Ferdinand, at first, did not take his niece serious when she asked Gerald to bring her a pail of water -he wondered if she thought drenching him will make him say anything.
She threatened him with the water, but he was unfazed. It took a different and unexpected turn when Gerald brought out the electronic device and his niece collected it from him.
'She is never going to use that on me, or would she?' Ferdinand fearfully asked with in himself, his whole system shook at the thought of it being used on him, but as stubborn as he is, he threatened her in return instead of obliging and accepting his fault.
But again, he was left with no choice when the shocker was placed on his wrist as he made promise to speak all he knows.
He opened his mouth in attempt to speak, but was cut off by the sudden ringtone that cut through the air. Gerald realized the phone was on him. He reached out for the phone, and it turned out to be Ferdinand's. As Gerald stared at the caller, his eyes widened slightly in realization, but his expression was quick to change to a lopsided smirk.
Ciara turned to Gerald, her eyes narrowed. "Who is that?" She asked, her voice low but as well dangerous.
"It's Brandon." Gerald's voice was blank and lacked emotions. "Another uncle of yours, ma'am -the one Ferdinand had an unfinished meeting with, I guess."
At the mention of 'Brandon', Ferdinand's eyes opened widely in shock, realizing things were about to turn up for the worst. "Why did you call now, Don?" Ferdinand muttered under his breath, his lips quivering at the thought. "Why did you choose a wrong time to call?"
Ciara hesitated a little before she gestured for Gerald to hand the phone over to her. "Let me have it..."She uttered with an air of authority. "Let see what he has in store for us, who knows if he might be helpful to us since Uncle Ferdinand isn't?"
Ferdinand shrieked. "No! Don't, Ciara..."He breathed out like his throat had run dry due to not having water for several hours. "Don't pick that call, whatever reason for Brandon to call was supposed to be between himself and me -you have no right to pick my calls."
Ciara's brows were creased as she wears an innocent expression. "Why_?" She asked with a taunting smile. "Do you have something you are hiding? Something very hideous that mustn't go outside you both ear shot?"
"Ah!" Ferdinand forced out a dry chuckle. "Who said we are hiding something, eh?"
"Fine then... But you know you aren't safe anymore if you are hiding something?" She told him, her left brows raised slightly, which made her earn a questioning look from Ferdinand.
"-because if you have anything in your cupboard; uncle Brandon is a snitch and a loose mouth, he will surely spit them out, even without asking."
Ferdinand knows this without needing anyone to remind him, this made his heart to shake in terror when Ciara had said she wanted to answer the call. Ferdinand could only wish Brandon will be reasonable enough on his own to have his mouth clamped shut.
Before Ciara could pick the call, it aborted on it own due to her time-wasting talk with Ferdinand. "Let's have a fair deal, uncle Ferdinand." She said in an icily tone, cold glaciers that seems not to be melting anytime soon in her eyes. "If uncle Brandon should call back, you will have to play along with him without raising any suspicions."
Ferdinand hissed with a defiant look on his face. "-and if I don't...？" He asked, raising his left brows in support to his cold demand.
Ciara, without further warning, squatted at her uncle's seize and had the electric device placed on his thigh for a couple of seconds. Ferdinand shrieked loudly, his cries echoing and almost vibrating in the empty and dim room.
"What's your say to my fair offer, uncle?" She lilted in a dangerous tone, locking her dead and almost hollow gaze into his fearful eyes. "Are you in, or you need me to convince you further?"
In a fearful and teary tone, Ferdinand was forced to reply after his shrieks and cries had died down. "I'll play along with him, I promise." He responded, though his voice managed to come out sharp. "-please, don't hurt me!"
She did not bother to reply to him as she patiently waited for the phone to buzz in her grip and as she had expected, the phone buzzed with another call from Brandon coming in. She did not hesitate to pick the call and put it on loudspeaker, gesturing to Ferdinand to speak.
"Hey, Fred..."Brandon's rasped voice came out from the phone, renting the air temporarily.
"Don..."Ferdinand only utter. "Where are you? Why did you call me?"
"I was about to ask you where you are." Brandon said in response. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting the other day, Fred. I'm free today, and I'm thinking if it's alright that we meet today, are you less occupied?"
Ferdinand stared demandingly at Ciara for a reply, and she gave him a quick nod. "Sure, I'm always as free as pet animals. Did you want to talk about something? Is it really important?" Ferdinand asked, trying to play the innocent man game, but little did he know he made the big mistake.
"Yes, I want to askyou about your visit to Fellers' children..."Brandon started. "Did you forget to give Ciara the cupcake? My ears have been itching to hear of her death news, but none was forthcoming, are you sure you deliver the message as requested, Ferdinand?" "Why not...？" Ferdinand was quick with his reply. "I made sure to give her and even made sure to give her son from it. Well, I exempted Dwayne since he's too weak to be our problem, you know, right?"
"Ah, I see you did well, little brother." Brandon uttered with a dry laugh. "I think my mind needs to be at rest now, I was thinking you made a failed attempt like you did years back. You remember your previous attempt to kill Ciara but failed? If the same happen this time again, Kent would be angry with you, Fred."
"Uh -I know..."Ferdinand tried not to stutter as he cited his plain reply quickly.
"Only I and Kent had been the only successful ones in this game, Ferdinand, and you know." Brandon continued his talk. "Please be sure you left no traces behind that night just like Kent and I wiped Fellers and his wife without any traces for almost five years now -no one suspected us, Kent wants the same with you too."
"Yeah, I know, right?" Ferdinand forced out a reply dryly.
"The better you play your part, the more share you will have in Fellers' properties -since we can't let Ciara have such a huge fortune to herself when we are still alive." Brandon's voice was sharp and stern, disgust laced it in as he mentioned Ciara. "I heard she's now a shareholder in her ex-husband's Company too, that bitch is going too far, and we need to stop her before she slips off our grip!"