Chapter 84 Claim It

Ares grabbed his phone and turned on the recorder. "Alright, let's start. Tell me everything about the plan that you kept on saying earlier. I want to hear every detail and don't you dare lie to me because I will let you have a companion if your statement isn't the same as her statement. You know where you will end up. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes! Yes, I understand!"

"Good… Now, don't waste my time. Start." Ares ordered with full of authority in his voice.

“What— what do you want to know? Whe-where should I start?”

“I said I wanted to know every detail. Let's start at the very beginning. Can someone get me some chair?” Ares asked and one of his men immediately went to the corner and get him a chair.

“Here, boss…”

“Alright, so where are we? Aren’t you going to start?”

Considering how anxious she felt, Vera simply swallowed. “Are you aware of how Asteria hated her sister?”

“Don’t ask me some stupid question and just tell me everything. I don’t have a lot of time for you.”

“I understand… It started because of jealousy. Asteria couldn’t take the fact that Kianna is much better than her in some aspects even though she was raised as a spoiled child. She gets everything she wanted by just telling it to her parents even her stepdad, Kianna’s biological father. A lot of people are wondering on why did their fathers treat them differently. Their dad is much more in favor of Asteria rather than his first daughter. There are some rumors that Asteria is his biological daughter. They said that their dad cheated on Kianna’s mom while she was still alive. They even say that Kianna’s mom's death is made by her dad—”

“Are you saying that you heard that Kianna’s mom’s death was planned?” Ares interjected.

“Yes! That’s what I heard. They said that Kianna’s dad planned it with Asteria’s mom. They wanted to take everything from Kianna’s mom because at that time their company was run by Mrs. Saavedra, Kianna’s mother. It was originally their company but when she died the company was passed on to her dad. That’s all I know about that rumor…”

Ares nodded, “Continue.”

“As what Asteria told me, after the death of Kianna's mom they immediately transferred to Saavedra's residence. It was what their dad wanted. She said that the first time she met Kianna in person she has been hating her since then. She said Kianna was too sweet and warm to people, a characteristic of a fake person. She hated her so much which led her to do things terrible to her. Do you know Vincent?" She asked Ares.

Ares didn't answer but he intensely looked at Vera, waiting for her to continue her story.

"I guess that's a yes… Well, Vincent Rivera is Kianna's ex fiance. They have been together since high school and their family decided to arrange for marriage which they also wanted since they were a lovely couple back then. Vincent's family has a lot of land in the country, they also own a big company which makes Vincent's family wealthy. Since Vincent was the first born son of the family, he became the heir of all of those wealth that his family have. That was the reason why Kianna's dad was so pleased by Vincent's family because of wealth. He wanted to have a part of that wealth but when Asteria knew about it she got so jealous. She knew that Kianna will have a better life than her when that marriage is successful. So she made a plan, she seduced Vincent Rivera which she successfully did."

"Because of jealousy? Heh– Should I be thankful for her that she did that? That man can easily be seduced by a simple temptation. That means he doesn't really love Kianna or if he really did love her maybe it was not as deep as the sinkhole.” Ares couldn’t stop himself to comment everytime Vincent’s name was being mentioned.

With every phrase Vera spoke, her anxiety could not be hidden. “You must be the reason for the Rivera’s family crisis…”

“What did you say?”

“N-nothing… Then– Then Asteria—”

“I said repeat what you just said.” Ares ordered.

Vera doesn’t know if she will repeat it or not but the only thing that is circulating in her mind is that she wanted to survive. “I said… Y-you must be the reason for Vincent’s family crisis…”

“Oh… Yes, that’s me. He couldn’t stop showing in our lives so I don’t have a choice but to make him out of the scene. I am not that bad, but if you have the guts to pester my wife then you should be able to handle teh consequences from your actions. Same to you… After all of this I want you to stay out of Kianna’s sight and if I got an information that you still wouldn’t stop with what you are doing — I don’t have a choice but to make you suffer aswell. Not just you but also your family as well so think twice Ms. Ventura. I am sure you don’t want to be my enemy…”

“I w-won’t… I know how to distinguish my enemy and you afre not one of them… I am sorry…”

“You should be sorry to Kianna. Tell her that if you get out of here alive—”

“I will– I will continue! Ahh– So much jealousy formed in Asteria’s heart that is why she did a lot of awful things just to make Kianna suffer.”

“How long you have been friend with Asteria?”

“Since high school. I met her in a bar and we became friends since then. It was just her idea that pop up suddenly in her head when she heard the news that the upcoming midterm exam is coming. She knew how good Kianna in academics and she want to use it as a way to kick her out of the school.”

Ares remained silent and kept listening.

“Her plan was to spread rumors that Kianna cheated on that midterm exam. She hired a hacker to hack the school system and get a copy of the exam when she successfully did that, I thought she will just threatened Kianna with it but then we got a news that Kianna almost got the perfect score in that exam. A lot of opportunities opened for her and Asteria doesn’t want that. She ordered us to made up story to show to everyone that Kianna cheated on our exam, and…”

Ares narrowed his eyes when Vera suddenly stop. “And what?”

“And the dean believed us… they are now investigating everything but all the evidences is pointing out Kianna…”

“Then point it to someone else.”

“What do you mean?”

“To you. Claim everything that it was your plan and I will think about to spare your life or not—”

“But you said you will let me go if I tell you everything!”

“I said, I need you to do something from me and claiming it was one of the things you must do. Do want to claim it or I will just make your family’s company turn into ashes just like what happened to the Rivera Group?”

“But it was Asteria’s fault!”

“I know but I have a different plan for her and since you are part of her plan the you have the responsibility for your action. Will you claim it or not?”

Vera stopped for a moment, deeply thinking her answer. But in the end she ended up answering, “I will claim it…” because she doesn’t have any choice.