I felt a warm touch on my shoulder. It was June's hand.

"Amy-"

"He'll come back soon," I whispered, probably trying to console myself with that sentence.

"I know he will," Jonas consoled back.

We got into the car and started on a colorless journey that felt never-ending. The traditional 'born-to-talk' Jonas remained unusually quiet as meters stretched into miles. I didn't know how to approach him about Mr. Amberson either.

"June," I called at one point, breaking the awful silence.

As if he had read my mind, he replied directly with the answer to the question that was on my lips.

"Dad isn't involved with Uncle Josh, Amy."

"So you had actually left after seeing his name on the paper?" I asked to clear everything out.

He nodded.

"I needed to talk to him about it, so I left for Amberson House."

"I'm sorry for behaving like that yesterday, Amy. I saw no other option at that moment, you know..." he added with a note of guilt.

"I know. You did the best thing you could do at that time," I said honestly with a feeble smile.

I was kind of glad that it wasn't Mr. Amberson. But then again, that gave rise to a lot more questions in my head which were desperately seeking for answers.

"I've something else to tell you, Amy," Jonas imparted.

"Show you, actually," he corrected. "Once we reach."

So many things were happening so expeditiously recently that now June's words didn't even bother to push me into conjecturing about what was coming. Let it come.

We both went back into our silent mode again. Jonas just spoke once more to inform me about Mrs. Arabella's whereabouts. She was staying at her sister's house now; thankfully mom had warned her last night just on time.

I felt relieved to know that she was safe. She would be completely devastated when she gets to know about Bruno. She was so attached to him...

Mom was already watching out for our arrival in the lawn when we reached. I left Kelvin's jacket in the car, although I didn't at all feel like letting go of its warmth. Mom embraced me in a tight hug as soon as I stepped out of the car and started sobbing her heart out.

"Are you okay Amy?" she asked anxiously, hastily checking my wounds.

"I'm fine Mumma, don't worry," I assured, but she didn't seem much convinced.

"Where's Xaviers?" she inquired with a worried look when she couldn't spot him around.

"Xav Bro has gone to the bureau," Jonas answered. "He was saying about presenting some evidence to the officers."

"Pappa's autopsy report," I elaborated. "The heart attack was planned by Uncle Josh."

Mom didn't give any vocal reaction although the shock was visible on her face, not that I had expected her to give one either. I could understand the struggle in her head and heart regarding how to feel about dad.

We entered the house to find Mr. Amberson waiting on a sofa with a standard-sized steel box in front of him. It was a locker.

"Amy, there's a reason dad's name was in the paper," Jonas divulged at last.

Mr. Amberson rose to provide the succeeding narratives.

"Nick wrote my name in the paper with the key because the locker is with me."

So this was the real image behind the translucent view of my treacherous eyes.

I had been unknowingly twisting up the knots even more while trying to entangle it all the while. So Mr. Amberson was actually working with Uncle Nick...

"I guess you heard me talking to Nick over the phone the day you came here," Mr. Amberson spoke.

I remembered it clearly.

So Uncle Nick had indeed revealed Uncle Josh's dark planning to Mr. Amberson. He refused to help at the very beginning though, as I had figured out the previous time.

That explained how Mr. Amberson had gotten a hint about the stolen will and called me afterward.

"It confirmed that Joseph was after the property. And even worse, it indicated that Nick was soon to be the next target," he explained further.

"Did you agree to help Uncle Nick?" I asked.

Yes, he did. I didn't have to wait for his answer. Mr. Amberson was about to present the evidence Uncle Nick had collected all these days to the court in a day or two. Uncle Josh got a clue about it and made his final clean move last night. I spent a couple of minutes taking in everything and connecting the dots together.

"What's in the locker?" I inquired silently.

"The key's with you," Mr. Amberson replied solemnly.

I slipped my hand into the right pocket of my jeans. The key was there. The key to Uncle Josh's downfall.

I turned my head to look at mom; anticipation was written all over her face. Jonas placed a hand on my shoulder, indicating that I open it.

Two turns of the key in the antique keyhole and there was a sharp click. The stainless steel chamber was unlocked to reveal some documents, pictures, and tapes. For some reason, Mr. Amberson grabbed the tape at first and kept it to himself.

I took the documents and gave a quick skim through them. Most were Valdez property papers, except two particular ones- a copy of Pappa's autopsy report and a file with Uncle Dave's car's information. The pictures contained snaps of Pappa's overdosed open capsule along with the tampered wiring of the Audi 8's brake pad.

Uncle Nick had indeed done a great work. He had already collected every bit of the evidence we were looking for all these days.

"Nick revealed something else too," Mr. Amberson spoke falteringly.

"Something beyond my expectations. Something I didn't want to trust. Until-"

I hadn't expected his voice to break like that while saying it. What did Uncle Nick reveal to him?

He reluctantly put forward the tape in his hand while giving a woebegone look at mom.

"I'm sorry for not telling you this, Sophie," he voiced.

"What's that Lucas?" Mom asked in a terrified tone.

"Jonas, play it on the tape player."

Jonas took the tape from his dad's hand and immediately put it in the player.

"Amyra," Mr. Amberson muttered. "You'll now get to know who stole your will."

My heartbeat increased exponentially in the next few moments as he turned the player on.

"Remember-" a hushed voice spoke from the tape, "-no one can ever know."

I could vaguely recognize the voice as Uncle Josh's.

"You have trusted me with this Mr. Valdez," another voice sounded. "You can be assured that there won't be a single evidence left."

I experienced a sudden jab at my heart; the voice was dangerously familiar.

"David Valdez died in a car accident, and Arnold Valdez died in a heart attack, that's what everyone knows," the second voice continued.

"Aha that's not my plan," the other one objected. "I plan to shift the suspicions towards my dear brother Nick. He's going to turn up as a great threat to me otherwise."

No doubt it was Uncle Josh speaking.

"But that wasn't supposed to be a part of our plan-"

"You don't have to worry about that. Just handle the girl, Amyra. I need to remove her from the way."

There was complete silence for the next few seconds.

"Attack her tonight, will you-" Uncle Josh paused, "-Kelvin Xaviers?"

The recording ended.

Let's just pretend that I didn't recognize Kelvin's voice in the tape right when the first syllable echoed in my ears. Let's just pretend I never heard those last two words. Let's just pretend it wasn't him.

Can I please lie to myself so that my heart doesn't shatter into a million pieces?

It just did.

Author: Okay so... Now this was one of the most intense chapters till now, wasn't it?

-I say one of the most intense because the upcoming ones are gonna be even more ;)

Who else expected this to happen? Do let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Please don't forget to vote, comment, and share if you enjoyed the chapter!