Chapter 18

As soon as she finished, the booming sound of his loud furniture frightened her. He'd stood up with such force that he'd practically shoved his desk forward by a foot. The pupils on his orbs narrowed at how she retreated. Her body position showed she almost ran out of there.

His face flashed a split second of rage before giving a soft chuckle and shake of his head. He placed both hands flat on the desk and leaned forward.

"How bold you've become, Abigail," he uttered from a deep chord.

Lucas saw her throat contract as she swallowed and caught her shaky breath. He knew full well that if he even so much as take another step forward, she would've fled without a doubt.

But he didn't. He remained at his distance.

As much as he was stunned at her request, he was more fascinated by her audacity and courage to come through with it.

Owe her? She must've been kept in the dark for too long. Did she have any idea what he'd done for her?

He examined her fight-or-flight posture and quickly sat back down. When he noticed the disposition of his desk, he swore and pulled it back with another loud rumble. He grunted and sat back down, placing his fists on the table. Then, as soon as his cold eyes met hers, she sucked in a breath.

"You honestly think I won't do anything to you right now?"

It was not so much a threat but a comeback to her compromise. But how he wanted to drag her next door to his bedroom too. Fuck.

A deep sigh escaped from his lips and he leaned back in the chair. He crossed his fingers together on his stomach, resting his elbows on the arms. She was so far away he could see her from head to toe.

A sweater dress wrapped itself loosely around her small body with black tights on her skinny legs and slippers on her feet. The neck opening on the dress was large compared to her small frame, exposing her collarbones and part of her shoulders.

Is that… no bra?

"It's just a suggestion," Abigail was able to mutter without stuttering. Her voice was so meek he could barely hear. "Nothing you do could really make up for what you did."

Lucas found her words prematurely decided. He smirked. She knew he wanted to compensate for his wrongdoings and was using it to her advantage. He decided to take up the challenge.

He reached over for John's laptop and set it in front of him. Whatever it was that she was looking for, little Abby would never come to him unless it was a last resort.

Also, screw that son-of-a-bitch. He had it coming.

Lucas opened the device and the screen popped up to prompt the password. Instead of entering a possibility, he hit some keys and the screen went completely black. Green letterings immediately began revealing line by line. As soon as it did, he also began typing.

His eyes darkened and became focused. He hadn't hacked into a computer ever since university but quickly remembered how easy it was. Occasionally, he would look down at the keys but the sound of typing never stopped.

Abigail was standing in front of him now. He sensed her curiosity and encouraged her to come around to see. She debated his invitation in her head for a minute before declining.

There was a short moment of silence where the only sound was his fingers and the keys.

"You see, coding is highly subjective but quite easily achieved. It does exactly what the programmer tells it to do. But one tiny little mistake, and the entire script will not run."

When he finished, he looked up to see her reaction. He knew that as soon as his tone changed halfway through, she could tell he was back at it. He still won't tell her to stop with her endeavors, but he was warning her again.

Her eyes ran back and forth, her focus drawn inward but she remained silent. He knew she continued to ask herself if it was still worth it.

That's why before he handed the laptop over, he cautiously went through every piece of data in John's memory card to see if this dumbass left anything that could leak.

Lucas sucked on his lips. With a push of the enter button, he turned the device around to face her.

"This is a one-time login. Don't let the screen go dark."

His face was blank. He didn't ask for anything else or make any unnecessary comments.

Abigail was skeptical and waited in the dreadful silence for him to say something that would overturn this favor. 'You owe me now', 'You can't leave', or 'I'm telling him'.

But he never said anything. The room continued to remain quiet and the most agonizing thing was that his eyes never left her as she grabbed the laptop off the desk, thanked him, walked to the door, and closed it behind her.

She rushed back to John's office and sat down. She took heed of his advice but really she only had half an hour to search. Her finger moved the pointer to click on the file icon. Her eyes scanned the names of each folder. She first looked through documents and after what seemed like forever, found nothing but contract forms, legal papers, and insurance stuff.

Her nails dug into her palms so hard they almost broke through. The frustration returned a nostalgic irritation. It was the same when she was four and she asked. It was the same when she was ten and she asked. It was the same when she was sixteen and asked. And it was still the same when she tried to find it for herself. Dead end after dead end.

Her head fell into her hands hopelessly. Why couldn't she be more capable? Why did she have to be inadequate and such a disappointment?

With only ten minutes left, she found her way looking through some old pictures of her and her brother. There was one during her fifth birthday and cake all over John's face. Another one of her in seventh grade during one of her piano concerts. She couldn't help but smile through these fond memories. Then surprisingly, she came upon a folder labeled 'Funeral'.

She was told that her Mother and Lady Barrington never had a funeral and were both cremated. Their ashes were sent to the Barrington Mausoleum afterward. For some naive reason, she had never bothered to ask why a funeral was never held.

She clicked on the folder and it immediately launched hundreds of pictures of a funeral, evidently of the two mothers. They were both held at the same time and it wasn't small. It was a grand funeral hosting roughly over three hundred guests.

Her eyes went large as she scanned picture by picture. There was a funeral held for her Mother, but where was she? She never remembered attending it nor did she remember what she was doing that day. Unfortunately, the picture didn't have dates but from the look of John's age, it was only months after the accident.

And then she found a formal picture of the family members who attended. It was always customary to take one for future references and keepsakes. She peered into it long and hard until she realized there were two people missing.

Her.

And Lucas.