It was hard for Alves to put his thoughts together. It was quite a difficult task to align his thoughts at that moment. There were so many things going on in his mind, but the greatest of them all was,

DID GRANDPA KNOW ABOUT THE MONEY?

He shook his head slowly. That didn't seat right in his mind. It was as though he needed to make a rethink.

IF HE DOES, WHY DID HE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL HIS DEATH TO TELL ME ABOUT IT?

He couldn't provide an answer for that question either. He opined that he would be able to answer a question with another one.

IF HE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THE MONEY, WHY IS THIS LETTER ADDRESSED AS THE ONE I GOT FROM THE MANAGER OF MAVELIK?

It was as though his head would explode. He had gone through a lot for that day to be greeted by such a mystery.

"It's not a compulsion to open it right here. You can take your time. It seems to bring so many memories."

The aged voice came from beside him. He had almost forgotten that he had the old man there with him. He had been so engrossed in the letter.

His fingers were fiddling with the tips of the letter. He jumped on his feet suddenly. He wasn't sure what had just gotten into him. But he felt like he needed to do something.

"Shall I take you home sir?"

He offered.

"I'll enjoy the mildness of this atmosphere for a while. Do not mind this old man. Go ahead and do your thing."

The old man nodded at him. He felt bad leaving the man behind, but he knew he couldn't remain standing there. The rays of the sun had turned orange. It was a matter of time before a sheet of darkness would be spread across the sky.

"Thank you, Grandpa. I'll stop by at your place tomorrow."

He bowed at the man who had an old and worn out smile seated in his wrinkled face. Alves hurried away from the man who kept staring at him as he hurried through the garden.

"If I didn't go to keep Casper company before then."

The old man muttered. When he had had enough of staring at Alves, he looked back at the river.

"Taxi!"

Alves called at a cab. The cabbie drove by and he hopped on.

"Vailenstore."

He instructed and the driver put his foot on the gas. While the tyres of the cab glid the bitumen of the fine street, his mind was equally plied by heavy thoughts.

He would look at the letter again and again. For some reason, he was scared to open it. No, not scared, he was nervous. It was as though he was going to find something that would alter his life's direction totally.

He couldn't tell if that feeling was right or not. He used to have such funny feelings whenever strange things would happen. But sometimes, the feelings don't pull through. He was hoping that this moment would be one of those one in a million exceptions.

He shook his head.

I CAN'T OPEN SUCH A LETTER IN A CAB. I SHOULD FIND A QUIET PLACE, WHERE I WOULD BE ALONE.

He didn't get an idea of where he would go yet. He remembered that he could never go to Charles' place for the night. He didn't want to bring to mind the ugly experience.

It was strange and fluttering to go through a great deal of emotional roller coaster between the noon and night of one day. Even if he paid an astrologer, they could never had seen this coming.

The cab pulled over at the jewellery store and he got off. He almost forgot to pay. He hurried towards the store and entered.

His eyes scurried around as soon as he stepped into the store.

"Yes. There she is."

He was lucky to find the person he was looking for at that moment. But immediately the lady looked in the direction and saw him, a realisation dawned on him.

"Wait a moment."

He tried to rewind to the part where he saw Laura getting a head from a strange man. Though the memory was hurting, but he wanted to get a particular picture of that memory. Just a fragment.

But he couldn't get what he wanted.

"No way I lost it. No way."

He pressed his hand to his pocket and sighed. He could feel the small carton of the necklace in his pocket. He gulped and puffed.

"I couldn't had lost fifteen million just like that. What loan could pay that back?"

He sighed then corrected the weird expression which he was wearing. He walked briskly to the lady who smiled genuinely at him,

"You are back sir. Welcome. Do you want to get something else for your ---"

"I want a refund. I don't need the necklace anymore. Please can you do that for me?"

Don't ask him. He had no idea what he was doing. But one thing was clear, if he didn't get to the root of the money, he didn't want to take a cent out of it.

THERE'S ENOUGH TROUBLE IN MY LIFE ALREADY.

He said to himself. He had gone out of his way to try to get Laura back. But now that she didn't want to find her way back, he could reflect on how carelessly he had acted.

"Sir, I'm afraid we can't do that? Why the sudden change of mind?"

The lady looked quite concerned, but at the same moment, she was trying not to lose her touch of professionalism.

Alves didn't care about either of those. All he wanted was the money back.

"Please reverse the money. Whatever fine you would get from me, I'll pay. Even if I can't get the money, I'll pay in installments. I have a few --"

"It's better you walk out of this store now that I'm still nice to you. Do you want me to throw you out?"

Alves was stunned when the tone of the lady suddenly changed.

"What..."

He muttered. Who could had thought that she could change so easily towards him.

"Were you nice to me only because I purchased a --"

"I'm calling the security right away. How dare you take the classy necklace, make us lose face to richer women only to return it. Do you want to die?"

Alves was too astonished to say a word. He couldn't find the word even if he wanted to.

They had created so much attention that fellow shoppers were beginning shoot him deriding glares.

"I'll take the necklace."

A rich feminine voice came from behind them.

THAT VOICE SOUNDS FAMILIAR.

Alves could swear. He had heard that voice. Not once, not twice. He was nervous to look back. Before he could, the owner of the voice had gotten to him.

"Gentleman please step aside for a woman of class."

The woman called. From her cologne, and her voice. He could tell who it was. He was nervous to turn.

MADAM!!!