????HIS BALLERINA????
THEME: {What the heart sees}
✍️Written By Precious Pinky✍️
???? Chapter Forty-Nine ????
~Don’t dine with the devil unless you are one of them~
????PAULO????
“No. That can’t be possible. Belle can’t be the witness…I mean, does that even make any sense at all?” Ace mumbled under his breath, shaking his head here and there.
Paulo sighed, grabbing the gla-ss-shot of whiskey and gulping the whole content then poured himself another shot. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Ace but all I can say is… Ballerina is the only person will can hold on to for answers.”
“But I thought we both had two different things to look after. I thought…”
Paulo cuts him off. “Well you thought wrong, man.” He dropped the glas-son the table, coming up to his feet. “I also thought I was dealing with two different murderers. I also thought there is no connection between you both cases but turned out my a-ssumption was wrong after watching that video.”
“What video?”
“A video of her aunt.” He handed the flash drive over to Ace. “Things are going to get pretty messy, Ace. We just need to be careful and most importantly, we need to keep a close watch on Ballerina.”
“I don’t think the murderers know anything about Ballerina being the witness.”
Paulo shook hos head quietly. “Stop thinking, Ace and start calculating. Ballerina might not know any of this things but that psychotic bastard knows a lot. And so does your mother.”
“Stop calling her that, Paulo. I really hate that woman. After what I heard about me being the one with my father that night when he died, I felt sorry for her. I hated myself for treating her that way…when I told Belle about it, she told me not to beat myself for hurting Naomi. She said there might be a probability that what I remember of Naomi might actually be true.” He sighed. “What if Naomi is actually the murderer?”
“What? Why will you even think that? It’s your mother we are talking about here, Ace. Even as much as she wants to stop this investigation, I don’t think she will go that far by being the murderer. I mean, what will be her gain?”
“Does a killer need a reward for killing a human?”
“Stop talking that way, Ace. I know you hate her but accusing her for something like this is really huge.”
Ace rolled his eyes. “I can’t trust that woman for any goddamn thing! She is a complete psychopath, trust me.”
“Wait, I should trust you?” Ace didn’t say anything. “Do you even trust yourself?”
“Shut up.”
Paulo let out a de-ep breath, sitting down beside Ace and resting his hand on his shoulder. “We just need to be careful. You, Ballerina…”
“And you.” Ace cuts in, staring at him.
Paulo smiled. “I will be fine.”
“I know. But I still want you to be careful.”
“When did Ace Reyes start caring for me?” He joked, laughing.
“fu-ckyou, man. But hey, I might be a complete jerk and a loser. A guy who doesn’t care about any fu-cking person and only obsessed in finding his father’s murderer….but I still got a heart in here and I gat feelings too…Belle and you…you both are the only ones I care about in the whole world.” He inhaled de-eply. “I can’t afford to lose any of you.”
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????NARRATOR????
He stormed into the house, ignoring the stares and greetings from his maids and went straight to his mother’s bedroom.
He barged into her room without even knocking.
She was making a phone call when he walked in.
Naomi jerked her head to look at the intruder who walked into her room without knocking and was very surprise to see her son, standing in front of her, glaring down at her.
She knew what she has done but it won’t hurt to act clueless…or would it?
“Um, Juliana…I will talk to you later.” She said before hanging up the call and coming up to her feet. “Ace…”
“Why did you do it?” Ace asked.
She raised a questioning brow at him, still acting clueless. “What?”
“STOP ACTING CLUELESS! YOU KNOW JUST WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!” He said at the top of his voice, surprising the shit out of her.
Naomi knew that acting clueless will get her no where but only cause more trouble between her son and her.
She tuck a strand of hair to the back of her ear, exhaling and inhaling de-eply. “I got no other choice, son.”
“Oh, now you know what I’m talking about, huh?” Ace folded his arms over his chest.
“Paulo left me no other option. I wanted him to stop the case but he wouldn’t listen. He is just so determined to go on with it and it’s very dangerous, Ace. I can’t let anyone die again. Not you, him or the girl.”
“Stop acting like you care.” He warned.
“But I do care, Ace.” She run her fingers over her hair, letting out a de-ep breath. “She won’t hurt any of you if you guys would just stop!”
“And dad?”
“What?”
“What’s going to happen to dad? Will this psychotic bastard just go free like that without paying the price? Huh?” He stepped closer towards Naomi. “I’m asking you again…do you think she’s not going to hurt any of us even if we stop the investigation?”
“She promised…Ace.” Naomi said in a whisper, fiddling with her fingers.
Ace gaze moved down to her fiddling fingers, he shakes his head then slowly looked back up at her face. “Sometimes… promises are meant to be broken.” He turned around and walked over to the door, he turned the doorknob open and stepped out of the room then stared back at his mother. “I made a promise to father and I am not willing or ready to break that promise.” With that said, he slammed the door shut.
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????NAOMI????
“You can’t fight this, Naomi. If this child is willing to find this murderer then why do you want to stop it? I mean, I see nothing bad in anything Ace is doing aside from blaming you for everything. But honestly, you are beginning to make me fall in line with him.” Juliana said, sipping from the steaming mug of coffee.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you are beginning to make me see reasons to why he’s blaming you for everything.”
“But I didn’t do anything.”
“You didn’t. But you know something, Naomi.”
“I do but I can’t say a word to anyone or I will lose Ace.”
“You didn’t say a word to anyone when Reyes, your husband was still alive…and what happened, he died right in front of his son. Your son became traumatize because of that incident…and lost some of his memory.” She got out of her seat and went to sit beside Naomi. “He is broken. He blamed himself for his father’s death, Naomi.”
“No, he blames me.” Naomi corrected.
“Does he?”
“What do you mean? You just said so yourself that he blames me for Reyes death, didn’t you?”
“Maybe I did. But I’ve come to realize something…Ace blames himself for what happened that night and that’s the reason why he hardly eats and never smile. That’s the reason he’s afraid of a-ssociating himself with other people. He’s afraid of hurting someone else…” She placed her palm over Naomi’s shoulder and smiled. “If you really care about him… or better still, care about your late husband then you will do the right thing. I might not know what it is but I know you do.”
“She will hurt him. She will kill him if I say anything to anyone.” Naomi said in between tears.
“She?”
Naomi nodded her head, coming up to her feet and walking over to the window, Juliana stood behind her, watching her closely. “Yes. The murderer.”
“You know the murderer?” Juliana asked in disbelief.
“Not just me. But we. We know who the murderer is.”
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????BALLERINA????
She stood in front of a giant photo, staring at it with so much love and happiness in her eyes.
It was a photo of her mother, father, aunt and herself.
They were looking very happy in that picture.
She can never forget the day they took the picture. She was just seven years of age. Actually, she would be seven that day.
She remembered the giant cake her mother prepared for her, the teddy bears her father got for her and the beautiful bracelet aunt Claire got for her. Even Claire’s boyfriend was not left out. He got her a ball gown and a beautiful tiara.
~FLASHBACK~
*A tiara?* Ballerina asked as she collected the gift from Marco, Claire’s boyfriend.
*Why, you don’t like it?* He asked.
*I do. But, I got many of this.* She told him, staring down at the tiara.
*Really? Then i should have gotten you something else. Something much more beautiful and most importantly, something you don’t have before, right?*
Ballerina laughed. *It’s alright, uncle. Besides. I love the tiara. It’s the prettiest tiara I’ve ever seen.*
*Here, let me wear it for you.* He offered, taking the tiara from her and putting it on for her but it didn’t fit in, it was too small for her. “Oh, no. It doesn’t fit.*
*What?*
*My bad. I thought it was your size.* He said.
*Try it again…maybe it will fit in.* Ballerina suggested.
He tried again but he was still the same thing. He shook his head, putting the tiara away. *I’m sorry dear for getting you a tiara like this.* He apologized.
*It’s alright, uncle. Besides, I got the ball gown. Thanks for that.* She said, smiling.
*Yeah. But, do you know that a princess can’t be crowned without her crown?* He asked, smirking.
*What?*
*Just forget I said that. Oh, your mom is looking for you. Let’s go in.*
****
*Come on, let’s take the picture. Sweetheart, come over here.* Ballerina mother said.
Ballerina ran towards her mother and sat down on her lap while her father was seated beside them and Aunt Claire was behind them.
*Okay, say royalties!* The photographer instructed.
*ROYALTIES!* They all said, smiling.
~END OF FLASHBACK~
It was the best thing so far.
It was also the last photo she had with her parents before they died.
It was their last present to her.
She miss them.
“My princess,” Eva said, coming to stand beside Ballerina. “Are you alright?” She asked her.
“Hmm.” Ballerina hummed, not taking her eyes off the photo.
“Are you sure?” Eva asked again, looking so worried.
Ballerina rolled her eyes, turning her gaze to look at the maid. “Do I look like someone that isn’t okay?”
“No, my princess. But you’ve been staring at that photo for too long. I’m just…”
“Why do you care?” She asked, cutting her off. “Stop acting to care, Eva. I know you don’t.”
“Do you have a problem with me, my princess?”
“Excuse me?”
“You hate me, right?”
Ballerina let out a breath, folding her arms over her chest.
Why was she behaving this way towards the poor maid?
No one knows if she was actually the one who killed her aunt and hit her on the head or not!
She can’t be this cold and mean towards her just because of what they found out.
Who knows Eva might be innocent.
“I don’t hate you.”
“Then why do you act this way towards me? The day I fed your dog, you a-ssumed I poisoned it. why, my princess?”
“Like I’ve said, I don’t hate you. I’m… I’m just going throu-ghsome things, okay? You don’t expect me to act okay when I’m not!” She said.
“I get it, my princess but are you sure you don’t hate me?”
Ballerina smiled, shaking her head. “I don’t. Trust me.” She stared back at the photo.
Eva now stared at the photo. “Oh, I remember this photo. I was just standing behind the photographer alongside Heather.” She said, smiling.
Ballerina raised a questioning brow, turning her gaze to Eva. “You were there?”
“Yeah.”
“How…How come I can’t remember you? I mean, I remember Heather but why can I remember you?” She asked.
Eva shrugged. “We were never close. Heather was your best friend. You were so use to her but me…I was either with my mother or I was with ma’am Claire and the queen.” She said.
“Oh. I’m sorry about that.”
“Why are you apologizing, my princess? You have absolutely nothing to apologize for.”
“I know. But still.” She sighed, looking back at the photo. “This is my best photo so far.”
Eva nodded her head. “Yeah. Also ma’am Claire’s.”
“Aunt?”
“Yeah. She love staring at this photo every day and night and whenever she does, she cries and mumbles apologies to the queen and king.” Eva said.
“She apologies?” Eva nodded her head ‘yes’ “Apologies for what exactly?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. She just does.”
“Um, Eva.” Ballerina called out.
“Yes, my princess.”
“You said something one day… you said if I don’t want to trust anyone in the palace then I should start with Heather, why did you say that?”
Eva smiled, shaking her head. “I just said that. You don’t have to worry about that… you just have to be careful.”
“Oh.” There was a short silence before Ballerina spoke again. “I heard you had a necklace…where is it?”
“You heard?” She asked.
“Yeah.”
Eva laughed. “From who? Heather? Or someone out of the palace?”
“What…” Her phone started ringing, interrupting Belle from whatever she was going to say.
She took out her phone and answered the call after seeing that the caller ID was Paulo.
“Paulo?…yes….okay, I’m on my way.” She hung up the call and turned to Eva. “Watch Jersey for me, okay…i will be back.” She said to Eva.
“This is the first time you are giving me a job that’s meant to be for Heather. You are giving me the responsibilities to take care of Jersey that means you getting to trust me.” She smiled.
“I won’t call that trust, Eva. I will call it a test.” She patted Eva on her shoulder before walking away.
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“I’m confuse. Why will aunt say all that? I mean, does this mean Aunt tried to kill me?” She asked, staring at the paused video of her aunt.
Paulo shook his head. “I won’t say she tried to kill you but I think she tried to abandon you.”
“But it doesn’t make any sense, Paulo. Why will she want to do that to her own niece?”
“Greed? Jealousy? Your mom got the wealth and she was just leeching out of her…there is a motive for her to get jealous.” He said.
“But will abandoning me solve anything for her?”
“It won’t get her what she want but it will break your parents…Listen, that’s not why I called you here,” He cleared his throat. “She said if you want to find answers then you should go to the heart of the palace, do you know what that means?”
Ballerina slowly shakes her head ‘no’ “She’d said that to me one day but I honestly don’t know what that means or where this ‘heart’ lies. Like seriously, is it possible for a palace to contain a heart?”
“That’s my thought also. At first I thought it was Doctor Charles but turns out this was the only thing he got in possession… and besides he’s not a member of the palace.” Paulo observed.
“Wait, you think she’s referring to a human?”
“Yeah. It’s more like a figure of speech.” He paused. “There is someone in the palace that might know about all this.” He said.
“Someone? Like who?”
“You.”
Ballerina eyes went wide as soon as he said that. “Me?”
“When you aunt told you to look for your missing self, did you?”
“What’s there to look for, Paul? It’s crazy. I don’t know what she’s talking about. Everything is just so complicated and confusing and i think I might be going crazy.” She stated.
“You are not going crazy, Princess. I think I might know the missing self your aunt is…” His voice trailed off as he saw Ballerina staring outside, paying less attention to what he was saying. He look out of the window to see what it was that caught her attention _it was Naomi, Ace’s mother_ “Do you know her?” He asked.
“I…ow!” Ballerina screamed, holding her head. She was crying bitterly as she kept screaming.
Paulo stood up from his seat and came to stand beside Ballerina. “Are you okay? what is it?” Everyone were staring at them now, wondering what’s going on over there at their table.
She couldn’t say a word.
Her head was aching very badly.
She has never felt this kind of pain in her life before.
She could see flashes.
Flashes of a woman staring at her…flashes of a door opening… flashes of the giant photo in the palace… flashes of a kid that looks so much like her playing hide and seek with some kids… flashes of a kid calling out to another kid… it was coming to her head so fast and it fu-cking hurts.
“Ballerina…are you…”
“Ace.” She muttered under her breath, breathing heavily like she has been running 1000km race.
“Ace?”
She was still breathing very fast, she looks up at Paulo…her eyes were glossy from unshed tears. “I’ve met Ace before.”
“And?” Paulo knew what’s going on…she was getting back her memory but what he doesn’t seem to understand is why she was getting her lost memory after seeing Naomi.
“That…woman… I’ve seen her before, Paulo. I’ve seen that woman but I don’t know where.”
“Are you serious?”
“Does it look like I’m joking?” She glance back at where she had seen Naomi but she wasn’t there anymore. She was gone. “She was staring at me with anger…and sadness? I heard children voices… they were running and playing… it was as if I was taken back to an amusement park… I don’t know.” She breaths out.
“What else did you see?” Paulo pressed on.
“I saw the palace also…a door opened… someone going in…and a giant photo of my family. It’s confusing.”
“The palace? Naomi? Ace? Amusement park?” He wrote down those words. “What picture did you see?”
Ballerina stared down at the paused video in front of her and quickly handed it over to Paulo. “That photo. The one behind aunt Claire.”
“Then this photo means something to this investigation.” He mumbled under his breath.
“Do you know that woman?” She asked.
“That’s Ace mother.” He replied.
“Ace mother?”
“Yeah. But what I don’t seem to understand is why she’s in your head. Did you see her with Ace at an amusement park? Or…”
“She doesn’t look happy. She was sad and at the same time glaring…does that even make any sense? Do you think I’m crazy?”
“You are not crazy. You are only remembering your missing self. And that’s a good thing.” He stood up to his feet.
“Where are you going?” Ballerina asked.
“It’s we. And we are going to the palace.”
“Why?”
“We need to search for that heart, Ballerina.” He packed up all of his things. “And as for Naomi, we will get back to her but that’s after we find this ‘heart’, but you are alright, right?”
“I think so.” She muttered.
“You will be fine.” He sighed. “We will all be.”
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#To Be Continued..