Silence felt so visibly thick, but was proven thin as Robert broke it easily when he said;

"Can I understand what is going on?"

"I don't think I have to explain myself to you Mr Robert" Anton replied with a glare attached to his face, which indicated that he wasn't going to let a single information out.

"'Mr Robert?'" Robert questioned with rounded eyes.

"What's wrong with that?"

He responded with a nasty glare as he pulled a huge pile of documents from his briefcase.

As he dropped them on the table by the bedside, he said;

"I have reviewed all this and I need your approval on them."

Anton looked at the huge pile of documents beside him and let out a sigh as he fell on his back.
He had wanted to work hours ago but now he was in no mood for that.
Somewhere deep in him, he was enjoying being sick because of the care he was getting from Mia.

Other than work, he had something else to take care of, and that thought brought back his sorrows.

"I have something to tell you" he said, referring to Robert.

"Right now?" He asked glancing at Mia to pass his concern to Anton.

"Yes, now, but not in my bedroom. Let's talk in my study room"

Mia stood up from the side of the bed where she sat, nodded a greeting to Robert and turned to Anton.

"I'll be going now sir"

She had sat stiffly like she was invisible because she was embarrassed. They shared a hug of comfort but she felt like she had committed a kind of sin. And to top it up, Robert was there.
It was no secret that they had negativity between them, so meeting in such circumstances was really not ideal to and for her.

She tried to muster her courage a couple of times earlier to leave, but all her confidence seemed to have withered down, so she sat stiffly.
But when she reasoned that her presence was an interruption to their discussion, she knew that she had to leave.

"No. You're part of the discussion."

She almost opened her mouth to ask why, but seconds interval made her shut it up. Whatever it is, she was going to find out anyway, so it was of no importance to be curious.

They sat in the study room, tension also present.

"I found the one who poisoned me. Or better said, he confessed to it"

"He confessed?" Robert asked surprised.

He already had a hunch of who the culprit was if it wasn't Mia, so it wasn't much of a shock to him. But he had expected that he might deny it but he confessed.
No matter how he looked at it, it didn't make sense.
And also him confessing meant that he was conscious now. The when and how all this happened without his knowledge was another thought in his head.

"Yes"

"When did he regain consciousness?"

"He told me that he had regained consciousness a week ago but even the doctor and nurses didn't know because he kept pretending to be unconscious.
According to him, he couldn't show his face to me because he felt guilty especially after hearing what happened to me"

"How did he know that?" Robert questioned curiously.

"He got information from the only person who knew that he was conscious. A nurse."

"This feels so crazy" He said as his palm brushed his dull black hair. Doing that made him turned his head and that's when he remembered that Mia was in the room with them.

"By the way, why is she here?" His anger and dislike for her, he made sure not to hide.

Mia also was curious about the reason she was present, so she didn't mind Robert asking the question for her.

"She heard everything that I discussed with Bono at the hospital..." That, Mia couldn't deny. But how he knew that was a mystery to her, though she had a lot of dots she tried to connect in her head. "...and she was also the first suspect, and she was put in jail" he said the last part with a look at Robert.

Mia shook her head in a light nod.

"So what do you plan to do now?" She asked.

"First, I'll get him discharged and hear the rest of what he has to say. After that, we'll know what to do next"

Both nodded in approval.

"Get him discharged tomorrow"

"I will sir. But don't tell you are planning to let him into this house again"

"Then I won't tell you"

"Anton?!"

"I will only question him here but I'll arrange a quarter for him"

"What if he tries to harm you again?"

"He can't. I won't let him"

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

Bono stood looking at the mansion after he alighted from the car that was sent to pick him up. A sad smile lingered around his lips as the door was opened for him.

He saw Anton and Mia sitting at the sitting room, anticipating his entrance.

"Mr Hugh" he greeted with a bow, but Anton turned his face away from him. Good for him not to have expected otherwise.

"You must be the new chef. Miss Natasha Donald?"

She shared an eye lock with him as she turned her head to him.
He was still the same, pale skin, thick and unfit body, wrinkles on his face and the tired eyes. The only difference today, was that he wasn't staggering or cussing, and she wasn't in a car, preparing to run him over.

She recognized him clearly. He was the second mission she had to complete to be in this mansion right now. She never felt good doing bad things but always did them nonchalantly. If she felt even a little pang of guilty or sympathy for running him over, then now she felt totally grateful that she did that, otherwise Anton might have been constantly taking-in poison and would probably have been dead by now.

"Yes. Welcome back" she replied blankly and looked away from him.

"Sit down and let's get to the point" Anton ordered.

He felt guilty referring to Bono disrespectfully but he had tried to kill him when he knew that he was like a father and friend to him, he betrayed him.

"Who forced you to do it?"

Bono understood that he deserved what he was getting but he had actually expected worse.
He made his decision at the hospital to come clean to Anton about everything and also ask for his help.

"I know this is shameless of me, but if I tell you everything, will you help me out with something very important?"

"Are you trying to make a deal with him? In this situation and the circumstances guarding you?" Mia snapped.

"I'm not making a deal with you. Let's hear everything and I'll decide what to do after that"

"Jones Palvis. He was the one who forced me to do it, he has my wife and daughter in his captivity"

Anton laughed. Not the normal type of laughter but one that had a sting attached to its end. The gut of Jones Palvis was admiring, Anton admitted.
He kidnapped his chef's family and made him poison him, how admirable.

"I couldn't tell you because he told me he'll kill them the moment you found out about it. I really didn't want to do it, I'm really sorry, but you know how hard it was for us to have a child, I couldn't throw it all away"

"Then why are you telling me now?"

"I don't know what state there are in now since I've been unconscious for a while, I don't know if they are alive...or not" The tears that had been gathering in his eyes, dropped on his cheeks as he said that.

"And now you're acting pathetic? What if I was dead by now, are you going to act pathetic to my grave?"

Bono couldn't take his eyes on the floor, he couldn't look at Anton's face talk more of his eyes; shame, regret and guilt were the emotions he felt.

"Because of what you did, I would have been dead, she might have been in jail and how are you sure that Jones would have let your family go?" Anton yelled in anger.

"I was selfish, I know but please try to understand me. Please look at things a little bit from my perspective. You might have done the same if you were put in my shoes"

Anton thought about it. Would he have done the same if his parents were in the hand of a monster? Although, it was shameful, his answer was positive.

And he knew Bono's history; married at the age of forty but couldn't have a child till after five years. He kind of understood him but he couldn't stop or help feeling betrayed.

"So what was it that you wanted me to help with?"

"You have a lot of power, money and connections, can you help me find my family? I don't want to think what state they're in right now" he said with sad misty eyes.

"Let me think about it. I'll tell you my answer when I have it. You can go now"

"Thank you" he said with a bow as he stood up.

He nodded to Mia, looked at Anton before inquisitively saying;

"Do you know...who she really is?"

Mia turned quickly to look at him. Her body suddenly felt stiff and her breath hitched in her throat.

-----_____-----_____-----_____-----_____-----_____----___

Really hope you enjoyed your read <3
Support me with your votes please.

If there's anything you want me to improve in my writing, please let me know in the comments section. Thanks✨

Love Grace ♥️