Chapter 13 A sinking ship
The grand ballroom hummed with excitement as the Black family took their places on stage, bathed in the soft glow of the spotlight. Lilac strode over and stood her place by Eric’s side, Eric just glanced at her and looked away.
“How did it go?” Eric asked.
“I had a talk with my sister," Lilac said and Eric raised a brow.
"Just a talk?"
"Yes, just a talk. She will definitely make mistakes,” Lilac said with a sly smile, and Eric sneered.
"Well, as long as you know what is at stake. If your mess disturbs the the Family's plans, you can forget you or your family getting out of this alive," Eric said then fixed his expression before thing to take Lilac's hand. Lilac pulled her hand away from him, not allowing him to touch her.
Eric’s father, Mr. Black, stepped forward, his commanding presence filling the room as he addressed the gathered guests. “Friends, Partners, esteemed guests, and even a few enemies, thank you for joining us tonight for this special occasion.”
His words caused a few chuckles to filter through the crowd.
Mr. Black continued, the microphone helping his voice resonate through the room. “Tonight, we are proud to unveil to you a revolutionary new technology, the culmination of years of hard work and dedication from our family and our partners in the Middle East.” He nodded to the staff behind and the screen behind them came alive. A video played introducing the new train engine.
As Mr Black introduced the new technology the room got excited, and soon exploded in shock and applause.
“We have been tinkering with this technology with the help of the scientist in the middle east who first built it. Black Group is proud to tell you that we are entering the next phase. We will be showing you soon what this engine is capable of.” Mr. Black said.
Applause continued throughout the ballroom as Mr. Black went ahead to showcase the groundbreaking features of their latest invention
Lilac’s heart could not help but remain in her throat. The excitement of the room could not reach her. She tried to look as normal as possible, but she knew what was coming. Soon it came.
Before the applause could die down, a few people walked out of the crowd towards the stage shattering the atmosphere. Cathy, no more needing to wait, stepped forward, not as a friend, but a federal agent, her expression looked grave as she pullednout a warrant. “Mr. Black, I’m sorry to interrupt, but We have a warrant to search this shop under suspicion of your family funding and aiding terrorists in the Middle East.”
The room was immediately silenced as the age ts begun their search. Lilac’s heart pounded in her chest as she watched the scene unfold. The movie had begun.
“What do you mean?” Mr. Black asked with a frown.
“We have a warrant to search this ship, please cooperate,” Cathy said and nodded to agents beside her who immediately joined the search, “No one is to leave the ship till the search is done.”
“On what grounds?” Mr. Black asked darkly.
“Cathy, what is going on?” Lilac asked with a confused look on her face. Cathy felt her heart shake when she saw the confusion in Lilac’s eyes. She had spent so long pretending to be her friend, there was no way she did not feel anything towards their friendship.
At this point, Lilac’s parents stepped up and called her to their side. “Lilac, honey, come here,” her mother said.
“What is going on?” Lilac asked again. This time, one could see the slight anger in her eyes.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hart, the agent just appeared, there is no need for you to call Lilac over, almost as though you know that we are guilty,” Eric said, grabbing on to Lilac’s hand and pulled her to his side.
“There is no need for your family to have Lilac take the fall for you. We are taking our daughter!” Mrs. Hart insisted, making Eric's actions look as though he was holding Lilac hostage.
“You have already jumped to saying we are letting her take the fall, it makes one think that you and your family know what is going on and were in on the investigation fiasco,” Helen said, “The agents have not finished speaking,”
“You, Cathy, talk. What is this all about?” Lilac asked.
“We have evidence of money used to trade with terrorist from you and Mr. Eric Black’s joint account,” Cathy said.
“What joint account? The one I asked you to help me close today?” Lilac asked.
“Yes,” Cathy answered.
“But you know that there is no joint account. This morning I even told you how the account came to be…” Lilac started to say.
“For over a year, that account has been used to carry out trade with a religious radical group. You and Mr. Eric Black are a signatory to that account,” Cathy said.
“So, I had you look into it for me because I wanted to close it and you concluded we were sending money to terrorists?” Lilac asked.
“We have been watching this account for a while now,” Cathy answered and looked away to respond to one of their agents.
“Lilac, come down here!” Mrs. Hart scolded Lilac to come to their side.
“Stop!” Lilac shouted out of nowwhere, amkigne everyone pause.
“Cathy, or is your name really Cathy?” Lilac asked in a low voice and Cathy’s heart stilled as she struggled to rein in her expression of guilt.