Wiped Records

Oliver massaged his temple, a slight grimace etched on his face which appeared paler than a ghost's. He sighed. He still wondered how it was that he found bars loud when he had spent most of his time at places like this.

He could only shrug and conclude that it was because he was only there for the drinks.

These past week had been troublesome for him. Valerie made his life akin to a living hell and he couldn't retaliate with as much vigour as he would have loved to. The issue about the pregnancy was the cap of it all.

He could barely sleep these days due to the constant worry that Valerie might suffocate him in his sleep or even try to do bad things to him. He had sleepless nights and the only time he had a shut eye was during the day and even at that he didn't sleep too well.

He sighed. He noticed how she looked at him these days—after he stood firm on his resolve to make her keep the baby. He often caught her giving him a chilling look. Her gaze was filled with so much hate and loathe that he could almost swear that he could feel a sort of killing intent coming from her.

The only silver lining was that he never ate at home and that made it a bit more comforting. It would be really bad if he just ate a randomly poisoned food.

Oliver felt that his life was hanging at the edge both literally and metaphorically. What had he gotten himself into? What could he do to keep Valerie in check? In truth he could say that he detested her with the same might she hated him but his hate wasn't channelled at her.

He sighed again, wiping his face after taking a sip of his beer. Even right now he was feeling sleepy but he couldn't go home yet. He had to meet with Steve to see what he had dug up. He said he had something important to show him.

Aside from the clue he found, Oliver also wanted someone to talk to. Ever since this forced marriage he had become more of a shut in and his lively spirit was being snuffed out day after day.

Another gulp of drink then someone gripped his shoulder then released just immediately. Oliver had tensed up and his fists were balled up. He looked over sharply and found Steve standing there with a wide grin.

"Seriously," Oliver said shifting a bit in his chair. "You should stop gripping my shoulder whenever you see me."

"Nice to see you too," Steve nodded and sat beside him. "Why so jumpy?"

Oliver sighed deeply. "I don't know. These days I feel like I should be on guard all day long."

Steve nodded and helped himself to his half-finished bottle. Oliver had suspected this would happen so he had ordered an extra bottle. Steve smiled after the drink. "Refreshing isn't it?"

"It is." Oliver tersely agreed.

"Sleepless nights?"

"And days too!"

"Valerie?"

"Her and worse things," Oliver bit his lower lip and thought for a while about how to phrase his words. "Things have happened…weird things."

Steve arched an eyebrow at him but Oliver avoided his gaze. He nodded slightly. "Let's get on with what I have to say then you can tell me about these 'weird things' that have happened."

"You told me you had something. Well, what is it?"

Steve raised a finger with a slight chuckle. "I didn't say 'find' my friend. I said I might have found something."

Oliver frowned. "Isn't that the same idea?"

"If you're looking at it at another angle," Steve flexed his fingers then brought them close to his cheek. "I checked the security cameras at the hotel…well, you know I couldn't go there to ask for it…I'm sure the security department usually wipe the database after every three months or so…"

"What's your point?"

"It was wiped."

"Wiped? How?"

"No," Steve shook his head. "The hotel didn't wipe the database but someone else did. It was too soon to wipe the old records but when I hacked in, I found that the record of that particular day and time had been erased completely."

Oliver stared at him with a slightly complicated expression. His gaze was neither intense nor slack. After a few seconds he sighed. "That brings up many questions, doesn't it?"

"Obviously," Steve drank again. "Like who wiped the records?"

Oliver nodded. "It would seem like someone is trying to cover it up and hide the truth."

Steve nodded. "Exactly," he glanced at Oliver before saying, "and I have two conclusions. Either you family paid the staff off to cover up so they won't get in trouble—also considering Mr Luca's stand on politics that he wouldn't want his daughter to drag his name down—or that the actual culprit is one step ahead of us."

Oliver sighed. Steve was right. Either his family or Mr Luca—Valerie's father—could have paid the hotel to wipe the whole record. His suspicions were leaning to this side. Then it hit him.

"Steve?" he said a bit anxiously. "If my family or Valerie's paid for the records to be wiped does that not mean that there's a slight chance—no matter how small—that they saw the videos?"

"That might be possible but we also need to consider the fact that the hotel records aren't the only evidence. The blackmailers are out there somewhere."

"The blackmailers know the truth!" Oliver almost jumped up. "I suddenly feel like reaching out to them."

Steve shook his head. "I don't think that would be wise. We don't know a lot of things yet besides you also have to consider…"

"That if my family really did see the hotel record and saw that it was actually me then there's no need for them to act right?"

Steve nodded solemnly. He paused then said, "There's another possibility. They didn't look at the records because they were either too angry or too humiliated to look."

"That would be a big ignorance on their part. I know my father."

"Then we agree that they didn't see it?"

Oliver fell silent for a while.