Enemy Beloved

51 | the truth

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V A U G H N

The man before me has Jake's eyes but he isn't Jake. He is the guy from the other night who saved Claire. He is Nina Lewis's fiancé; he is Claire's friend, and he was supposed to be the good guy, not the man behind the mask.

The lights are clicked on and we hear footsteps running as they enter the hall. I look up from Noah and see the guards entering the hall with their guns ready, the cops following behind, and then, the figures of Michael and Isabelle Hill rush in.

"Mom!"

While the cops proceed towards me and Noah, Claire runs to her parents, and her father catches her in his arms, hugging her tight while her mother hugs them both. I watch them without any thought, my mind emptying of thoughts for a second and going blank as I try to figure out everything that happened.

One of the cops grabs Noah, forcing him up, and handcuffs him. Noah grunts, his jaw ticking as his rage-filled stare focuses on me. I stare back at him, blankly, not understanding anything except for the fact that my whole body is aching and my chest is burning for some reason.

I only snap out of my daze when someone gently tugs the knife away from my hand and puts it inside a small plastic bag. I let them take it from me, my sight scanning the hall until they land on my Mom and Rose.

They are hugging each other tight, their arms red with the rope they were tied with. They are the first ones I saw when I entered the house through the window, finding the front door locked, but I didn't have the time to free them first. I walk towards them, my legs aching badly. They look at me when I stop in front of them, crouching slowly, and my sister throws her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"Vaughn, he is Jake..." she sobs, her lips grazing my neck. "He...he came here and locked the servants upstairs. He blackmailed me into calling Claire. I tried to fight him...Vaughn. I tried but I couldn't..."

"Shh..." I run a hand through her hair, whispering. "It's okay. You're safe now."

Mom sniffs and hugs us both, wrapping her arms around us as Isabelle did with her husband and daughter. It feels strange to be in their arms. It feels peaceful but I shouldn't be feeling peaceful now. Noah Striker tried to kill my wife and I don't know why.

I have to know. I must know.

I hear footsteps behind me, boots tapping loudly on the floor and I release my sister to turn and see what's happening. The cops are dragging Noah along with them. The entire hall has its eyes on them. Claire hides behind her father when Noah looks at her and Isabelle throws him a dirty glare.

No, they can't take him.

"Wait!" I shout, stopping the cops and they face me along with Noah.

I swallow a gulp as I get up and walk towards them, my eyes never leaving Noah's as I stand in front of him, directing my next words to the officer-in-charge of the case who stands beside Noah. He is a man in his late thirties, dressed in his uniform with a curved mustache, looking bored as always with his job.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Jackson?" the officer asks.

I remain silent for some time, letting all the pairs of eyes look at me in anticipation while I stare at Noah. My brain still finds it hard to believe that he was Jake all along. Claire said something about him looking familiar but I never thought that something might be off. But then again, those blue irises sparkled a little too bright — work of UV lenses.

"Why did you do it?" I ask him.

He blinks, blue eyes shining like two culprits on the villainous face. He doesn't reply to me, keeping his gaze fixed as he challenges me with a slight tilt of his lips to deride me.