The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

[ Meet me now at a park in the District of Eals. I have something to tell you. I will be waiting for you. « Elle » ]

James's lips twitched into a half-smile the moment he read her message. He didn't expect Elle to message him.

'She wanted to meet me and tell me something. I wonder what is it. Interesting.' There was a gleam in his eyes as he thought about it. 

It did not take long when he received another message from her.

[ Come alone. If you dare bring any of your underlings then forget about this meet-up. ]

Without further ado, James stood up from his chair gathering the attention of everyone inside the meeting room. All of them were giving him a confused look.

The presenter became suddenly tongue-tied, afraid that he had said something that made the Chairman be upset. There was a moment of silence. Everyone was anticipating James to speak up.

Noticing the several pairs of eyes looking at his direction, James concealed his excitement with his expressionless font as he faced everyone inside.

"Let's continue this meeting some other time. I have a much more important thing to attend to at this moment." he simply said with his stern authoritative voice.

Everyone was flabbergasted when they heard that. All their faces were painted with disbelief and bewilderment. Everyone exchanged glances with each other with the same thoughts in mind.

'What's gotten on their Chairman? Suddenly adjourning an on-going meeting. He shouldn't have called for this meeting in the first place if he had really some important thing to do.'

But no one dared to voice out their complaints and thoughts. After all, James was the Chairman of this company. His sister, Selena was absent for today's meeting so there's no way they would continue the meeting without the Arison Siblings.

Even Spike, his assistant, had no idea about this. He just looked at James, puzzled. James didn't waste any more time as he started to walk towards the door of that meeting room, ignoring the strange look coming from the people inside.

When he already reached the door, he paused for a moment and spoke up another word.

"Oh, next time, please make your presentation clear and concise. Make it comprehensive. I felt bored just listening to you a while ago." He said to the presenter as a wicked smirk appeared on his face.

"A-Apology for t-that Mr. Chairman. I-I understood." The presenter stuttered because of fright and nervousness.

James just waved his hand in a nonchalant manner, dismissing everyone before he left the meeting room. Spike followed him from behind.

Sensing Spike's presence, James stopped on his track.

"Spike, just stay here in the company. No need to accompany me. I'll be back in an hour." James said as he commanded him.

With no right to refuse, Spike just nodded in agreement. He just watched James's retreating back as he left the building.

Meanwhile, Elle was already sitting in one of the benches in the said meeting place. She received James's reply that he was already on his way.

There were lots of people in the park. Some were couples and a family who were having their quality time together with their loved ones. Elle started to regret choosing this place for their meet-up.

At first, she thought it would be advantageous if they would meet in a public place so that James wouldn't try to make a scene or do underhanded moves using his underlings just to catch her. 

She hissed when she thought that James was also a schemer one.

After twenty minutes of waiting, Elle saw James's arrival from a distance. She could already tell that it was him. He is the only guy wearing a corporate suit in the broad daylight while walking in the middle of the park.

"Oh, here comes the mighty Chairman of the Arison Holdings," she mumbled to herself.

James looked like he was looking for her. Elle was wearing her plain white shirt matched with her blue jeans. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. She was also wearing a white cap.

She sent him a text message so that he would be able to locate her spot. After reading her message, James looked at her direction. Elle raised her hand and waved at him. She even removed her cap in order for him to recognize her.

With his large strides, James was able to reach her spot in just a short period. He sat down beside her. Fortunately, there were only two of them sitting around that area. They would be able to talk anything without worrying about others to overhear their conversation.

James's eyes immediately peered at Elle's hand. He saw her hand wrapped in a bandage. At first, no one spoke up between them as they both remained silent, each of them was occupied by their own thoughts.

It was James who broke the silence first.

"What do you want to tell me?" he asked her directly.

Elle turned to look at him. James wore a blank expression on his face but deep inside he was glad to see her.

"It's about your father. As his son, I know you are curious about his last moment, am I right?"

James didn't answer her but she could see in his eyes his confirmation with her statement.

"Your father is a clever man, worthy of my admiration. He was the only person who didn't fear me despite the fact that I opted to kill him." Elle started to share her encounter with Jorge Arison.

James's expression darkened. He could still feel the rage inside him. His father's death was one of his weaknesses. He couldn't accept the fact that he's already gone.

"He even drank his favorite whiskey in front of me." Elle let out a soft chuckle as she remembered that memory.

James just kept quiet. He just let Elle speak what she wanted to tell him. He didn't want to admit but he really appreciated this. Elle was telling him his father's last moments.

"Will you believe me if I say to you that he died happily?"

That question left James dumbfounded. 'What did she mean by that?' A deep frown appeared on his face as he pondered.

"What nonsense are you spouting right now? Who would be happy to be killed by an assassin?" James said through his gritted teeth.

"Jorge Arison," Elle replied matter-of-factly.

Elle could see the confusion in his eyes so she decided to elaborate her statement.

"I thought he would try to negotiate with me to spare his life. I thought he would offer me double the amount of what Dark Knight had given me. But he did something that really surprised me a lot." Elle chuckled after saying that.

"He told me that I should demand more money from Dark Knight. He thought his life is worth more than just the Hundred Million Dark Knight had offered. So I did. That's why Dark Knight paid 50 billion for his life."

James clenched his fists after hearing that. He couldn't understand why his father did that instead of asking her to spare his life. He didn't know if he should believe Elle or not.

"You were also surprised right?" Elle said as she sensed that James was in a doubt.

"Later on, I found out the reason behind his action." Elle paused as she stared at him intently. James just gave her a questioning look.

"There was this assassin who also knew Jorge Arison for years. They even worked for him before. That assassin told me that Jorge Arison wanted to hire him to kill himself."

James burst into a peal of laughter because of her last words. "You are kidding me, right? What are you trying to do here, Elle? Telling me lies so that you could get your revenge because Erick discovered your identity." He sounded sarcastic. There was also a hint of resentment in his voice.

James couldn't stand it anymore as he stood up, ready to leave.

"That's what the most ridiculous joke I heard. My father asked someone to kill his own self."

Elle could understand James. She somehow felt the same way as him when her father requested her to kill him just to save her life. For her, it was also a bad joke but it's true.

Thinking about it, her father and James's father, both made a decision without considering what their children would feel after.

Elle held his arm to stop him from leaving.

"James, I will not lie to you with regards to your father's death. Because just like you, I also wanted to know the truth behind my parents' death! So I know how you feel."

With those words coming from her James halted. He turned around to face her. He could see the sincerity in her eyes. At that moment, he knew Elle was not lying to him.

"Then why? Why did he do that?" James asked her desperately, seeking an answer.

"Because he is already dying. He had stage 4 cancer. He hid it from you, from his own family. For him, it is better to die in the hands of an assassin than showing his weakness to his family and his competitors. Your father is a proud man." Elle explained to him.

James was very shocked by this revelation. He couldn't believe it. He had no idea. He became pale and he felt so weak after hearing the truth. 

'Is this really the truth? But there's no way Elle would lie to me just like what she had just said a while ago.' 

Deep down his consciousness, he wanted to believe her, or rather he believed her already. But his heart couldn't accept this truth. His father lied to them and hid his condition to them- to his own family.

"If you don't believe me then ask your family doctor. He knew about it. This was a secret between the two of them."