Aaron Reynolds's Pov

I communicated with some of my business associates while Amanda was away. Social parties were really not my cup of tea. When I spotted Alistair in the crowd, I realized that he was coming towards me. He excused me from my group of associates, so I spaced myself out, in order to have a talk with him. He questioned me things, things about his father. He then inquired regarding some woman his dad accompanied in the party. I answered him with every detail I had, but his expression showed that he wasn't satisfied with my answers.

He trailed off from that place, so I rejoined my little unofficial meeting with my delegates. Alistair has always been a complicated man, and now I feel that he was taking complication to another level. His life, till what extent I knew, was filled with lies. It was either trick or treat.

I distanced myself from my associates when I observed Gina and Francis talking with each other. Amanda spaced herself away from me, with an excuse that she was going to join them. If she wasn't with them, then where was she? I sprinted in their direction, as I already doubted Amanda's condition. I could make that out through her expressions.

"Where's Amanda?" I questioned looking at them.

"Didn't meet her ever since she cut the cake, what's the problem?" Gina inquired. So Amanda lied, she lied to me on my face even when things were all sorted and crystal clear between us. Something was definitely wrong.

I examined the crowd, precisely the ladies which wore black. None from them was Amanda. "The problem is.... that maybe she is in some sort of problem. She's hiding something I'm unaware of. Does anyone from you have any clue about what she's been up to?" I clenched my fist. I tried to plaster the anger on my face, with a fake smile, but I failed. I couldn't, even when I wanted to.

Gina glanced at Francis, and then towards me. "I have no clue about what you're talking about"

"I jokingly scared her when I followed her, in order to escort her. But, she wasn't surprised, and she didn't smile like old times. She was scared, like she didn't expect me but someone more dangerous. I thought that maybe it was because she was scared slash shy, but now it all makes sense", Francis interpreted the story.

"James", we all said in unison.

"Oh no, I should've never left her alone", Francis interrupted the silence.

"We, we should have given her attention. Oh no", Gina's concern could be seen on her face.

"I'll make sure that she's safe and sound. I promise, don't worry", I tried consoling her. Deep within, I was scared myself, scared of losing her. When I confessed my love, in front of everyone, I intended to say that to her again, not once, but a lot many times. I loved her and I wanted her. I wanted to hold her hand, to kiss her, to hug her. I had no idea what she was facing at the moment. If the night consisted of a shooting star, I'd wish for her safety in place of mine. The negative thoughts were breaking me from within, and were ceasing my brain's capacity to think.

Back then, I believed that when a person has wealth he has everything, but even with everything, it felt like nothing. She was my treasure. I should've never let her go off me after the projector mishap. It was my fault. I could've protected her,and if anything happened to her, I won't be able to let go off the guilt.

Suddenly, the lights blacked out. The hall was concealed with darkness. I turned my torch on and tried calling the security so as to check over the light generators. The huge screen of the projector got turned on automatically, and threw a little light around that surrouding place. If there was a power cut then how was the projector yet working? This was a trick, one of the dirty tricks of James again.

Everyone among the crowd gathered their attention towards the screen. I could hear indistinct chattering. My eyes widened, and I was aghast by the view I experienced. My heart was in my mouth, that's how shocked I was. Amanda could be clearly seen in the live video conference. She was wearing black lingerie, which showed half of her side boobs. Bikinis are of different kinds, some are more explosive while some are less. This one was beyond exposing. It was like transparent clothing draped around her intimate parts. Everything was visible, to me and to everyone around.

It felt like someone was catching the camera for her. That someone's face wasn't visible. But, if she was to be with James, then why I was unable to see even a line of stress on her face, I really doubted why she lied now.

"Aaron. I mean Mr. Reynolds. I hope you're one of the persons from the crowd", she definitely wasn't able to see through the party. Her face was straight focused towards the back camera. "I couldn't say that to you in person, but I suppose that now is the time otherwise or it would be too late"

I gasped, realizing the seriousness in the situation. "I never loved you. It was all my little revenge on you. I mean it. I never ever loved you. It was a lie. Everything was a lie. The 'I love you' was a lie. Everything I did was an act, to take advantage of your wealth. I was never really into you. The only thing which attracted me towards you was vitamin 'M' aka money"

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder, when I looked through the person I realized that it was Francis. The video wasn't over yet. I took a step back when Amanda spoke again. "It was all just an act. An act to fool you, to pay you for every wrong deed you did to me. You never controlled my heart and mind, even when you brought me a small cupcake in the middle of the night, not when you offered me your bed sheet when it was extremely cold in Werttop, not when you called me beautiful in order to pamper me. It was just a set up to break your heart. I so wish that I could experience the defeat on your face but sadly, I am not that lucky"

I slowly turned my heard, to observe the crowd. People watched me, some with pity, with the he's-such-a-loser kind of expression. Half of the crowd, including the media recorded everything what Amanda said. I lost words, peace of mind, and my state to stay sane. I breathed in slowly, as Francis rubbed my back in order to console me. I yanked his hands away from my body. Tears blurred my vision. I tried my best to control them but I couldn't. It felt like losing every ounce of the self-respect I earned through my hard work. I was shattered and so was my public image.

The live video wasn't yet over. "He's the man I love", Amanda pulled James closer to him. James crashed his lips against her. Their kiss was passionate and deep. The sad part was she was kissing him back, with pleasure. She placed her hand in his hair, which dug him closer to her. The video shook a bit, and then it finally ended. I could see a group of people, precisely from the media coming towards me. I didn't pay any attention to them but instead rushed upstairs towards my room, to avoid the humiliation I was feeling.

I could hear some indistinct gossips from the crowd, some of the filthy comments doubted my manhood. They were 'I guess he isn't really good at bed' 'Maybe, he has a small dick' 'Or worse, maybe he has no dick' I looked down, and kept climbing the stairs. I could feel someone following me but I had no guts to turn my head and recognize the person. 

On reaching my room, I rested my ass on the bed and quickly took charge of my laptop. Francis marched in, without asking for any permission, and I allowed him to. His face held sympathy, and his face was straight, full with sadness. It felt like he was the guy Amanda ditched on. "Dude, I'm so sorry. She's so wrong. She shouldn't have deceit you like such. I didn't know that she was such a bitch", Francis cursed.

"Mind your language Francis. Amanda did no wrong. Do you get that? I trust her", I corrected him.

"Oh, no, no, no, after what we saw, I don't think you can. She literally was playing with your feelings. I'm surprised that you're yet on her side. She's my best friend, and she did no harm to me, yet I feel so bad for you, for what she did to you. You didn't deserve it", I observed him, and realized that he was ashamed, like he was the root cause for this.

I stepped closer to him, and consoled him by side-hugging her. Damn, this one had a heart of gold. No matter how flirtatious, less brainy, and good looking he was, his heart was pure gold. "Francis, don't be ashamed of something you didn't do, and don't be ashamed of Amanda for something she didn't do either. Okay?"

"She literally confessed everything---"

"Which was false", I cut him off and continued "Amanda didn't do anything. She loves me, and I know that. I'll do everything in my power to bring her back"

"How are you so sure about it?" he questioned.

"I never brought a cupcake for her. It was a stale piece of cake. I never offered her my bed-sheet that night in Werttop, she had to sleep without it. I never called her beautiful. I always complimented her by saying 'you look different'"

Francis looked shook, and he kept silent to deposit the words I told him, like he was trying to make sense from them"Oh, my God, Bravo, you totally nailed it. Even I couldn't understand the secret message she left. You totally decoded it, man", he grinned. One moment, his face was dull, and now it shined like a star. "But, how did you never call her beautiful. I mean, girls like being called beautiful, that's what makes them happiest. There's one golden rule to dating, 'keep reminding her how beautiful she actually is, and she'll never be disappointed' "

"I did call her beautiful once, but she took that as a joke and instead questioned me that did I mean different"

"That's so her", he instinctively replied.

"Okay, Francis. My girlfriend is with a dangerous man who can also prove to be some threat to her life. Can we discuss about girl's mood fluctuations, their likes and dislikes later?" I cut the topic we were previously talking on. "Amanda's in some serious trouble. I encountered a menacing look on her face, even when she acted quite well"

Francis looked at me. A small smile took birth on his lips. "You really love her", he sighed. "I do, obviously", I answered instinctively.

"What can three fingers mean?" I rubbed my forehead, and thought for a while. I considered every possible meaning out of it, but couldn't derive at a strong conclusion. "Three fingers, like these three", I curled my thumb finger and little finger, and showcased the remaining three.

"Three fingers....?" Francis's face was filled with confusion.

"How do girls catch you, while you kiss them deeply?" I re-questioned him.

"They dug both their hands either on their partner's back head, in their hair, around their neck, on their chest, on thei-----"

"I get it" I cut him off. This man clearly defined the word 'irrelevant', I rested my elbows on my lap, clenched my fists, and rested my chin on it, and continued "When Amanda kissed James, her hands were behind the back of his head, but she didn't use all her 10 fingers. 4 were curled up, 2 from each hand, which means that, three fingers from each hand were only kept straight by her. She definitely was trying to say something through that action of hers. We just need to find an appropriate revelation"

"That may be her kissing style", Francis interrupted.

"Seriously, Francis...? You think I'm unaware of her kissing style? ", I cornered my eyes and frowned at his irrelevant question. Now I know the root reason behind Amanda's lame jokes and behaviour. She just inherited them from him.

"It can be 6, she used 3 fingers from each hand", he gathered his hair into a spike, and removed the blazer he wore. He opened the 3 buttons of his shirt, and when I threw daggers at him, he instinctively replied "I can think better this way. It really feels nice when your skin can feel the cool air of..."he realized that the windows were closed. He thought for a while and continued "Of the air conditioner"

I fake smiled, and focused on the number three. "3 am, 3 pm. Do you think that she meant time?" I interrogated.

"The only three I can think about is 'the three musketeers', because it was Amanda's favourite movie as she had a super huge crush on Logan Lerman. It didn't amaze me as much, but she forced me to watch it with her. I couldn't even sleep in the middle, as she kept discussing about the movie in between, even for the fifth time in the cinemas. But I don't think that 'the three musketeers' can help us solve this complicated puzzle", he shrugged raising his brows.

I thought for a while "You're a genius Francis"

"I know I am, but what did I do?" he hunched, and titled his head up, in my direction.

"The movie can explain some of it. The queen was framed by someone, right? I feel there can be a better connection. We just need to think a bit deep", I crossed my arms around my stomach.

"Oh yes. The musketeers were basically the soldiers, right? They were appointed to protect the queen from being framed", he paused and hopped out of his position "Though the later part of the story has no relevance but", he excitedly continued "Oh my Lord, Amanda showed us the same three fingers 6 years back, whenever I did something wrong. She'd show the fingers and make a statement 'the three musketeers are going to slaughter your dick'. I know that was very childish of her but you get my point. It means....."

"Someone's watching us. They're precisely in a group of three", I sighed. "But we're not very sure of this story"

"Do we have a better story to believe in?" he arched his right brow.

I nodded simply meaning a no. "What're you doing?" he questioned me when I logged into my account.

"Checking the likes on my instagram's recent picture", I sarcastically answered "Of course trying to find her location" I answered genuinely within that moment.

"Care to explain how" he sounded intrigued.

I slightly smiled, and replied "When she was dressing up, I helped her do the same. I don't want to give you every detail of our make-out session, but just so you know, when things got really private between us, I tucked a small location detector in the hook of her bra. I had an intuition that something wrong was going to be up, so I just took the precautions. Seems like I was correct back then", I chuckled when I could log in successfully. The location, along with proper directions appeared on the screen.

"That's very impressive. I mean Amanda never allowed anyone to see much of her skin. Even her swimming costume would show the least possible skin. That's why I was shocked when I saw the video conference"

"People change, and open up to some specific people but that doesn't change their personality. We should keep going, shan't we?" I uplifted myself and moved towards my wardrobe.

He watched my move "What's the plan?"

************

Finale chapter is next. I hope you're all enjoying it as much as I am whilst writing it. I know I've said this a several times, but, Thankyou for sticking with me.

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