herself with work not to think of him. Not to be sad that he hasn’t invited her anywhere for a few days.”       “Maybe,” Christiana agrees. “Parker washed the brains of the poor girl, and she’s now suffering. So, we were worried for a reason.”       “That’s good he hasn’t been at this house for a very long time. And Terrence probably forgot about him, though his friend had been a frequent visitor. And when he put an eye on Blair, he came here almost every single day until a certain moment.”       “Maybe, his relationship with Raquelle changed the way Terrence treated his friends… Maybe, they stopped being friends… Or they’re still friends, but their friendship is not so strong. Because he met the bass guitarist and the drummer, with whom he has spent very much time over the last few months.”       “One of these versions,” Christiana nods confidently. “But what do you think?”       “Either the first variant or the third one… Everything is easy about fights and reconciling for men: they shouted, waved their hands, got better, and calmed down. Then they’re best friends again. So, Terrence fought with Parker, but reconciled with him quite easily.”       “I believe so. Terrence admitted that Benjamin said the right things, and he didn’t listen to him because of anger.”       “Do you mean the fight because of the situation between Raquelle and Simon?”       “Yes. These two have always loved arguing about something, as far as I know. But that time, they crossed the line…”       “I agree… I remember him swearing at Parker on the phone and openly insulting him. We could hear it even on the second floor.”       “Right… But now it stayed in the past, and Terrence got some other problems…”       “Unfortunately…”       Christiana sighs quietly and looks around the whole room. And Violetta slowly gets up from the bed two seconds later and pulls down her servant's dress, saying:       “Oh, alright, I think we better go down and start working… Raquelle gave me a list of what to buy this morning. I will go to a store when I finish business here and help you and Blair.”       “Right, we’ve been sitting here for too long.” Christiana closes the magazine and puts it on the bedside table near the bed. “The magazine is so interesting that I got busy reading it.”       “That’s good Raquelle and Terrence are sitting in their room and haven’t left it yet. There is some time for some personal business.”       “Let’s really go to work,” Christiana gets up from the bed and comes to the mirror to quickly fix her hair. “There’s no reason to stay here and do nothing.”       “Let’s go…”       After making sure they look good, Violetta and Christiana quickly leave their room, close it and go down. And when they go down to the first floor, they go on different sides and start doing their work, thinking about the plan for today and deciding what to do first.       

***

      Raquelle and Terrence are now sitting in their room. They have already read the article about Peter’s suicide attempt. The girl found it out first, but then showed this article to the man. Who is sitting on the bed and reading it not for the first time, while the girl is standing in front of the mirror and putting her makeup in order, hiding some defects with foundation, and deciding to apply some eyeliner and light eye shadow and make her face a little brown with pounder.       Although the man is busy reading the article, sometimes he glances at the girl, who looks stunning in her skinny light blue jeans with a beautiful belt, which express her tight buttocks, a red-pink shirt with quarter sleeves with horizontal lines that express the attractive curves of the lady’s waist, a stylish denim waistcoat, and little booties with a low heel. She has a couple of bracelets on her hands, a rose gold necklace on her neck, and amazing sparkling silver earrings. Raquelle’s slightly wavy hair is untied but brushed and looks glossy and healthy.       However, Terrence also looks perfect in a gray t-shirt, over which he put on a white and blue plate shirt, the sleeves of which are half-rolled, light blue jeans, and black shoes. A simple black bandage is placed on his left hand instead of the watch he usually wears, a thin pendant is hanging on his neck, and his hair is slightly messy, but the man does not care about it.       “They wrote about it in newspapers,” Terrence says gloomily, throws the magazine on the bed sharply, and runs his hands over his face. “Damn, I hoped for the best…”       “It’s amazing that they wrote about it the next day,” Raquelle replies, standing in front of the dressing table with lots of cosmetics on it and doing the makeup of her eyes with bright black eyeliner. “They needed just one hint to spread articles about the suicide attempt.”       “And I didn’t think Daniel, Peter, and I and the doctors would be caught and photographed by fans. We knew we wouldn’t hide it forever, but we didn’t think everything would be known today.”       “It would be inevitably – now there’s no meaning to deny it and the problems of the band.”       “I know…” Terrence sighs tiredly and glances at the window. “So, now I’m gonna have to answer lots of questions about the current condition of Peter Rose. But I don’t know what to say ‘cause nothing is known yet. And saying that he has a hard condition wouldn’t be enough. Because fans need more details.”       “Not only you, but also Daniel. You two are gonna be responsible for the band and yourself.”       “Yeah… And we need to talk to the managers, so they can make an announcement. But I don’t know how George is gonna react to Peter’s attempt to kill himself.”       “The important thing is to tell him the truth. You two would make it worse if you started to lie. Moreover, George could read this article and check the Internet.”       “We aren’t gonna lie. Just getting ready for some hard talk. Which we don’t really care about now. Because the more impotent thing to us is that Peter survives and gets well.”       “I hope he’ll do it. Daniel and you came on time and didn’t waste time after his call. Maybe, if you’d come two hours later, it would’ve been impossible to save Peter.”       “I guess Daniel didn’t expect anything like that. Because he had a strong shock yesterday when he saw Peter lying on the floor in his own blood and noticed the whole bathroom was dirtied with it.”       “Really?”       “Yeah! He stood like a column and was staring at everything with dumbfounded eyes. When I started to shout at him, he came to himself more or less and started doing just something. But when he called an ambulance, he almost passed out right there, sliding down the wall.”       “Passed out?” Raquelle, frowning slightly, stops applying the eyeliner and looks at Terrence through the mirror. “Does he fear blood?”       “Most likely, but he denied it so hard and forgot how he was moaning from feeling dizzy and bad. You should’ve seen him at that moment! He got kind of green and could barely stand! I thought I’d have to support Peter’s life ‘till the doctors’ arrival and wake Daniel up, as he almost fainted at the sight of blood.”       “And then he got better?”       “Yup, he got a little used but still looked terribly scared and white, staring at the blood as if it was something terrible that was literally ready to eat him.”       “I wouldn’t have thought Daniel fears blood,” Raquelle finishes applying an eyeliner, puts it aside, and starts to sort out the cosmetics on the table. “He seemed so tough and fearless…”       “He’s showing off,” Terrence smiles slyly. “But I didn’t think Perkins could faint, get terribly green, and get scared like a coward bunny at the sight of blood.”       “Yeah, sure!” Raquelle laughs shyly. “He’s too far from you! Such a brave and confident man that fears nothing and nobody!”       “Oh, Raquelle, trust me, being there was also unpleasant for me,” Terrence replies thoughtfully, lazily running his hand through his hair. “I just knew I should’ve braced myself and done my best not to let Peter die. Perkins was out! So, I had to brace myself and do what the operator told us before the doctors’ arrival.”       “I understand. And now everything depends on him and the doctors that are watching him.”       “Not only on them but also on Daniel, Peter’s friends, and me. Didn’t you forget that we should know the results of the test that will show who could be a donor for Peter after lunchtime?”       “I remember, don’t worry…” Raquelle takes mascara and starts to apply it to her lashes. “Would you be afraid if you could be the one?”       “Maybe. But I’d just tell myself I should give blood and do my best to help Peter. It would be a sin to refuse to help when fate gives you a chance.”       “Hey, did Daniel also do this test? Or got scared of blood?”       “It’s amazing, but he also did it and took that process well.” Terrence smiles slyly, proudly raising his head. “Thanks to my support.”       “Yeah, I bet for anything that you were mocking him when he was giving blood,” Raquelle laughs shyly. “And after you discovered Daniel feared blood.”       “Me?” Terrence points at himself with his fingers and shakes his head sharply. “No, Raquelle, are you kidding me? Could you really think I’d mock my own friend? Well… He fears blood – what’s wrong! All people are afraid of something – that’s fine!”       “Oh, MacClife, I’m imagining your face when Perkins went to give blood. I think if nobody had been around, you would’ve been laughing at him loudly when seeing him wincing and turning aside not to look at what made him feel sick.”       “You’re hurting me, sweetie,” Terrence starts waving his hands actively. “How could you actually think so?”       “Terrence…” Raquelle looks at Terrence through the mirror and sees him looking at her with running eyes and smiling innocently. “You can deceive anyone but me. I don’t think you would’ve missed a chance to mock him. So, don’t make me a stupid idiot, who doesn’t see you’re trying to lie to me.”       “Oh…” Terrence exhales sharply and raises his hands. “Okay, okay, you’re right, I did it! But I just wanted to make the situation less tense and help my friend overcome the process of giving blood well! Perkins must be grateful to me for helping him keep his mind clear.”       “He probably wanted to kill you for your stupid jokes.”       “Although he promised to revenge, it won’t happen.”       “Ha!” Raquelle chuckles and leans on the dressing table with a hand, looking at Terrence through the mirror. “I would kill you shortly if I was instead of him! I see that you puffed your peacock tail… You think if you’re afraid of nothing, it would make you better for people.”       “But I also have some fears. It goes without saying, it’s impossible to find another irresistibly handsome man like me. But I fear many things.”       “Well…” Raquelle slowly turns to Terrence sitting on the bed. “I’m aware of one of the fears. Do you have more?”       “Erm, you shouldn’t know it…” Terrence rolls his eyes, smiling mysteriously.       “Why shouldn’t I?” Raquelle takes her hairbrush and starts to wrap it in her hands thoughtfully with a sly smile. “Don’t you trust me?”       “Just keep thinking I fear nothing, and one of the most attractive and sexiest men in the show business would come to help you out whatever happens,” Terrence smiles slyly, raising his head proudly raised. “For you, I wanna be a fearless man, who always knows where and how to find you.”       “We’re engaged yet. So, it’d mean we should know everything about each other. Did you forget I became your fiancée and got the right to know everything about you? Even if I had to get into your head for it?”       “Why are we ‘engaged yet?’” Terrence rounds his eyes and gets sharply straight. “I hope you didn’t decide to leave me somewhere in five or ten years.”       “You’re now kidding me.”       Raquelle sharply turns to the mirror and starts to brush her hair. Terrence frowns slightly, gets up from the bed, and comes to the girl confidently, saying:       “No, no, wait, it’s not good, I need a clear answer. Aren’t you sure about me? Do you think our relationship will end soon?”       “Oh, my gosh…” Raquelle sighs tiredly, closing his eyes for a second.       “I will not get off you ‘till I get the answer. Roll your eyes or not, but I want to know it.”       “Terrence, stop saying stupid things, please.” Raquelle turns to Terrence with her hands lowered. “And finding fault with words.”       “As you say ‘yet’, it means you aren’t sure about me and may start thinking of leaving me. Everything would be otherwise if I heard the confident ‘we’re engaged, I’m your fiancée, and you’re my fiancé.’”       “I think I must ban you from seeing Daniel ‘cause he impacts you very badly. Or nothing will be left of your seriousness soon.”       “Why, beautiful?” Terrence rounds his eyes and comes closer to Raquelle. “I think Daniel and I have much fun together and can laugh truly. We’ve felt cool since our first meeting. I knew I'd quickly get on with him and Peter, ‘cause they seemed funny and friendly.”       “Ah, do you have fun?” Raquelle laughs quietly. “See, honey, as they say, with whom you are friends, of them you learn. Of course, I respect Daniel and consider him a good man. But sometimes he may be an idiot. So, you shouldn’t get used to his habits not to become the same.”       “Ah, it seems like I got it!” Terrence nods with a sly smile. “You’re just missing! Missing your attractive horse that, sadly, can’t give much time to his attractive queen and make her happy with everything I can give her.”       “Oh, MacClife, where’s your seriousness? Did you give it to Daniel and take his place, while he began to get used to yours? So, your friend is thinking of marrying! Maybe, we’re gonna be celebrating the wedding of him and Anna soon… They might get married earlier than you and me!”       “M-m-m, so, do you know Mr. Perkins wanna make living in the same house with her law not to be judged by those, who mind living together ‘till getting married?”       “I am aware!” Raquelle smiles widely. “And I’ll be very glad if it happens. I think Anna and Daniel are a wonderful couple. Those guys love each other very much and would hardly agree to be with someone else.”       “That’s right, Daniel always puffs his rooster tail when talking about Anna,” Terrence notices with a slight smile. “Your friend literally praises him and definitely knows how to please him. For example, to cook something delicious. Perkins often says he loves what she cooks.”       “Anna really cooks well. When she had nothing to do at home, she just grabbed a cookbook and tried to cook something. Or sometimes she made experiments and improved her skills.”       “Well, if it’s so, I may have no worries that my friend will be hungry. He has a girlfriend, who would feed him well. And you can have no doubt he’d thank her for the wonderful care and make her feel like his queen.”       “Anna always shines and smiles widely when someone mentions Daniel. And she’s terribly afraid to lose him, ‘cause she’s really in love with that man. No other guy made her as happy as your pal. Besides, my friend doesn’t hide her wish to marry him, but she doesn’t wanna press on him. He should decide to make a proposal.”       “Oh, it’s all about Daniel… He’s also terribly afraid to lose her, ‘cause he loves your friend very much. And he’s terribly afraid to meet her parents much more, ‘cause he believes they’d tear them apart.”       “She’s an adult and can decide who to be with. And if these two get married, her father and mother will have to accept the fact that they'll get a son-in-law that they didn’t want.”       “We’ll see. And I can’t wait for their wedding, to which I reserved an invitation. And Perkins did even promise to make me one of the groomsmen.”       “Sorry, sweetie, but you wouldn’t be able to show off and would play a secondary role. You’re gonna get much attention only at our wedding.”       “It’s okay, people would have to notice such a gorgeous groomsman, who would be happy to give the groom to a very good girl with the hope that his life would be as sweet as it is now.”       “Oh, MacClife, you’re just incorrigible…” Raquelle moans quietly with a shy smile.       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, after which Terrence squints his eyes, while Raquelle keeps smiling and looking at him with a sly look.       “Hey, stop!” Terrence exclaims. “It seems like you changed the first topic.”       “Erm…” Raquelle smiles innocently and bites her lip slightly. “Excuse me, what?”       “Don’t take an example from my friend, whose ass I’m gonna kick at the nearest time. Did you think you’d get me busy with this talk?”       “Terrence…” Raquelle pronounces, crossing her arms over her chest and still smiling innocently.       “Raquelle, I’m waiting…” Terrence also crosses his arms over his chest, looking at Raquelle confidently. “This focus won’t work on me. I see you through and can even guess what you’re thinking of.”       “So, what am I thinking of now, handsome guy, who should get off his high horse?”       “About how to have your fiancé wrapped around a finger and make him finish what we talked about first.”       “Wrong answer! Nothing’s close to the truth!”       “Do you want me to use a checked thing and get the confession out of you?” Terrence comes much closer to Raquelle and, looking into her eyes, raises her face by the chin. “You do know well how good I am at it.”       “Ah, Terrence, what a…” Raquelle laughs shyly. “You… Erm… You are…”       But Raquelle cannot finish her thought because she does not know what to say and just keeps laughing and smiling.       “What am I?” Terrence asks with a sly smile.       “Silly!” Raquelle exclaims through a laugh. “Silly, naive idiot! Who is so easy to deceive! You think you can’t be deceived, but I can actually have you wrapped around a finger if I really want it.”       “What do you wanna say?”       “Gosh, Terrence, do you really think I need someone else but you?” Raquelle caresses Terrence’s cheek with a slight smile. “Could I leave such a handsome guy, who wouldn’t let me do that even if I really wanted to?”       “But what about the phrase ‘we’re engaged yet’?”       “Don’t get my words wrong, and don’t find a hidden meaning.”       “I did find it.”       “Gosh, I said it for no reason!” Raquelle rolls her eyes for a second. “To shake you up! And maintain your shape. I think you gave up a little. So, I decided to help you shake up.”       “So, wouldn’t I be shocked by the news that we’d break up?”       “Of course, no!” Raquelle replies confidently and, grabbing Terrence’s face, kisses him cutely on the lips. “Calm down, honey, I won’t leave you. You’ll belong to me until the last day of your life.”       “So…” Terrence smiles much wider and slier. “I’m pleased with this answer. I mean, that’s what I wanted to hear from you. My sweetheart…”       With these words, Terrence leaves a couple of tender kisses on a curve of Raquelle’s neck, which make her smile widely and feel a very nice warmth all over her body.       “I knew you’d say it,” Terrence adds confidently in a lower voice and does not contain his wish to leave a couple of more kisses on another curve of the neck of Raquelle, who smiles shyly with closed eyes. “Indeed, could someone leave the one, who is the dream of all young girls? They’d put a finger against a temple if they knew about your wish to break up with a sex symbol of the twenty-first century.”       “Hey, hey, don’t get excited!” Raquelle exclaims, slightly pushing Terrence off herself and turning to the mirror. “I need to get my hair done, and my makeup is not finished yet. So, be nice, hold down your lust for a few more minutes.”       “Fuck off all these hairstyles and makeup!” Terrence hugs Raquelle by the shoulders from behind and caresses them tenderly, as he runs his nose over her long hair flowing down that shines like real silk and smells kind of nicely. “You’re a beauty without all of it!”       “Don’t ask for trouble, MacClife,” Raquelle swallows up nervously when she feels a hot breath of Terrence against the curve of her neck, putting a hairbrush on the table and lowering her hands. “You hear what I say? Let me put myself in order!”       “Everything is good for me!” Terrence moves the head of Raquelle’s hair aside and leaves a couple of kisses on the nape of her neck, as his hands smoothly slide down to the curves of her slim waist and caress them tenderly, understanding she seems to be quiet, but everything starts burning inside her from one slight touch of his hands. “Could you resist such an incredible caress that hasn’t left any girl indifferent? I do feel everything’s shaking inside you!”       “Done!” Raquelle chuckles kindly, softly steps back from Terrence, half turns on him, and looks at the man’s hair. “You’ve got a mess on your head, but you want to kiss and hug! Better brush your hair! It looks like a big haycock. But if His Highness is lazy, I can do it by myself.”       Raquelle takes a hairbrush and tries to brush Terrence’s disheveled hair. But he starts to turn aside and does not let the girl even slightly touch his hair.       “No, I feel good about it!” Terrence exclaims and starts to go away from Raquelle backward. “I am handsome! Handsome!”       “Hey, come here!” Raquelle demands with a laugh, trying to catch Terrence and get his hair done with the hairbrush. “Come here, I said!”       “Won’t catch! Won’t catch!” Terrence shows his tongue to Raquelle with a quiet chuckle. “No, no, no!”       “Oh, Terrence, you’re acting like a child…”       “Yeah, aren’t you?”       “If you don’t stop, I swear I will tie you to the bed and won’t let you go for a long time. And I shall put your hair in order.”       “M-m-m, wanna punish me?” Terrence smiles slyly, biting his lip slightly and raising his head proudly raised. “C’mon, babe, punish me! Catch me first, but then you’ll give me some pleasure.”       “You will give pleasure to yourself! But now come here! Now, I said! MacClife! Ar-r-r-r, fuck!”       Raquelle spends a few seconds trying to catch Terrence with a hairbrush in her hands, while he sometimes teases her by showing a tongue or some funny face and rejoicing when the girl meets a failure when trying to reach for his hair. It slowly turns into a fun fight and a reason to have some fun, while nobody sees them. They are running away from one another in the whole room like children and thrilling with a laugh. The man teases the girl with great passion and gets happy with her failed attempts to stay indifferent. And she quickly forgets why she actually ran after him and lets the hairbrush fall to the floor at some moment.       However, playing a catch does not last long. One or one and a half minutes later, Terrence creeps quietly to Raquelle from behind, while she distracts for a second to move some hair off her eyes. He wraps her waist sharply but tenderly with his arms, and she makes a quiet squeak and unsuccessfully tries to get out of the man’s tight grip. And when the man starts snuggling his face in her neck, slightly biting some areas of it and touching them with the tip of his tongue, she laughs quietly and shakes after every single kiss and bite.       “Hey, lemme go, you’re tickling me!” Raquelle demands through a non-stop laugh. “No, Terrence, stop!”       “So, will you run away from me again?” Terrence says in Raquelle’s ear in a low, nice voice, stopping tickling her and starting to pass his hands over the curves of her waist. “Will you do it or not?”       “You did start it!” Raquelle replies in a little hoarse voice.       “I did? C’mon?” Terrence leaves a couple of kisses on the area behind Raquelle’s ear and breathes on it with a hot breath and then a cold one. “My sweetie, if I start it, you won’t get off me. And you will not have control of the situation. Because I will command.”       Terrence grabs Raquelle by the throat tightly but tenderly with a sly smile and leans her head back slightly.       “And you will obey me like a good girl and do what I’m gonna say,” Terrence says confidently, caressing Raquelle’s throat tenderly with his fingertips, touching all the most sensitive points, and seeing her body shaking slightly, while she starts breathing heavily. “I ain’t gonna make do it. You will wish to be at my mercy and let me dominate you.”       “Fuck yourself, narcissistic rooster!” Raquelle chuckles, steps back from Terrence sharply, grabs him tightly by the collar with one hand, and, being very close to him, sets her confident gaze into his eyes. “A too great honor! Even though you’re freaking handsome, it doesn’t mean everybody must fall at your feet.”       “So, don’t you wanna agree with me at your wish?”       “Don’t even dream, MacClife!” Raquelle replies with pauses between words, confidently looking into Terrence’s eyes. “I will not make your lascivious wishes come true!”       “Alright, as you’re being a mischievous bitch, keep doing.” Terrence smiles slyly and quickly looks at Raquelle from head to feet. “But I won’t leave it unnoticed and will teach you a lesson. And make you listen to me. You’ve lately been out of my control and doing everything against my wish. Just like you did yesterday when you decided to take revenge on me.”       “Revenge on you yesterday? What do you mean?”       “Don’t pretend you understand nothing, cutie. Remember, who decided to take revenge on me yesterday for not staying home with you and for going to Daniel’s home on the day I got attacked.”       “Erm…” Raquelle runs her hand over her face, while her eyes start running from one side to another, but keeping to look at Terrence. “I… I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!”       “But if you think a little…” Terrence hugs Raquelle by the waist with his arms, presses her closer to himself, and leaves a kiss on her lips, cheeks, the area behind her ear, and a curve of her neck, and another one on the same areas but in reverse order. “You resented that I could walk anywhere, but you were banned from doing that… You waited for a good moment and decided to take revenge on me by doing the same.”       “M-m-m, I think I know who made you think so,” Raquelle smiles slyly. “I’m making sure you should spend less time with Daniel.”       “I did know you’d deny everything! But my friend kindly helped me bring you to clear water.” Terrence caresses Raquelle’s cheek with a sly smile, tenderly runs his fingers over her soft lips, and slightly pulls down a bottom one. “And find a good reason to punish you and kick your ass for not obeying.”       “You’re so crazy…”       Raquelle turns on the mirror and starts searching for something among the cosmetics. And Terrence hugs the girl tightly by the waist from behind and rubs his cheek against her cheek with a sly smile.       “Crazy or not, but you thought you’d kick my ass and take revenge on me for trying to save you from something bad,” Terrence says confidently and kisses Raquelle cutely on the temple. “Maybe, I was busy with Peter yesterday. But I didn’t forget you and was like on needles until you came home.”       Terrence caresses Raquelle’s ear with his lips and runs his tongue over the area behind it, making her shake slightly.       “So, Raquelle Cameron, congratulations,” Terrence adds in a low voice. “You got what you want and made me terribly nervous.”       “Terrence, stop saying some bullshit,” Raquelle throws gloomily. “I don’t understand why you’re…”       Terrence does not let Raquelle speak, closing her mouth softly with a tender kiss on the lips, under the influence of which the girl relaxes and makes a couple of quiet moans. His hands confidently slide over the curves of her waist and caress tenderly her belly, the muscles of which involuntarily squeeze after the soft, warm hands of the confident man touch it. After breaking the kiss a few seconds later, he caresses his fiancée’s head and moves some strands of her hair aside, while she is breathing heavily.       “So, did you recall?” Terrence whispers in Raquelle’s ear and moves his hands down to her crotch and caresses it, while his second hand is placed on her belly. “Or do I keep doing it ‘till you confess everything?”       Raquelle says nothing for two or three seconds and rolls her eyes with a heavy breath, while Terrence tenderly kisses her on the neck and caresses the inside of her thighs, between which it’s getting warm. But then she sharply gets out of his hug, saying with her head proudly raised:       “Yeah, did you think I’d leave it unnoticed?” Raquelle sharply turns to Terrence. “You did make me worried all that fucking day when I was anxious, as it turned out, for the reason. And yesterday, I got a wonderful chance to get revenge. I hope I gave you a good lesson, thanks to which you’d learn something nice.”       “So, did you leave home on purpose?” Terrence frowns slightly, crossing his arms over his chest.       “To some extent, yes,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “Although I had scared you enough, you should’ve built upon what you got and gotten over another slight shake.”       “That’s how?” Terrence shakes his head with a sly smile. “Alright, my avenger, let’s think your sweet revenge was successfully done. But remember, if you do something like that again, you’re gonna be apologizing to me for a very long time. Because I ain’t sure I’d forgive you so easily.”       “Well, if you try to hold me against my wish or do what would make my hair stand, you’ll also have to ask me for forgiveness for a very long time. Because I ain’t also sure I’d forgive you.”       “Don’t forget, I did it for your best. You do know that we’re getting threats from someone, who has to do with my beloved bro.”       “I know…” Raquelle glances at her hands for a second. “Hey, when are you gonna reveal Edward and his secret of the year?”       “I wanna invite him today. We have much time, even if I need to go to the hospital for the results of the test. We didn’t agree on when we’d go. We’ll talk after lunchtime.”       “I think we could spend a couple of hours revealing what your bro is silent about.”       “I’d spend even three hours on that. But I swear on anything, you and I will find out what Edward is hiding. I’ll just eat something and call him and invite him here for a friendly pastime. And then I’ll call Daniel or Peter’s friends and agree about a meeting.”       “But what about the car? When will you leave it for a repair?”       “If I have time, I’ll do it today. I don’t think announcing the results would take much time.”       “But what are you gonna do without your car? It’s probably gonna be taken away for a long time ‘cause literally all the parts must be replaced.”       “Well…” Terrence rolls his eyes with a slight smile. “Actually, I planned to borrow your car… Drive your cabriolet… Move off the roof and proudly drive in the city.”       “Yeah, and you’d get so excited that you’d crush my car. You’d ring the doorbell, and I open it and see you standing with a wheel and a piece of the bumper in your hands.”       “Hey, I didn’t crush my car, those men did!”       “You know, if you wanna drive at the speed of five hundred miles in my car, you may be less lucky.”       “Don’t worry, cutie, your girl is gonna be fine,” Terrence replies with his head proudly raised. “Don’t even dare to doubt my driving skills. If I were a part of Formula-1 or other races, I’d leave all racers behind and get the main prize.”       “Oh, I don’t doubt!” Raquelle nods energetically. “I don’t doubt I’d get a big worthless piece of metal if you got close to my car. Just like yours, at which everyone stares!”       “Repairing my car wouldn’t take much time. I’ll take it away very soon, and it will be like new. But I promise nothing will happen to your beauty while I use it at times.”       “No, pretty boy, you won’t get my car.”       “Please, sweetheart…” Terrence softly takes Raquelle’s hand and caresses her cheek tenderly with a free hand. “Can I take your car when I need it? I promise I will be careful!”       Raquelle says nothing for two seconds and exhales sharply.       “Okay, you won!” Raquelle exclaims. “You can use my car as much as you want.”       “That’s what I wanted to hear.”       “But remember, MacClife, if it has at least one scar, you will pay for a repair by yourself. I will give you no cent and not let you get money from my card. You got it?”       “Agree! If I crush it, I’ll pay for a repair with my money. But don’t doubt, when my car is fixed, I’ll give yours safe and sound.”       “We agreed then!”       “So what?” Terrence points his hand to Raquelle. “Deal?”       “Yeah!”       Raquelle gives her hand to Terrence and shakes his hand shyly, barely holding down her chuckle when he raises his head proudly with a satisfying smile. A few seconds later, the young people break the handshake, still looking at each other and laughing shyly. And then the girl glances at the man’s disheveled hair and recalls her wish to put it in order.       “Still, I advise you to put your hair in order,” Raquelle says, comes to the hairbrush she let fall on the floor and takes it. “Or people would think you went outside without looking in the mirror after waking up.”       “I feel like a bad boy with this hair,” Terrence shakes his head and gets his hair much more disheveled, running his fingers through it. “Girls love little bad but terribly handsome men.”       “Well, I wouldn’t say you’re a little bad man…” Raquelle replies thoughtfully, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Terrence from head to foot. “You’re very bad! A very, very, very bad boy that refuses to do what I’m asking him about!”       “C’mon, Raquelle, confess that you like my hairstyle.”       “I still don’t know what I was thinking of when deciding to connect my life with you.”       “You’re just used to the fact that I usually get my hair done and don’t let myself wear clothes in the Edward Lockhart style. Who is wearing shabby and ripped clothes that he borrowed from homeless people. But now I don’t mind experimenting and taking a note about something from my friend’s casual style.”       “Ah! I was wondering who you looked at! You’ve lately let yourself wear these things and forget about your hair.”       “But agree, it fits me very well!” Terrence looks at himself in the mirror with pride and admiration in his eyes, slightly fixes his hair, and smiles widely. “Oh, pretty boy! I literally fell in love with me!”       “Hey, king of roosters, stop enjoying yourself and better put yourself in order,” Raquelle confidently goes to Terrence, who is looking at himself in the mirror with admiration. “It goes without saying, you look incredible, but this hairstyle can’t be called ‘a slight carelessness’. It’s called ‘I don’t know where my hairbrush is.’”       With these words, Raquelle brushes Terrence’s hair, carefully dealing with matted strands.       “Okay, okay, I will get it done if you want,” Terrence replies, turning on Raquelle. “But only after you do something for me.”       “Do I go to the hospital with you and stay in the office if the test says you can be a donor for Peter?”       “It would be great, but I don’t mean it.” Terrence comes much closer to Raquelle with a sly smile and runs the back of his hand over her cheek. “I mean, what I’ve lately lacked.”       “M-m-m, you’re starting to turn on your fantasy and prove that there is no limit to your lust,” Raquelle replies in a lower voice.       “It turned on by itself after I looked at your gorgeous ass in jeans,” Terrence smiles much wider. “How I can resist when such a cutie is walking in front of me.”       “Oh, yeah, I saw you staring at my ass in the mirror! I thought of letting something fall on the floor on purpose and taking it beautifully, but I decided to pity you. Because you were too nervous and resistless when sitting on the bed.”       “Sorry, very sorry… Nevertheless, I hope today’s gonna be much quieter than the past two days.” Terrence moves some of Raquelle’s hair aside, softly grabs her face, and caresses her neck tenderly with his fingertips. “So, let’s live at least one day without fights and spend a wonderful time?”       “It would be great,” Raquelle nods and puts her hands on Terrence’s shoulders, getting so close to him that they can feel a hot, little heavy breath from each other, and their foreheads touch one another. “I hate moments when we fight.”       “Me too…” Terrence focuses on Raquelle’s face and caresses her slightly open lips with his thumb. “They make me depressed.”       “But don’t think I’ll easily let you do anything to me.” Raquelle grabs Terrence’s face softly, setting her gaze on his lips. “If I want, you’re gonna be running after me in the whole room like a good boy.”       “We’ll see it,” Terrence smoothly moves his hands down to the curves of Raquelle’s waist and confidently gets one hand underneath her shirt, tenderly touching her soft, flat belly. “But I can do my best for you to wish to run nowhere and beg me to give you as much pleasure as possible.”       “And what?” Raquelle smiles innocently. “Do you think I’d give in and succumb if you got underneath my clothes and felt me up? No, pretty boy, don’t even dream!”       “You can take your clothes off, I don’t mind.”       “Oh, how much you want!”       “Of course, you picked up a stunning look, but I wouldn’t mind seeing you naked.” Terrence leaves a long kiss on the front of Raquelle’s neck, moving his hands to her tough buttocks and caressing or squeezing them tenderly. “I wanna kiss this gorgeous body and caress every single part of it… For long… Very long!”       “Yeah, maybe, I should invite you to a shower and rub your back?” Raquelle chuckles.       “Why not? We’d have a shower or bath together…” Terrence runs his slightly open mouth over from Raquelle’s cheek to the area behind her ear. “You know how it’s great to hug, kiss, and caress your beloved girl while lying in the water with lots of foam… And if the air smells incredible… M-m-m… Dream…”       “I’m afraid it’s gonna be your dream.” Raquelle starts slowly going away from Terrence backward and opens her collarbones slightly, fixing her shirt unbuttoned from the top so that it’s possible to see her breasts, which seem bigger thanks to a push-up bra. “Unreal dream…”       “It’s okay, I’m ready to work hard for a cutie like you,” Terrence replies hoarsely with a little heavy breath, swallowing up nervously, as his widely open eyes are set on Raquelle’s big breasts and her collarbones.       “Don’t waste time. You can do nothing.”       “I can do nothing if it’s not hot and wet between your legs. But I’m gonna do my best to drive you crazy!”       Terrence sharply presses Raquelle to himself and kisses her on the lips, holding her by the waist with one arm and slightly squeezing her yawl with a second hand. At first, the girl’s hands are lowered, but later she moves them to the bends of his arms and shoulders, admiring the man’s muscles that are so tough. And then she runs her fingers through his hair, slightly pulling it, while her hand confidently slides over his tough chest, touching which makes her shake slightly.       At some moment, they start to lack air and step away to get some air. Raquelle and Terrence’s eyes look at each other, and they smile widely. The girl’s hands are placed on the man’s shoulders but then slide to his chest, while he holds her face with his hands and caresses her attractive, little puffy lips tenderly. Sharing an innocent kiss is enough to feel a fast heartbeat, weakness in their legs, slight dizziness, and irresistible affection for each other.       Some time later, Terrence and Raquelle slowly connect their lips for a touching kiss, tightly hugging each other. At first, everything is happening smoothly and tenderly, but their kisses get crueler and more passionate a few seconds later. They start using the tongue for a more intimate caress and do not ignore slight bites. The hands of the lovers confidently caress each other’s faces and heads and smoothly slide over the shoulders, the waist, the neck, the thighs, and the buttocks. The man does not hold down a wish to caress and squeeze the tough feminine breasts and pass his warm hand over her flat belly and naked back underneath her clothes. The girl gives much attention to the masculine chest, over which she tenderly runs her hands, and lets herself kiss and use her lips to caress the area behind his ear and the curves of his neck, on which she may leave a couple of slight bites. All these actions burn up the fire inside the lovers and make them have a stronger passion and unbelievable affection, resisting which is impossible.       A little later, Terrence breathing heavily breaks a long kiss on the lips, snuggles his nose in Raquelle’s cheek, kisses it several times, and then smoothly slides down to the girl’s neck, which he starts covering with kisses with great pleasure. He does it so skillfully that the girl cannot hold down quiet moans, starts to bend backward like a cat, and feels the muscles in her abdomen involuntarily squeeze, and a madly nice warmth is spreading over her body. She leans her head back with closed eyes, and her fiancé uses it and leaves a few slight bites on the lady’s neck.       Terrence does not also miss a chance to tease Raquelle with his tongue, with which he caresses some of her especially sensitive areas. The man does not hide his wide smile when seeing the girl breathing heavily, moaning quietly from pleasure, and pressing herself to his body as close as possible.       “I did say you’d be mine,” Terrence says in a little hoarse voice with a smug smile, leaving a tender kiss on the most sensitive place of Raquelle’s neck, where the skin is thin. “And you’re bending like a snake…”       “And I, son of a bitch, hate you for that,” Raquelle pronounces quietly and makes a sensual moan with closed eyes when Terrence caresses her belly tenderly underneath her shirt and then puts his hand between her legs. “Hate…”       “You will pay for the son of a bitch.”       Being excited and blushed, Terrence grabs Raquelle tightly by the throat and greedily starts a more passionate and crueler kiss, pulling and licking her lips and caressing the most sensitive areas in her mouth with his tongue. Such a skillful talent does not leave the girl indifferent. Her legs get weak, she feels much stronger dizziness, and a hot flash and a tickling in her abdomen make her bend backward much more. Any of his actions makes her heart miss a beat, and moans full of enjoyment unwittingly get out of her mouth.       Raquelle’s hands do not stay lowered and are sliding over the masculine body, literally examining it for the first time to find the area, touching which would drive him crazy. However, Terrence’s hands are also confidently sliding up and down: from the top of her head to her thighs. His lips caress every single centimeter of her tender, velvet skin, and his nose breathes in the dizzying smell of it.       “If you agree to show me your naked body, I can show you mine,” Raquelle says in a low, nice voice in between kisses, tenderly caressing Terrence’s lips with her lips. “Maybe…”       Raquelle runs one hand underneath Terrence’s shirt and caresses his back, feeling literally every single area of his incredible-to-touch six-pack.       “I’ve lately been hungry for the gorgeous male body,” Raquelle adds, and sinks slightly the nails of her second hand into Terrence’s buttocks.       “Maybe, you undress and perform a little striptease for me?” Terrence asks in a hoarse voice with a sly smile, runs his hand over Raquelle’s torso, and slightly squeezes one of her breasts. “Or are you giving me this honor, so I get pleasure taking off every single cloth by one?”       “I’d like to see you naked more.”       “M-m-m… I’m imagining you naked, lying on the bed, and moaning loudly after every single act of mine. While I make pleasure longer and caress every single cell of it.”       “Gosh, why did I get enraged at such a pervert?” Raquelle laughs playfully, getting blushed.       “That’s what I imagine in the beginning. It’s a warm-up. The warm-up before something much spicier and hotter.”       “Yeah… The media would be so happy to publish articles about you being a filthy maniac if I told them about all your wishes.”       “You don’t know everything about me, Cameron.” Terrence puts one hand on Raquelle’s buttocks and confidently squeezes her breasts with another hand. “I saved a lot for our first marriage night.”       “If you keep doing all these things to me, I won’t probably live until that moment.”       “You, bitch, should provoke me less! You’re guilty of making me act like a maniac.” Terrence leaves a short kiss on Raquelle’s lips and caresses them a little. “Since our first meeting.”       “Hey, don’t talk my ears off and start to undress slowly.” Raquelle looks at Terrence from head to foot with a filthy look, slightly biting her lip. “And then I will do a lot to you. So you, scumbag, whine from pleasure!”       “Keep dreaming, cutie!” Terrence says confidently with a sly smile and leaves a couple of kisses on Raquelle’s collarbones, tenderly stimulating her nipple with his thumb. “I am running this game and deciding what sort of role you get. And now I want to dominate you. Undress you. And have probably short but unforgettable sex. You’ve lately forgotten me… But I madly lack incredible feelings that I can get only from one fucking attractive bitch.”       “Sorry, honey, but today we don’t have too much time for incredible sex.”       “It’s okay, the business can wait.” Terrence presses Raquelle tightly to himself, putting an arm around the small of her back and hugging her by the shoulders with another and snuggling his face in the girl’s neck to breathe in the sweet smell that her tender skin spreads. “Can’t I relax a little with my charming fiancée?”       “Hold yourself down, pretty boy.” Raquelle grabs Terrence by the nape of his neck with one hand and starts holding him by the shoulder with a second one, as she sniffs the smell that her beloved man is spreading and making her insane, and breathes on its curve with a cold and hot breath, so he feels goosebumps on his skin. “I don’t deny that I felt very good now. But let’s save the most delicious thing for later.”       “I can’t believe you’re able to think about it now,” Terrence runs her fingertips slowly over Raquelle’s spin, then tenderly caresses and squeezes her buttocks, and slides underneath her jeans and very nice-to-touch underwear. “And you’re actually trying to resist the will of Terrence MacClife himself.”       Terrence leaves a few tender kisses on the curve of Raquelle’s neck.       “Did you forget who I am? Huh, babe?”       “I remember…” Raquelle exhales sensually, pressing much closer to Terrence and slightly scratching his back with the nails of her hands that got underneath his shirt. “A selfish rooster that thought all girls would faint in front of him with sensual moans and make all his lusty wishes come true.”       “Right, because I am perfect!” Terrence grabs Raquelle’s chin with his mouth and caresses her ears tenderly, while she shakes slightly and breathes heavily with closed eyes. “Resisting me is impossible. I need just to look at a girl so that she gets wet.”       Terrence raises Raquelle’s face by the chin and makes her look into his eyes.       “Of course, you tried to pretend to be hard to catch and make me sure you didn’t care,” Terrence adds and caresses Raquelle’s lips with his thumb. “But alas, I am too attractive and sexy.”       “Likely, too insolent and shameless,” Raquelle pronounces in a low voice.       “If a man keeps being shy and indecisive, he will never become an alpha male and get the most beautiful girl, who he silently dreams about.” Terrence lets his free hand massage Raquelle’s breasts intensively, runs it over her flat belly and the curves of her slim waist, and gets down to the abdomen and her crotch, while she literally makes herself breathe deeply with weakness in her legs. “At heart, any girl dreams of a self-confident man, who can make the blood boil and give her as many unforgettable emotions as she has never felt in her whole life.”       “I actually always thought my man would be shy and educated.”       “You thought about what your relatives told you. You actually craved something different.”       “Keep praising yourself, MacClife.” Raquelle squeezes and pulls Terrence’s hair tightly, while he caresses her breasts and covers her neck with exciting kisses. “M-m-m, fuck…”       “You’ll give up anyway, I know you.” Terrence gets Raquelle involved in a confident, passionate kiss on the lips, caressing the most sensitive areas in her mouth and stimulating her tough nipples with his thumbs. “M-m-m… I need just some patience and excellent skills at seducing.”       “You can do nothing. Your kisses don’t get me excited.”       “Shut up and enjoy, bitch!” Terrence grabs Raquelle tightly by the throat and keeps caressing her lips with his lips, while she moans quietly with a heavy breath. “Or you’ll have to regret daring to resist me.”       “Oh, oh, how I am scared!” Raquelle laughs kindly, slowly steps back from Terrence with a proud walk, slightly shaking her thighs, comes closer to the bed, and pulls her shirt down on the way. “What are gonna do? Shut me up with a kiss? Lick and feel me up? Push me to the wall so that I don’t go anywhere?”       “If you want, I can use one of our gifts for our first relationship anniversary to give you much more new emotions.” Terrence comes to Raquelle confidently with his head, slightly claps her on the buttocks with a sly smile, grabs her hands, sharply twists them around the back, and kisses the area behind her ear that he tenderly grabs with his mouth. “The one that was given us by my beloved childhood friend, Benjamin… Tie up your eyes, tie you up to the bed only in underwear, and caress your gorgeous body as much as I want. In order to make the effect stronger, I could slap you with a whip a couple of times. It’s gonna be hurt, but you’re gonna love it.”       “Ar-r-r…” Raquelle shakes sharply to let her hands go. “I’d like to leave you naked somewhere on the street. So people admire the creature of nature.”       “M-m-m, it’s getting me excited,” Terrence pronounces in a low voice with a sly smile and a little heavy breath.       “I know you’re a fucking pervert that uses any chance to show everyone your naked ass and your penis.”       “I wouldn’t mind if your hands caressed them a little.” Terrence caresses Raquelle’s abdomen and massages her breasts and nipples intensively, getting such a desired, peaceful moan. “Well, if you really want, you can work your mouth.”       “I really want to slap you in your insolent face.”       “A slap would get me much more excited.” Terrence lets one of his hands down to Raquelle’s thighs, moves it to her crotch, and runs it in her lace underwear. “You know that rudeness gets me much more excited.”       “Ar-r-r, you’re a scumbag!”       “Said by the bitch!”       When Terrence leaves a couple of kisses on her neck and runs his tongue over some parts of it, Raquelle sharply pushes him off herself, putting her hands on his tough chest, and goes aside. The man presses her to himself again, grabs her by the hair, leans her head back, and sinks into the tender skin of the curve of the girl’s neck like a vampire. That’s why she shakes strongly and makes a quiet moan, sinking her nails into the nape of his neck and running her hand through his shirt. But he does not bite her for too long, as he is not going to leave hickeys on it. The man just sucks or barely touches the skin on the gracious, thin neck with the tip of his tongue, while the fingers of his hand tenderly caress her throat, and a second hand confidently caresses her crotch and the inside of her thighs, seeing her not being able to hold down sensitive moans and bending like a cat with a heavy breath under the influence of ticking in her abdomen and the warmth that is spreading all over the body.       “Ah, Raquelle, I think you need a little to drive me crazy,” Terrence pronounces through a heavy breath in a hoarse, low voice, giving Raquelle a kiss on the lips full of great passion and love or running his half-open mouth over all the parts of her face. “You’re the only one to be able to do it…”       Terrence opens up a couple of buttons on Raquelle’s shirt and does not refuse to massage and caress her tough, seductive breasts, which literally hypnotize him and make him breathe unevenly.       “Ah, I give a fuck about my business! I want you! I want you right here and now!”       Terrence turns Raquelle sharply on himself and, holding her by the back of her head, sharply kisses her on the lips, while she barely catches a breath and pumps air into her lungs. But at some moment, when the man being blushed from the excitement feels up her belt and tries to take it off, the girl steps back from him, and pushes him strongly onto the bed, near which they are standing. The man falls like a stone, and the girl sits over him and raises his hands above his head.       “Alright, babe, you’ll get me,” Raquelle says with a heavy, deep breath. “But at first, you’re gonna play by my rules! And do what I tell you!”       Terrence wants to open his mouth, but Raquelle kisses him sharply on the lips, getting her tongue into his mouth and starting to work it actively. Although the man moans quietly and answers her back, he sometimes tries to sharply get his hands out of the strong grip. But the girl holds them too tightly and keeps working her tongue thriftily and proving that nobody else could drive him so crazy.       “Don’t move, or you’re gonna regret it!” Raquelle threatens, breaking the kiss, and squeezes Terrence’s hands tighter after another attempt to get out. “Don’t move, bastard! Or you will be lying on the bed naked and tied up.”       “Oh, yeah, babe, do this!” Terrence exclaims with a sly smile and a gaze full of challenge. “Please your daddy!”       “Now… I shall do it now… With twenty hits with a whip!” Raquelle leaves a few kisses on Terrence’s neck. “On your gorgeous naked ass!”       “Ar-r-r…”       “My gosh, why are bad boys so hot and sexy?” Raquelle tenderly bites the tiny skin of Terrence's neck with a sensual moan and runs her hand over his chest, while he shakes slightly with a heavy breath and closed eyes. “You’re a non-educated, selfish bastard. But fuck, you’re freaking sexual…”       “That’s why everyone wants to be with me…”       “But not everyone would stand your unbearable character.” Raquelle runs her hands over Terrence’s hair and caresses tenderly his ears with her lips and tongue.       “Ha, as if you’re an angel…” Terrence chuckles and shakes slightly when Raquelle kisses the area behind it. “Someone’s gotta have great patience to tolerate such a headstrong lady like you.”       “You’re guilty of making me the one.”       Raquelle gets Terrence involved in a continuous kiss on the lips, which she pulls, bites, and licks, holding his face. The man’s hands are on the lady’s buttocks and tightly squeeze them in passion, and he does not hide his moans full of enjoyment and enjoys the unforgettable emotions that make him feel dizzy.       “Alright, Cameron, you played a leader a little – it’s enough!” Terrence says seriously in a hoarse voice. “Now let me go! Raquelle, you hear what I’m telling you! Get off me now!”       “Sorry, honey, I can’t hear you and am too busy with your gorgeous body. That wants some attention and caresses…”       “Either you let me go at your wish, or you, bitch, will regret it when I dominate you again.”       “First, you’ll be my slave, and then come back to the place you took and wanna give nobody.” Raquelle slightly squeezes Terrence’s yawl and confidently looks into his eyes. “And then we could really go to take a shower together. Moreover, I need someone to wash my back… Someone with strong masculine hands…”       “I wouldn’t mind admiring your charming, breathtaking back and all the curves of such a stunning body. It makes my fantasy much dirtier and more exciting. I'm imagining myself admiring your nude body and giving it my love and madly nice kisses.”       “It’s gonna be just your fantasy. But now my fantasies about your naked body will come true.”       Raquelle shuts Terrence up with a passionate kiss on the lips, under the influence of which he stops being tense and relaxes slowly, deciding to let her run the show and give him some pleasure. Moreover, she does know well what to do to drive him crazy… For her exciting and literally burning kisses, he could do a lot. As well as an opportunity to feel how she tenderly runs her hands over his chest after getting them underneath his t-shirt and shakes from just one touch of the lips to especially sensitive areas of the stomach with a quiet sigh. This freaking attractive girl is full of passion and able to bring the man to all-embracing ecstasy.       “Damn, Terrence, you’re so terrific…” Raquelle says in a low, hoarse voice and leaves a couple of short kisses on Terrence’s lips, running the fingers of one hand through his soft, disheveled hair, confidently caressing the masculine chest with another one and hearing his heavy breath and fast heartbeat. “My Apollo… Apollo that I want to death…”       “Everybody wants me, babe,” Terrence replies in a low, nice voice with a wide smile and caresses Raquelle’s cheek tenderly, looking into her eyes, running her hand over her hair that is falling from her shoulder and barely touching her hanging silver earrings in her ears. “But only one got lucky to get such an attractive man, who is in the prime of life.”       “And I shall make you lose your head,” Raquelle says confidently and leaves a tender, breathtaking kiss on the front of Terrence’s neck and another, more exciting and wetter one with slight bites, seeing the muscles of his abdomen get tenser. “From what I’m gonna do now…”       “Oh, yeah, do it!” Terrence moans quietly, as Raquelle tenderly kisses the area behind his ear and runs her lips over it, literally burning it with her hot breath. “Drive me crazy! But don’t make it too long. My penis is impatiently waiting for the tender hands to caress it a little.”       “I’m afraid your tough penis has to wait for a while.” Raquelle runs her open mouth slowly over the curves of Terrence’s neck and reaches for his collarbones, which she opens by pulling his t-shirt on himself. “Until I kiss and caress everything that drives me crazy with just one look, I won’t do what will make you forget your name.”       “Please, sweetheart…” Terrence’s hands confidently start to caress Raquelle’s buttocks. “I promise I won’t leave it unnoticed and will give attention to your perfect body.”       While Terrence squeezes both of her breasts and confidently massages them, Raquelle gives him a more passionate kiss and starts using her tongue and teeth, moving one of his hands to her thigh that he starts to caress. Sometimes they make quiet moans and stop for two seconds to catch some air. A little later, while the girl runs her hands through his hair and slightly pulls it, the man lets one of the ones get underneath her shirt and starts to caress her back and runs the second one into her underwear and has the pleasure of squeezing the tough feminine buttocks. The excitement is getting stronger, the body shakes after every single act, a wave of heat spreads over all the cells fast, and the heart is beating so strongly that it’s literally about to jump out of the chest.       At some moment, Terrence places the heated Raquelle on the bed and raises himself above her, being happy he dominates her again, gets his hand underneath her shirt, and runs it over her soft belly during the kiss on the lips and the neck. He gives special attention to her abdomen, the area around her belly button, and her gorgeous breasts and generously gives his kisses to them. The girl bites her lips strongly to hold down her emotions, and sometimes holds her fiancé very tightly in passion. She no longer thinks of resisting and agrees to anything for this man to bring her to the top of the world.       Terrence covers Raquelle’s neck and collarbones with passionate, wet kisses, and bites slightly too sensitive places. He uses a free hand to caress her breasts, belly, and thighs, which also get a few literally burning kisses. Along with the sensual moans of the girl, who tightly squeezes the blanket with her hands, the man runs his hand into her lace underwear, caresses her pubis and labia, and stimulates her clitoris a little. That’s why Raquelle unconsciously starts shaking her thighs with sensual, much louder moans, as her body aims to press close to Terrence. He decides to open up a few more buttons to take off her plate blouse and denim waistcoat, and she takes the shirt placed above his t-shirt off the man’s wide shoulders.       And then someone knocks on the door. It immediately makes the lovers sober and sharply step away. Terrence and Raquelle glance at the door and put themselves in order quickly, stroking down the disheveled hair and pulling down the clothes. Then the man and the girl get up from the bed with slightly blushed faces and weak legs, still breathing a little heavily from the excitement and feeling a crazy beat of the heart echoes somewhere in their temples.       “Come in…” Terrence and Raquelle pronounce at the same time.       The door slowly opens, and Christiana shows up on the doorstep, hesitantly looking into the room and literally guessing she came at the wrong time and prevented the lovers from spending time together.       “Mr. MacClife, Ms. Cameron…” Christiana pronounces guiltily. “Excuse me…”       “What’s wrong, Christiana?” Raquelle replies with a slight smile.       “Someone has come to you. Waiting in the living room now.”       “Really?” Terrence frowns slightly. “Who’s that?”       “Edward Lockhart.”       Raquelle and Terrence look at each other. The girl opens her mouth slightly, and the man smiles slyly, being happy with a chance to bring his friend to clear water.       “Edward is here?” Raquelle specifies.       “Yes, Mr. MacClife said he wanted to talk to you two and added it was very important,” Christiana shrugs. “Will you come down? Or do I say that you cannot do it?”       “No, no, don’t do it,” Raquelle shakes her head sharply. “Tell him that Terrence and I will come to him now.”       “Alright, I got you. What about the letters? Should I give them to you right now?”       “Not right now, somewhere in fifteen or twenty minutes,” Terrence replies gently. “But now let the visitor feel like home and ask Blair or Violetta to give him, Raquelle, and me something to drink. Tell them to come to us with a plate and offer to drink.”       “Erm, alright, as you wish…”       “Thanks a lot. Tell Edward we’re coming.”       “Alright. With your permission.”       Christiana slowly closes the door and leaves, while Terrence and Raquelle still being a little blushed look at each other again.       “So, the fish took the bait by itself,” Raquelle throws her hands up with a slight smile.       “That’s right!” Terrence agrees confidently. “The handsome guy showed up at his wish! And he doesn’t know what’s waiting for him.”       “So, I think we’ve gotta have sex later. It’s time to find out the truth.”       “I really want to see his face when he sees those letters. And hear Edward starting to find excuses if he really has to do with them.”       “And I can’t wait to know what kind of lie Edward will think up this time,” Raquelle strokes down her hair slightly. “And when your friend will wish to give in.”       “Hey, do you remember what we agreed about?” Terrence softly takes Raquelle by the shoulders and confidently looks into her eyes. “We act as if nothing happened for the first ten or fifteen minutes: smiling, joking, laughing, and just talking cutely. But when Christiana or someone else gives us the letters, we start our show.”       “Don’t worry, sweetie, I remember everything. I won’t frame ya and will be acting ‘till the end.”       “Good. Let me go down first, but you come to us in two or three minutes. You’re doing a hairstyle or makeup. Something like this…”       “As you wish, sir,” Raquelle inclines her head with a shy smile.       When Raquelle wants to turn and come to the mirror, Terrence grabs her under an arm and turns on himself with a sly smile.       “And remember, baby, I’m not done with you yet,” Terrence says in a lower voice. “I hope I'll have the strength and a wish to finish what was shamelessly stopped by my friend tonight.”       “If you have no strength, I will have a priority and will do what you will remember for a long time,” Raquelle says confidently, bites her lip slightly, and grabs Terrence by the throat, looking into his eyes with a wide smile. “I shall make you undress and drive me crazy by playing with your muscles.”       “I can quickly show you my tough biceps,” Terrence smiles much wider. “Show you the result of my hard workouts…”       “Tonight.” Raquelle grabs Terrence’s face, gives him a continuous, unbelievably passionate, and exciting kiss on the lips to tease the man, breaks it a few seconds later, pulls his bottom lip slightly, runs her tongue slowly over his palate and around his tongue, steps back sharply, and looks at him with a sly smile. “But now, my darling, do what you promised to do some time ago.”       “Erm…” Terrence gets a little confused. “What did I promise you?”       “Recall! Who said he’d put in haycock in order if I did something? I think I did enough. So, come on, take a hairbrush and put your black nest in order.”       “C’mon, sweetie, it doesn’t make me look worse.” Terrence pulls down his plate shirt with pride. “Today, I wanna be a bad boy and forget about my old style.”       “Aha, if your friend sees this hairstyle, he will be laughing loudly.”       “Trust me, when we barely mention the threats, Edward will forget to think of my hair. The kid won’t even pay attention to the bruise under my eye.”       “Terrence MacClife, who I said…” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Put yourself in order now!”       “No, I don’t want!” Terrence kisses Raquelle cutely on her forehead, holding her face in his hands, and starts to play with her disheveled hair. “But if you show up with ‘flash hair’ for my friend, he won’t hold down his laugh. Just like I won’t do…”       “Ah, yeah!” Raquelle opens her mouth widely, putting her hands on her hips. “Alright, scumbag, you will ask for trouble tonight! I will surely tie the half-naked you to this fucking bed, shut you up, and torture you in all possible ways. And I swear you will be whining very loudly!”       “M-m-m, you’ve already teased me enough…” Terrence purrs with a mysterious smile, takes one of Raquelle’s hanging earrings, and looks at this for two seconds. “Uh, I do love such passionate girls that could be perverts. Bad girls make me much more excited than good and obedient ones.”       “Because you’re a filthy guy. The male, whose ass I will surely kick enough. You will be begging me for mercy…”       Terrence says nothing and, breathing a little heavily and pressing Raquelle sharply to himself by the waist, kisses her greedily on the lips. That’s why she first gets frozen and tenses her muscles, but then relaxes sharply. A little later, the man steps back and, taking her hand, tenderly caresses the girl’s cheek with another one that she grabs softly, caressing his wrist and closing her eyes for two seconds. Then he kisses her on the neck a couple of times, caresses her face with his hands, and runs his lips over some parts of it.       But when Terrence steps back and wants to come to the mirror to fix his hair, Raquelle slightly slaps him on his buttocks and smiles innocently when he shakes and turns on her. And to make the effect stronger, the girl confidently comes to him closely and, looking into her fiancé’s eyes, stimulates his tough-to-touch penis strongly but tenderly. Alongside it, she also caresses his ear and the area behind it with her tongue. That’s why he shakes much stronger, tenses all his muscles, and barely holds down not to make a very loud moan. With a feeling that he got a powerful blast of power. He takes his breath away for some time due to the wave he got obsessed with and feels strong dizziness.       Raquelle steps back from Terrence with an innocent smile as if nothing happened and comes to the window with a smooth walk, slightly shaking her thighs. The man breathing heavily would stare at his fiancée, but then he thinks of Edward waiting for them in the living room and braces himself somehow not to succumb to the temptation. Before leaving the room, he comes to the mirror, takes a hairbrush from the dressing table, and brushes his hair so that it’s not stuck up, not forgetting to fix the collar of his shirt, pull down his t-shirt, and pull up his jeans. After this, MacClife leaves the room and closes the door.       Raquelle watches Terrence with a sly smile, teasing him in this way to make him dream of tonight and give him the maximum pleasure. And when the door closes, the girl comes to the mirror and looks at her reflection for two seconds, seeing her little blushed face, disheveled hair, and slightly destroyed makeup that she did not finish before. That’s why she starts to sort out her cosmetics, quickly fixing everything and putting some pounder on her face to hide the redness. And then she takes a hairbrush and just brushes her hair, deciding to put her fridge on a side and get it a little curled to play time that she should stay here before she goes to the living room.       

***

      After going downstairs, Terrence ends up in the living room, where Edward is waiting for him, standing with his back turned to him and his arms crossed over his chest and looking at something that is placed on a small table near the sofa. The man looks quite tense and, frowning slightly, shifts his weight from one foot to another. He thinks about something not very nice, but comes back to reality after hearing the voice of Terrence, who smiles as if nothing happened and pretends that he does not know about his friend’s business.       “Howdy, Edward,” Terrence greets amicably. “Sorry for making you wait…”       When he exhales silently and raises his head, Edward confidently turns to Terrence and lowers his hands down with a slight smile.       “Oh, hey, Terrence,” Edward waves a hand.       “Glad to see you. Even if I wasn’t waiting for ya.”       “Same.”       Edward and Terrence welcome each other, shaking each other by the hand strongly, hugging amicably, and sharing a slight clap on the back.       “So, I found some free time to visit you,” Edward adds amicably.       “Yeah, it’s been a while since we met,” Terrence notices thoughtfully.       “I know… It happened!”       “That’s cool you decided to come. I did start to think you forgot about me.”       “No, c'mon!” Edward laughs shyly. “I didn’t forget you and really wanted to visit you to talk. I just had some business and couldn’t visit you.”       “But as far as I understand, did you find time now?” Terrence asks with his arms crossed over his chest.       “Yup, I got time,” Edward shrugs and bites his lip for a second, glancing aside. “Got a one-time job and… Earned some money… Had to work hard, but I did it.”       “That’s how! Cool!” Terrence smiles slyly. “Would ya invite me to celebrate a salary day?”       “I could suggest going to a club and drinking a glass of something strong. Well, or just buy a couple of bottles of beer and sit in front of a TV to watch a hockey game, soccer game, or somewhat.”       “Nice idea! I’d drink something strong with pleasure to relax a little and laugh with a good person.”       “Deal then! Moreover, I know one good place.”       “So, I trust you.”       “Nice!” Edward exclaims with a slight smile.       At this moment, Terrence smiling shyly watches Edward closely, who is pretending that everything is fine too hard.       “Yes, sure, I do know what kind of job you had,” Terrence thinks, squinting his eyes. “You probably worked off your duty for that man, who’s threatening us. But it’s okay, buddy, I will press you to the wall very soon and find out all the truth. But now I’m letting you think I’m an idiot that understands and knows nothing.”       Meanwhile, Edward looks around and sees Violetta going somewhere with a mop and rags in her hands.       “Hey, are you alone?” Edward frowns slightly. “Isn’t Raquelle with you?”       “Nope, she’s upstairs,” Terrence replies with a slight smile. “Working on her makeup and hair. She’s been standing in front of the mirror and making herself pretty for the whole morning.”       “Oh, these women!” Edward laughs shyly. “They love standing in front of a mirror for hours…”       “That’s right! Cameron also tried on lots of clothes before she picked up what she liked.”       “My dear friend just wanna be beautiful and show off for you a little. So, she makes herself beautiful all day long.”       “My Raquelle is beautiful without all of that. But if she picks up something very attractive, I won’t mind it.”       “That’s how!” Edward chuckles kindly, crossing his arms over his chest. “I thought she had the most attractive look when she wore no clothes. I’m sure your eyes sock out of your head when she walks in front of you in her knickers or actually without them.”       “Well, my naked cutie is undoubtedly the most beautiful one.” Terrence smiles slyly and raises his head proudly raised. “I’m the only one to be able to see her being so stunning.”       “Ah!” Edward nods energetically, smiling widely and looking closely at the face of Terrence, who is still a little red and excited. “I bet that you had asked her to perform a private dance for you before I came.”       “Well…” Terrence rolls his eyes and bites his lip unconsciously. “Maybe… Maybe…”       “Then it’s clear why you’re so red and excited and came here with disheveled hair. And you didn’t definitely overstay in a hot bath…”       “I guess I have something much better than a hot bath,” Terrence smiles slyly. “I am very lucky to have my fiancée. Because only that hellcat could do what none of my exes could.”       “M-m-m…” Edward nods confidently with a sly smile. “Okay, you can stop because I know it was hot here. It seems like Raquelle did something to my bro if he still can’t come to himself and keeps literally choking from a lack of air.”       “She did something to me?” Terrence rounds his eyes. “No, buddy, you’re wrong! I do give her pleasure and make her moan from just one touch of my hand to her stunning body. Of course, I sometimes let Raquelle control the situation a little to get the energy for the next time. But she obeys me mostly.”       “But she probably got a little sick of it…” Edward replies thoughtfully, noticing a slight bruise under Terrence’s eye and tracks of teeth on the curve of his neck, and chuckles quietly. “Cameron got so excited that she gave you the bruise under your eye in passion. And bite you like a vampire… Judging the tracks of teeth on your neck…”       “Oh…” Terrence gets a little embarrassed, hiding the tracks of teeth on his neck. “Fuck, hiding something from you is impossible! I should’ve stolen something from Raquelle’s cosmetics and covered these tracks.”       “Listen, Terrence, if you’d started to deny everything, I would’ve understood everything.” Edward puts his hands on his hips. “Because I ain’t an idiot and a little boy. I could easily realize everything by looking at your happy red face, your hair stuck up, and Raquelle’s attempts to mark the territory with hickeys.”       “I’d laugh at you if you went to my home, being dumbfounded and having hickeys and tracks of lipstick. And see how much pleased you’d be…”       “Well, sorry for preventing you from having wonderful sex with your charming fiancée and forcing you to stay unsatisfied.”       “I’m forgiving you ‘cause we didn’t meet for ages. I missed my bro, whom I wanted to invite somewhere.”       “M-m-m, how attracted you got to me! You probably can’t live a day without thinking of me and wishing to spend time with a good man.”       “Huh, why should I think of you every day?” Terrence chuckles, sits on the sofa, and suggests Edward do the same, clapping on the place near himself. “I have Raquelle, and I think of her every single day. Especially when she isn’t with me. Of course, having a friend is cool, but I have to disappoint you: you don’t have too much space in my mind. Somewhere five or seven percent.”       “Sorry…” Edward, crossing his arms over his chest, sits on the sofa next to Terrence. “I thought you’d be sweet and kind after making love with Raquelle. But you’re still a pain in the ass.”       “But I still care about you,” Terrence smiles innocently. “I really wondered where you disappeared. But now I know everything and am quietly ‘cause you’re okay.”       “I’d hardly believe it if you hadn’t been pleased even to call me and find out how I was doing. But since you called me often, I believe you.”       “Ah…” Terrence leans back in the sofa with a slight smile. “Being older brother is a great and hard responsibility. Not less hard work than being a parent. Because you always worry about those, who are younger, and wanna know they’re okay.”       “Oh, yeah, I see you began to get ready for the role of a daddy,” Edward laughs shyly. “You’re training on me because none of your familiar people have their own children.”       When Terrence wants to say something, Blair shyly comes to him and Edward, holding a plate with glasses of some fruit drinks in her hands.       “Excuse me, does someone want to drink?” Blair asks gently and glances at Terrence. “Mr. MacClife, you asked me to give you something.”       “Yes, yes, thanks a lot, Blair,” Terrence smiles shyly, takes one glass from the plate, and takes a sip. “Put the plate on the table. Maybe Raquelle would love to drink…”       “Gonna show some arrogance and take a glass for me,” Edward says and takes a second glass from the plate that Blair put on the coffee table.       “Bon appétit, Mr. MacClife,” Blair replies amicably with a slight smile, folding her hands in front of her.       “Thanks, Blair! It’s been a while, by the way! How are you doing?”       “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”       “And how is your brother doing?” Edward asks, taking a sip from the glass.       “Fine. As they say, he’s growing up.”       “Good! Yeah, it’s such a delicious drink. You cooked it?”       “Yes, Violetta taught me to cook it. Christiana or she would’ve given you a drink, but they have very much to do and cannot tear apart. But I’m going to wash the floor in the kitchen.”       “Anyway, I’m delighted by this drink.”       “Thanks, Mr. MacClife,” Blair smiles shyly.       “Alright, Blair, you can go to do your business,” Terrence says quietly. “I will call you if I need something.”       “Alright. With your permission.”       “Give my greetings to Violetta and Christiana,” Edward says.       Blair smiles shyly with a slight nod and leaves quietly to do her business, while Edward watches her and slowly drinks from his glass. And then he glances sharply at Terrence when he slightly pushes him on his hip.       “Hey, don’t flirt with her too much,” Terrence laughs shyly. “I don’t deny she’s sweet and sympathetic, but don’t shoot your eyes and find a reason to talk to her more.”       “What?” Edward chuckles. “C’mon, Terrence! Is it bad to be gentle and wish to ask someone how they’re doing? Or did you ban your servants from talking to visitors after Parker got a crush on Blair?”       “I didn’t do, don’t worry. I just don’t want Blair to get a crush on you. And start to suffer from tearing between you and Parker and not being able to hook up with you because you’re taken. So, don’t smile at her so cutely and get her charmed by your pretty face.”       “Hey, I didn’t get a crush on Blair!” Edward claps Terrence on the shoulder. “Stop saying bullshit!”       “If you were single, and she didn’t accept gifts from Ben, I would say no word. But if your girlfriend finds out you’re trying to pick up another girl, you won’t avoid a scandal. But I don’t want you to give Natalia pain. The girl was waiting for her happiness for too long.”       “Calm down, buddy, don’t doubt my loyalty,” Edward tries to reply confidently and bites his lip for two seconds, squeezing tightly the glass, from which he takes a sip. “When I’m in a relationship and love someone, I’ll never cheat without breaking up. I don’t cheat and will never forgive it.”       “I’m warning you as the man, who got over that. If you cheat, you may regret succumbing to some wishes that could hurt someone. Raquelle and I were lucky that we saved our relationship and forgot that I cheated. But everything might happen otherwise in other cases.”       “I know… But I must confess that you and Raquelle are really lucky. A miracle helped you save your relationship that was doomed. And you’re gonna have a wedding soon. Our family is gonna be bigger.”       “You’re right, but there will always be reasons for fights in any kind of relationship. No matter how much you love someone, and what you’re ready to do for your beloved person.”       “What do you wanna say? Did you fight with Raquelle when you and I didn’t meet?”       “Yup, we’ve fought several times for stupid things over the past few days. Everything was fine before, but now it got worse… But that’s good we stop in time and reconcile quickly. No conflicts like the one, which almost brought us to a breakup.”       “Trying not to make the mistakes of the past?”       “Yes, and the pieces of advice from Raquelle’s aunt and grandfather help us well. They said we’d better go on different sides if we felt we might fight for a while. And it helps well. Not always, of course, but I think we could stop in time when being enraged.”       “I get it…” Edward runs his hand over his hair. “Living without mistakes is impossible… But I’m glad you’re trying to get better.”       “We’re trying, buddy. We can’t always do it, but we’re doing our best.”       Edward says nothing and just looks at Terrence with sadness in his eyes. Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which the friends either drink from their glasses or look around and see the servants running from one side to another and doing their work.       “Hey, how’s your band doing?” Edward asks. “In our last talk on the phone, you told me about the meeting with George, Daniel, and Peter.”       “Yeah, I remember…” Terrence pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “But everything got much worse than it was…”       “What are you talking about?”       “Yesterday, something that might put the existing of our band in danger happened.” Terrence runs his hand through his hair. “If the situation gets much worse, everything we’ve reached by working hard will be ruined to the fuck.”       “I don’t like your intonation…” Edward says thoughtfully, listening to Terrence’s depressed voice and examining his upset face full of sadness. “As well as your face… It seems like someone died, and everybody keeps mourning.”       “Erm… Haven’t you read magazines and newspapers or news on the Internet? Today, they published a post about what happened.”       “Sorry, I have no time for that and rarely read newspapers and check the Internet, which I can have one time per month in the best case. But what did they post? What happened yesterday? I wanna know everything!”       “Okay, if you don’t know, I’d like to tell you…”       Terrence does not finish his thought because Raquelle goes downstairs like a model and quietly comes to Edward and Terrence.       “Hey, guys, wouldn’t you mind if I joined your party?” Raquelle asks with a slight smile. “Or is your talk confidential? For men only?”       “No, no, we are for!” Terrence exclaims, moving his eyes to Raquelle with a shy smile. “For us, it would be an honor to accept such a charming and beautiful girl.”       “Yeah, we don’t mind,” Edward agrees amicably. “Join our talk.”       “Thanks,” Raquelle thanks politely and waves a hand at Edward. “Hi, Edward, glad to see you.”       “Hey, Raquelle, I’m glad to see you, too,” Edward gets up from the sofa, comes to Raquelle, hugs her, and shares an amicable kiss on the cheek. “I didn’t see you for much longer than Terrence.”       “Yeah…” Raquelle steps back from Edward and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. “We didn’t meet for ages. You could call me – we would’ve talked about something.”       “Sorry, I had no time. I barely found a couple of minutes to call my friend and find out how he was doing.” Edward puts his hand on his forehead. “All of those one-time jobs make me so exhausted…”       “I get it… We were also doing our business.”       “Yeah, I can’t be silent about you looking incredible.”       “Thanks, friend,” Raquelle replies with a shy smile. “I’m trying to fit the status of the fiancée of one of the most attractive men in the show business. So, I spend a lot of time taking care of me…”       “I believe your hard work gives you good results. My friend doesn’t get sick of praising you and looking at you with widely open eyes.”       “That’s right, sometimes I can’t literally get off him,” Raquelle replies funnily and caresses Terrence sitting on the sofa on the head. “You can start a motor, but you don’t know how to stop it.”       “Yeah, stopping this sex machine is impossible even if you get all the batteries out of it or run it off the electricity,” Edward chuckles kindly. “But now he came to me, being red, bitten, and with weak legs… I believe you found a way to stop this stud.”       “Yeah, there’s one thing that lets me control him. He believes he could have total control of me, but I managed to find a couple of ways to play with your bro a little.”       “You and I are the only ones to be able to strike the crown off his head for a while and kick his ass,” Edward claps Terrence slightly on the shoulder with a quiet chuckle and gets his hair a little disheveled. “He’d become too insolent if you didn’t bring him from heaven to earth, at least for a while.”       “But you two will have to regret it much later,” Terrence says confidently, sharply moving Edward’s hand off his disheveled hair. “Because I’ll kick your ass, Edward, so that you will be sweet and obedient for a long time. And you, Raquelle, know what’s waiting for ya.”       “Huh, together, we will kick you so that you will be running away from us as fast as the wind,” Raquelle chuckles, taking Terrence by the shoulders. “And with Edward’s help, I can teach you a good lesson and make you listen to us.”       “We will see it! You won’t dare to hurt the one, who was unofficially pronounced a God.”       “Yeah, you called yourself the one!”       “You must take the dust off me! And make sure nothing happens to me.”       “You will stand for yourself!” Edward exclaims, leaning on the sofa with his hands. “You ain’t a little boy, you’re an adult six-foot-tall man with quite a tough hand.”       “I had to learn it. I don’t have protectors. Even if my gorgeous body must be protected by lots of tough bodyguards. Because Terrence MacClife is a synonym of the word ‘gold’! Or ‘brilliant’. It’s as valuable and all-favorite…”       Terrence does say what he wants because Raquelle tightly closes his mouth with a hand and caresses his head with a sly smile.       “Okay, honey, we got it,” Raquelle says confidently and kisses Terrence on the cheek. “But now keep yourself from praising yourself, while we’re having a visitor at our home.”       “Oh, thanks, Raquelle, you’re just a gem,” Edward smiles shyly. “Or my ears would’ve started bleeding if I had heard Terrence praising himself and saying he literally fell in love with every single reflection in his way for two more hours.”       “Don’t be shy, Edward, sit down.” Raquelle sits on the sofa next to Terrence and softly caresses his hand, glancing at the drinks placed on the coffee table. “Oh, I see someone brought you drinks…”       “Yeah, very delicious, just saying…” Edward sits in front of the lovers and takes his glass, from which he drinks a little bit again, leaving it half-emptied by this moment. “The best one I’ve ever tasted.”       “I love it, too,” Raquelle takes a third glass that nobody touched yet and drinks a little bit from it. “Nice…”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which the trio drinks their drinks.       “Yeah, what had you been talking about before I came?” Raquelle asks. “Or is it personal or something that girls shouldn’t know?”       “Nope, nothing special…” Edward replies thoughtfully as he shrugs. “I asked Terrence about the band, and he wanted to say something to me.”       “So, you don’t know what happened yesterday.”       “Terrence said they wrote about it in today’s magazines and newspapers.”       “Yes, we read one article. Haven’t you seen anything?”       “He says he doesn’t have time to read newspapers,” Terrence says confidently. “He’s a kind of very busy guy that looks for jobs.”       “But I really have no time to buy newspapers,” Edward throws his hands up. “And I can’t spend my money on what I shouldn’t. If I buy a magazine for one article, I won’t be able to buy something very important.”       “That’s how…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully.       “So, what happened to the band? Tell me everything! How’s everything serious?”       “Actually, quite serious,” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes. “The case is that Peter ended up in a hospital.”       “Peter?” Edward rounds his eyes and puts his glass on the table. “But what happened to him?”       “A suicide attempt,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “Terrence and Daniel found Peter at his home unconscious with cut wrists.”       “Yeah…” Terrence pronounces quietly. “It’s true… Peter tried to kill himself…”       Edward shakes his head with widely open eyes full of horror, being dumbfounded by what he heard.       “Oh, damn!” Edward gets horrified, closing his mouth with a hand. “How did it happen? Why did he do it? Peter was always a positive man! Why did he try to deprive himself of life?”       “As it turned out, when someone laughs a lot, it doesn’t mean everything is fine,” Raquelle says in a depressed voice. “Peter was never fine. But he was hiding it too hard.”       “When Daniel and I saw Peter at the meeting with Smith, we were really scared but didn’t think everything was so serious,” Terrence confesses. “He changed for the worse. You’d hardly recognize him as the one you knew a few months ago.”       “Does George know about Peter’s suicide attempt?” Edward asks.       “Daniel and I haven’t told him yet. But he’ll know it soon without us… Since the media wrote about it, the manager would find it out early or late and start another scandal that would give us nothing good.”       “Wait, but how does the media know it? They could find any guy similar to Peter and tell people that’s Rose.”       “No, Edward, the news is true. And the proof is the photos published by some people, who saw Daniel, Peter, and me near the building where the blond’s apartment was, and near the hospital where he was brought. They are LQ, but the three of us could be easily recognized. And say the guy that was lying on the gurney and carried by the doctors was Pete.”       “My gosh… So, he will really do… I think he already knows if those photos were spread by various sources.”       “Honestly, we give a fuck. But if George finds it out and makes us explain it, we’ll tell him everything and won’t deny it. Because it doesn’t make sense.”       “But will Peter survive? How’s he feeling now? And what about doctors’ forecasts?”       “Unclear,” Raquelle replies quietly and takes a sip of her drink, the glass of which she puts on the table. “The doctor kind of gave hope for the best, but started to get us ready for the worst. He said Peter lost very much blood, and his heart was working like crazy to compensate for the loss.”       “And he has hypovolemia, a state of decreased blood volume,” Terrence adds. “And that’s why Peter needs a blood transfusion as soon as possible.”       “Haven’t they transfused blood yet?” Edward wonders.       “The doctors wanted Peter’s relative to become a donor,” Raquelle explains. “But as we know nothing about his family, and the doctors didn’t have the blood they needed, they had to delay transfusing blood and give him some solutions.”       “And that’s why Daniel, two friends of Peter, who we met by chance, and I gave our blood for a test that would show if one of us could be a donor.”       “And when will you know it?” Edward asks.       “Today, after lunchtime, I’ll call Daniel and those girls and go to the hospital to know the results.”       “Can we visit him now? I’d visit him with pleasure and support him!”       “Sadly, nobody is allowed to visit him due to his very hard condition. But I think when he gets the transfused blood, we will be allowed to visit him.”       “Sorry… Well, would you agree to give Peter your blood if it fit him?”       “I would do it immediately,” Terrence replies confidently. “Peter must survive. And if I get a chance to save him, I’ll do everything to give him blood.”       “What if none of you fits?” Raquelle asks.       “So, we’ll find someone from Peter’s family,” Terrence drinks a little bit and puts his glass on the table. “Or find someone else to wish to do a test.”       “My gosh, doesn’t Peter have relatives?” Edward wonders. “Doesn’t he have a mother or a father? Brothers and sisters, at last?”       “Peter has never told us about his family,” Terrence shrugs. “His friend mentioned a mother, but he doesn’t have a very good relationship with her, and she is probably an alcoholic. But if it’s so, she cares only about drinks, and we don’t know where to find her, and whether she’s alive.”       “But how does his friend know it?”       “They went to the same school. And I think she knows him much better and wouldn’t lie to us. So, we didn’t even count on his mother and asked the doctor to allow us to do a test. That’s good he agreed to take blood from us. The nurse got our data and told us to sign a piece of paper, and we gave our samples.”       “Were you afraid?”       “Nope, I took that procedure quietly. It was much harder when I had to watch Peter lying unconscious on the floor in his own blood. When Daniel and I found him in the bathroom, it was dirtied with it.”       “Oh, so sorry, buddy,” Edward says with sadness in his eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened.”       “I confess that being there was madly unpleasant to me…” Terrence confesses, running his hand over with a quiet sigh. “But I must’ve bitten a bullet and braced myself, ‘cause we would’ve lost Peter. Counting on Daniel was barely possible, ‘cause he felt bad when he went to the bathroom and saw the blood. I had to shout and shake him up, so he did just something.”       “Daniel?” Edward wonders. “But why? Does he fear blood?”       “Most likely, but he doesn’t wanna confess it. But I understood it shortly when Daniel almost fainted. And to prove that he allegedly feared nothing, he bravely went to do a test and almost cleaned his stomach when the nurse was taking blood from his vein.”       “My gosh…” Edward starts to massage his neck. “You got me surprised, honestly… Daniel fears blood… He’s such a cold and tough man at first sight, but faints from blood…”       “I wouldn’t be surprised if Peter knew it. If Daniel denied the fear of blood so hard, he probably tried to do his best not to get ashamed and let anyone find it out.”       “C’mon, guys, not everyone is as brave as some roosters, who love showing off with a big puffy tail,” Raquelle notices, moving her eyes to Terrence.       “Hey, what are you hinting at?” Terrence wonders. “Do you think I should’ve left Peter to die and run away?”       “No, but…”       “Remember, honey, Terrence MacClife never runs away from problems and always solves them.”       “Did I say something?” Raquelle throws her hands up with an innocent smile. “I didn’t say you weren’t brave! Could you have some claims?”       “And by the way, I’ve got a really posh tail. As posh as I am! A handsome, brave, clever, attractive, and confident man… Who else has this composition!”       “Listen, our gorgeous peacock, don’t mock your friends and laugh at their fears and failures. Someone already laughed so hard that he brought his friend to the hospital.”       “I don’t laugh at him, don’t say stupid things! It’s just the first time when I met a man, who fears blood ‘till the shake in his legs! But I used to think that there weren’t men, who would faint at the sight of blood.”       “MacClife!”       “What’s wrong again?”       “Erm, guys, don’t start fighting, please,” Edward meddles a little hesitantly. “A couple more fights before everything might end very badly. But I wouldn’t like you to break up…”       “M-m-m, seems like one bird whispered in your ear about what was happening here,” Raquelle assumes, looking at Terrence with a mysterious smile. “Or did this handsome guy complain to you much earlier?”       “The bird didn’t whisper all the details,” Edward shrugs. “It just said you fought but tried to get better and stop in time not to bring everything to a wish to break up.”       “The bird told the truth…” Raquelle slightly claps Terrence on his lap. “The talkative black-haired birdie.”       “If I hadn’t said, you wouldn’t have been silent,” Terrence smiles innocently. “So, you can think I freed you from having to explain everything to my bro.”       “I would’ve been surprised if you’d said nothing and wanted to pretend that nothing happened.”       “Hey, Raquelle, maybe, you tell me what had been happening here before I came?” Edward smiles slyly, putting his arm behind the back of the sofa and spreading his legs. “Of course, Terrence confessed that you had something interesting, but didn’t tell me much. I believe you seriously kicked my friend’s ass ‘cause he was too excited when coming to me.”       “You shouldn’t know the details, kid,” Terrence replies confidently. “I’m gonna just repeat that you, softly saying, prevented Raquelle and me from spending a wonderful time together.”       “Be careful, ‘cause you may be turned into a vampire,” Edward says funnily. “Your teeth mark might be contagious, and you’d bite people on a dark night.”       “Don’t worry, Edward, your friend will remain human and won’t be turned into a creature with fangs instead of teeth,” Raquelle promises confidently, taking Terrence’s hand and putting her head on his shoulder for two seconds. “But I can’t promise that I wouldn’t be biting him…”       “Run, buddy, before she turns you,” Terrence laughs shyly, embracing Raquelle around the shoulders. “I will hold her! But if we have to, we’ll tie this cutie up!”       “Hey, I shall tie you up now!” Raquelle gives Terrence a slight clap on the head and makes his hair much more disheveled, while he laughs shyly.       “Yeah, I see your fiancé became less strict in picking up clothes,” Edward notices thoughtfully, looking at Terrence’s hair and clothes. “He didn’t use to let himself have even a slight carelessness, and was always literally polished ‘till the gloss. I can’t believe Terrence came to me with his hair stuck up.”       “Oh, it’s a gorgeous hairstyle!” Raquelle laughs quietly. “You should’ve seen this creature in the early morning! I’m gonna be honest, I barely held down my laugh, as I saw the bird's nest on his head.”       “Seriously?”       “Yes! And I barely persuaded him to put himself in order a little. Or my beloved fiancé would’ve been ashamed of you. Because you would’ve been laughing at that picture for a long time.”       “So, buddy, was everything so bad?” Edward laughs quietly, leaning back in the sofa. “I’d like to see that picture and take a couple of photos that I would later post on the Internet to make all your fans happy.”       “Damn, what an idiot I am!” Raquelle claps himself on the forehead. “I should’ve taken a photo of that beauty and shown it to you! I’m sure you would’ve been delighted!”       “Yay, Terrence, I needed to talk to Raquelle a little to find out everything you were silent about. Maybe, I’ll even find out what she did to you if you were so red and could barely breathe.”       “Please, Edward, don’t pay attention to her,” Terrence waves a hand with a sly smile, puts an arm around Raquelle’s neck, and presses her to himself so that the girl snuggles her face in his shoulder. “She’s been a little talkative since the morning. And honestly, this talkative lady got me a little tired.”       “Ha, you did annoy me by hugging and kissing me constantly!” Raquelle chuckles quietly and slightly pushes Terrence on his hip. “Seriously, Edward, I don’t know where to hide from this unstoppable peacock.”       “Yeah, but you’re asking for trouble. Am I the one to blame that you do your best to get problems? So, I have to get your hot temple a little cool.”       “You’d better learn to listen to me and do what I say.” Raquelle moves her head off Terrence’s shoulder. “Tell Edward how you were running away from me when I was trying to brush your hair. You refused to put yourself in order and were pretending to be a bad boy.”       “Gosh, Raquelle, there was nothing hard!” Edward chuckles kindly. “You would’ve pushed him on the bed and tied him to it. If this handsome guy had begun to be resentful, you would’ve shut him up with a rag! And you could let him go and run before getting caught by him.”       “I’ll surely tie him up to the bed, but for something else,” Raquelle smiles mysteriously. “Something that he will never forget.”       “C’mon, my darling, kick his ass!”       “I’ve got many plans for this handsome guy.”       “Oh, how it’s great I have you!” Edward leans back in the sofa with a wide smile. “I wouldn’t be the only one to kick the ass of my friend, who we should bring from heaven to earth at times.”       “If he hurts you, let me know it. I’ll talk to him immediately and make him sweet and obedient to you.”       “Hey, stop agreeing against me!” Terrence exclaims, runs his hand through Raquelle’s hair, and ruffles it strongly, starting to tickle her hips. “Yeah, rebel girl, get it!”       “No, don’t do this!” Raquelle thrills with a laugh, unsuccessfully trying to move Terrence’s hand off her hair and giving him slight hits on his arms and chest. “You’ll destroy my hairstyle! Stop, idiot, you’re tickling me! Hey! You’re tickling me!”       “Oh, my gosh…” Edward pronounces with a laugh, leaning back in the sofa and watching Terrence and Raquelle starting to fight with each other as a joke. “I see you haven’t played enough.”       “All questions go to this idiot!” Raquelle exclaims through a quiet laugh, pointing at Terrence, breathing a little heavily, and trying to make him stop tickling her. “Stop the fuck tickling me! I’m gonna die from a laugh!”       “Okay, okay, I stopped,” Terrence jabs, stops tickling Raquelle, presses her to himself with his arms, and caresses her head, while she breathes a little heavily. “I said…”       Then Raquelle starts to ruffle Terrence’s hair, slightly beat him on all parts of his body, and tickle him so that he literally curls up in a ball from a laugh.       “No, Raquelle, stop, I can barely take tickling!” Terrence exclaims. “Stop tickling me! Hey, stop, I said!”       “Get what you deserved!” Raquelle replies with a sly smile. “I shall make you remember who Raquelle Cameron is! You don’t better mess with me!”       But Terrence gets the initiative quickly and answers Raquelle by tickling her slightly and trying to ruffle her hair. Everything is happening along with a quiet laugh of Edward, who has his arms crossed over his chest while watching his friends thrilling with a laugh and tickling each other.       “Edward…” Raquelle pronounces through a heavy breath. “Edward, talk to your friend! I can’t control him! And don’t let him get closer to Daniel, ‘cause he impacts Terrence badly. Your friend is a scumbag, but the influence of his friend makes him really unbearable.”       “Ah, Raquelle, I’d help you with pleasure,” Edward smiles shyly, watching Raquelle beating Terrence, who dodges somehow. “But I’m afraid he’d hardly listen to me. This guy didn’t even listen to his mother and was a walking problem. No need to talk about you and me…”       A few seconds later, Terrence and Raquelle stop their funny fight because they got a little tired and should catch their breath.       “Okay, okay, don’t grumble,” Terrence pronounces, breathing heavily and fixing his hair. “I’m done… You got me tired…”       “Idiot, I will remind you of this!” Raquelle says in a threatening voice, fixing her disheveled hair and being a little blushed after this funny fight. “I swear, MacClife, when I have a chance, I will make you pay much for it.”       “Yay, my dears, you’re like two hurricanes that could destroy everything in their way after they collide and provoke a global catastrophe,” Edward laughs shyly, putting his arm on the back of the sofa.       “Sometimes he gets me madly irritated, and I wanna strangle him. But on the other hand, I’d feel bad without Terry. I need to take care of him, no matter how capricious this creature is.”       “It’s all the same about her,” Terrence says and moves a little strand of hair off his eyes. “But I don’t need anyone else.”       “Try hard,” Edward advises. “Help each other solve your problems, and remember that a second attempt to break up may be the last one.”       “We know, our caring guy. But thank you for the advice.”       “We’re doing everything we can,” Raquelle adds.       Edward nods with a shy smile and looks around the whole living room, while silence settles in the air. Raquelle drinks a little bit from her glass to calm down a little. And Terrence still keeps watching his friend, following his plan, and doing his best to help him relax and not to think of his secrets.       “Hey, guys, did I tell you I recently moved into Mrs. MacClife’s home?” Edward breaks the silence, slightly pulling down a sleeve of his black denim jacket.       “Really?” Terrence wonders. “Did you decide?”       “Yep, two days ago. I thought about everything well and went to Mrs. MacClife’s home with my stuff. I said I was ready to live with her, and she accepted me with pleasure. She gave me a room and showed me where everything was.”       “So, are you gonna live with your close person?” Raquelle asks.       “I am living. And I’m very glad I finally decided to do it. At first, I doubted, but then I thought living with her would be better. Better than with Mrs. Richardson…” Edward bites his lip slightly. “Who accepted my choice and wished me luck…”       “I think it’d be much better. Mrs. MacClife won’t have to be bored alone in a big house. She’s gonna have someone to talk with.”       “Hey!” Edward glances at Terrence. “Terrence, your mother is a little upset ‘cause you forgot about her, don’t almost visit her, and don’t call her. She asked me to let you know it and say that she misses you.”       “Yeah, I know…” Terrence nods. “I really wanna visit Mother or call her. But I have so many problems: the band is close to a breakup, my friend is close to death, and…”       Terrence sharply falls into silence and bites his lip slightly.       “Don’t make your mother sad and visit her,” Edward says. “She talks very much about you and misses the times when you visited her almost every day.”       “Tell her not to worry. I promise I’ll find time to come to her… Well, not only her, but also you. Because you moved into her house…”       “We’ll be waiting,” Edward smiles shyly and glances down for two seconds. “I’d be happy to show you the guitar of your father.”       “My father’s guitar?” Terrence wonders, rounding her eyes. “But how? Did he love music?”       “Mrs. MacClife said your father often loved singing songs. He kinda often played for her, and she was delighted.”       “If it’s so, I’m starting to understand who he got a love for music from,” Raquelle says thoughtfully.       “Honestly, I was shocked when I discovered it. But I got much more surprised when told me about the day Terrence’s father left his family with his younger child. That he remembered.”       “When Terrence was two or three?” Raquelle specifies.       “Yup. Mrs. MacClife said Terrence barely turned three years, but I was one year old. She said her ex-husband and she really had a fight, during which he slapped her. He quickly realized what happened and left her due to a sense of shame. Not because they fell out of love. But because Mr. MacClife was afraid of himself and what he’d do in the future. What Terrence and I could take when watching his behavior.”       “So, was that memory true?” Terrence asks hesitantly. “I didn’t think it up?”       “Yes, Terrence. I don’t know if your father actually regretted that, but your parents’ breakup happened in the way, which you remember.”       “My gosh…” Terrence, moving his eyes down, closes his mouth with a hand and slightly doubles over.       The shocked Terrence and Raquelle unconsciously call the memories of what happened between MacClife’s parents a few months ago. Under the influence of the memories, the man sharply gets upset, leaning on his laps with his elbows and closing his face with his hands. As if he is ashamed to show it. The girl watches him with sadness in her eyes, understanding what he is thinking about. At some moment, she softly embraces him around the shoulders, takes his hand, tenderly caresses his head, and kisses him on the temple, caressing his back.        “Oh, I’m sorry, guys, I didn’t wanna say it and make you think of bad things,” Edward apologizes hesitantly, inclining his head and nervously swallowing up. “But you should’ve known the truth.”       “It’s okay,” Terrence pronounces in a low, quiet voice and leans back in the sofa, slowly exhaling. “Don’t think about it… You did the right thing… Maybe, I’d talk to Mother later and question her about that situation.”       “I understand that event is very similar to your conflict with Raquelle,” Edward says with sadness in his eyes. “But it’s what Mother told me. She wouldn’t lie to us…”       “Don’t think about it, Edward. Just don’t think…”       “But early or late, you’d have to know it,” Raquelle notices, keeping a hand on Terrence’s shoulder and softly caressing it.       “I do mean it. But now I surely know my memory is not a fantasy. I could say I know how my parents broke up.”       “And she said that your parents’ younger son was with his grandmother on the day they fought,” Edward says thoughtfully. “He wasn’t a witness. But after the conflict with her, your father took the child and left.”       “To be honest, I barely remember Grandma Margaret ‘cause I met her several times. Mother was raising me alone.”       “She said. And added that your father disappeared and even stopped visiting his mother and driving Edward to her.”       “And my grandmother knew about my brother and told me nothing.”       “Sorry, but I have no idea of why they were silent. Your mother said nothing about it.”       “My gosh, so many secrets…” Raquelle notices thoughtfully, leaning back in the sofa and starting to pull her earring.       “Yeah…” Terrence agrees, scratching the back of his head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I discovered something that has to do with one of my relatives. For example, Mother would love to reveal a secret that is connected with Father… Or we know someone is threatening my family and wanna destroy us.”       Terrence and Raquelle immediately notice that Edward starts nervously shifting on the sofa with widely open eyes and gets quite tense. Due to the excitement, he takes a breath away for a few seconds and gets a little white.       “Are you okay, Edward?” Raquelle frowns slightly, looking at Edward questioningly.       “Erm, yup…” Edward shrugs with a false smile. “I’m fine…”       “Really?” Terrence wonders, looking at Edward closely and looking forward to the moment of the reveal. “But why did you get nervous after I said about threats to my family?”       “Erm…” Edward’s eyes start running from one side to another, and he starts to touch some parts of his face or twirl the sleeves of his denim jacket, understanding his voice became shaking. “Why do you think I got nervous?”       “You got white… And your voice changed…”       “No…” Edward clenches his hands into fists, but locks his fingers a second later. “I just… I’d also be surprised if… I knew some family secrets… So…”       Edward chuckles nervously and, literally stopping breathing, starts to look at his hands. While Raquelle and Terrence closely watch him and start to believe that the man definitely knows something about the threats.       “I can’t wait to press you to the wall and find out what’s hidden underneath your cute face,” Raquelle thinks. “Of course, you’re pretending very well, at least in the case of the threats. But it can’t be happening anymore. Terrence and I will know the truth about your business and your relationship with Natalia. And you will tell us everything you know about the younger brother of my fiancé.”       And a few seconds later, Violetta quietly comes into the living room, holding two closed envelopes that she gives Terrence.       “Excuse me, Mr. MacClife, someone just brought these envelopes to you,” Violetta says quietly.       “Me?” Terrence rounds his eyes and takes the envelopes from Violetta’s hands, trying to show a surprise for Edward as truly as possible. “What is that?”       “I just found them in a mailbox. Your name and address are written on them.”       “Oh…” Terrence looks at the envelopes for two seconds, glances at Violetta, and smiles slightly at her. “Alright, thanks a lot. You can be free.”       “With your permission,” Violetta turns around and quickly goes to do her business.       Terrence and Raquelle start their show with pleasure and pretend that they are closely examining the envelopes: the man frowns too strongly, and the girl opens her eyes widely.       “My gosh…” Terrence pronounces. “We didn’t get letters for ages… Since the times of Simon Ringer’s threats.”       “They don’t have signatures…” Raquelle notices, looking at the envelope that is closer to her. “Anonymous letters…”       “But there are our names… For example, there is yours here.” Terrence gives one envelope to Raquelle, who takes it and starts to wrap it in her hands.       “But there’s yours on another one…” Raquelle notices, glancing at the envelope in Terrence’s hands.       Meanwhile, Edward gets much whiter and looks at the envelopes with widely open eyes, literally not breathing and understanding he is slightly shaking from the excitement.       “Fuck, I hope it’s not what I’m thinking about…” Edward thinks. “No, it just can’t be true…”       “Interesting…” Terrence pronounces quietly.       “Damn, Terrence, I’ve got a very bad presentiment…” Raquelle shows anxiety. “Anonymous letters have never led to anything good.”       “It’s okay, sweetheart, don’t worry. Let’s see what’s in these envelopes and then decide what to do.”       Edward starts to shake his leg and rub his hands, watching Terrence and Raquelle with anxiety and being afraid of the worst. The lovers tear the envelopes almost at the same time and get a piece of paper folded several times out of them. And when they open the letters, they open their eyes widely and stop breathing. After waiting for two seconds, Raquelle starts to read the letter with her mouth closed with a hand, shaking her head and pretending that she gets shocked by what she sees:       “You and those you love will be dead soon. You’ll die with torture. I think there are many secrets you don’t know yet. You can discover some of them by yourself if you know what to do and who to ask about what they probably know. If you try hard, you will probably find out something new about what…”       Raquelle moves her scared look to Terrence, who swallows up nervously and shakes his head before he starts reading aloud:       “Some people that surround you are hiding. Some of the secrets may get you very surprised, some of them can make you dumbfounded, and some of them will get you so shocked that you will not able to say a word. And I advise you not to yawl and look around better when walking on the streets. Because who knows what or who you may meet on your way. Anything may happen… Remember this…”       “My gosh, what is this?” Raquelle wonders. “What secrets could we discover if we knew what to do?”       “And why should we look around?” Terrence asks and glances at the letter in his hands. “I don’t understand… Is that someone’s bad joke? Some sick fans managed to know our home address and sent these threats?”       “Maybe… But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a greeting from Simon Ringer.”       “Don’t say stupid things!” Terrence throws gloomily. “That man got what he deserved and is now serving his sentence. Moreover, he can’t do without someone’s help.”       “What if Ringer’s accomplices decided to destroy us by his order?”       “No, I’m sure everybody, who worked on him, has already paid for everything they did.”       “I dunno…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “I can’t be sure about anything…”       After hearing the text of the letters, Edward opens his dumbfounded eyes much wider and grabs his throat with a lack of air. The man tried to hide his emotions until the last moment, but now it’s too hard for him to do it. And he thinks it does not make sense now.       “Erm, guys…” Edward pronounces hesitantly. “These letters… They…”       “I understand nothing…” Raquelle says quietly, shaking her head. “Who wrote it? What do they want from us this time? Who did we hurt so much?”       “Can I take a look at your letter?”       “Yeah, sure…”       Raquelle gives the letter to Edward. The man takes it and quickly runs his eyes over the content, being much more interested in the handwriting the text is written with.       “Holy shit, no, no, it can’t be the truth…” Edward gets horrified. “Did that scumbag tell the truth and reach for Terrence and Raquelle? It’s his handwriting! The handwriting of that bastard, Michael! He does know these two could discover everything by asking me.”       Two seconds later, Edward slowly moves his eyes off the letter and looks at Terrence.       “Erm, Terrence, can you show me your letter?” Edward asks.       “Okay…” Terrence replies quietly. “Since you ’re so interested…”       Terrence gives the letter to Edward, who takes it quickly and re-reads it, getting much whiter from the anxiety. And then Lockhart pasts the two pieces of the text together with a heavy breath and reads the whole text. After reading the last line, he swallows up nervously and understands he kind of lacks air. And seeing Edward getting too excited and white, Terrence and Raquelle rejoice silently because their plan worked. While Edward, whose eyes are running from one side to another, thinks about something horrible, the lovers look at each other and smile slightly.       “Damn, these letters were written by him!” Edward gets horrified, closing his mouth with a hand. “That bastard was right when he said he’d start his game much earlier than I’d know about his plans. Now it’s clear – I’m powerless in front of him! And I can no longer be silent. It’s time to tell Terrence and Raquelle about Michael…”       “Agree, Edward, it’s all too strange,” Terrence keeps pretending. “Why would someone send anonymous letters to our home address? We did nothing bad to anyone! What do you think it could be? Someone’s bad joke? Or no?”       “Erm…” Edward stutters and swallows up nervously, breathing quite heavily. “And earlier… Did you get something like this earlier? Or… Maybe, someone came to you outside?”       “Nope, it didn’t happen… Only our fans come to us, so we take a photo with them or sign something.”       “And the envelopes…” Edward glances at the envelopes, one of which is held by Raquelle, while the second one is held by Terrence. “Something is written on them?”       “My name and home address…”       “Only yours? And Raquelle?”       “There is…” Raquelle says quietly. “There’s my name in this envelope…”       Edward looks at Terrence and Raquelle a little suspiciously, then puts the letters aside, sharply takes the envelopes from the two, and starts to examine them, finding out that the signatures were not made by Michael’s hand.       “Wait, but everything is written with different handwriting, not the one the letters are written with…” Edward glances at Terrence slowly. “It’s your handwriting, Terrence! These signatures were made by you! On both envelopes!”       “Erm, really?” Terrence shows a surprise, rounding his eyes. “My handwriting?”       “Don’t you recognize your own handwriting?” Edward starts to shake one of the envelopes. “These signatures were made by your hand.”       “Maybe, it is just very similar? Of course, I’m undoubtedly unique and the only one in the world. But I think someone could have handwriting that’s similar to mine. Or at least close to mine.”       “Stop playing the fool with me, Terrence! I’m not brainless and blind! And I do know what kind of handwriting you have! And yeah, don’t even dare to avoid the answer by talking about your awesomeness.”       “C’mon, Edward, why did you get so excited?” Raquelle keeps calm. “Calm down, it’s okay… Maybe, you really confused the handwriting and believed it was written by Terrence’s hand?”       “Do you also think I’m an idiot? Guys, stop! I do see well that the letters and the signatures on the envelopes were made by two different people. One of them is Terrence. Moreover, the letters were written by a left-handed person. But my friend isn’t left-handed and always writes with a right hand.”       “Hey, hey, buddy, calm down,” Terrence says quietly and cracks a smile. “Even if I did it, why do you care about it so much? And if you don’t stop being nervous, I’ll start to suspect that you’ve had something against us.”       “So, did you get these letters earlier?” Edward starts to guess, fitting the facts and making sure that Terrence and Raquelle are trying to deceive him. “Did you know the content of them?”       “Well, let’s pretend we did…” Raquelle replies without emotions, crossing her arms over her chest. “But why do you care about it?”       “Answer my question now: when did you really get these letters?”       “About one week ago,” Terrence replies quietly, dreaming of using a force and finding out all the secrets of Edward, and raises his head. “And yeah, I signed the envelopes.”       “So, as you got the letters a long time ago, your servants agreed with you. Right? You told them to pretend that you had just found them! One of them met me with a cute smile, another offered me a drink, and a third one gave you the letters. It does look like a plot!”       “Well, as you guessed everything, we don’t have to explain something,” Raquelle smiles innocently. “Because you hardly need it.”       “But why did you do it?” Edward puts the envelopes on the table and, squinting slightly, gloomily stares at Raquelle and Terrence. “Why? Why did you pretend that you just got the letters with threats?”       “I think it was the only way to find out what we needed,” Terrence says confidently, starting to speak in a much colder voice. “What you’re aware of.”       “Yeah, maybe, you want to tell us something?” Raquelle asks quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Huh, my sweet Eddy? Do you have something to say?”       “Me?” Edward rounds his eyes. “Erm…”       “Yeah, you’re kind of too excited, dear friend,” Terrence notices, setting his gloomy look at Edward. “Don’t you have to do with the threats from the letters? After what we had to experience, we have a reason to believe we got a betrayer, who decided to help someone destroy us.”       “What? Terrence…” Edward shakes his head. “Terrence, what are you talking about? Why do you think so bad of me? What did I do to you?”       “Don’t pretend to be an innocent lamb, Edward. Your game is over. Raquelle and I bite you through and can confidently blame you for our problems.”       “Maybe, you managed to distract us and pretended that everything was fine,” Raquelle says with absolute calm. “But we’re no longer going to believe you. Because you’ve done enough to help someone destroy us.”       “Guys, what’s wrong?” Edward wonders, breathing a little heavily. “Why are you looking at me as if I’m an enemy?”       “Enough, Edward!” Raquelle exclaims a little louder. “Stop having us wrapped around your finger! You do know who wrote the letters, and what the author of them needs from us. I’ve been sure that it has to do with you from the beginning. And my suspicions got confirmed. I disliked you for the reason. And my suspicions were confirmed later. I was sure that you would give us a lot of problems.”       “Yeah, one bastard attacked me, starting to threaten me and beating me strongly,” Terrence adds gloomily in a much icier voice, crossing his arms over his chest. “And he confirmed the letters were written by the one you were working on. Also, he added that you had some important information about my missing younger brother. Moreover, that man confidently said you were aware of the plans of his boss and knew why he was taking revenge on us. Moreover, that man said confidently that you had some important information about my missing younger brother. There was an assumption that you were his accomplice. I refused to believe you had to do with it, but I made sure she was right after getting attacked.”       “Have you wondered why he has the bruise under his eye? So, that stinker beat Terrence strongly, and your friend went home with bruises on his body and face.”       “But it was just the beginning! Later, we experienced an adventure that we would never forget. Five people tried to attempt Raquelle and me, threatening us with knives and trying to provoke me into a fight.”       “But we decided to run away, start a dangerous race, and drive at such a crazy speed that nobody drives at. Those men were chasing us for a long time and barely turned Terrence’s car into a big piece of metal.”       “We won’t tell you what happened later, and what kind of shock we felt. What kind of shock Raquelle got! And how I was shaking from what I had to see. Anyway, after all of that, we don’t even doubt that you could tell us very much.”       “And be sure, we’ll get what we want,” Raquelle says confidently. “Terrence and I started it not to succumb to your charm and ability to make people sure about what’s good for you. But now we’re done, Edward. You will no longer avoid the talk and will tell us all the truth you have probably been hiding since when we found out you existed.”       “Now it’s getting clear why you’ve been behaving so strangely,” Terrence adds coldly and smirks contemptuously. “You even started to pretend to be a shy and hesitant guy, so we didn’t dare to think of something bad about you. So, buddy, your tactic was good, congratulation. But any truth will always come to light, no matter how hard you hide it. I guess you didn’t know it when you agreed with some bastard and decided to help him destroy us.”       “Guys, please, calm down,” Edward begs excitedly, literally choking from excitement and tensing all muscles of his body. “Everything is not what you think! I can explain it!”       “You will have to explain! Or you will regret it very much. Messing with me is bad, Edward. I swear, if you make me enraged, I will not be responsible for the aftermath and will really kick your ass. Not as a joke.”       “Terrence, please, don’t get excited. I understand everything, but…”       “I wonder, is Natalia aware of your tricks?” Raquelle asks. “What if that’s what she’s been silent about all this time? And you’ve been afraid that she’d betray you and tell us everything. So, you started to threaten her and scared my friend so much that she’s now afraid to open her mouth! She was shaking on the day you were at our dinner for the reason! I wouldn’t be surprised if you made Natalia silent and threatened literally to kill her if she said just one word. But if it’s true, I swear I shall make you pay much for bringing my friend to such a horrible condition.”       “No, it’s not the truth!” Edward exclaims loudly in a shaking voice with widely open eyes full of horror. “I swear Natalia doesn’t have to do with it and knows nothing about what happened. She’s the same victim as all of us. A danger is threatening not only to me and you and also to that girl.”       “You can’t be silent anymore, Edward. Stop pretending that you know nothing.”       “Stop being good to him, Raquelle!” Terrence throws sharply, setting a contemptuous look at Edward and keeping his arms crossed over his chest. “Either he tells us everything at his wish, or I make him open his mouth by force.”       “No, no, guys, please…” Edward slowly gets up from the sofa and, breathing heavily, steps aside. “No pressure! I promise, I can explain everything! But trust me, everything is not what you think! I am the same victim as you two are! I swear I am not an accomplice of that man and didn’t especially threaten Natalia to make her silent.”       But Terrence decides to act much crueler, get the aggression out of him and teach his friend a lesson. The man breathing heavily sharply gets up from the sofa, runs to Edward, and grabs him by the collar strongly, setting his icy gaze on him. That’s why Lockhart gets much whiter and gasps loudly in scare.       “No, Terrence, don’t do this!” Raquelle begs with pity in her widely open eyes.       “Listen, you, rag, we are sick of your attempts to find excuses and avoid the answer,” Terrence says quite rudely, as his nostrils are flaring from anger. “We are SICK of it! Immediately tell us everything you know! Or I swear, asshole, you will regret being born! You lost my trust when your pal attacked me! And I am no longer going to be good for you! Do not even dare to pretend to be a fucking victim, because you are NOT the one! YOU ARE A BETRAYER!”       Edward shakes slightly and forgets how to breathe from fear, looking at Terrence with his widely open eyes full of horror, while his friend could easily kill him in anger.       “Terrence, Terrence, what you’re d-doing,” Edward pronounces hesitantly in a shaking voice.       “Don’t dare to pretend to be an innocent lamb,” Terrence hisses through his teeth. “It’s not going to work on me. IT’S NOT GOING!”       “Calm down, buddy, please. I promise I will tell you everything… Everything you and Raquelle should know… I… I can’t hide this anymore…”       “You will have to tell!” Terrence sharply and pushes Edward rudely off himself and threatens him with a finger. “Or I will make you pay for deceiving us all this time. And I swear, I will personally reveal you and tell everybody you are not who you want to be. You, asshole, will tell me everything. About your tricks and about my brother.”       “Please, Terrence, calm down,” Raquelle says a little hesitantly, coming to Terrence, taking him under an arm, and taking him to the sofa. “Sit on the sofa…”       “You two will understand it when I reveal the personality of the one, who has to do with the threats,” Edward replies excitedly, breathing heavily enough, and swallows up nervously. “And I promise I will tell you not only that.”       “Alight, we will listen to you. Just stop being so nervous and calm down. And sit on the sofa, too.”       “Oh…” Edward exhales sharply and slowly sits on the sofa. “I doubt you’d be quiet after discovering everything about that man, who is tightly connected with all of us.”       “Tell us everything you are hiding!” Terrence throws rudely, crossing his arms over his chest after Raquelle sits down next to him. “And do not dare to hide anything! Or I will have to make you my enemy. So, if you do not want to lose the rest of the trust of Raquelle and me, telling everything would be good for you.”       “I will tell you and Raquelle everything I know,” Edward promises in a quiet, shaking voice. “This time, I will be honest and explain what those letters mean.”       “We are listening,” Terrence leans back in the sofa. “And do not dare to fall into silence, at least for a second!”       “Terrence…” Raquelle pronounces quietly, acting much quieter and more discreet than Terrence. “Speak, Edward. I promise we will try to understand you if you tell us all the truth.”       “Erm…” Edward sharply exhales and runs his hand over his face, leaning on his laps with his elbows. “So, the case is…”       But Edward does not say everything because the sudden doorbell rings in the living room. That’s why the trio shake slightly, setting their surprised gazes on the hall door.       “Stay here,” Raquelle says quietly. “I’ll open.”       Raquelle sharply gets up and goes to the door, while Terrence hums and glances aside with a gloomy gaze and arms crossed over his chest, and Edward looks at his shaking hands. When the girl quickly opens the hall door, she sees Natalia being a little scared, sad, and skinny.       “Natalia?” Raquelle wonders, rounding her eyes. “What are you doing here?”       “Hey, Raquelle,” Natalia pronounces quietly, locking the fingers of her hands tightly and looking at Raquelle as if she is guilty of her. “You have a free minute? I’d like to talk to you about something… Say something important…”       “Erm…” Raquelle glances aside and scratches the back of her head, starting to get a little nervous. “Talk?”       “You can’t?”       “Yes… Oops… I mean, no… I don’t… Not…”       At this moment, Raquelle gets obsessed with a bad presentiment. That’s why she gets very nervous and does not know what to do. The girl feels the tense situation might get out of control, and the meeting of her friend and Edward would lead to a catastrophe.       “I understand I distracted you from something,” Natalia says in a quiet, shaking voice, leaning on the doorstep with one hand. “But I’d feel much better if you listened to me. Someday…”       Seeing Natalia looking at her with pity in her half-wet eyes, Raquelle’s heart squeezes. She does not dare to kick her friend out and decides to risk it and let her in. Even if she understands that if something terrible happens now, she will be responsible for the consequences.       “It’s okay, honey, it’s okay,” Raquelle says softly. “I’m ready to listen to you… Come in…”       Raquelle steps back from the door and, swallowing up nervously, lets Natalia come into the house. While the blonde, embracing herself with her arms, looks around with a depressed gaze, the brunette locks the door. Then she comes to her friend, who is nervously shifting her weight from one foot to another and acting as if she came to a horrible place where danger is waiting for her everywhere.       “Erm, Raquelle, I can come back later if I bothered you…” Natalia says hesitantly. “Just tell me, so I get it. Don’t make yourself put your business aside just for me.”       “No, no, I’m absolutely free,” Raquelle smiles falsely. “It’s okay.”       “I promise I’ll quickly tell you what I wanted and leave.”       “Let’s go to the living room and talk there.”       Raquelle softly embraces Natalia around the shoulders and goes to the living room, feeling her heart squeezing in her chest from a feeling that she may be guilty of something. But unfortunately, Cameron cannot resist her wish to help the one, who is literally begging for help with just one gaze.       A few seconds later, Raquelle and Natalia slowly come into the living room. Where the gloomy Terrence crossing his arms over his chest and the scared Edward inclining his head slightly have been sitting silently. They are thinking about something, but when the girls show up, the young men get deeply shocked. Terrence barely recognizes his friend in the skinny girl with dead eyes, a depressing book, and a lowered head. When Raquelle told him that the blonde had changed very much, the man did not think she could bring herself to this only for a few days. He sees Natalia is slightly shaking. As if it’s hard for her to stand on her feet from weakness… Terrence cannot make himself smile because he is too shocked by how Natalia looks now.       Although Edward notices the changes in Natalia’s appearance and is even worried about her, he feels much more awkward because of her pretense. The man wants to run away from here not to see the one, who hurt him much. He is not sure if he would hold himself down not to tell her everything he thinks of her, showing the worst side to Terrence and Raquelle, who are actually mad at him.       “Holy shit, what happened to her?” Edward gets horrified, looking at Natalia with widely open eyes full of horror. “Could someone bring themselves like THIS for two days? On the day of our meeting, she didn’t look so horrible! What she brought herself to! I’m shocked…”       Edward frowns slightly.       “But…” Edward thinks. “Damn, why do I the fuck care about the one, who lied to me? I’m supposed to give a fuck about this whore, who has slept with lots of men! Stop, Edward, forget about pity, forget about pity. Don’t even dare to feel sorry for this betrayer… She’s guilty of everything… If Rochester brought herself to this, it’s her problems…”       A tense silence settles in the air for a few seconds. Nobody says a word. Everybody just blinks their eyes scarily and looks at each other. But at some moment, Terrence and Edward slowly get up from the sofa with dumbfounded, widely open eyes while Raquelle stands next to Natalia and struggles with a bad presentiment, which is the reason why everything squeezes inside her.       “Natalia?” Terrence wonders quietly. “My gosh… Is that you?”       “Hey, Terrence…” Natalia says quietly, putting on a false smile and embracing herself with her arms. “Glad to see you…”       Natalia comes to Terrence and greets him by hugging him amicably, while he answers her a little hesitantly.       “You’ve changed so much since we met the last time.” Terrence keeps looking at Natalia with a dumbfounded gaze from head to foot. “Got… Sad…”       “Maybe, you’re right…” Natalia glances down for a second. “Are you probably asking why I came here?”       “Erm… Yeah… I didn’t expect your visit…”       “I came by myself. I’d like to talk to you two about something…” Natalia looks around the living room, stops her eyes on Edward for two seconds, and sharply moves them aside, swallowing up nervously. “Or I better go… I think I came at the wrong time…”       “Oh, no, no, it’s okay,” Terrence shakes his head. “You didn’t bother us.”       “If you wanna tell us something, we’ll listen to you,” Raquelle adds softly, caressing Natalia’s shoulder. “And help you if we can.”       “Yeah, but…” Natalia pronounces hesitantly, glances at Edward, but moves her eyes aside immediately. “You have visitors, but I came to annoy you… With my talks…”       “We will listen to you. From start ‘till end…”       “I know, but…”       “Erm, excuse me, guys…” Edward meddles in the talk hesitantly, feeling terribly uncomfortable due to quite a tense situation that will definitely get much worse after Rochester’s appearance. “Can I say something?”       Terrence, Raquelle, and Natalia slowly turn on Edward. While the lovers look at him gloomily with their heads proudly up, the blonde, crossing her arms over her chest, rarely throws a dead gaze at him and keeps herself closer to her friends. As if she seeks their support and protection from the man, whom she definitely fears.       “Erm, as we came here together, I want to tell you what I’ve been hiding,” Edward says much more hesitantly and quietly, feeling great pressure, being very nervous, looking quite white, and fingering over with the hope to calm himself down. “You should know it. It’s really very important and connected with us four.”       “Us four?” Natalia wonders quietly.       “Yes. And you also have to do with it.”       Natalia rounds her eyes and looks questioningly at Terrence and Raquelle, who just shrug.       “Listen, guys, let’s sit on the sofa??” Raquelle suggests hesitantly and points at the sofa. “Talk about everything…”       First, Terrence and Natalia look at each other and then glance at Raquelle, who still looks tense and scared. But then the trio sit on the sofa: the girls sit on the two hands of the man, looking at him very often. Edward sits down in front of them, starting to rub his hands nervously, shaking his leg as if he beats a rhythm on drums. His dumbfounded eyes are running from one side to another, and his hands get sharply sweaty from excitement and great tension. A wish to delay this moment is strong, but the fear of becoming guilty of his close people is way stronger.       “So, Edward, we are listening to you,” Terrence says quietly, frowning slightly and crossing his arms over his chest. “I won’t repeat what’s waiting for you for hiding at least one fact. So, start to speak.”       Edward exhales sharply, gets himself ready silently, and, rubbing his hands nervously and slouching, starts to speak a little hesitantly:       “It started a long time ago, when I didn’t know you all personally. As you know, I left my home after a serious scandal with my father at the age of seventeen. I was obsessed with the thought of finding those, who Father got me separated with. That’s why I forgot about what could happen in the nearest future…” Edward sighs heavily, falling into silence for two seconds. “A few years were gone. I forgot about it and was just hanging around the city like a homeless man and trying to survive… But one event made me recall that my family was in danger.”       Edward falls into silence again and inclines his head slightly, but sharply raises it a few moments later and looks at Raquelle, Terrence, and Natalia sitting in front of him.       “Do you remember the calls I was annoyed by a few months ago?” Edward asks quietly and glances at Natalia. “Natalia, you should remember…”       “I remember…” Natalia pronounces without emotions.       “Yeah, me too,” Terrence shrugs.       “So, I’m still getting those calls,” Edward confesses. “But I started to get them when I knew only Natalia. Somehow, I was going home after getting money for a job, and my phone gave a sound. I didn’t look at the screen and answered the call, believing it was Natalia. But it was the man, who’s still threatening you and me.”       “Us?” Raquelle frowns slightly.       “Yes. He started all of that and is going to bring his plan to an end. That man promises to reach you – he got what he wanted.”       “Wanna say these letters…”       “The thing that was made by that man. I didn’t know he wrote these letters to you. But when you and Terrence read them and showed them to me, I immediately recognized the style. It seems like it was written by a literate man ‘cause it had no mistakes, but it’s not actually the truth. The one, who is threatening you, barely graduated from school. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone of his much clever accomplices had checked his text for mistakes and helped him make the letters clear. They were probably re-written many times.”       “What letters?” Natalia frowns slightly, looking at Terrence and Raquelle questioningly.       “Two envelopes and pieces of paper are lying on the table in front of you.”       Natalia takes the letters from the coffee table and quickly reads them silently.       “My gosh…” Natalia barely pronounces.       “That man wrote if you guessed what to do and who to ask, you’d discover everything you should know,” Edward recalls. “So, he meant me. Because I am really aware of his tricks and could reveal that old bastard that went insane at any time.”       “Alright, we got it,” Terrence says quietly. “But who is that man? How’s he connected with us? How does he know us? What’s his goal of revenge?”       “It’s my uncle.” Edward glances at Terrence. “The older brother of my father?”       “Uncle?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “A nasty man. He’s very similar to my father, but he is much lower. But his face is much ruder and more unpleasant, and he began to get old very early. At least my father looked a little younger than his age. Being at the age of forty or a little more, he looked good, had a good body, and was able to work well. But Uncle looks like he was pressed to the ground by a lorry: lots of wrinkles on his face, dry skin, pain in his legs… I remember that he already had his first gray hairs when I met him for the first time. And he has lots of injuries. But he goes to a doctor literally after every single tingling in any part of the body… In short, my dad could kick any man of his age, but my uncle turned into an annoying old man and started to look like someone to be ten or fifteen years older.”       “Okay… But it gives me nothing.”       “And as I understood, he didn’t have a very good relationship with my mother.”       “I got it, but what does your uncle have to do with this story, from which I’ve understood nothing yet?”       “My uncle does have to do with this story. Because he is the one, who’s threatening me on the phone. That man may call me even in the middle of the night. And he was the one to send you and Raquelle the letters – they were written in his handwriting.”       Raquelle and Terrence frown slightly and glance at each other.       “Wait, are you really sure it was your uncle?” Raquelle asks hesitantly.       “Yes, I am,” Edward says confidently. “I don’t think he sent them personally. That man probably asked one of his pals to leave them in your mailbox. A post office would hardly send anonymous letters. They would make my uncle write his name and address.”       “One of the letters was left in the mailbox, but I found another on the windshield of my car. Someone just came to it, put the letter and left. And I think he did know which car he needed.”       “Yeah, it was probably Uncle’s accomplice… Was he watching you?”       “Maybe. Somehow, I had a shooting in the country, and he managed to come there and secretly come to my car. My assistant saw him and told me about it. I saw him but didn’t come closer and was waiting for him to leave.”       “Okay… So, Uncle started to make his plan come true much earlier than he told me. That man has always said he would do everything before I know it. And now I understand it’s the truth.”       “But how is he threatening you on the phone?” Terrence asks.       “He snaps, humiliates me, threatens to destroy me and my family. Sometimes he tells me about the plans he has made come true. Uncle does his best for me to know everything at the last moment and have no opportunity to prevent it. For example, yesterday, that old bastard said he had reached for you and Raquelle.”       “But what does he the fuck need?”       “Beautiful life. The case is that Father has something that my uncle really wants to get. But he is not able to get it yet.”       “Speak clearer!” Terrence demands a little colder.       “It’s quite a successful shipbuilding company,” Edward starts nervously fingering over. “They build ships and vessels and provide the service of transferring some stuff by sea. My grandfather founded it many years ago. But when he retired, my father took control of Grandpa’s child. The business is not very ambitious, but the company has many contracts with vendors and powerful clients, many of whom use their service regularly.”       “So, does your father think you will take control of it when it’s time for him to retire?”       “Somehow, a long time ago, he wanted me to rule the company. However, someone agreed against Father, and Uncle took control of the company. That’s why Father’s dream of making me his successor failed. And seeing that I didn’t care about my studies too much, his plan to help me start working with my stepmother was doomed to fail.”       “Did your uncle have a job in the company?” Raquelle asks. “If he didn’t, I don’t understand how he could kick your father off the chair of the boss and take it!”       “Yes, but he was an ordinary employee, didn’t make any important decisions, and had only about five or ten percent of the company's stock. Even if it was Grandfather’s decision, Uncle made Father guilty and decided to get a job as the boss of the shipbuilding business. However, he did not become an absolute owner, as Father had almost all the rights for the other part of the stocks.”       “And as far as I understand, does your uncle want to get the company?”       “He’s obsessed with a wish to deprive his brother of everything. Dad used to be quite a rich man and could’ve earned millions of dollars. And there is very much money in his bank account. Even though he earned a bigger part of it thanks to working with my stepmother. Uncle is aware of it and wants to get the rights to that account and get all the money.”       “So, as your father owns the money and the company, you will inherit all of that in case something happens to him. But to get what he wants, your uncle has to get you out of his way.”       “Yes, that’s why Uncle started all of it. For the money, he’s ready to cut our throats and bury us alive! Uncle hates me for just being alive and connected with Father, whom he always hated. His perspectives were way better than his own. And Grandmother and Grandfather paid their attention to Dad, hoping they’d make him a decent man.”       “Wow…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully. “It seems like Father got into a serious situation.”       “Agree…” Edward glances down. “And I’m afraid Father has lost in this fight… And the only one to be able to fight with Uncle is me… Uncle did his best to get Dad out of the way…”       “What do you wanna say?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “Erm… Honestly, I don’t know whether I should tell you about it…”       “You promised to hide nothing!” Terrence recalls gloomily, crossing his arms over his chest. “So, be nice to finish!”       “Well…” Edward pronounces quietly, tightly locking his fingers and breathing heavily. “Father… He… Uncle…”       “What?” Terrence gives a pressure crossly and loudly. “Speak out about what happened! Or, you, kid, will regret it! I don’t know what I will do to you if you dare to hide just something!”       Edward shakes slightly with widely open eyes because of Terrence’s loud, threatening voice. And then he exhales sharply and hesitantly looks at his friend.       “Uncle defeated my father…” Edward says excitedly in one breath, rubbing his hands nervously. “He became his victim… The innocent victim…”       “Your father became a victim?” Terrence rounds his eyes. “Erm… Don’t you wanna say that your uncle…”       “I don’t know what happened to him…” Edward inclines his head. “But my father is dead… Uncle killed him. As he promised…”       Terrence rounds his eyes full of horror.       “What?” Terrence pronounces hesitantly.       “Yes…” Edward confirms in a shaking voice. “Father is dead… And I didn’t manage to say goodbye to him…”       “Listen, Edward, if it’s your joke, you’re a sick idiot! How you dare to joke about this thing and pretend to be saddened, saying your uncle killed your father!”       “I swear, Terrence, I’m not kidding! Uncle told me that on the phone a few days ago. Father became his victim because of what’s supposed to belong to my brothers and me.” Edward throws his hands up. “I dunno… Maybe, some time should be gone before we get the rights to the inheritance. But Uncle is already getting knives ready to destroy me.”       “It can’t be true!” Terrence shakes his head sharply, leaning back in the sofa. “Did your uncle give you some proof of your father’s death?”       “At first, I refused to believe it, but then I started to be much more sure that it could be true. Yes, I don’t have proof, but Uncle says it so confidently that I believe him. And he always says about Father in the past tense… In my opinion, it means something… Because Uncle surely knows father was killed. He said he saw everything.”       “But why didn’t you say it before?”       “Sorry… I didn’t know how to do it and thought it would leave you indifferent ‘cause you hate him.”       “Oh, fuck…” Terrence runs his hand through his hair and runs it over his face, looking into the distance. “But how could it happen? And when?”       “I can’t say anything. That old bastard told me nothing about it.”       “I wonder if your mother knows about your father’s possible death?”       “I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn't.”       “That’s bad you don’t know where to find her. You could ask her openly about the story of your uncle, the company, and the money at the bank.”       “Although my uncle told me nothing, he could contact her somehow and tell her just something about what I already know.”       “Wait, I don’t understand a thing,” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Your uncle started all of this. He killed your father. And now he wants to deal with you.”       “Right.”       “But what do we have to do with the tricks of your family? Why are they threatening you and making us suffer?”       “Erm…” Edward stutters, breathing a little heavily, rubbing his sweaty hands nervously, and biting his lip. “I… It’s… Well…”       “Either your uncle went crazy, or we don’t know something else. Something that can make everything clear.”       “N-nope…” Edward swallows up nervously. “Nothing more…”       “Indeed, it’s all very weird,” Terrence notices. “I can’t find the connection.”       “Maybe, he’s really gone insane… If he wanna deal with you. Uncle is getting rid of those people, who are connected with my father and me somehow.”       “What do I have to do with it?” Natalia wonders. “Why did they the heck get me involved in this story?”       “Why did they the heck get us involved in this story?” Raquelle meddles. “Terrence, Natalia, and I aren’t relatives of yours and aren’t related to you, your father, mother, uncle, and other people.”       “But Uncle added you to the list of his enemies,” Edward replies quietly. “Yesterday, he told me that he was gonna reach the MacClifes, your friend, and you.       “Now it’s clear why I started to get some threats,” Natalia confesses without emotions, looking down.       Terrence and Raquelle move their questioning gazes to Natalia, who rubs her hands nervously, does not almost talk, and feels uncomfortable.       “What?” Raquelle and Terrence get horrified.       “You got threats, too?” Terrence asks.       “But how?” Raquelle wonders. “How long ago? Why were you silent?”       “I’ll show you something,” Natalia pronounces without emotions, takes her purse, opens it, quickly finds her phone, checks her messages, and gives the smartphone to Terrence. “Read the two latest messages from this number, please.”       Terrence takes the phone from Natalia hesitantly, while Raquelle moves closer to him to read the messages the man starts to read aloud:       “The more time is gone, the closer your death is. Your life will turn into hell very soon. But I guess you are already living like a volcano and are afraid of the moment when another eruption starts. Anyway, be careful when you walk alone on the streets. Because who knows what is waiting for you. We both know how it might be over…”       “Oh, there’s another,” Raquelle pronounces and swipes up. “Now your life is very hard, and you feel bad. I know it very well and feel how you are falling into depression because of what’s happening to you. But trust me, it’s just the beginning of your suffering! It will turn into a real hell, in which you will not survive, very soon. And I will do my best to destroy you and those, to whom you mean so much. And nobody will save you… Because everybody gets sick of your constant lie.”       Terrence and Raquelle say no word, thinking about what they learned and heard, while Edward makes much more sure that he is not able to fight with Michael.       “I’ve gotten several calls from this number but never answered,” Natalia confesses, nervously fingering over and keeping her dead eyes on her hands or the floor. “But I saw the messages… And decided not to delete them… And I think I did it for the reason…”       “Erm, Terrence, can you give me the phone?” Edward frowns slightly. “I wanna check the number they were sent from!”       “If only Natalia didn’t mind,” Terrence replies and glances at Natalia.       Natalia herself shrugs silently without emotions on her face. So, Edward takes the phone from Terrence, quickly runs his eyes over the text of the messages, and checks the number of the sender, whom he recognizes immediately.       “Damn, that’s what I thought!” Edward exclaims. “It’s Uncle’s mobile number! He calls me from it at any time of the day.”       “But how did he get Natalia’s number?” Raquelle wonders. “How does that man know our data? Well, okay, I can barely excuse the fact that he knows the home address of Terrence and me ‘cause we’re famous people. But how did he get my friend’s number?”       “Maybe, he has familiar people that could find it out?” Natalia assumes. “The police check someone they need in a database and could get all the data! So, that man used his contacts and got the number I owned! Simon Ringer someday used the help of his familiar person to log in to your iCloud account, where there was everything he needed.”       “Natalia, say, wasn’t anyone following you when you were on the street? Maybe, someone tried to attack you the way it happened to Terrence and me?”       “Nope, I didn’t notice anything like that,” Natalia shrugs. “I could walk quietly outside, and I met nobody suspicious. I just got these stupid messages. And I was wondering what it could mean…”       Terrence exhales slowly and thinks about something for two seconds, doubling over and putting his folded hands to his mouth.       “So, the situation is hard enough,” Terrence concludes. “If he is not done with Edward’s death and decides to deal with us, we’re gonna be in trouble.”       “Your mother can also be in danger,” Edward assumes quietly.       “What do you mean my mother?”       “He mentioned her. It’s hard to say when that scum wanna deal with her, but I don’t doubt that her time may come, too.”       “Damn, that bastard went insane! Did the rest of his brain leave the Earth and go to the space?”       “I swear I tried to avoid it. I told him you didn’t have to do with our business. But it did not stop him at all.”       “Gosh, is there no way to stop your uncle?” Raquelle throws her hands up. “How could it all be connected?”       “My uncle is too obsessed with an idea to get what, as he thinks, belongs to him. Through that man has not earned even a cent. Everything he is insolently using belonged to Father. He is the real owner of the shipbuilding business and the money he has on his account and got from the company’s incomes.”       “Is there such a great amount of money in the bank account that someone is ready to cut anyone’s throat?” Natalia wonders.       “Very great. Father was very clever and not only kept the business of Grandfather, but also made it prosperous. I’m sure that he was kicked out of the company as the result of a conspiracy. Uncle showered him with mud, making the staff sure that it was losing money, and Father wasn’t able to work at such a high office.”       “Listen, why don’t you and your brothers just reject the inheritance for your uncle?” Raquelle suggests. “I think if you do it, you’ll stop getting threats. I’m sure he’ll leave you alone if you sign the documents that will confirm your refusal from the company and the money in the bank account.”       “And yeah, I forgot to say that there was a will from my father that he wrote a long time ago. But my uncle was the only one to know about it, and later, I learned about it. It says that my father’s wealth should be shared between my brothers and me in case of his death. My sibling and my half-brothers.”       “It still can’t explain the reason why that man is chasing you and told someone to attack Terrence.”       “Erm, attack?” Natalia wonders truly. “Did someone attack Terrence?”       “Yeah, almost one week ago, I decided to walk after meeting Daniel,” Terrence says. “And when I wanted to get into my car, someone strongly pushed me in the back so that I barely managed to stand on my feet and almost hit my face against the front of the car. There was a verbal fight, and then everything was over with a fight, during which that man gave me a bruise under the eye.”       “Is that the one that’s going away?” Natalia points at the bruise on Terrence’s face.       “Yeah,” Terrence touches slightly the barely visible bruise. “And that man added that I should’ve asked Edward if I had wanted to know everything. And he could tell me something about my younger brother.”       “That’s good you didn’t suffer much,” Edward notices. “My uncle’s pals aren’t weak guys and can knock out anyone for a few minutes. Everything could’ve been much worse.”       “Edward, why were you silent about it all the time?” Raquelle wonders. “You knew that we were in great danger! And you should’ve known we’d find out everything, early or late.”       “I’m very sorry, guys. But I didn’t wanna make you excited and thought I’d find a way to protect you.”       “Oh, damn, Edward, are you serious?” Terrence exhales tiredly, running his hands over his face. “You could do nothing in this case! You only had to tell us everything. But you were silent and delaying it ‘till the third faces forced us to press you against the wall.”       “You’re right… I thought I’d do it alone, but all of us got eventually involved in this case. Uncle always let me know that nothing would stop him.”       “The important thing is that you told us everything,” Raquelle notices with sadness in her eyes. “At least, we know the letters weren’t written by crazy fans of Terrence and me and especially Simon Ringer or his pals.”       “And we know all of us are involved in this battle,” Terrence adds. “And if we don’t do something, that man might really destroy us.”       “Oh, gosh…” Natalia moans quietly and closes her face with her hands. “We’re about to die… Because of the money…”       “No, Natalia, don’t fall into despair!” Terrence replies confidently, caressing Natalia’s shoulder. “We’ll find a solution to this situation! Maybe, Raquelle is absolutely right that Edward should just reject the inheritance and sign all the papers. I would do it for sure if I was instead of him.”       “No, Terrence, the case is not only about money,” Edward shakes his head, not having the same point of view that Terrence does. “The case is also about Uncle’s offenses against Father and his hatred for him and all the people surrounding him. These people never got on well. There was no hint of the fact that one loved another. They were enemies literally since childhood. Besides, Uncle is quite vengeful and vindictive…”       “Then we must go to the police and report him!” Raquelle suggests confidently. “May they figure it out and find out how he got the money and the power at the shipbuilding company. Maybe, they will find a lot of violations, and the company will eventually be taken down as well as the stores of Eleanor Woodham.”       “I don’t think it will help. Uncle has very many good contacts, thanks to which he is invincible and thinks he’s unpunished. That man could easily find nasty and greedy rats and gives them the money he stole from my father, so they do what he wants. It’s the same with the police…” Edward rubs his forehead. “And let’s be realists, my words won’t be so important, and I don’t have proof of his fault. I know it’s the truth, but I can’t confirm it by clues. And it’s very good for Uncle, and he’s doing what he wants.”       “Is he so greedy that he’s ready to kill innocent people?”       “Oh, Raquelle…” Edward sighs quietly and sharply runs his hands over his hair. “Uncle is greedy, cynical, insolent, nasty, and disgusting. I don’t know how such wonderful people like my grandfather and grandmother could raise such a bastard, who always craves revenge and is not ashamed of using someone’s money.”       “But what do we do?” Raquelle throws her hands up, rounding her eyes. “Are our legs and hands tied up? Could we do nothing?”       “It seems like, yes,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “I don’t see a solution to this situation. We don’t really have proof, and we can’t prove the fault without it… Though we’ve gotta do something… Above all, for our safety. Yesterday we got calls, today we get attacked, what’s gonna happen tomorrow? A torturing death?”       “Hey, Edward, has someone attacked you?” Raquelle glances at Edward. “It would be strange if Uncle didn’t try to attack you even once.”       “Actually, yes…” Edward replies hesitantly, biting his lip slightly. “It’s happened… But once…”       “Happened?” Terrence rounds his eyes. “Have you also been attacked?”       “Yup, and I forgot to tell you how and when it happened.”       “Speak then!”       Edward says nothing for two seconds before he exhales sharply and continues to say, looking at everybody a little hesitantly:       “Do you remember that I disappeared and contacted nobody for one month? I told you I went to another city because I allegedly got a good job.”       “Yes,” Terrence and Raquelle pronounce.       “Actually, it’s not true. I didn't get a job. I was just coming to myself after the attempt.”       “But what happened to you?” Terrence frowns slightly. “Someone tried to kill you?”       “Guessed…” Edward takes a short pause. “About one month ago, I decided to walk in the city in the evening time. I was walking somewhere on a dark boulevard, thinking about something and caring about nothing… But then…”       Edward falls into silence again and clenches his hands strongly into fists, thinking about something that does not make him happy.       “What?” Raquelle rounds her eyes. “What happened to you?”       “Erm…” Edward stutters and swallows up nervously. “I’ll better show you something.”       Edward stands up from the sofa, turns his back on Raquelle, Natalia, and Terrence, and slightly raises the edge of his t-shirt, above which a black denim jacket is placed. Then the trio sees a few big red scars that form one cross and two pairs of perpendicular lines on different areas of the small of his back. Seeing them, Raquelle closes her mouth with a hand, looking at these scars like charmed, Terrence opens his shocking eyes widely and shakes his head, and Natalia just looks at this thing with sadness in her eyes, looking indifferent at first sight.       “Oh, my God!” Raquelle gets horrified. “What is that?”       “Oh, shit, Edward!” Terrence exclaims with horror in his eyes. “How did you get these scars?”       “The consequence of the attack,” Edward replies quietly. “I’ll tell you more about it.”       Edward gets the edge of his t-shirt down and sits on the sofa in front of Terrence, Raquelle, and Natalia.       “On that day, I got attacked by fewer people, who were first threatening me verbally and then struck me down the ground all together,” Edward says. “Of course, I was protecting myself. But fighting with three strong men at the same time was very hard. I even tried to run away from them, but those men managed to catch me and called two more guys to help. And they began beating me with their legs and hands… Insulting… Humiliating…”       Edward swallows up nervously, breathing heavily enough from the excitement and tightly clenching his hands into fists.       “And at some moment, one of those bastards got a knife and got it into the places, on which you saw the scars,” Edward adds and exhales sharply. “All these scars were very deep. Blood instantly flowed out of them. And I started to lose my strength quickly and be less able to fight with those scumbags. Who wished me to die, as Uncle wanted, and got out. I was left to lie on the ground with blood and the thought that something would hardly help me.”       After hearing what happened to Edward, Raquelle closes her mouth with her hands with horror in dumbfounded, widely open eyes. Terrence shakes his head and exhales slowly, feeling every single muscle in him gets tense. And Natalia is even worried about MacClife but does not show it, feeling her heart squeezing inside from thinking the man, who she still loves, could have died.       “So, is that why you disappeared for a month?” Terrence asks hesitantly, running his hand through his hair.       “Yup,” Edward nods. “And as you see, I’m still alive. The grandiose plan of Uncle to kill me absolutely failed.”       “But where were you all the time?” Raquelle wonders. “Why didn’t you tell us you were wounded? We were supposed to get a call from a hospital! Find our numbers in your phone and call one of us!”       “I was lucky that someone found me, called an ambulance, and explained to the doctors what happened. I don’t know who helped me ‘cause I was knocked out. I woke up in the hospital a long time later after being unconscious for a few days. The nurse said that the doctors barely saved me and literally got me out of another world. I had massive blood that was compensated by transfusing a donor’s blood. But the mistake of one of the doctors could’ve been fatal for me. And because of the same man, these scars will never be gone. They’ll always remind me of that horrible day.”       “My gosh…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice, running her hand slowly over her face. “I can’t believe it…”       “So, could we have lost you?” Terrence gets horrified, starting to shake from the thought that he could have lost Edward. “And we didn’t even suspect it…”       “Yeah, but I was lucky,” Edward shrugs. “Maybe, if not for that man, you would’ve had to organize my funeral.”       “I’m even afraid to think about it…” Edward nervously swallows up. “I’m really very sorry, Edward. I wouldn’t have thought about it…”       “But that’s bad you didn’t tell us you were wounded,” Raquelle adds. “Maybe, we would’ve helped somehow. Paid for your therapy or something like that.”       “Thanks for worrying, but now everything is fine,” Edward smiles slightly. “And as far as I know, that man agreed to bear those costs and paid for my therapy. Even if the doctors required a lot of money.”       “But how did you hide it from us?” Terrence wonders. “Why were you silent about it? And what did you tell the doctors when they asked you about your relatives?”       “Well…” Edward starts to finger over nervously. “Hiding it was quite easy. Who is Edward Lockhart? Just an ordinary, homeless guy without a job that has been fucking unlucky in his life?       “But what about your documents?”       “I had no documents with me – only a phone that was discharged and some money. I ended up in a hospital as an unidentified persona, and the doctors managed to know it only when I woke up and called them my data.”       “That’s how…” Raquelle wonders.       “The doctor took care of me well. They fed me with good food… The nurse sometimes went to me and checked on my condition. It was happening until the day I was released. Almost one month later after the attempt. I stayed home for two days. And when I got much better, I texted you.”       “I see…” Terrence thinks for two seconds, stroking his chin. “So, your uncle decided to get rid of you first. And then deal with your father…”       “That’s right, I got off him for one month because he thought I was dead. But somewhere one week ago, he found out I was alive and started to annoy me with calls. Because of which I sometimes wanna throw my phone against the wall. Or against the head of that scumbag that makes me terribly enraged.”       “He saw you somewhere?” Raquelle asks.       “I guess one of his pals saw me in the city and told that old idiot about me. It’s not a secret for me that they might often watch me tell Uncle what I do, where I go, who I talk to, and who I meet. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started secretly watching you all and decided to do something bad someday.”       “Listen, Edward, what’s the name of your uncle?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “His name is Michael. He is the older brother of my father. They have an age difference of eight years. Father was fifty-three before his death, and Uncle is now almost sixteen. Gonna turn at the end of November…”       “Michael?” Terrence thinks about something for two seconds, putting his folded hands to his mouth. “I kind of remembered how my mother somehow mentioning a certain Michael and calling him a scumbag that must’ve burned in hell. But I had no idea of who he was.”       “She mentioned him with your pretense?”       “Likely, yes, but it happened a long time ago, somewhere in my early childhood. I don’t remember why she actually talked about it.”       “Maybe, it’s one of her exes?”       “I dunno…”       “Is the last name of that Michael Lockhart, as I understand?” Raquelle specifies.       “Y-yes, r-right…” Edward pronounces hesitantly. “L-lockhart… Michael Lockhart…”       “You know, I recalled how my mother showed me some photos and mentioned Michael,” Terrence confesses. “I think I asked her who that was, but she said it was the king of hell named Michael. Yeah, it happened so.”       “Do you have a photo of that Michael?”       “Why do you need it?”       “Just curious…”       “Erm… Yeah, I have an album with pictures, but I don’t know where it is. But there are only my childhood photos with Mother and some close friends…”       “You check! You probably checked the album nobody the hell knows when and don’t know which photos you actually have.”       “Erm… Well, I…”       “How does that album look?” Raquelle frowns slightly.       “A big blue hardcopy book… I think the album also has ragged edges…”       “Yeah, seems like I know where it is! Let me take it right now, so we check it together and try to find the photo?”       “Let’s go together?”       “Together?” Raquelle rounds her eyes, feeling her heart misses a beat and getting a little nervous. “No, I’ll quickly find the album and come back. You stay here. Maybe, Edward will tell something yet.”       “It’s gonna take two minutes. Take the album and go down.”       “But, Terrence…”       “Come on, Raquelle…”       With these words, Terrence quickly gets up and calls Raquelle to follow him with a gesture. She gets up from the sofa very hesitantly and glances at Edward and Natalia, who feel much more awkward because they are going to stay alone.       “Erm, we’ll be back soon, guys,” Raquelle says hesitantly. “Wait here…”       Raquelle slowly follows Terrence, who softly grabs her under an arm after she comes closer to him.       “Is the album in our room?” Terrence asks.       “Yeah, I saw it there,” Raquelle replies hesitantly. “In the dressing room on the very top shelf…”       “Great! Let’s go then!”       “Erm, listen, maybe you stay with Edward and Natalia?”       “Do you think something might happen between them during our absence?” Terrence wonders, starting to go upstairs to the second floor along with Raquelle.       “I dunno… But I don’t feel quiet… I didn’t wanna let Natalia in the house because of Edward, and got horrified when I saw her on the doorstep. But I gave up when seeing her condition. And now they stayed alone and could do anything, while we aren’t there.”       “We won’t stay long and will be back to them shortly. And I think they’ll be discreet while being in our home.”       “Well, I dunno… Maybe, you watch them, so they don’t do anything?”       “Don’t worry, sweetheart, nothing will happen to them for two minutes. They’ll be silent and think about something, and then we’ll be back. Moreover, Natalia is not very talkative this time. She has said only a few words.”       At this moment, Terrence and Raquelle go upstairs to the second floor and go to their room down the long hall.       “Well, I noticed it, too…” Raquelle frowns slightly. “But it’s lately been fine for Natalia. She speaks only when she’s asked about something, or someone calls her name.”       “Yeah, you were absolutely right about her. I must confess that your friend’s appearance got me horrified. Natalia didn’t look so bad on the day of the dinner. She used to be such a funny, sanguine and positive girl, but now she’s walking like a dumbfounded zombie that cares about nothing.”       “I know, but until she tells us what happened to her, we can’t do anything.”       “I don’t doubt the problem is with Edward. Did you see how scarily she looked at him when you brought her to the living room? I thought she’d love to run away not to see him.”       “And your friend was looking at her gloomily. As if he hated and despised Rochester and didn’t wish to stay in the room with her.”       “Do you think he got horrified by her appearance? Or he gives a fuck about her?”       “Anything’s possible. But I didn’t notice any anxiety on their faces when Natalia came to the living room, and when Edward told us about the knife wound. As if they wouldn’t shed a tear if one of them, heaven forbids, died.”       “Or they’re worried but hiding their emotions deep inside.”       Terrence opens the door and lets Raquelle go forward. And while the girl starts to search for the album, the man glances at his reflection in the mirror, fixes his hair, and sits on the bed.       “So, I think I saw the album in the dressing room,” Raquelle says thoughtfully, comes to the door that she needs, and opens it.       Raquelle starts to free up space on one of the very top shelves in the large dressing room. She puts some stuff on the writing table or the bed next to Terrence, who is thinking about everything he found out from Edward.       “Raquelle, say honestly, did you believe Edward when he said that his father was dead?” Terrence frowns slightly. “Although my friend spoke truly, I don’t believe it.”       “I don’t know, Terrence, I have mixed feelings about it,” Raquelle replies, sorting out some books and magazines. “On the one hand, his uncle would hardly talk to the wind, judging the promise to kill all of us and starting with Edward. But on the other hand, it would be great to see some proof of the death of that man.”       “That’s what gets me confused. I did understand that Uncle wasn’t the type of those, who talk to the wind. But Edward needs at least to look at his father’s body in a morgue. Because when someone dies, their relatives usually manage to see the dead body or their things. Edward would surely recognize Father and something that belonged to him.”       “Maybe, has Michael already seen the body? He did say he personally saw the corpse of him!”       “What if they decided to get rid of the body by burying or drowning it somewhere, so nobody knows about Lockhart’s father’s death?”       “I don’t exclude this version. In this case, we could use the search services. We’d have to bury him if we knew your uncle really killed Edward’s father.”       “What if everything happens as in the case of my friend? That man believes his friend is dead, but he’s now somewhere safe and sound? What if Michael failed it twice: he couldn’t kill Edward and didn’t reach his father?”       “It might happen, too. But these accidents happen very rarely. And Michael hardly used the same way of murdering.”       “Maybe… I think he could plan everything.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, after which Terrence sighs quietly and looks around the whole room, while Raquelle keeps getting the things out in search of the album.       “Nevertheless, if his father is really dead, I’m very sorry,” Terrence says with sadness in his eyes. “And I wouldn’t like my father to die. Yes, I still despise him. But it doesn’t mean I dream of that man’s death. I just need to know that he has left me alone and stopped trying to meet me.”       “You think his mother knows about her ex-husband’s possible death?” Raquelle asks.       “Who knows…” Terrence runs his hand slowly over his hair. “I don’t know his mother and don’t speak to her as closely as Edward speaks to mine.”       After a few seconds of silence, Raquelle glances at something and understands that’s what she needs.       “Finally, it’s here!” Raquelle exclaims, carefully takes the thick hardcover blue book from the very top shelf of the dressing room, looks at this album for two seconds, sits on the bed next to Terrence, and shows him this thing. “Is it?”       “Yes, yes, it is,” Terrence nods, takes the album, and looks at it from all sides. “There’s very little hope, but what if we’d really find photos of Michael.”       “Even if there are not, your mother should have some photos.”       “I believe so.”       Terrence opens the first page of the album and starts to view the photos. But he finds only his childhood photos, in which he poses alone, with friends, or with his much younger mother, Rebecca. At some moment, the man forgets about his problems and recalls the wonderful times that have happened in his life with warmth in his soul. Raquelle smiles unconsciously while looking at the young boy, who her fiancé was.       “Wow, I didn’t know you were so cute in childhood,” Raquelle says with a slight smile. “I’d snuggle this boy in a t-shirt and shorts…”       “Mother still has them,” Terrence confesses. “She has never thrown off what I had in childhood. There are still my toys, clothes, magazines, and other things at her home.”       “Aw, you’re so funny here!” Raquelle laughs shyly, pointing at one of the funny photos of the baby Terrence and pressing close to him.       “Oh, it’s not quite funny! I have more hilarious photos, which Mom always jokes about. And which Edward must not see because he’d laugh at me much.”       “Now he hardly cares about jokes. Until his uncle gets his punishment, he’ll hardly have a reason to calm down.”       “Damn, right…” Terrence stops smiling sharply. “Now it’s not the best moment for smiles and nostalgia… But we’re sitting here and viewing my childhood photos…”       “Yeah, let’s view them later…” Raquelle agrees thoughtfully, wrapping a thin strand of her hair around her finger. “But now try to find a photo of Michael, who your mother talked about…”       “I doubt it’s possible,” Terrence says thoughtfully, turning pages of the album. “There’s nothing here. Only photos from my childhood…”       “Sorry… We could know how that man looks…”       “Yeah… Nothing…”       At some moment, Raquelle pays attention to one photo and turns one page back to have a better look at someone, who she finds unfamiliar.       “Hey, wait, wait, who is that?” Raquelle frowns slightly.       “Where?”       “Him,” Raquelle shows Terrence the photo that she means.       Terrence frowns slightly, starting to view the photo, in which there are fewer people. Among them, he can see his much younger parents, Jamie and Rebecca, some people, and one person that Raquelle paid attention to.       “Is that your father?” Raquelle wonders.       “It’s…” Terrence pronounces and bites his lip slightly. “Erm… No… It’s not my father. It’s not him!”       “No?”       “That’s him!” Terrence points to Jamie posing for the photo along with Rebecca.       “C’mon?” Raquelle rounds her eyes and closely looks at the man, to who Terrence pointed. “Listen… You’re really his image! As alike as two drops of water! I don’t know what his age is in this picture, but your father is amazingly similar to you.”       “I believe, the same age as mine, or maybe a little bit older,” Terrence assumes thoughtfully.       “Okay… But who are these people? I recognize only Mrs. MacClife!” Raquelle points at the one, to whom she paid attention. “And this one doesn’t deserve my trust ‘cause he has a very evil look.”       “But I must confess that he has something similar with Father… Of course, he looks about ten or fifteen years older than Father is, but they’re similar to some extent.”       “Maybe, your father has a brother, too. Maybe, they even have contact. If both of them are in the photo and pose next to each other.”       “Damn, but how did I get this photo in my album? Even if Mother had it, I don’t remember when or why I took it.”       “Maybe, you didn’t know you had it ‘cause you check the family album one time in five years? Or maybe, your mother left it on the album and forget it! Judging the look, the album is quite old and could belong to her many years ago.”       “I dunno… Maybe… But you know…” Terrence gets the photos of the unfamiliar man out of the album that he closes and gives Raquelle. “I think I’ll take it with me and show it to Edward. If he’s so interested in it…”       Raquelle takes the album Terrence gave her, gets up from the bed, and comes to the dressing room to put all the things she got out of it.       “You better show it to your mother,” Raquelle suggests confidently. “Ask her about hat man. Maybe, she will tell you something. Satisfy you, so to say.”       “Anyway, our plan worked perfectly,” Terrence replies, viewing the photo in his hand. “Lockhart got so scared that he immediately told us everything.”       “I’m horrified that Michael started it for the money and the company,” Raquelle starts putting the album, books, and little things in the dressing room. “He’s so greedy…”       “Is it a surprise for you?” Terrence wonders. “Some people often take revenge on someone for some reason. And someone kills without shame for money. There are many rats in the world.”       “I know… And I wonder, how much money is there in the bank account that Michael almost killed Edward and probably destroyed his father?”       “I guess, very much… If that shipbuilding company is really so successful, it has given him enough money. And Edward’s father shouldn’t have started it all again. Everything had been already done, as Edward said. He just got reins of power.”       “Maybe,” Raquelle has put off almost half of what is placed on the table and the bed near Terrence. “I think his father would’ve been a very provided man if Michael hadn’t gotten reins in the company.”       “Yeah, as it turned out, the guy was growing up not in such a poor family.”       “I guess his father didn’t expect it. At first, he was a rich man and had everything he wanted, but then he suddenly became poor and lost everything he got by working hard. His parents, so to say, prepared the foundation for him and gave him a chance to live well. But his brother decided to take everything from him.”       “I think Edward is right, and the reason for Michael’s revenge is his offense on Father. Their parents definitely loved him less and didn’t give him much.”       “A typical jealousy of brothers and sisters and parents, who love one child more than another. As they say, a classic genre.”       “Agree…”       At this moment, Raquelle finally puts all the things in the dressing room and closes it. Terrence sits in the bed for two more seconds and then, exhaling tiredly, gets up slowly and comes to the girl.       “Okay, let’s go to the living room before Natalia and Edward think of fighting,” Terrence says thoughtfully.       “Yeah, let’s go,” Raquelle agrees. “Take the photo to show it to your friend.”       “Here it is, I…”       Terrence does not finish his thought because he and Raquelle suddenly hear the voices of some people, who are arguing about something very loudly. The lovers get frozen and, literally not breathing, start closely listening to the sounds they can hear on the first floor.       “You hear it?” Raquelle asks.       “It seems like it’s down,” Terrence replies. “These are Edward and Natalia’s voices!”       “They’re fighting! Very seriously!”       “Oh, shit…” Terrence moans quietly, running his hands over his face. “I would’ve been better silent…”       “Oh, I did tell you to stay with them, but you were so sure that nothing would happen!” Raquelle exclaims excitedly.       “How could I know they’d start fighting? Your friend was so quiet and thoughtful that I thought she wouldn’t even think of talking to him.”       “But she did!” Raquelle exhales sharply and puts her hand on her forehead. “Okay, no time to regret! It’s late!”       “Let’s better go to them before they destroy the whole house. I don’t like the fact that they’re screaming at the whole house. For the happiness of our servants, who love rumors.”       “Damn, why did I actually let Natalia go here?” Raquelle moans quietly. “Why?”       Raquelle leaves the room first, and Terrence follows her and closes the door. He is so obsessed with a wish to prevent Natalia and Edward’s fight that he lets the photo he wanted to show his friend fall to the floor. However, they quickly forget about the situation with Michael because of the fight between the former lovers, whose shouts are getting louder. Terrence’s friend and Raquelle’s friend stop watching their mouths and succumb to their emotions, which are the reason why they have said many hurtful things to each other.