The Devil's Sweetheart

Evelyn's brain wavered, and her thoughts went on a pause for a moment. What more shocking to her was Heather acting cooly as if she knew about the truth long before. When Evelyn entered Heather's suite to wake her up the following day, Heather acted normal, although she felt Heather's behavior a little unusual compared to her cheerful nature. But she didnot gave much thought to it. After they left the cruise ship, Heather neither talked nor met anyone. Suddenly, Evelyn heard her friend was getting married to Max, and it was no use when Evelyn confronted her. She didnot understand Heather's reason for getting married to that womanizer until her divorce. Two years after her Divorce, Heather revealed the incident that happened on the cruise ship.

''I_I am not understanding, Heather. Why do you think Leena is not Max's daughter?''

''It started a month before I got into the accident.'' Heather began. ''Baby Leena had a burning fever when she was six. When I saw Leena's blood test results after being discharged from the hospital, I was shocked to see her blood group was AB. Max has the habit of donating blood in our hospital now and then. So, I knew his blood group is O, and my blood group is A. So, Leena's blood group can either be A or O. That's when I learned Leena is not his daughter.'' Heather explained. A surge of happiness overflowed within her when she learned the truth. When Leena started growing, her behavior and character didnot match that man at all. Heather's hunch increased as the days passed, and finally, the blood test confirmed it all.

''If it is not Max...'' Evely's eyes widened in shock when she thought of the possibility. She has seen Heather and Francis at the deck on that night, closely talking with each other. To not disturb the love birds, Evelyn went back to her suite. ''Could it be Francis?'' Evelyn asked.

''No. Positively, he is not Leena's father,'' Heather was confident about it. Although she wished Francis to be Leena's dad, her wish would forever remain as a wish.

''Why do you think? There is a possibility, though,'' Evelyn stated. ''I have seen you two near the deck on that_''

''Do you remember the drug we put in the wine?'' Heather calmly asked, cutting her friend's thoughts.

''I do remember. It's to induce stimulation.'' Evelyn nodded her head fervently. She knew Heather liked Francis since they started their friendship. But when a rumor surrounded Francis that he was dating some other woman, Heather distanced herself from him altogether. Soon, the buzz died down, but still, Heather was scared to express her feelings. So, they followed the guide of the romance books they read and turned into villains at once. ''I was the one to add the drug into the wine.''

''I_I know. I was still scared to talk with him. So, I added the whole bottle.'' Pressing her lips, Heather looked at Evelyn with guilt.

''Oh, my poor Heather! Being a doctor, don't you know the consequences of too much medicine?'' Evelyn reprimanded with a sigh. At first, she was not aware of Francis's feelings for Heather. Had she knew, Evelyn would have sorted out this Romeo and Juliet's misunderstandings. That scatterbrained Fredrick was of no use. He knew everything, but like a spectator, he watched the show following Francis's guidelines. Evelyn decided to take the help of her crazy daughter-in-law and unite these two since Leena's brain will be running with ideas always. Francis and Heather's misunderstanding run so deep that even if she tells Heather that Francis loves her, she doesn't believe it.

''How much love you had for that jackass to turn you into a noodle, Heather? No wonder you don't remember what happened on that night.''

''Don't call him, Jackass.'' Without a second thought, Heather scolded Evelyn. If anyone can rebuke Francis, it must be her. ''He is ingenious, a whip-smart, gifted_''

''Well, sorry for the mistake, madam. The great Francis is indeed canny,'' Evelyn w.h.i.n.ed. Suddenly remembering a thing, Evelyn asked. ''Why are you stressing that Francis is not Leena's dad. He was also on the cruise ship, and he was the last person you saw him on that night.''

''Because on that night, there was some other woman on his bed,'' Heather said, gazing at the floor with clenched fists. She doesn't know the bitch, but she got super jealous seeing that woman next to Francis in the pictures.

''What!'' Evelyn exclaimed. ''Francis was with some other woman in his room? But how did you know?'' Eve was planning to ask her husband about this. She never knew such a thing happened on that day. Is Francis aware of this?

''I got a parcel. In it were the pictures of Francis and a woman lying on the bed in his suite.''

''What!'' Evelyn's head started spinning again, hearing her thoughts. ''Oh God! I think someone plotted against you, Heather.'' Evelyn was curious about the person now. Who could it be?

''I know, Eve. When I discovered my pregnancy, I wanted to run away to Germany without telling dad. But the people who work for him noticed my unusual behavior and reported him. My dad investigated from scratch and got to know the incident on the cruise ship and my pregnancy. You very well know, he would put his pride over his family. He demanded to abort the baby.''

''I refused to abort my baby despite his futile tries. Scared that the baby would be born out of wedlock, which would hinder his political growth, he talked with Hayes's family and arranged a marriage alliance.''

''And the package was the last straw that broke you?'' Evelyn completed for her.

''Yes,'' Her mental state was already unstable, and at the same time, Heather received the parcel with pictures of Francis and an unknown woman. On one side, her father threatened to kill her baby if she doesn't marry Max, and on the other side, she couldn't stop her feelings for Francis. In the dire situation, the pictures answered her questions. She has to take a further step in her life and marry that womanizer.

''I was happy with Leena around after divorcing Max, but the blood tests made me find about the truth. While I was secretly investigating to find the man, I got a call to my home phone from an unknown person.'' Heather said.

''Who is he? Do you know his name?'' Eve asked. Is that the person responsible for Heather's accident?

''No! He refused to tell anything about him, but he knows I am searching for the truth,'' Heather added. ''He asked me to come to a location, and without a second thought, I rushed to the place, in desperate to find the answer, and not before I reached the spot, I got into an accident.''

''It looks like a planned murder,'' Evelyn said. ''Do you suspect anyone?''

''I have no idea, Eve'' Heather doesn't want to remember that dreadful day. Francis revealed a woman was behind her planned murder and Leena's accident, but she couldn't think of any person holding a grudge against her to the point of killing.

''Don't worry, Heather. We will surely find our Leena's dad.'' Eve held her friend's hand, assuring her.

''Can we have the list of people who boarded the cruise ship on that day?'' Heather asked in hope. She checked the people she remembered on the cruise ship back when Heather investigated the case, but now she wants to dig deeper.

''It happened two decades ago, Heather. Technology was not advanced. Had it was a CCTV era, finding the person was like a cakewalk.'' Evelyn said. ''But I am not saying it's impossible. I will try to get the cruise ship information, and then we can try our luck.''

''Thank you, Eve.'' Heather hugged her friend; her eyes brimmed in tears. She felt a huge burden lifted from her heart, sharing her secret with Evelyn/

''We are best friends, Heather.'' Evelyn reprimanded her friend. ''If you have forgotten, let me remind you. If not for you, I wouldn't have met my Rick.'' Eve's face softened at the mention of Fredrick. The first time she had seen her husband was at the campus when Francis came to see Heather. It was love at first sight for Fredrick, and she has to accept him eventually with his endless chase. Her life was also a roller coaster ride in the Davies family, but when Fredrick entered into her life, he filled it with butterflies. She got a happy family with two loving sons and a daughter.

''Of course, you should be thankful for it,'' Heather smiled at her friend.

''Alright! As a thanksgiving gift, I will buy another dress for your shopaholic daughter,'' Evelyn said. ''But for now, let's go. My head is aching already. I need something strong to cool down.'' Evelyn suggested.

Heather nodded her head, and both happily walked out without knowing their conversations reached someone's ears.

....

Leena unplugged the headphones and ended Harley's call. She blinked her eyes once twice, trying to process the story she heard over the phone. A while ago, Harley suddenly called her and immediately texted not to talk over the phone. Leena thought she was making a prank call until she heard the conversations of her mom and mother-in-law.