Red Princess

70. The woman we forgot

Alex

"The sibling test was negative. The two samples are not related. The attached report..."

It's not Alice's sample. It's been tampered with.

"... I got the results for that pill you got me. Where did you get it from, Alex? It's not something in the market. It's a pigment, something like melanin. We are not exactly sure of the composition yet, but it's programmed to target hair... it gives a reddish crimson colour..."

A permanent disguise to hide the truth.

"Where are you? We need to talk."

"I am at the bar. What is it a-"

Click.

I hung up. I marched outside my home, ignoring my father in the living room. My mind went numb after the last call. To say I was livid would be an understatement. I was at a point where my brain feared to acknowledge the fury. Like applying duct tape to a hole in a large tank, I was barely keeping myself together, waiting for the moment when all hell breaks loose. A million theories had fought in my mind until this moment. No more. It was time for the truth.

I pulled up along the curb, my body jerking ahead when I stepped on the break. I climbed out and shut the door with a loud thud. The lights inside the bar were dimmed, and the music was reduced to a simmer. My eyes scanned through the crowd for the silver-haired motherfucker. When I spotted him, my knuckles balled up into fists on my sides. Every step I took closer to him felt heavier than the last one. Blood rushed to my face, and my body was trembling, shaking from all the anger I had locked within.

I almost barked at him but then noticed Kaidon beside. My eyes moved back and forth between the two, considering my next move. I approached their booth, my gaze locked on the man I had never trusted, and rightly so.

His gaze met with mine, and I let him take a peek into my brain. "I know you can hear me. You and me, out, now. You can comply, or I'll make you."

He shot me a puzzled look but then lifted himself up from the couch and followed after me. The cold air pricked my cheeks as soon as we stepped outside, but the wrath within me was enough to melt away the chill. I slid into a dark alley, and he followed in, his eyes wandering around.

"What is the matter w-"

I jabbed my elbow into his throat and pinned him to the wall. He grunted, clearly caught off-guard.

"What the-" he coughed and tried to push me away, but I pressed him in further. The adrenaline pumping in my veins gave me the extra strength I needed to overtake him. I curled my fingers into a fist and then held it in the air, a few inches away from his eye.

"Every wrong answer will earn you a punch to your pretty face."

"Alex-"

"Wrong!" I pulled back my fist and then shoved it into his face. His jaw turned with the force, and his cheek turned a dark shade of red.

"What the-"

"Wrong again!" I prepared to hurl another punch at him, but he pushed me away and then bent down to cough harder.

"Are you high?" He didn't attempt to fight back, but his gaze held restrained anger. I didn't care in the least. If I didn't like his answers tonight, only one of us would be going back home alive.

"You replaced the DNA sample of Alice they are carrying!"

I didn't ask him. I accused him because I knew it was him. There was no one else who had the power or authority. Kaidon had been such an idiot all this time to trust this silver-tongued bastard!