Chapter 2

The next day, Claire was up and dressed for work at the Arrington's.

Claire juggled down the stairs to meet Cole already dressed up for school. 

" Here. Take this. " She said, advancing some dollars to him and Cole received it. 

" You got back early than before last night. " Cole said.

" Huh? " 

" I heard you come in. It wasn't even 10pm yet. What happened? " Cole asked and Claire bit her lip. 

" It's nothing. " She said. 

" Common. You don't want to get to school late. " Claire said and Cole sighed. 

" Why am I asking? You never tell me anything anyways. " He said, walking out of the house. 

Claire sighed, following and she locked the door. 

She hailed a cab and dropped her brother off. Then she headed to her work place. 

Claire alighted the cab and exhaled softly staring at the mansion. She felt each day she looked at it. It just seemed much more beautiful and bigger. She looked around and noticed none of the guards were around. She walked to the door and rang the doorbell. She waited but didn't get a response. She rang the doorbell again and still, there was no response. 

Her brows narrowed as she gently turned the door knob and the door opened. She gently walked into the house, shutting the door behind. Claire walked to the living room but she stopped dead on her track by the scene before her. 

Her bag fell to the ground as she gasped, raising a hand to her mouth and Claire stared in horror at Josie Arrington who was in a pool of her own blood. She moved her wobble feet to her body and stared at the blood which flowed. 

" Oh my god " Claire muttered underneath her breath.

" Josie. " She called, her voice barely audible as tears gathered up in her eyes. She fell to the ground beside her body and she wanted to touch her but she stopped herself. One thing she has learned from horror movies. 

You don't touch the body. You don't touch anything at all. Claire told herself and she inhaled sharply, withdrawing her hand. 

Claire looked up at the stairs and the imaginary scene of Josie falling off played in her head. She could feel her heartbeat racing as she gazed at Josie.

Her dark hair was sprawled out and her arms were twisted. 

" Oh, god. Please don't be dead. Don't be dead. " Claire muttered, tears rolling down her cheek. 

" Hello? Hello. Is anyone there? Somebody please help! " Claire yelled but nothing but absolute silence met her. 

Where the hell is everyone? Claire thought and suddenly, the door burst open and the Arrington's walked into the house. 

" What the hell is going on here? " Mar Arrington said, staring shocked at the scene before him.

" Josie? Josie. Oh, my god! Josie! " Mrs Arrington yelled, rushing towards her daughter. 

" Josie... Josie! No. Josie. " She sobbed, shaking her.

Claire stared at Mr Arrington who immediately rushed to his wife and dragged her away from the body. 

" No. No! Leave me alone. Oh, Josie. No! " His wife cried and her husband embraced her, burying her face into his chest while she struggled. 

" Anna. Anna! You need to calm down. " He cooed, holding her still and she shook her head, looking at him with teary eyes. 

" No, Jason. That's… that's not Josie, right? That's not… Tell me that's not my daughter lying there. Tell me! " Anna yelled and Jason couldn't say a word. He just hugged his wife instead and she hugged him back, crying profusely.

Anna finally pulled away from her husband and she sniffed. 

" What the hell happened? " Mr Arrington questioned, looking at Claire who snapped her gaze to them.

" I… " Claire paused, swallowing deeply. 

" What the hell did you do to my daughter! " Anna Arrington yelled, rushing to Claire. 

" What the hell did you do to her! You commoner! " Anna yelled 

" Nothing! " Claire said, her whole body shaking.

" I… I didn't do anything. I just… I just arrived and I… I met her like this. " Claire whispered, tears streaming down her eyes.

Anna let go of her and she looked at her daughter. She fell to the floor, screaming on top of her voice and Claire glances at Jason Arrington who has mixed expression on his face. 

He sighted something crumpled in Josie's hand and he moved closer to her body. Jason bent and opened Josie's cold palm. He saw a note in her hand and he glanced at his wife. Jason collected the note and opened it. 

" What? What's in it? " His wife questioned as he stared at the writing in the paper. 

I am sorry, Mom, Dad. But I just can't be that person you want me to be. I have moved to a better place. Forgive me. Jason read and he bit his lower lip, staring in anger at Josie's body. 

" What's in it, Jason? " Anna asked

" A suicide note. " Jason mumbled and Claire snapped her gaze to him. 

" No! No… that can't be true. " Anna muttered and she moved to her husband, snatching the note from him.

" Oh, my god! " Anna said, raising a hand to her mouth.

" No.. no. No, Josie! " Anna yelled, tears streaming down her face and she felI the floor.

" Where the hell are the maids and the guards, huh? Where the hell is everyone?! " Jason yelled and Claire stood still to the ground, burying her gaze to the floor.

" What are you standing there for, huh? Call 911 immediately! " Anna yelled at Claire who flinched. 

Claire moved her wobble feet to her bag and she collected her phone from it with shaky hands.

She dialed 911 but suddenly, Jason moved and snatched the phone from her. 

" We are not calling 911. " He said, cutting off the call.

" What?... What do you mean? " Anna asked.

" She is gone, Anna. " Jason gritted out and she blinked, staring unbelievably at her husband. 

Claire snapped her gaze to him, not believing he just said that. 

" What did you just say? " Anna questioned, walking close to him. 

" She is gone. " Jason repeated and Anna slapped him hard across the face. 

" Don't you ever… ever say that to me again, you hear me! " She said, pointing a finger at him. 

" Now, hand over the phone. " She said.

Suddenly the guards rushed into the house and they all halted abruptly on their heels when they saw Josie's body. 

" Where the hell were you all, huh? Why the fuck weren't you all at your posts?! " Jason demanded and all of them shook with fear, gazing at the floor. 

" I asked a question! " Jason yelled. 

" It was… it was Miss Josie. She… she asked us all to leave and not return in the next one hour. " One of the guards responded. 

" She what? " Jason asked, his brows knitted.

" Ye… yes. She… she threatened to fire us if we didn't leave. " Another guy said. 

" Oh, god! " Anna whimpered, slumping into the couch and Claire gulped down nothing. 

" And the maids? Where are they? " Jason questioned.

" She sent them to get things from the grocery store. "

" She planned this? She planned all of this? " Anna asked no one in particular.

And nothing but silence reigned as Jason Arrington paced about the room. 

" The two of you… " Jason pointed to two guys out of the six standing. 

" Tie her up and lock her up " Jason ordered and Claire's eyes widened and they guys stared at each other, none of them moving. 

" Are you going to make me repeat myself?! " Jason snapped and the two men immediately moved towards Claire who stepped back. 

" I swear Mr Arrington. I didn't do anything to her. I didn't-. " 

" Get her out of here now! " Jason said, cutting Claire off and the two men grabbed Claire by the hand, taking her away. 

" Please… I don't know anything. I swear! " Claire yelled on top of her voice as they dragged her away. 

" What the hell are you doing, Jason? " His wife questioned. 

Jason Arrington stared at his daughter's body, ignoring her and he turned to the remaining four guys. 

" You two… " He pointed at two of them.

" Wrap up her body and take her to the basement. " Jason ordered. 

" And you two… clean this place up and get me every information on Claire Walker. " Jason said, pointing his finger. 

" Yes… boss. " They all chorused and Jason turned to his wife. 

" You… Come with me. " He said, walking away and his wife followed him. They arrived at their room and Jason shut the door behind.

" What the hell is going on, Jason? " Anna questioned. 

" Relax. " Jason said. 

" Relax? You just stopped me from calling the emergency when I just found my daughter lying in the pool of her blood and you are telling me to relax? " 

" Goddammit, Anna, just shut the hell up! I am trying it think " Jason snapped and his wife flinched. 

He sighed, rubbing his temple. 

" I didn't… I didn't mean to yell. I am just. I am lost here too, Anna. Freaking lost. " He mumbled, resting his hands against the table.

" Why do you think she did it? " Anna asked softly. 

" What do you think she jumped off that stairs, Jason? " She asked and Jason shook his head. 

" I don't know. " He mumbled and Anna gently sat on the bed, sobbing quietly. 

Jasoy turned to his wife and moved closer to her. 

" Hey, She is gone, okay? There is no point shedding tears. We can't afford to let this affect our business " 

" Business?! Oh, so that's all you care about? My daughter is dead, Jason and all you care about is the business?! " 

" We had a deal with the Gold's, Anna. What do you think will happen when they find out Josie committed suicide, huh?! " 

" That means, no deal! They will withdraw their funding and what do you think will happen to us, then? We will go down the fucking drain, is that what you want?! " 

" What I want is to call the paramedics, Jason. We could still save her. " Anna cried. 

" There is no saving anyone! She is gone! " Jason yelled. 

" Is that why you asked your men to bundle her up like a piece of trash? " His wife yelled back.

" Yes! Because no one can know she is dead, Anna. No one can know Josie is gone, you hear me? " 

" What? … what do you mean by that? " Anna questioned and Jason rubbed on his temple. 

" I have a plan. " Jason said. 

" What plan? " 

" We are going to use that girl. " 

" What girl? Claire? " 

" Yes. We will have Josie's body cremated. " 

" What?! No way! " 

" Don't start, Anna. Just listen! " Jason snapped and Anna swallowed her guts.

" This will only be between you, I and the people in this house. I will make that Claire girl a proposition. She will become our new Josie in exchange for 1 million dollars " 

" What the hell are you talking about, Jason?! " 

" She is the perfect person. Weirdly, the two share almost the same looks. No one will notice a thing. And it will be like our Josie never died. " Jason explained and Anna shook her head in negation.

" No. We can't… we can't do that to Josie. " She mumbled.

" We have to. And after all we gave her, this is how she repays us? " Jason asked and Anna sniffed. 

" And you can wipe off those fake tears. She was never our real daughter to begin with. " Jason said, walking towards the door. 

" Where are you going? " Anna asked. 

" Stay here. Take a nap if you must. I am going to handle this mess. " Jason responded, walking out the door and he locked it behind. 

Two guards came up the stairs.

" Boss. We found out something about Claire. " One of them said. 

" Yes. What is it? " 

" She is an orphan and she has a younger brother. " 

" Do you know where she lives? " Jason questioned. 

" Yes, boss. " The two men chorused. 

" Good. Bring the boy over here. Do it secretly. I don't want no fuck ups. Bring him here immediately. " Jason ordered. 

" Yes, boss! " They said and walked away while Jason walked toward his study. 

" An orphan. Perfect. " He mumbled.