Chapter 26: Pet Clinic

Amie stared at the phone for a long time after her father had dropped the call.

How could June be so lucky to be the daughter of the Mafia Queen?

When she left Rauf five years ago, she thought he would never regain his sight and had tossed him off to June just to run away with her other lover.

But that lover had turned out to be nothing but a scam. He was after her for her father’s wealth.

She lost everything, coincidentally around the same time Rauf regained his sight.

She shook her head, not wanting to dwell on her sad experiences.

She deserved better.

Ever since Rauf had left her here, she had been doing some serious thinking. She felt like Rauf’s feelings were already fading for her. Why else wouldn’t he want to touch her?

She remembered all the times she had dressed sexily and gone to his room, only to be turned away. She had even sent him a naked picture, and what did she get in return?

No response.

Becoming the Mafia Queen’s daughter would surely get her everything she wanted, just like her father claimed.

Amie got dressed and drove straight to her father’s house.

She had no idea what she was supposed to look for to convince Serena she was her daughter.

After sending a text to her father, the response came immediately.

A locket in my room.

Her father and mother stayed in separate rooms. Amie wasn’t in the mood to meet her mother and get into an unnecessary chat. She had something more important to do.

Thankfully, her father never kept secrets from her, so it was easy for her to open the room and enter.

Her father’s room was the biggest in the house, but it was very tidy. There was a lockbox in the room where he kept his valuables, and there were two small lockets beside the bed.

Her father hadn’t mentioned where she was supposed to search, so Amie started searching everywhere in the room. She threw things on the floor randomly.

After a while, she got tired of searching and did what she was supposed to have done in the first place.

Where is it?

The response was immediate, as if her father had been waiting for her message.

Inside the lockbox. Code is your birthday.

Amie moved towards it and immediately opened the lockbox.

Inside were cash that her father had stashed away there, and then there was a golden locket.

It looked like real gold. That must have been the reason her father had kept it.

Amie frowned at the locket before bringing it out.

Was this enough to make her the Mafia Queen’s daughter?

She stashed the locket in her pocket and picked some of the cash from the lockbox before closing it again.

She needed money.

When she was about to leave her father’s room, she ran into her mother just outside his door.

Her mother smiled at her. "When did you get here, Amie?"

Amie paused, looking her mother from head to toe. She had always thought she was lucky to have her as her mother, but now she knew she was wrong.

The lucky one was June.

Instead of responding, she ignored the woman and left the house.

I got it, she texted her father.

Again, his response was immediate.

Come over to New Central State immediately. I’ll send you my address.

Okay, Daddy.

<<<

Long after Samir was gone from the hotel, Rauf stared at nothing.

It was hard for him to trust a word from the man’s mouth, but there was no other way to confirm whether he was lying or not.

Henson could notice that he was bothered.

"Boss..."

Rauf looked up at him. "Samir, can his words be trusted?"

Henson shook his head. "The man is a liar, but I don’t think even he would have the guts to lie about the Mafia Queen’s daughter."

That was true. But Rauf knew Samir would do anything for money.

"I think we can run a DNA test to confirm if it’s true or not," Henson said again, wanting to assure his boss.

But Rauf shook his head. "It’s not up to us to run a DNA test for the Mafia Queen. She can do that herself, but once she finds out Samir is lying, if he was, I’ll be glad to punish Amie and Samir myself."

Henson nodded. "Then what about Miss June?"

Rauf relaxed in his seat. "Once I turn Amie in to the Junox Mafia, they will find her. I know that."

Henson nodded.

"I need you to secure a meeting with the Tim gang leader. I want to know the extent of Samir’s meeting with them."

Henson nodded and left the room.

Rauf sat alone for a while.

For a long time, he had been cooped inside, but it had been fun because his wife had been beside him.

Now, he found it hard to stay in the room alone, especially when he had nothing to do.

He decided to take a walk outside. With his plan of probably expanding to New Central State, he needed to survey the city itself.

He left the hotel without taking his car.

The road was just as busy as he had seen it, and everyone seemed to know how to mind their businesses perfectly.

Rauf moved around the city. If only he could bump into June, just like the movies he used to watch when he was young.

But life wasn’t a movie.

He moved around a bit. This part of the city seemed to be occupied by the rich in the city.

He wondered if June had enough money to take care of herself.

For the past five years they had lived together, she refused to accept any money from him.

She wasn’t working and had certainly not saved up enough money.

So, how was she living?

Angrily, he kicked a stray stone, and it rolled until it hit a dog that barked at him.

The stone seemed to leave a dent on the side of the dog and wounded it a bit.

Rauf waited for the owner of the dog to complain, but everyone passed beside it as if they couldn’t even see it.

The dog whimpered on the floor.

Rauf frowned.

It seemed it was a stray dog with no owner. It would be wicked of him to leave it hanging when he was the reason the dog was hurt in the first place.

Rauf picked the dog up, and it lay in his hand as if it were comfortable there.

The place the stone had hit was bleeding heavily now.

This wasn’t what Rauf had planned for the evening. And it would be wrong of him to abandon it.

His wife’s voice floated into his ears.

"The kind of people I hate most are those who belittle others’ feelings, either animals or people."

Rauf had chuckled. "But animals don’t have feelings."

A small hand hit his shoulder. "Don’t say so, Papi. Animals have feelings just like humans. It’s wrong to think they don’t. Why do you think they recognize those who take care of them and also know those who abuse them? It’s because of their feelings."

"Okay."

Then a small hand traced his face. He might not have seen her, but he felt that she must have been smiling at that moment.

"So, whenever you see any animal, make sure you don’t trample on their feelings."

The dog whimpered in his hand again.

Rauf let out a low curse. "This is all on you, June."

He had no idea where to find a vet that would take care of the dog. So, he typed into the search bar:

"A good vet clinic close to me."

He turned on his location.

Soon, the search was over.

Rauf glanced at the address on the phone.

Andy’s Pet Clinic.

It was a bit far from where he was.

Again, he frowned, as his night wasn’t going in the way he had expected in the slightest.

Without his car, he had to order a cab to take him to the pet clinic.

The cab left the vicinity he was in, driving towards what Rauf would classify as downtown. This was where the people without money in New Central State must be living.

And for a moment, he doubted the search.

Had it really directed him to one of the best pet clinics in the state?

The cab stopped in front of the pet clinic. Rauf paid and got out of the cab.

He stared at the building for a while. It was small, but it looked good enough to take care of the dog. And most importantly, they were open at that time.

He opened the door to the clinic and stepped in.

There was no one in the shop, and Rauf frowned.

Was this how people left their shops open to the public?

He called for the owner, but no one responded.

Just when he was about to step out of the clinic, a voice stopped him.

"Who is there?"