Chapter 7

I froze for three seconds, then I spoke. "Freddy, I blinded you in one eye. I already served three years in prison for it. My family also paid you a huge settlement. Your whole rise started with that money, didn't it?" "So do you want me to thank you?" Freddy shoved me hard into the corner. He pulled a spring knife from his belt and stabbed it straight into the crack in the wall behind me. "Luca, how about I blind you right now and hand that money back to you?" My heart dropped. I had no idea how to deal with him. Right then, Alana, who had been silent the whole time, stepped forward. "Freddy, that's enough. Don't do something stupid…" Before she could finish her sentence, Freddy slapped her across the face. "Bitch! You dare take his side? You still think about him, don't you?" Alana held her cheek and backed away. Tears filled her eyes. She did not say a word or even breathe loudly. Dad heard the commotion and ran outside. "Freddy, this whole thing was settled last night. Jeremy and Liam were both there. Luca didn't bother you today. What are you trying to do now?" "George, why would you think that of me?" Freddy dropped the vicious act and smiled at Dad. "Luca just got out. I haven't even had a real talk with him. We were classmates. I stopped by to catch up. Why are you so nervous? "If you don't want me here, I'll go then." He smiled as if nothing had happened, then walked off with Alana. Freddy showed up today for one reason. He wanted to warn me. He wanted me to know that things between us were far from over. I had no idea how to deal with him. All I could do was take it one step at a time. That afternoon, I planned to visit Mom's grave. But when I opened the door, I saw Alana standing at my front gate. The slap Freddy gave her that morning was brutal. She covered her face with layers of makeup, but the red fingerprints still showed through. "What are you doing here?" What happened yesterday made me stay on high alert around her. Seeing her now felt like seeing trouble itself. I couldn't afford to interact with her, so the least I could do was stay away from her. "Luca, I'm sorry about yesterday." I never expected Alana to come all the way here to apologize. But her apology did nothing for me. It only made my stomach twist. "Alana, stop it. What now? You want to set up another fake cheating scene?" "Freddy forced me to do that yesterday." She said it while lighting a mint cigarette. "Luca, I didn't come here for forgiveness. I came to warn you about something." "How kind of you." What she said sounded like a joke. Yesterday, she teamed up with Freddy to stage a whole act and trick my family out of our land, and now she wanted to do me a favor. To me, Alana looked like a bright, perfect snake. When one got close to her beauty, she would sink her teeth into one without mercy. "Luca, believe it or not, Freddy did force me. I had no choice." She did not care whether I wanted to hear it. She let everything she had held inside pour out at once. "Luca, do you really think I married Freddy to pay for my father's treatment? He was never sick." At that, I froze. Alana didn't stop. She took another pull from her mint cigarette and said, "Luca, if you didn't see it with your own eyes, you would never know how dark Freddy's family and Brandon really are. "When Stonebrook first pushed the cemetery project, did you think Freddy and his family were the only ones who wanted the contract? Over a hundred families live here. Every single one wanted that money. So why did only the Ford family get it? "Do you remember Dominic Armstrong from Lower Bay? Ten years ago, he made a fortune running transport in town. But since you came back, have you seen him or his family?" "No." I shook my head. "A few days ago, I walked past their place and saw that the whole house was empty. Where did they go?" "Where else could they go?" Alana let out a sad breath. "Every one of them died except his youngest son, Peter Armstrong. It was a car crash. They went off that mountain road at Thunder Hill. "The report said the brakes failed. That car had been bought less than six months earlier. Do you really think the brakes failed on their own?" A chill ran up my spine. "You're saying the Fords had something to do with Peter and his family's deaths?" She gave a hollow laugh. Alana lit another cigarette. "Back then, at least ten families fought the Fords for that cemetery project contract. They fought for almost a year. And it all ended with Dominic's family of six dying in a car wreck. Think for yourself what happened in between." "Where is Peter now?" I asked. "Who knows?" she said. "Maybe he ran far away. Maybe he died far away." Anywhere people fought for money, darkness followed. And three years ago, a giant pile of money dropped on Stonebrook. Everyone wanted a piece. But I was too simple. I had no idea how dark people could get here once money was on the line. "You said you didn't marry Freddy because of your dad's illness. What was the real reason then?" "What else could it be?" A bitter look crossed her pretty face. Her smile twisted. "He loved gambling. Back then, someone set him up, and he lost 200 thousand dollars. After that, he sold me to the Fords." My chest tightened. "He was set up by the Fords?" Alana let out a weak laugh. She didn't admit it, but I knew I was right. "Luca, if you hadn't blinded Freddy at that reunion, do you think our lives would have gone a different way?" I stayed silent. I had no answer for that. She didn't push the question. She dropped her cigarette and crushed it under her expensive heels. "Luca, the only reason I'm telling you all this is that I want you to understand one thing. In Stonebrook, when the Fords want something, nothing and no one can stop them. "Freddy is far more dangerous than you think. If he wants you dead, killing you is like stepping on an ant. You need to leave Stonebrook before he truly comes for you. Take your dad with you. "If you wait, you won't get a chance to regret it."