Chapter 23: Her Villain
Ember Corbin
"Don't you have a house?" I asked in confusion and looked at Lance, who was now enjoying sitting on the couch.
"I do, but you're not in there," he said, shrugging his shoulders off like it was not a big deal.
I know we were in a relationship right now, but I still needed my privacy. I didn't get it. He had a big penthouse, yet he kept on insisting on staying here. Not that I was complaining, I quite enjoyed sleeping with him. But I mean, I couldn't even call Candy and fangirl about male hot celebrities shamelessly with Lance in the house.
"Why are you pouting while standing there?" he asked, glancing at me.
I sighed deeply. "You're going home tonight," I said, crossing both of my arms against my chest.
"No, I am not," he said sternly.
I glared at him before walking toward him on the couch.
"Look, I can't even sit on my couch because the two of us wouldn't fit in there anymore. You are gaining weight, I think," I teased him, and he snapped at me, looking so horrified. "Not that I mind," I added.
"I'm what?" Lance's voice held utter disbelief, and I nearly laughed out loud. But I managed to control my laughter.
"I think you're slacking off these days. Are you even working out?" I teased him more, and I swore he looked so hurt right now.
"You're hurting me, Em," he said, frowning at me as I was just standing there and shaking my head in disbelief. This man sure had a lot of different sides to him. And I loved the way he called me 'Em' since we started dating.
# # #
After a few hours of convincing Lance that I needed some privacy, he finally left. Ah, is this freedom? I thought, plopping on the couch in peace.
I did my night routine and finally jumped into my bed. As I was about to close my eyes, suddenly I received a text. It was from Lance.
My Rescuer: Are you sure you want what you said earlier?
I stared at my ceiling and tried recalling what I said that I wanted earlier.
Me: About my family?
I replied with a smile on my face.
My Rescuer: Yeah
My smile became even more prominent when I read his response. I was so happy that I had someone I could rely on.
I was happy that someone was willing to help me dig into my past for closure. It's been a few years since I had someone like that, and that made me so happy.
Me: Yes, I mean it. Are you going to help me?
I typed fast and waited impatiently for his response; I immediately grabbed it and opened his message when my phone beeped.
My Rescuer: Ok, I'll dig info about it tonight. By tomorrow we will know the reason.
My entire body just warmed up, especially my chest, and I had never felt happier.
A moment after staring at his message, a drop of water fell onto my phone's screen, and that continued until the tears blurred my vision. I was so happy that I couldn't even stop crying while staring at my phone.
"Oh, Lance, I'm so grateful that I have you," I whispered to myself before laying down and hugging the photo frame holding the picture of my mom which was on the nightstand.
"Let's meet in my dream, Mom. And I'll let you know how good your daughter's life is right now," I mumbled before sleeping.
___
Lance Storm
While I was in my gymâworking out because my girlfriend told me that I was gaining weight, I decided to ask her about her request when we were on our first dinner date.
When my mind drifted to Ember's face earlier while she was nervous about asking me a little favor, I wished she knew that I could even kill someone if she asked meâthough I would kill someone even for a petty reason. But Ember was different. I would even kill myself for her.
"Yes, Lance?" Denver answered when I dialed his number when I was taking a break.
"Find out what happened eight years ago with Ember Corbin. I need updates as soon as possible," I said while walking toward my bathroom.
I wanted this to end as soon as possible so that Ember could move forward with her life.
She had been haunted by those things that happened to her life for a long time now. She lost everything when she lost her mom, so I think it was time for her to move on and focus on her future... with me.
"Lance?" Marie was outside of my bedroom door when I finished changing clothes. I opened it and saw her holding the wireless telephone.
"It's Denver," she said plainly, and I nodded at her before saying thank you.
"Why are you calling in here and not on my phone?" I muttered, checking my phone if he had any missed calls or messages, but none of those were there.
"I wasn't sure where you were. I didn't want your girlfriend to be around when I said this," Denver said cautiously, and I couldn't help but wonder why he would want to make sure of that. "Anyway, I will cut to the chase. The doctor said something that I think you should hear." He was talking about the doctor who tortured Ember in the asylum. I kept him alive all this time to give him a slow death.
"I'm on my way," I said after throwing the phone on my bed and grabbing my jacket. While driving, I kept on checking whether Ember was still up or not, seeing her activity status repeatedly.
"What did he say?" I asked when Denver, and the other three of my men welcomed me in the base.
"He knows you, Lance," Denver said hesitantly, and that made me furrow my eyebrows.
"He knows me? How?" I asked with complete confusion. Nobody talked, and it looked like they were all on edge right now.
"Boss, I think you should talk to him," one of my men said and opened the door, and I glanced back at Denver when I saw what was inside the room.
"We can't talk to the dead, can we now?" I asked them angrily.
I saw their faces with a mix of confusion and shock.
"W-What?" one of my men, Arthur asked in disbelief and rushed inside to check the doctor's pulse who was tied in a chair made of steel with a bullet hole in his chest.
"Looks like there's a rat in here," I said with a trace of amusement in my voice. How dare they? I was clear when I showed them what happened to the person who would betray meâthey would be thrown in an electrocuted pool.
"Find out who did this right now!" Denver shouted, and my two other men immediately ran outside the room to go to the monitoring room.
"Now that he is dead, you're going to tell me what he said."
I saw Denver lower his gaze as Arthur spoke up, "Boss, when I tortured him yesterday, he revealed something. I think that might solve your mystery. We can find out who killed the doctor today later on." With that, he walked to another place.
Both Denver and I followed him. He pulled out a small flash drive from the drawer in his cabin. Arthur was my second most trusted man after Denver.
"Here." Denver handed me a laptop quickly so that I could see what was inside of it. There was only one file with a few clips in there with the title 'No turning back.'
I quickly checked the first video, and my heartbeat suddenly fastened when I saw a young girl who was tied with a wire in her hands in a steel chair.
"Let me go! Let me see my mom! âAhhh!"
My blood boiled in anger when I heard the girl's voice. When I first saw her, I was unsure because the camera angle was from the far northwest and the video quality was not good, either. But now I was sure who the girl in the video was. It wasâ
"Ember," I mumbled, my heart clenching as I heard the screams.
All my life I loved hearing painful screams, but God, this was the one that I absolutely hated with all my being.
The video stopped when Ember lost her consciousness, and the following video automatically played.
"We have to find her mom's killer," I said to Denver with full authority when the second video was footage of the torture cell, and he nodded.
"Ember Corbin was given to us voluntarily by her father. He said that we could do anything we wanted to her. We should never let her see a certain man, ever again!" the dead doctor said on the video that which added fuel to my anger.
Her dad left Ember there even though he knew that something was going to happen to his daughter.
"Who?" I heard Arthur's voice as he was holding a knife that was full of blood.
"He said that it was the man to whom he had to pay debts. He said that he can't let that man kill his daughterâahh!" the doctor shouted when Arthur sliced his hand.
"Name!" Arthur said impatiently, and I felt proud of him. He knew how to handle these things. When the doctor was wincing in pain, my phone suddenly beeped, which I avoided.
"Lance! Lance Storm!"
My head slowly turned to the laptop's screen with my eyes widened when I heard the doctor say my name.
"He said that it was Lance Storm, the new devil of the underworld."
The video stopped on that and automatically played the first video again.
"Lance, are you okay?" I heard Denver's voice filled with worry while I was taking steps backward, staggeredânot really believing everything that I heard.
"It was me..." I uttered as I could still hear Ember shouting in pain from the first video.
I ruined her happy family.