Chapter 9: The Confession

"What do you mean exactly?" Joe asked a moment later.

"As I said before, it has to do with someone named Charles Green," Briana reminded Joe. "By the way, have you ever met him, or heard his name mentioned?"

Joe furrowed his brow. Looking back, the name seemed familiar to him. It seemed like he had read the news about that man.

"If I'm not mistaken, I read about Charles Green who died by suicide along with his wife and seventeen-year-old daughter." Joe answered smoothly. "What does that have to do with you?" Joe asked back.

Briana took a deep breath. She looked straight at Joe. The look in her eyes portrayed deep pain, as well as hatred.

"He's my father. I am Briana Green." Briana said shortly.

Joe's dark eyes flashed after hearing Briana's confession. "How can you claim to be his son?" Joe couldn't believe Briana's words.

Briana smiled sarcastically. This conversation seemed very long, and a waste of her time. Right now she was being pushed back to that time, the darkest period of her life. Although she had tried to forget it, the reality was that the nightmare was still lingering in her memory.

"Of course I'm Charles Green's daughter. No one ever doubted that," Briana explained, scooping up her face." I was in a safe place when my father, mother, and sister died. They didn't commit suicide as reported in the newspapers. They were killed by your father."

Joe stared at Briana. Was Briana's story true that her father was the killer of her family? What was his reason? Joe knew his father very well who was involved in the black world. Richard Carter had many enemies scattered everywhere. But, it seemed highly improbable that his father would have enemies like Charles Green.

"Charles Green was a good police chief. Why would my father kill him?" asked Joe, still finding it hard to believe Briana's words.

Briana groaned loudly. It was difficult to express the bitter story that still left a deep trauma in her life. But now she was forced to tell.

"My father foiled a drug deal between your father and a high-ranking government official. Because of that case your father had to go to jail and suffered heavy losses."

Joe fell silent as soon as he heard Briana's explanation. It all made sense now that he knew the real story. Briana was seeking revenge after losing her entire family.

Briana pushed her chair back. She decided to leave Joe. Now she needed space and time to calm down.

"Where are you going?" asked Joe.

"I want to be alone for a while." Briana walked away without looking at Joe. Now her goal was to go to the meadow behind Joe's spacious house.

Briana sat down under a shady tree. Her eyes fell on some horses grazing at the far end. She pulled the grass underneath her. Her mind now began to wander far into the past.

***

Two years ago.

Briana was helping organize books in the dormitory library when Sister Ana, the prefect, came to her with a panicked look on her face. Sister Ana seemed to have trouble speaking. Sister Ana took a few minutes to compose herself.

"Briana .... I have some news to tell you," Sister Ana stammered.

Briana watched Sister Ana closely. She felt her heart beating very fast. It was as if she had a sign that she was about to receive some bad news.

"All your family members died. They all committed suicide," Sister Ana continued. Her voice sounded very concerned.

Briana's body felt weak instantly. She faltered, falling to the floor. Her lips trembled, and beads of clear water flowed down her cheeks.

Briana didn't really believe in the cause of her family's death. They couldn't have committed suicide. Sister Ana must have gotten the information wrong.

Two days later the bodies of Charles Green, his wife and youngest child were buried. Briana stared at the tombstones of the three people she loved most in this world with a sad look. She couldn't believe she had lost all three members of her family at once.

"Charles didn't kill himself."

Briana heard someone speak behind her as all the mourners had left her at the grave. She turned around, and saw one of her neighbors looking at her with pity. Mrs. Rose Smith, a fifty-year-old woman who was best friends with her mother, walked up to Briana and hugged her tightly.

"I heard gunshots that night," Mrs. Rose whispered, patting Briana lightly on the back. "Your father, mother, and sister were killed by the mob."

Briana let go of the woman's embrace. She stared in disbelief at Mrs. Rose. Her neighbor must be telling the wrong story.

"Madam must be wrong. I've read their autopsy results," Mrs. Rose said, shaking her head. "They state that they died by suicide."

"No, dear. Your father loved his family very much. He wouldn't have done such a stupid thing. Believe me," Mrs. Rose said trying to convince Briana.

"So, do you know who killed my family?"

"I'm not sure. But I did hear a young man call someone," Mrs. Rose said in a fiery tone. "He mentioned the name Richard Carter."

Richard Carter. Briana held that name in her heart. She couldn't let him walk free. That man had to take responsibility for his actions.

After getting important information from Mrs. Rose, Briana began to investigate Richard Carter. She disguised herself as a poor girl, then secretly applied for a job as a housemaid at Richard's residence. Briana only worked there for a month because she realized she could not kill Richard Carter there. There were too many people guarding the house.

"Are you sure you want to work here as a maid?" Madam Elizabeth asked Briana when the girl came to the club.

"Yes. .... I really need a job because I don't have anything else. I need to earn money to survive," Briana replied firmly.

Later Briana worked at Madam Elizabeth's club as a waitress. Briana learned that Richard Carter often came to the place and met with Madam Elizabeth. It took Briana a year and a half to figure out Richard Carter's habits at the club.

Until one day Briana discovered an interesting fact about Madam Elizabeth. Her employer also had a personal grudge with Richard Carter. But, Madam Elizabeth can't do anything because her business depends on Richard Carter.

"Let me kill that man," Briana said in a fiery tone to Madam Elizabeth. The look in her eyes showed an unshakable conviction.