IN THE CAGE

28. A COINCIDENCE OR...

...ANGGARA...

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"I won't ask if you don't take my bodyguard as you please, Angga. It's been a month and I haven't heard anything about Fawn. Are you sure she's okay?" Indira's voice when yelling at me this afternoon added a heavy burden on my crown.

Fawn, Fawn, Fawn!

Indira keeps worrying about the news of his bodyguard. I'm looking for the morning of the night to tell Fawn whereabouts. I wanted to answer Indira 'doesn't know, she might be dead', but I knew it would make Indira go crazy.

Damn it, why is he bonding so strongly to his own bodyguard? They worked to protect her, not as an accessory she could play with at any time. The opportunity for them to be lost and replaced by another worker was huge, he should have understood when I said Fawn I moved it somewhere else and stopped asking.

Does he want me to be that front and say Fawn's dead?

Indira, oh, Indira.

Sometimes handling it gives me more headaches. Not only was Indira a stubborn figure, she was also not an easily convinced figure. Behind her tenderness and affectionate demeanor, she was a girl as hard as a rock. I don't know what else he's planning behind that hard-nosed head. I thought he'd kill me if he knew Fawn was dead.

Is Fawn dead?

Damn, I thought about this. That girl is the greatest in martial arts, but I'm not sure. When his opponent was a bullet, martial will would not be enough to protect him. 

I wanted to save Fawn, to be honest, give her a hand in case she managed to contact me about her location. But nil. I don't even know who kidnapped Fawn. All of that information is held by Evan. Evan told me about the possibility of abducting Indira on her wedding day, he also asked me to prepare a surrogate bride to trick the opponent.

Now that a month has passed, the percentage of Fawn's life still saved has shrunk to zero percent. Who would want to defend the life of a useless bodyguard?

Evan also-the venomous snake. I don't know what to do now. He asked me to meet him a week ago. Since the time he and I had a meeting, it's been my fifth day holed up to Leviathan, the biggest nightclub in the South. The burden on my head was piling up, the best escape place was alcohol.

I want to soak up all my depression, I want to forget the deal Evan forced on me. I want to forget all the secrets I shouldn't have known.

Fuck, I want to die! The world is too full of things I cannot handle.

Sitting on a red sofa set on the lips of a second-floor balcony railing bathed in the glitter of the blinding nightclub lights, my mind slowly wandered. The ear-splitting music made my heart flutter with its tone. I sighed tiredly when again Evan's words infiltrated my mind.

"Do this for your family, Anggara. As the leader of the Rashid family, it's time for you to show that you're a competent and reliable figure."

The bastard spoke as if he was better than me. Were it not for the actions of his savage parents, he would not be standing on the highest throne right now. I-even though I'm incompetent and no better than Ace Hunter, I'll never dirty my hand as far as Evan has.

I won't step up to his level. I shouldn't have.

Argha! I wanted to shout when again the memory of me agreeing to Evan's orders came to my mind.

Frustrated, I dipped a glass of tequila at the table. Swallowed the alcohol until my neck was as hot as a furnace fire.

"Well, well, well.., look who we found here." A feminine voice greeted my ears. I don't know who, but when I turned my head, the face full of cynicism became very familiar.

"Margareth Hunter" I said. To recite that name is like reciting a curse. I'm so bored right now, and the girl's presence here doesn't fix the situation. I remember Evan's face. That Caspian bastard already nailed his words in my mind like a black spell.

"What do you see!" grunting me, I again poured a bottle of tequila into my glass and downed it a little.

"I think Rashid's head of the family is an exemplary man who is anti-night club." Margaret moved forward and sat on the sofa opposite me. His black clothes momentarily caught my attention. Something about Margaret is, she wasn't like this before. She was a girl as bright as a rainbow, and seeing her in all-dreary clothes made me still unfamiliar.

"I have the right to go wherever I want" I said. Just because I was rumored to be a good boy out there, doesn't mean I'm going to follow that reputation. I am the me. If I want to drown in a sea of gin and vodca, then I will.

I-I'm supposed to be that free.

Evan's speech that night came to my mind like an electric drum. I was a little stoned, glancing at Margaret who was sitting cross-legged in front of me.

So then...

So..., is this what Evan meant as a good start for me? He really is a poisonous snake!

Damn, motherfucker! I can't do this!

"You're already stoned, Anggara. Stop drinking and think about your dignity a little."

"What is the importance of dignity" I've been stripped away by the Caspian family. I have nothing I can do but be a doll that if she wants me to dance, I will dance. I'll end up as a tool and a fake head in my family. I really don't deserve to live.

All this bad luck, curse. This is all Ace Hunter's fault! He should not have been born so perfect! God should not have chosen that child! Ace made me fall apart, his perfect life ruined me. Seeing his brother sitting across from me made my emotions run high.

"Ohoh, this guy is so stupid. David, did you see the bodyguard?" Margaret's voice faintly penetrated my ears, but I did not understand at all what she was saying. I'm more interested in this room that's starting to spin. It was like being in space.

"I didn't see anyone, Boss. It's likely he came alone."

"Tsk, very idiot. No wonder he was so much more stupid than Ace. Who goes without his bodyguard. He thought changing the head of the family was as easy as changing ****** *****? We better just go. Leave this idiot in case you don't want to catch a fool."

"Okay, Margot's boss."

I closed my eyes, the heat of alcohol filling my stomach suddenly crept up into my esophagus. Makes me nauseous is amazing. My dizzy head grew dizzy as I stood up. I don't know where Margaret Hunter and her bodyguard went, but I was the one who wanted to get my bowels out and fumbled down the toilet.

The color of the flickering lights was painful and made my footing unbalanced. I kept walking, flailing the road until I felt someone pull my waist and take me to the toilet. My body was instantly unsteady as I spewed out all my entrails on the bathroom floor.

"YAGGH!!" Shouts of disdain from the person who brought me vaguely sounded. Damn it, I am the head of the Rashid family! My vomit's worth more than your head, asshole!

"Ugh, if it wasn't for Fawn, I would have let you bathe with your own vomit." the voice again scowled. But Fawn's name in her speech confused me. Who is this guy?

My head was still dizzy, so to open my eyes was very difficult for me. I only felt the water touch my face and a hand that washes my vomit trail violently. A gentle aroma like aromatherapy oil pierced my nose faintly, coming from the person's wrist.

"Stay right! Damn, you're heavy!"

The problem is, I can't stand up right. My bones are like jelly. I can't control my own body and right now, only my head and ears are functioning. I-how much tequila did I drink earlier?

"Boss Margot..., Boss Margot...." Dragged by that foreign figure, I who subconsciously returned to hear his voice. A cold wind outside swept over me instantly. The sound that thumped and hurt my ears was also replaced by the sound of the night wind.

"What the fuck?" Margaret's voice filled my ears. "Why did you bring him here? What did I tell you about not being so close to a fool that we didn't catch it in your ear?"

"That's not the case, boss. I don't think he's awake anymore."

"Then what do you expect? I woke her?"

"We can't leave it here." the voice beside me was a bit pithy. "How about taking her home?"

"Tsk.., this is sickening. All right, throw him in the trunk!"

"Boss Margot!!!" the voice beside me was shocking.

"Damn it, I came here to relieve my fatigue, why do I have to deal with this Rashid family trash? Never mind. Get him in!"

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