Raymond trotted down the stairs, whistling. He and Charmaine have finally worked everything out last night. Inside the café, they had talked for hours. They openly discussed their feelings from their first chance meeting up until their last encounter. They sympathized with each other the pain they went through, their feelings during their separation and most importantly, their plan for the future. It wasn’t until when the manager politely told them that they were closing did they leave. Outside the café, Charmaine held onto him, reluctant to let him go, and promised to call him the first thing in the morning. Raymond had returned home in happy spirits. He wanted to tell Frankie everything and share his joy with him but Frankie wasn't home. Now as he walked around the floor, he still couldn't find Frankie anywhere. That’s odd, he thought. Frankie never stayed out all night. He heard a beep come from somewhere in the living room and realized it was his cell phone. Someone had left him a message. He pressed a few buttons and was told he had two messages. They were both from Frankie. The first was from last night telling him that he had a business dinner. The second was just an hour ago. Frankie wanted Raymond to meet him at the Peak at 9:00 am. He had something urgent to tell him. Raymond glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already 8:30 am. Grabbing his jacket, he headed out the door. So happy was he that he had Charmaine back in his life, he didn't stop to wonder why his brother wanted to meet him at such a remote place so early in the morning.

When he arrived at the overlook, he saw Frankie's car. There was also another car parked there. A car he didn't recognize. He rolled the car to a stop and turned off the ignition. Out of the car, he searched for Frankie and found him standing about fifty feet away, talking amicably with another man. The man's back was towards Raymond, so he couldn't see who he was but judging by the built and the outline he had a feeling who it was. They must have heard him approach for they both turned to look his way. Raymond stopped, seeing Mr. Seh. He turned to Frankie with an inquiringly look.

Frankie hurried over to Raymond, “Mr. Seh asked me to call you out. He has some important news about Charmaine.” When Frankie saw the accusation in Raymond’s eyes, he rushed in, “I didn’t want to meet with him either but after hearing him out, I agree with him.” He looked at Raymond with concern and said, “She’s not for you. You got to stop this obsession you have with her.”

Ignoring Frankie, Raymond stared at Mr. Seh and quietly asked, “Really? What news do you have about her?”

Mr. Seh walked mechanically to stand in front of Raymond and said, “What I want to tell you is: I want you out of her life for good!” He pulled the gun out of his pocket and aimed it at Raymond’s head.

Frankie’s face paled as he stood immobilized beside Raymond. He stared in horror at Mr. Seh, “What are you doing? This isn’t what we planned.”

Mr. Seh barely glanced at Frankie, his attention fully trained on Raymond. He waved the gun in front of Raymond’s face and said, “I don’t know why Charmaine loves you. It’s because of you I lost her forever. It’s all your fault!” he screamed.

“No,” Raymond said flatly, “You drove her away with your lies and your evil doings.” He looked down at the older man and harshly said, “You killed your own grandchild!”

Frankie grabbed Raymond’s arm, his face strained as he looked at Raymond in bewilderment, “You mean… you mean Charmaine didn’t abort your baby?”

Raymond finally looked at Frankie, his expression softened, “She didn’t.” He then turned back to look coldly at Mr. Seh, “He did it. He drugged and caused her to have the miscarriage.”

Mr. Seh laughed madly and sneered, “Yes I admit it. I did everything. But there’s nothing you can do about it because as of today, you will no longer exist.”

Raymond stared at him, as he asked the one word that had been boggling his mind, “Why? Why do you hate me so much?”

“I’ll hate anyone who comes near Charmaine. She is too good for all of you,” Mr. Seh ranted wildly. “She’s all I got and I’m not going to let anyone take her away from me!”

Raymond was stupefied by what he had just heard. Calmly he said, “Because of your possessive ways you have caused her to run from it. You drove her away!”

Mr. Seh felt his eyes tear up by the truth of Raymond’s words. He quickly wiped at them with the back of his free hand. “Since I’ve already lost the most important thing in the world to me, there’s nothing to stop me from what I’m about to do.” He cocked the gun and steadily pointed it at Raymond.

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Charmaine knocked on her father’s study door. No answer. Where could he be so early? She wanted to talk to him about Raymond and to tell him that regardless of how he feels, she is going to be with him. After thinking about it all night, she had also decided to have it out with her father. She will give him some ultimatums. He can remain in her life, only if he accepts Raymond and not try any more tactics to separate them. And she was going to lay it out on him that if he tried anything again, she will permanently end their father/daughter relationship. If her father loves her, as he continuously claims he does, then he would agree to her terms. She hopes her father would relent. With trepidation she knocked again and called out, “Dad? I’m coming in.”

She walked into the office and found it in a mess. Papers were scattered all over the floor and the vault door was left wide open. A box on his desk caught her eye and she scurried over to it. The gun! It was gone! She knew her father kept a gun in the house, but he never took it out of the vault. She looked around his desk and found a piece of paper with Raymond’s name written on it. On top of his name was a big X. No! Charmaine screamed in her heart. Raymond! Please don’t let anything happen to him, she cried silently. She ran out of the room and crashed into the housekeeper, “Have you seen my father this morning?” she asked urgently.

The housekeeper thought for a moment then replied, “I heard Mr. Seh moving around the study real early this morning. Then he left.”

Charmaine clutched the woman’s arms and asked, “Do you know where he went?”

The housekeeper nodded her head, alarmed by Charmaine’s behavior, “I overheard him say that he was going to the Peak. I remember it clearly because I thought that was a strange place to go so early in the morning.”

Charmaine grabbed her car keys and ran out of the house.