His Beautiful Addiction

Tiana had been awake all through the meeting but now, she was getting tired, so she lay on Nicklaus laps as she slept. His hands played with her hair as he listened to Michael speak.

''I was ignorant of all these. I knew Catherine was wicked, but never would I ever have thought that she would have done that, and to think she went to the extent of raising me just for a stand-in for her son. So this was her grand plan all along, get the Howells Corporation and kill me off so I don't get any part of her son's company. ''

Michael voiced in shock. He had imagined a trillion wicked things she must have done to Nicklaus, but he never imagined that she was capable of that. At that moment, he felt chills run down his spine; to actually be alive was is a miracle.

''I don't even want to think about the wickedness living inside of that woman; the important thing is that we finally have a way to take her down. You know, now she thinks that I'm dead, she'll come after you before she reveals her son to the public. ''

Nicklaus said and Michael nodded; if she told everyone about Liam while he was still alive, they would be skeptical if he dies soon after. That was why she would want to kill him before she reveals her son.

 ''So, you have to stay hidden, you can stay with me in my underground house for this period of time, you won't make use of any phones or gadgets, we don't know how advanced her tech team is, and we for sure that she terribly wants you dead, so she would go to any lengths. ''

Michael nodded; ''Thanks, I really appreciate it. '' Contrary to what he had expected, Nicklaus had treated him nicely, not minding everything that had happened with them in the past.

''You're welcome. ''

''Yeah, you mentioned you were investigating your accident secretly? '' Michael asked, Nicklaus had mentioned at the start of the conversation but he didn't delve deeper.

''Yeah, I was just looking on how to connect Douglas to the case, but the detectives think there is something more, I don't know about it, but I'll receive more information on it soon. ''

Michael nodded;

''Okay. I'm grateful for everything, I was uncertain about meeting you given our past experiences, ''

Nicklaus laughed lightly; ''It's fine, I knew something was fishy once I found out that you were not her biological child.''

Michael was about to say something else when Tiana turned and woke up;

''You guys aren't done? ''

She asked as she sat up from his legs and leaned on his shoulder;

''We were almost rounding up; '' Nicklaus said; ''you know what you have to do if the issue arises on who to take over the company, don't argue with Douglas, just let him have the company. ''

Tiana nodded;

'' Catherine would want to kill Michael before revealing her son, but when she doesn't find him, she can't keep waiting, and that's exactly what we want. When she does that, everyone would turn to her because it seems fishy that right after my death, she comes with her son, so she might likely be investigated.

And knowing who Catherine is, she would like to push the blame to someone else and so she would try to make Douglas the killer. Even when Douglas finds out about this, he wouldn't be rash to act because he would be suspected of her murder, but that doesn't matter because whether he acts or not if anything happens to Catherine or her son, he would be the prime suspect. And that's when we strike, after which the blame would go to Douglas, and when coupled with the evidence I'm about to gather on my accident, he goes down. '' 

Tiana was quiet for a second;

''What if I make him confess he killed you? ''

Michael and Nicklaus turned to Tiana reflexively; ''How? ''

''If I can make him feel I'm on his side, he might confess that he killed you and I can record the confession, I think it would be more credible as evidence. ''

''No! '' Nicklaus exclaimed before she could complete her sentence;

''you're not sitting with that man alone, don't even think about it. '' He warned, he couldn't even believe that she was thinking about doing something like that, did she have a death wish?

Tiana wanted to argue but she decided against it, if she talked more about it, he would know that she was persistent in doing something and he would make sure he stopped her, so she kept mute.

But one thing she was sure of was that if such an opportunity arose, she must be prepared.

The next day, Gwen went back to New York since she had some practical, Nicklaus came in the next two days and Tiana was shocked to her wits with the news that he came with.

''You mean… Douglas had been the one behind Mia's accident all along? ''

Tiana's eyes widened in shock, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

''Yeah, the cause of the accident is unique and the gadget was traced to his company, in the past five years only two accidents have been caused that way, which is mine and Mia's, so it's most likely that he is the one. He doesn't produce it but it was imported along with some raw materials for his company. I think it couldn't be traced during the investigation because Douglas blocked it off, I just can't fathom why he would want to kill her.''

Nicklaus explained, shocked to his bones.

''Well, maybe she knew something that she wasn't supposed to know, or … he was having an affair with her? ''

Nicklaus turned to Tiana with a surprised look; '' Beautiful, he can't possibly…''

'' don't say that Douglas who tried to kill you can do anything; he is the devil himself, who knows if he wasn't the one that killed your grandfather too. ''

Nicklaus pinched her chin; '' maybe or maybe not. But what is important is that he is going down for his crimes. ''

''Yeah, I really want all these to be over, so we can be happy again. ''

Nicklaus smiled and they stared at each other for a few seconds before his eyes fell to her lips and he leaned in and he kissed her. ''Me too '' He said, biting lightly on her lower lip. His hands went to the back of her head, pulling her closer; he deepened the kiss, their tongue intertwining.