Chapter 22 LOVE THE COWARD'S ENTRY
\[IXORA’S HOUSE\]
“Check the CCTV footage. I know whoever did this wanted me to back out of the election. It must be one of the opposition parties,” Georgia said and hung up the call.
Since they got back from the campaign ceremony, she had been making unending calls. She would do anything in her power to get to the root of those trying to bring her down in the election.
Ixora stood in a quiet corner, looking at her mother as she paced around. Her palms were folded against her phone as she recalled what happened at the ceremony.
\[FLASHBACK\]
“Mom!” she screamed and knelt beside her mother.
“Somebody call the ambulance! Mom, open your eyes!” she placed her hand under her mum’s head.
Georgia’s eyelids flickered open as she darted her gaze around.
“Mum!” Ixora helped her sit up.
Georgia coughed.
“Get me water!” Ixora yelled.
The water was handed to her.
“Here, drink this,” she said, uncorking the water and helping her mother drink it.
“Ma’am, what happened to you? How did you end up here?” A cop who had just arrived at the scene asked.
“I’m sure it must be one of them,” Georgia muttered as she stood up to her feet.
“Who, ma’am? Do you have any suspects in mind?” the cop asked.
Georgia’s eyes turned dark. “It must be from the opposition party.”
“Mum, let’s leave, please,” Ixora said, looking around.
She knew the opposition party had nothing to do with this.
It was Drexton.
As the cop guided them to the car, the uneasy feeling settled in and crept up Ixora’s skin. The air had suddenly grown cold, and the hairs at the nape of her skin had stood.
These were the same feelings that happened whenever Drexton was close to her, and this time it had gotten so strong that she knew he was near.
Stretching her gaze, she saw a figure. The person was wearing a black hoodie, and the hood covered his face. Only his lips were visible.
The person’s gaze was on her, intensely, and her guts kicked in. Drexton. She blinked and by the time she looked again...the figure was gone.
As she got into the car, and it began driving off, her eyes went to the rearview mirror, and she saw the person staring at their car until it was out of sight.
\[REALITY\]
“Aunt, are you okay? I heard what happened at the ceremony and rushed here as soon as I could,” Blake’s voice drew Ixora back to reality.
“I’m fine. Xoxo, I need to leave,” Georgia said.
Ixora nodded, and she walked out of the house.
“Xora, I’m sorry the opposition party ruined your mother’s ceremony.”
“It’s okay, it was meant to happen, I guess...” Ixora trailed.
Blake focused his eyes on her.
“Is something bothering you?”
“Why?”
“You have been acting strange and all. You look tense,” Blake said, his voice etched with concern.
“I’m perfectly fine. I’m just worried about my mom. What if the bullet had hit her?” Ixora replied.
Blake placed his hand on her shoulder. “Nothing happened to her. I know your mum would make sure that the person behind it would be punished,” he said.
Ixora stared at him. How was she going to tell him or her mother that she knew who did it? Would they even believe her since he seems to have the law at his feet as well? She knew who did it, but couldn’t even say it.
“Ice cream?” she suddenly asked.
Blake looked at her, sighed and nodded.
Maybe he shouldn’t pressure her too much about it. She will tell him about it when she feels it is right.
“That reminds me, you haven’t introduced me to Hazel,” Blake said.
Ixora palmed her forehead. “It slipped my mind.”
“She is your best friend, isn’t she supposed to be here after what happened at the ceremony?” Blake asked.
“She’s mad at me. I did something I shouldn’t have done, and she’s still mad. I will go and apologize to her when we get back,” Ixora smiled.
Blake smiled back as he began leading the way out.
Ixora followed suit as she checked her phone. She was going to have ice cream, and she needed her peace right now, and the only way to get that was to switch off her phone.
But before she could do that, her phone chimed...a text from Drexton.
Unknown: Love the coward’s entry, pet? Outhouse—10 PM. This time, it’ll be more than just a bullet...little pet.
Ixora stared at the message, typed a reply and switched off her phone.
\[DREXTON’S HOUSE\]
When you want to see the devil’s dangerous side, just ask for it, and you’ll get it. Simple as that.
But in the case of Ixora, she doesn’t directly ask for it, but he knows she wants to witness more of this side. If he hadn’t controlled his temper back then, Georgia would have been in the hospital fighting for her life...a life he was sure she wouldn’t even survive.
But the devil doesn’t give an easy death, right? And that was why he just gave her a drug that would make her unconscious for a few minutes.
The opposition party doesn’t attack like that.
Jaxon and Maddox are doctors, so it wasn’t hard to get the exact medicine he needed. And of course, he didn’t do it alone. Jaxon and Maddox were the ones who messed with the lights. It caused enough chaos for him to fire a bullet, gave Georgia a shot and dumped her on the road just to plant that fear in Ixora.
Nothing makes his heart bleed more than to witness Ixora’s fears. She was so scared when she saw her mother in that condition...what more would have happened if he had killed her?
She called him a coward, and he showed her what it meant to be a coward. His own coward. And tonight, he plans to do more than just hide-and-seek. He plans to break her, and he will relax and watch her spiral into confusion, broken in such a way that hurts.
He had his eyes on the text she had sent earlier.
Play pet: Send the location. I’ll be there.
She was beginning to behave like a pet, and he just loved it. The plans he orchestrated were going to hurt her, and at the same time, make her strong.
For it to work, he’s going to be using her best friend as his pawn.
“Hazel!” his eyes turned dark.
\[HAZEL’S HOUSE\]
“I haven’t seen that pesky friend of yours lately. Has she uncovered the truth behind leukemia?” Maria asked, sitting beside Hazel, whose eyes turned dark at the mention of Ixora.
“She trusts me a lot to doubt me. I’m just worried she hasn’t tried to apologize to me,” Hazel said.
“I saw what happened to her mum on the news today. Aren’t you going to see her? It would make her trust anything you say.”
Hazel raised her hand in the air. “Mum. Stop it. Her mum has always degraded us. I don’t care if she dies or not. The only thing I want from her is money. Why does she always get the good things? She has rich parents. She pretends she doesn’t have her parents’ love, yet she still lives with them. We are the ones suffering in this poverty-stinking life. She began crushing on Drexton the very day I showed Drexton to her.”
“If you knew you loved Drexton, why didn’t you go and confess to him right away? Why did you keep on following her like a puppet?” Maria asked, standing on her feet.
Hazel looked at her. “Really, Mum? You think somebody like Drexton would notice a girl like me. There are models, actresses. Drexton doesn’t belong to our class. You think if I just went and confessed to him, he’d accept me.”
“But he smiles. If you hadn’t been so focused on extorting money from Ixora, then you wouldn’t be here today,” Maria said in a loud voice.
“And that’s because I plan to leave the country with the money,” Hazel snapped.
Maria’s eyes widened. “So you are only using me to leave the country? You know what, I don’t even understand this plan of yours anymore. You even promised the doctor a forty percent share if he helps you with the plan.”
“You don’t have to remind me about it. I want the money, and I am going to get it from Ixora. I know exactly what to do,” she muttered, and at that same time, a text chimed on her phone.
Thinking it was the doctor, she wanted to smash the wall against the wall when her eyes caught the context.
Unknown: Let’s play. 20 Crescent Street, outhouse. $500 billion.