The truth can be deadly...

Final words. Had she known that she would be in such a predicament, there are so many things she would have said and done. She said a smaller prayer in fear of the guns pointed at her in that private basement parking, she just knew she was done for. The cold black floor would soon be painted in her blood.

"This is a sticky situation...", she chuckled still with her eyes closed, "I can't believe it took guns on my face to forgive them.". Her thoughts constantly raced towards her grandparents. The people who would mourn her death with guilt thinking she died with a grudge.

'If I had any last words, it would be that I forgive them and I get it.', she sighed, '..but this can't be how I die'. She had to find a way to delay time for Kim's people. She had to trust Jackie.

Upon the sudden realisation and appreciation of her precious life, she opened her eyes with a new brave determination, "Truth is, I don't think I want to die yet - but I know you are not a man of negotiation." 

Tony smirked at her desperate attempts to escape her inevitable death, "I am glad we are on the same page...see I am rushing to clean up the mess you created...so I would like to get this done as quickly as possible"

Feigning ignorance, she exclaimed obliviously, "Oh yeah! That?", she then smiled mischievously, "You asked me how I got ahold of that information-"

Tony was not blind to her tactics, he'd seen this movie a couple of times before, he cut her off, "Yes, but that was then. Now I am not interested...", he replied impatiently, "Surely that can't be the last thing you want to hear-"

Linda was suddenly hit with a vivid image of her parents, she wondered if it had to do with the fact she was knocking at death's door or her desperate attempt to stay alive, she sighed defeatedly, ready to accept her fate.

"You are right....but given that this might be my last day on Earth - mind answering a few questions for me-", she asked genuinely void of any deception consequently piquing his interest

Tony contemplated turning her request down, but his curiosity was already intrigued, so he indulged her, besides, this may as well have been her final wish, "Alright...I can answer two questions, the rest you would figure out in your afterlife.", 

With the image of her parents, her chest tightened in sadness. They were taken from her when she was just a toddler because of that, she was forced to grow up an orphan without knowing the warmth of her mother's embrace or bond with her father. She dreaded school activities that required parents' participation because they served as a reminder of the things she lost. When she was a teen, she would hear her classmates complain about their parents, even those moments she envied. Getting in trouble and being reprimanded, so many precious moments were stolen from her. She vowed never to forgive those who subjected her to such a cruel reality. A life filled with longing and yearning - she had no peace. Her face suddenly darkened as anger boiled from within,

"Were you involved in my parents' accident?", she glared directly into his eyes not hiding her thirst for revenge 

He sighed, "I knew you would ask me that. Is that why you raided my office? You could have just asked me instead of all this chaos..."

"If I had, would you have told me the truth-"

"Oh, so you want the truth? The unbiased truth I suppose. But young Ms King, are you sure you can handle the truth because I assure you - I don't think you are ready to hear it - all of it!", he said and Linda grew in questions.

She suspected that Tony was just the tip of the iceberg, but was she ever ready for the whole monstrous mountain, what if it sank her? What if she never came out of it the same? Those were all her concerns, perhaps that was the reason she always chose the long way. She could have just asked Tony directly, he would have never missed the chance to hurt her and if the truth is as horrible as he insinuated, it is evident that he would have gladly weaponised it. Even at that moment, the smirk on his face loudly screamed his excitement to unleash whatever hell was buried with her parents' case.

"So, do you want to know it or not?", Linda could almost hear him cackle under his breath making her even more uneasy, but if there was any perfect time for it, that moment would be it - at gunpoint.

"Yes, I am ready. Tell me everything...", she clenched her fists and prepared for the impacts of the floodgate she just opened,

"Alright...remember, I warned you. Not all truths are liberating, some are prisons and some can be deadly - but you asked for it. ", he asked his men to put the guns down, "...the bullet will be the cherry on top... the finish"

His face was written with malicious intent. His ominous aura made her slightly tremble, there was no denying it - 'this man was the worst scumbag', she concluded

He stepped forward to the imaginary stage he set for his theatrics, "Was I involved in your parents' death you asked? The answer is...Yes and No -"

Confused, she asked, "What's that supposed to mean -",

Tony dropped his face in disappointment, "I am telling the story right...let me finish.", he cleared his throat and began again upon the imaginary clapperboard, "Now from the top. Yes and no. A painting. It all started because of a painting. I wanted it and someone was willing to hand it over - at an expensive, painful price. To tell the truth, apart from our companies being in the same industry, nothing was keeping my family and yours in the same orbit - until the faithful day in New York when I stumbled upon your mother gallery and there it was. The painting that was going to set me up for life...the only one of its kind. The black market was literally in uproar and yet, there it stood in front of me. In public. I don't think your mother even knew what she treasure she had -"

Footsteps suddenly echoed from a distance cutting Tony short. Linda was confused because Jackie would have stopped the men from entering the basement, just until Tony finished the story, 'Is the mic not working', she wondered as footsteps grew closer until a dozen men suddenly appeared from the shadows surrounding them.

Linda hadn't realised that her heart had been pounding heavily until that moment when it dropped because of the mixture of relief and disappointment. Although she suspected they were not Kim's people, she knew they were there for her, but her mind was still on Tony's story, to her dismay, he reverted to the man who was hellbound on shooting her,

His face harboured resentment, "You little...you were buying time weren't you?", he instantly ran behind his men and yelled, "Shoot her! Even if we all die here. Just make her die before me! Shoot her!", the men were suddenly sceptical about pulling the trigger and they helpless kept the gun at her, eyes begging to be saved.

Just the glitch she needed, "Stop!", she shouted, "You were not done telling me-"

"Your nerve, after tricking me - you think I would tell you everything." He took the gun from one of his men who was trembling in front of him, "Coward!", he sneered in anger, "I will do it myself!"

"I am afraid I cannot let you do that-", Casey appeared with more men, "One of my men is currently keeping a lady called Victoria safe, and I don't think you want a bloodbath with journalists waiting upstairs. Unless you don't mind her cleaning up your mess.."