Versions of Justice

“Edward? Why? Is everything ok?” I fired my questions in shock.

“Natalia, is that you?” I heard Lucien’s voice through the phone that was close to my ear.

“Yes…it’s me,” I replied softly.

Lucien’s tone of voice confirmed that something very serious had happened.

“Is Edward there with you?” Lucien asked, his tone dead serious.

“Yes…he’s right here,” I replied.

“Give me that, Natalia,” Edward said as he impatiently took his phone from my hand.

I watched in confusion as Edward pressed the phone to his ear and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. His brows were knitted together as he frowned and paced around the room. I couldn’t hear what Lucien said on the other end of the line, but I could hear Edward’s side of the conversation loud and clear.

“Yeah…of course I’ve seen it,”

“No…Natalia hasn’t,”

“I don’t know…”

“And you thought me marrying Natalia was a big deal…”

“Why don’t you just worry about the business side…and I’ll deal with the rest,”

The conversation between the brothers were over much faster than I had anticipated. However, it was clear that whatever issue at hand was far from over.

“Umm…Edward, what is going on?” I asked, clearly confused and worried.

“Come here and sit down,” Edward said as he sat down on the sofa and patted the spot right next to him.

I walked over and sat down next to him as he had instructed as I waited to hear his explanation. Was something wrong with the business?

“Don’t faint, ok?” Edward said and I could tell that he was half playful but also half serious.

“Ok…” I replied as I nodded my head up and down.

“Zak has his mother on trial as a suspect for instigating the murder of Rosia Rosenhall, your mother,”

Edward stated slowly and clearly.

Zak got his mother on trial? Zak succeeded in bringing Madame Francesca to court because she instigated my mother’s murder…

She was arrested for instigating my mother’s murder?! Madame Francesca ordered my mother to be killed?

“What? Madame Francesca ordered for my mother to be killed?!” I shouted as I stood up rapidly from the sofa.

“Well, to be exact she ordered for Lucien to be killed…” Edward corrected in a grave voice.

“Oh…but my mother…died instead…” I said slowly in understanding as the pieces of the puzzle all came together.

So, this was what Zak wanted to show me. This was just as Zak had written on that piece of paper…

this was ‘The Truth’.

My mother died because of his mother…

“Damn that Zak…he really did know everything. Even the last piece of the puzzle that I couldn’t figure out…” Edward said in amazement.

How long has Zak known I wondered.

“How long do you think Zak has known about this?” I asked in a strained whisper. I had lost the strength in my legs and plopped back down on the sofa.

I felt a migraine coming on and I also felt like I wanted to cry myself to sleep to escape it. I rubbed my temple with my hand.

“Long enough for him to collect enough proof to take his own mother to court. That’s for sure,” Edward said with conviction.

“Why would she do it? Why would Madame Francesca want to get rid of Lucien?” I asked.

I didn’t understand it. Those two appeared to be on reasonably good terms. While Edward and Madame Francesca were openly hostile towards each other, Lucien showed great respect for her.

Madame Francesca had always supported Lucien to take over as the next Elder. All of this just didn’t make sense at all.

“You’re probably thinking that it’s weird for her to want to get rid of Lucien because those two seem to be friendly with each other. The truth is, the extreme opposite was true around ten years ago,” Edward started explaining.

“What do you mean?” I asked suspiciously.

“I mean exactly as it sounds. They hated each other and perhaps they still do. However, what’s for sure is that they’ve gotten better at acting like they love each other and have been working towards similar business goals,” Edward said with a sigh. It was clear that he didn’t want to talk about this.

“So, they’ve been faking it all this time?” I pressed further.

“Exactly. It was Francesca’s idea and decision to start illegal human experimentation for business gains. Back then Lucien and your father were against it and wanted to expose the truth to the world.

Some way or another, Francesca found out and decided to silence them both. She succeeded in your father’s case but failed in Lucien’s…” Edward began to explain.

“Francesca killed my father as well…” I gasped in shock as I realized this.

Edward just nodded; his eyes fixed to an invisible spot on the carpet.

“If Zak is right then that must have been how it all played out. Lucien and I have been trying to right the wrongs from the past but in different ways,” Edward stated matter-of-factly.

“How so?” I questioned.

“Lucien’s been trying to change the business from the inside by working his ass off and trying his best to downplay Francesca’s influence. As Lucien succeeds in leading the company, he can lead it ethically and how it’s supposed to be led,” Edward explained.

I couldn’t believe how I never realized this. I also didn’t know why Lucien didn’t just come out and tell me in simple terms.

“What about you?” I asked, prompting for Edward to continue.

“Most of my philanthropic projects are helping poor towns abroad that were exploited by the company for human experimentation,” Edward said flatly.

“What?! They used poor people abroad?” I exclaimed in shock.

“Correct. Although some trials were done in that lab that I took you to, mass scale experiments were conducted in poor towns abroad where the company could easily pay people to participate. Of course, the ethicality of the procedure is very questionable,” Edward continued to explain.

I didn’t want to believe what I was hearing. This story was just too sad and unfortunate for everyone that was involved. These brothers spending their lives cleaning up and atoning for the wrongs committed by the family’s company and their sister. While Zak dedicated his life to bring his own mother to justice.

--To be continued…