Chapter 95: Diabolical

"Careful! Watch your step!" Peter said to Sharon, as he led her across some rocks.

He was holding on to a basket filled with clothes and a towel. Sharon had a blindfold around her eyes and didn't know where they were. Peter had driven her to the creeks so he could officially pop the question.

"Where are we going, Peter?" She asked with a chuckle.

"You'll see! We're almost there."

They finally arrived at the edge of the creek. Sharon could hear the water flowing, she could feel the chill in the air and she knew where they were but couldn't wait to set her eyes on it.

"Alright, you can take off the blindfold,"

Sharon whipped it off and was short of breath when she saw the beautiful creek. The water was sky blue, yet completely transparent. Little koi fish were swimming in the large pool of water. The rocks were wet and shiny and the moss that grew on them was green and beautiful. The scenery was made even more perfect by the reflection of sunlight that gleamed through the water droplets that fell from the little waterfall. It created a cascade of colours, multiple little rainbows filled the creek and it was a truly special sight.

"Peter! This is beautiful," she said, staring away from him.

And when she turned around to face him, he was already on one knee with a little box in his hand.

"Sharon Thompson, I know I already asked you before and thankfully you said yes but now, I want to ask you one more time, properly. You and I have been through so much together and it's made me realise that there is nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you,"

He opened the box, revealing a beautiful ring with a red ruby stone. He took the ring out of the box and held it out.

"Sharon, will you do me the honour of spending the rest of your life with me? I promise to make you happy and to give you everything you could ever possibly want. Will you marry me?"

"Yes, I'll marry you, Peter," she cried and he put the ring on her finger.

He got up and took her lips into his and kissed her with all the passion in the world.

"Remember the first time we swam together?" Peter asked Sharon and she blushed at the memory.

"Yes, of course, I do. That was when we had our first kiss,"

"Well, second actually, if you count the first time when I ran away from you after we kissed," Peter said with a smile.

"You weren't ready then!" Sharon said, understanding his reluctance back then.

"I'm more than ready now," he said.

And with that, he jumped into the creek and swam around, laughing happily.

"Come on, future wife, get in here!" Peter said to her.

She took off her clothes and her ring and jumped into the water, sharing a happy moment with the man she loved.

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Days later and Sharon and Peter were already making plans and arrangements for their big day and they were already being offered help by so many different people in the community.

Peter had gone to the bank to get some information about how much he had in his account from the pension he receives from the army for his years of service. It turned out he had quite the fortune as he hadn't touched any of the money in five years.

He decided that after he got married to Sharon, he would use the pension money to open a business. The one skill he was really good at aside from shooting was fishing, so he decided to start a little fishing company. He intended to have a large shop and have boats and employees that went out to sea and brought back all kinds of edible sea creatures that he would sell. Chris loved the idea and offered to help with everything needed to start it up.

Sharon on the other hand, was quickly reuniting with her other friends that she had left behind when she went to Denver to live with Addicus. Not all of them were still living in Jacksonville, but the ones that were still there were all so excited to see her again and were even more excited when they found out that she was getting married.

They all met up at Sharon's house the day Peter and Chris went to the bank.

There was **Tracy, Cameron, and Lauren.** They all offered to be her bridesmaids and she accepted.

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About five days before the wedding, Douglas arrived in Jacksonville to visit his parents. Mrs Karen was so happy to see her son again after he had been gone for so many months, studying at the university.

"Douglas! I thought you were arriving by tomorrow?"

"That's what I made you believe, mom! I wanted to surprise you by showing up a day earlier than you expected," Douglas said with a smile.

"Are you surprised?"

"Of course, I'm surprised!" His mother said with a playful slap on his shoulder.

"Come here, my son," she said and pulled him in for a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Mom. I've missed you. How's Dad doing? Any improvements?" He asked after he was done with the hug.

"See for yourself,"

Douglas walked over to his paralyzed father and held his hands. He was disappointed to see his father in the same state he was in when he first left for college.

"I was really hoping for some good news when I arrived here," Douglas said, feeling greatly disappointed.

"Well, there is some good news. Do you remember Sharon Thompson?" She asked him and took a seat.

Douglas took a seat beside her and tried to remember who Sharon was.

"You mean, Lily's best friend all those years ago?"

He was only three years old when Sharon left with Addicus for Denver so he couldn't really remember her but he knew how close she and Lily were because while they sent letters to each other, at a point in time, he usually helped Lily to take her letters to the post office to have them sent to Sharon.

"Yes, that's the one! She's back in Jacksonville and she's getting married in a couple of days," Mrs Karen said happily.

"That's wonderful, Mom. I should go say hi to her, shouldn't I?"

"Yes you should and I'll take you to her. I'm sure she'll be very happy to see you but before that, there's something you need to know," Mrs Karen now sounded serious.

"What is it, Mom?" Douglas asked, noticing the sudden change in her mood.

"Sharon told me something about your sister's death. It turns out that it wasn't a robber that killed her. That was just a lie told to us by some dirty policemen," she said.

Mrs Karen wasn't happy with just telling him the plain truth just like that, but he had to know.

"What do you mean, Mom? What are you talking about?"

"Your sister was murdered in cold blood by a man named Addicus Worthington."

*The name sounded very familiar to Douglas.*

"Isn't that the same man that...?" He asked

"...that adopted Sharon and took her to Colorado? Yes, that's him," Mrs Karen said.

"It turns out that he was the one who killed Sharon's parents and then, he took her in. Some years later, Sharon found out the truth and he tried to kill her as well. Lily was in Colorado at the time and she met up with Sharon, who told her everything. But, before they could escape.., he showed up and murdered your sister because she knew the truth about him,"

She took out a hanky and wiped her eyes.

Douglas couldn't believe his ears. He was so hurt and upset by this information. He couldn't understand why someone would be willing to hurt an angel like Lily. He tried hard to hold back his tears, but he couldn't. His sadness quickly turned to anger.

"This man? Is he paying for what he did? Is he locked up in prison for what he did to my sister?" Douglas asked angrily.

"No, he isn't! He's a very rich and powerful man and he managed to escape justice all this time. He hunted Sharon for a few years and it cost her a lot. But now, she was finally able to make an agreement with him that he would leave her alone to live her life and that she would do the same," Mrs Karen said.

"No! That's can't be allowed. He can't be allowed to go free and not pay for what he's done!" Douglas said angrily.

He got up and looked for the keys to his father's truck. He found them and angrily walked to the automobile. His mother chased after him.

"Douglas, where are you going?"

"I didn't have any agreement with this man, so I'll **honour** my sister. I'm going to Denver to report his crimes and have him arrested," he said and turned the car on and drove off.

Mrs Karen was so worried about him and what he would do. She had already lost one of her children to this man and was afraid of losing another. She quickly decided to go to Sharon and inform her of Douglas's plan.