Love Me, Dragon

34

34
AMELIA

The next day, I confided in Alaric about what I had overheard from the maids. Anger and determination burned in his eyes as he insisted on confronting them immediately. Together, we sought out Boaz to discuss the matter and hopefully find a resolution.

As we approached the maids, their eyes widened with surprise. "Amelia, Alaric, what brings you here?" one of them asked, feigning innocence.

I took a deep breath, trying to remain composed. "We know about your involvement in the knitting machine sabotage," I stated firmly.

The other maid scoffed, crossing her arms defiantly. "You must be mistaken. We had nothing to do with it," she replied, her voice dripping with insincerity.

Alaric stepped forward, his voice stern. "We overheard your conversation yesterday. There's no use denying it now," he said, unwavering in his resolve.

The maids exchanged nervous glances before one of them spoke up. "Look, Amelia, it's not what you think. We never intended for things to go so wrong," she began, her voice trembling.

I shook my head, my frustration growing. "Not what I think? You were paid to sabotage the knitting machine! How can you justify that?" I retorted, my voice tinged with anger.

The other maid interjected, "It's not like that! We were desperate for money, and someone offered us a deal. We were told to make sure you didn't win the competition, that's all!"

Alaric's brows furrowed as he probed further, "Who offered you this deal? And why did they want Amelia to lose?"

The maids exchanged uneasy glances before one of them finally spoke up. "We don't know who he was, but he said he had his reasons. He claimed that Amelia was too confident and that the competition needed an unexpected outcome," she explained, her voice wavering.

Boaz listened attentively, his expression stern. "You should have come to me if you were facing financial difficulties," he stated firmly. "Sabotaging the competition was not the solution."

The maids looked downcast, realizing the gravity of their actions. "We know we made a mistake, but we never thought it would hurt Amelia this much," one of them admitted, her voice filled with regret.

I felt torn, torn between the anger at their betrayal and a glimmer of understanding for their desperation. "You should have trusted me enough to come to me with your problems," I said, my voice softer now. "We could have found a way to help you without resorting to such drastic measures."

Alaric placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Amelia is right. What's done is done, but we need to find out who orchestrated all this," he said, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The maids nodded, remorseful expressions on their faces. "We'll cooperate fully with the investigation. We want to make things right," one of them promised.

Boaz sighed, shaking his head. "I'll have to look into this matter personally. In the meantime, I hope you've learned a valuable lesson," he said firmly.

As we parted ways, a mix of emotions swirled inside me. Betrayal, forgiveness, and a longing for justice clashed within my heart. The road ahead was uncertain, but with Alaric by my side and the truth within our grasp, I was determined to face whatever challenges lay ahead. 

***

As Alaric, Boaz, and I confronted the maids again about their involvement in the sabotage, we felt they weren’t telling us the complete truth, I could feel it, they adamantly denied any knowledge or participation. Alaric's frustration was evident as he struggled to find a way to elicit the truth from them.