Chapter 50: Apology Accepted

Noah’s POV:

This all is pointing towards that single thing.

Revenge.

And there is only one person…

Lucas.

“A-Astrid, take care of you and your mom” I said and cut the call.

I called Charlotte to see if she has any information on this.

“Hey, Noah” she said.

“Charlotte, do you know where is.. L-Lucas?”

“H-he is.. wait. I contacted him yesterday”

“You did?” I asked surprised.

“N-Noah. I.. I forgave him”

“………..” I didn’t know what to say. She knows him best. All the things happened to her. If she had forgiven him then who am I to interfere?

“And he is probably in his house right now” she said.

“Are you here? In the hotel?”

“Yes”

“Okay”

“Noah, did something happen?” she asked.

“Yes” I replied.

“What?”

“Astrid’s mom was kidnapped almost a week ago” I said. “The kidnapper wanted nothing else than her d-death”

“So you suspect him of being involved?” she asked, somewhat taken aback and a little infuriated.

“I..I, listen, Charlotte—”

“Noah, I don’t think that he can do something like that”

“This is not you; your heart is speaking. You love your brother. You forgave him after the shit he tried to do with you. You forgave him after he beat you like that. But try to think it in a plausible way. He knows that Astrid is a h-heart patient. She won’t be able to take her mother’s l-loss”

“Noah, I’ll do my best to find out the real kidnapper. I will help you in every way possible” she assured me.

“Thank you” I said and ended the call. I called Liam.

“Hey Noah!” Liam said.

“Liam, I need your help” I said.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Astrid’s mom was kidnapped; I suspect Lucas was involved. Can you help me find that my suspicion is correct or not?” I asked.

“Yes, he can be” he said.

“How?” I asked.

“This is a very big secret. Charlotte shouldn’t know about this, okay?” he said. I nodded and then I realized we were on call; he can’t see me.

“Okay” I said.

“Lucas has a brother. Ten years older than him, he’s in the mafia, second position. They are in contact. Lucas didn’t tell me this, but I came to know by his mobile. I usually used to get it being his best friend” he said.

“M-mafia?” I asked.

“There’s nothing he can’t do to hurt you or her. You have to find a weak point of him, Noah”

“Charlotte”

“What? You told me what happened to her. You think she’s his weak point? Come on, Noah. He hurt her. She—”

“She forgave him. Something must have ticked her brain”

“What?”

“He must have always been good to her, or she must have some real reason. No girl can forgive someone who tried to play with her dignity. That’s it. We have to take the risk. Blackmail him by Charlotte’s name”

“Or maybe he again forced her to forgive him?”

“We will talk to him” I said.

“Okay” and with that the call ended. Then Astrid called me.

“Hey, Noah” she said.

“Is she okay?” I asked.

“Yes, Noah. And I asked her about how she escaped. She said at the last moment the police came and that’s when the gunshots were heard.”

“Oh”

“But the strange thing” she said. “She didn’t call the police and there was no one around them who could have done that”

“What? This is really complicated. Why would someone want to kill her? And why would that person call the police at the last moment to make his own men captured by the police?”

“Only one motive—” she said.

“To threaten” we both said at once.

“And why would someone want that?” Astrid asked.

“You know what? Don’t care about them. I’ll take this matter from now. You and your mom will be saved. Trust me” I said.

I don’t want to involve her in anything related to that bastard. I can’t let her know why he is doing this either, because I can’t take the risk of telling her about her condition.

“You sure?” she asked.

“Yes” I said.

“Okay… l-love” she said. A big smile crossed my lips.

“That sounds so.. heartwarming” I said. “princess”.

“That too” she said, and I smiled again. I can also imagine her smiling.

“Well, Noah, can we meet tomorrow?” she asked.

“We will meet in college, I guess?” I said.

“I.. I mean after that, I.. you know”

“So, my princess wants to go on a date?” I asked.

“Yes, Noah” she said. “Or should I call you lo—”

“Nope! Your mom will hear you” I said.

“Oh, oh yeah” she said. “You care about me more than I do” she laughed.

“I should” I said. “Then we will meet tomorrow, shall we?”

“Yeah” and with that the call ended.

I met with Liam at the park near Lucas’ home. We headed towards his house and knocked. He opened the door.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked.

“Leave Astrid and her family alone” I said.

“I have done nothing” he said.

“We will expose your brother” This time Liam spoke. Although we have said that we will not let him know that we know his brother’s mafia connection, he was bold this time. He was dead set on making things right.

Lucas left out a throaty laugh.

“so, you know him” he said. “Yes, I was the one who made my brother’s men kidnap her mother, what will you do?” he asked.

“Why?” I asked.

“You took Charlotte away from me” he said. “I’ll take Astrid away from you” he added.

“Charlotte is not here because of what you did!” I said.

“She forgave me, didn’t she?” he asked. “I’ve worked my whole life in building that trust in her. But she didn’t return. She said she can’t, and she won’t. I know you were the one who forced her to stay!"

"We don’t need to force her, she accepted that wholeheartedly” I said.

“She would’ve come back if you didn’t interfere”

“So that you can try to do all that again?” I spoke.

“I.. I really didn’t know what I was doing.. Noah, I know I’m cheap, but not that much to do that with my sister.. I..”

“Step sister, right!?” I mocked his words.

“S-sorry, Noah, please, tell her to come b-back” he said. I looked at Liam, who was in nothing but rage.

“If you can convince her” I said.

“She.. she doesn’t let me talk to her about coming back, she always cuts in between. She even hangs the call if I ask her to come back” he said. At that time, I saw some vulnerability in his eyes.

Is he really sorry?

“I’ll talk to her” I said. “But promise me you’ll never, ever hurt her” I said. He nodded. “I won’t risk another girl for Astrid. I need this promise over the bible”

“I.. I promise over the bible that I will never hurt her in any way” he said. I nodded and left the area.