Chapter 334

Marvin “Have you noticed anything unusual about Elena lately?

Panther stopped in his steps. “She has been acting strange, but then again-it’s Elena.” He concluded. “Did she say something to you?”

I waited patiently until the other men had walked passed, not wanting my relationship to be the highlight at the lab. Usually, I had no issues keeping my personal life from work-but the situation had been bothering me.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “But nowadays, she often visits this friend of hers. I overhear them talking over the phone.”

“Look at you, acting like a high schooler.” Panther judged me. Was I?

I was jealous. That was out of the question-but as far as I was concerned, I had every right to be.

Elena was a catch.

“Her friend’s name is Victoria, but I can’t help but think-what if it’s Victor in a wig, trying to meet up with my girl?” I overanalyzed the situation. Until a while back, I had never heard of a Victoria before.

“It wouldn’t be the first time he’s been trying to take away something from me. Did you see the two of them being all buddy-buddy at lunch?”.

At that time, I had the urge to pull Elena from his grip, but the moment she shook her head, reassuring me everything was just fine, I knew it was not up to me to interfere.

“So she’s been hanging out quite a lot with this Victoria, you say?” Panther tensed for a second. Did he also think something was wrong?

He shrugged, smiling. “You overthink. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Perhaps.”

“Does she….speaks about me?” He asked anxiously.

“You?” I laughed. “Why would she?”

“Just asking.” Panther sighed, relieved. “But if not, then it’s all good.”

Our conversation got interrupted by a loud yelp as a man got dragged through the door. It was one of the men who failed to make his payments and had to be dealt with. It wasn’t my favorite part of the job, but dad had assigned me to the issue, and I would not complain. Besides, I did believe liars deserved the worst punishment.

“Marvin, please-I’m begging you!” The man shrugged himself loose and dropped to his knees. “I-I’ll get you the money!” He held my leg.

I knelt to look at his face, but I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t pity this man the same way I had pitied Amelia, and perhaps it was because Amelia’s innocence made me think of Elena.

I was scared that there might’ve been a possibility I’d grown too soft, but staring straight into this men’s eyes made me realize I wasn’t. I was only soft for my Elena and those who resembled her.

I raised myself from the floor. “Take him to the cage. I’ll deal with him tomorrow.”

#B-boss? Tomorrow?” One of the men spoke, disappointed.

“Yes, I’m leaving early today.”

“Again?”

+5 Bonus “Yes, again.” I shot him a cold glare, daring him to question me again as he let out an uncomfortable laugh. “I want to spend some time with my girl.” I made it clear. “Am I not allowed to?”

I watched as the two assholes who dared speak against me dragged the pleading man from the floor to drag him to the cage.

“T-tomorrow it is, boss!”

“Look at you.” Panther spoke, impressed. “You go, and I’ll keep everything under control.”

“You’ve been doing that a lot lately, thank you,” I said, grateful to know he had my back. “You’d make a great leader one day.” I joked. “Maybe you should lead the family.”

Panther coughed loudly, shaking his head. “Hey, don’t be crazy.” His tone changed. “That position is yours, and I wouldn’t dare touch it!”

I smiled, patting his back. “I know-it was a joke. There’s no need to get this serious about it.”

“So you’re dealing with the guy tomorrow, you say?” Panther asked. “I should know what time, so I can be there to watch the show. It’s been quite some time since I’ve last seen you in action.”

Sure, quite some time as if we hadn’t been handling similar scenarios these past weeks. “Morning, I’ll make it quick,” I mentioned. “I don’t feel like torturing someone this time.””

“I sec.

“I’ll see you later. Keep up the good work.”

“Wait, there’s something else!” Panther interrupted me yet again. I sighed, annoyed, before turning around.

All I wanted was to get I home to Elena.

“It’s about Lucas.”

I frowned. “What about him?”

“Do you remember that day he stormed out the house? Panther spoke. “Lshould’ve told you, but he went all psycho on Linda.”

Lucas did behave strangely that day, and he refused to tell me the reason. Mom also didn’t want to tell me anything and told me not to worry about it.

Would he have confronted her about his mother?

“Did he?” Fasked. “What was it about?”

“I couldn’t tell, but it seemed pretty serious.” Panther shrugged. “I don’t like making judgments, Marvin–

but that guy something just doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Well, he’s a detective.” I blinked. For some reason, I felt the need to protect my new brother, especially after knowing what mom had done to him. She bullied his late mother out of the mansion, so yes-Lucas had every right to be angry.

“He was part of Anya’s murder investigation.” Panther reminded me. “I just don’t know if he has the right intentions.” He stated. “You should bring him to the cage, teach him a lesson for disrespecting your mom. show him who’s boss, you should-”

“It’s my younger brother you’re talking about!” I snapped at my friend.

For a second, I had lost my temper. The situation must’ve been very bad for me to harm my younger brother over something that wasn’t his fault.

I would protect mom when necessary, but now was not the time. Lucas was not in the wrong “But still.” Panther continued. “His tone was scary, and he’s been walking alongside your father like he owns the place.”

Walking alongside dad like he owns the place? Perhaps because he kind of did.

He was part of the family, a Castillo.

“He grew up alone, without a single penny, family-nothing.” I sighed, explaining. “Let him be angry.

He has every right to be.”

If anything, I was the one who felt embarrassed about what mom had done to his family. I would not defend her mistakes, ever. Telling her to get rid of all the letters she had sent to Lucas’ mom had been my final act of kindness.

As long as Lucas wasn’t a direct threat, there was no reason to go against my brother who had gone through a lot.

“I’ll worry about my brother, and you worry about the things that concern you,” I spoke, irritated. It was unlike Panther to get involved with my personal business, and I did not like his tone.

Perhaps he felt a bit too comfortable around me after I had given him a pass for knocking up my sister.

“Yes, boss.” Panther tensed.

I chuckled out of pity and gave him a nod. “Now, get back to your job and keep things in check for me.” “You got it!” He forced a smile, but I could see beyond all of it. I could tell that he wasn’t that happy with the scolding.

Not that long after, I had finally made my way home. As I entered the mansion, I could already hear Elena’s loud voice from a distance and smiled instantly, I followed the sound of her voice and made my way to the living room.

“Marvin!” Amelia flew into my grip and wrapped her arms around my waist. It was no surprise Elena spent her time with Amelia. The two were getting closer day by day, and knowing she was not on her own made me feel at ease.

“I’m sorry.” Amelia pulled back, smiling brightly.

“Don’t be.” I ruffled my hand through her hair. She reminded me of a young Karina and Tiago, back when they were still well-behaved and innocent.

Growing up, the two used to give me the same warm welcome whenever I would return home from business with dad.

“You’re back early!” Elena turned around to face me. She skipped over with a grin while I observed the green thing on her face.

“What’s that?” I asked, disgusted.

“Clay mask!” She said. “You should try one-it might really help you.”

Offended, I folded my arms as Amelia went into fits of laughter. “Is there something wrong with my face?”

“No, that came out wrong!” Elena facepalmed, peeling off a bit of her mask. “Ow, that stings!” She yelped.

“Okay, I’ll go wash this mask off my face.” She pointed at me. “Stay here and don’t go anywhere!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

I smiled like a fool as Elena ran away, knocking over a few things in the process. To others, she might seem strange, but those quirky traits made me fall for her.

Before she came into my life, I couldn’t remember the last time I had a genuine smile. I used to be a hostile and stubborn person, but she made me less serious and more carefree.

In the past, I could never really understand when others claimed their lover made them a better person, but I had changed my mind.

Elena made me a better person.

Who knew what I would’ve done to Amelia if I hadn’t met Elena?

“So, how are you doing?” I asked Amelia.

“Good, thanks to you-and so is my family!” She spoke with sparkling eyes.

“I’m happy to hear that,” I told the hardworking girl. “I was thinking about taking Elena out for dinner.

You should take a break and join us.”

“Oh, thanks for the offer-but I really can’t.” Amelia shook her hands abruptly. The fear seemed to rise behind her eyes.

“Of course, you can.” I nudged her shoulder. I didn’t want her to overwork herself.

“Isn’t the work too difficult for you? Aren’t you tired?”

“No.” Amelia lowered her head. “But the last time I forgot to iron Panther’s clothes, he threatened to send me back to the crack house as he likes to call it.”

My mind went black.

“Panther did what?” I asked, confused. Amelia wouldn’t lie to me, but believing those kinds of words came from Panther’s mouth seemed unlikely. When it came to our enemies, Panther was a cold and ruthless person-but overall, Panther had a respectful and kind personality.

Maybe he was just having a bad day?

“Send you back to the what?” I asked to confirm that I wasn’t crazy. “The crack house?”

“N-never mind, it was nothing.” Amelia’s breath quickened as she shuffled away from me. “Excuse me. I’ll better get back to work!”

I watched as she stormed off without saying another word. “Amelia!” I called out to her but got no answer in return.

“Where did she go?” Elena entered the room again. I could finally see the beautiful face I had been longing for.

“How do I look?” She stood on her tippy toes so that I could take a better look at her. Elena was breathtaking, but she was well aware. She was always fishing for compliments and couldn’t get enough of them, so I teased her.

I cupped her face and pressed a soft kiss on her nose. “Hideous, you looked better with the mask.”

Elena rolled her eyes, pushing me away. As always, she didn’t miss out on an opportunity to mimic my words and pulled a weird face. If it were any other person, I would’ve told them they looked stupid, but not Elena. She was perfect.

“I knew you’d do that,” I called her out. “You should get ready-I’m taking you out for dinner.” I made a spontaneous date plan.

“Again?” Elena raised her brows. “W-what should I wear this time?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” Elena tapped her chin with her finger before going on an endless rant.

I tried my hardest to keep up with the conversation, but deep down, I could only think about one thing.

And those were Panther’s unacceptable words about Amelia.