C15 A connection to a Superstar

Kristine woke up early after last night's interaction with her sister. As the confirmation of everything Rhea told her began to register inside her mind, about a Bigshot bucking up Jason and always helping him to escape justice. Her intuition was indeed right all along...

"Just who is that guy in the shadows who always rescue Jason from all his troubles...who was he?" Kristine's thoughts were on full alert as her mind delve into various influential people she will suspect to be Jason's sponsor but to no clue. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Since she and Rhea knew Jason grew up in an Orphanage, the prospective candidates helping him may be someone powerful and unknown. Yet, she needed to figure out who Jason was associated with and how deep his connections were.

So far, apart from the charges Kristine charged Jason with three years ago, there had been other petty crimes for which Jason had escaped punishment countless times, so the news Rhea told her about that influential backup person who sponsors his drugs lifestyle and covers all his crimes made sense.

"It's either the real sponsor is the person who provides Jason with the drugs or a customer who purchases drugs from him...that's the only logic for that sponsor helping him all this time. But who is he?" Kristine's detective instinct thoughts kept nagging her about these options and gave her a sleepless night.

Her logic about uprooting the root cause of all Jason's crimes will be the best bet to bring him to justice. Without a root to support a tree, its death is confirmed. So her target was the Bigshot behind the shadows.

"I would make sure they all get a taste of what it means to nearly lose something precious to you, then later make sure Jason spends the rest of his miserable life rotting in jail with no one to ever think of saving him." Kristine uttered to herself and got out of bed with a determination to get to the root of everything that happened for the past three years. She needed a permanent solution to end it all. Now, its operation revenge mode activated.

"All of them would surely feel my wrath...That scumbag of a Bigshot, Jason, and that ungrateful bastard Sam. They will all pay for every pain her sister went through. But they wouldn't see it coming until it hits them like a thunderstorm." Kristine thought as she got ready after her shower to prepare for a bright new day, with new aspirations and targets of her mission... to bring it all to an end. They started it yet, she will be the one to end it!

After she was done with them, none would ever dare to degrade the worth of a woman and Rhea will never taste the bitterness of any betrayal ever again.

Even though Kristine knew why Rhea hesitated in telling her about what exactly happened on their camping trip and what Jason did to her, It was already quite obvious. This could only mean that Jason threatened Rhea into silence, and what better way but to use her as his bait to keep Rhea quiet, to stop them from going to the police and filing another attempted case against him. Well, she was over all that now. Time to take justice into her own hands, surely but calmly.

There were many ways to find out about what happened at that Camp without Rhea telling her. She would have to investigate everything from the beginning and gather clues and strong shreds of evidence for a future case, after she had made their life so miserable they will be begging for death.

Kristine intended to investigate everything herself without putting Rhea in any danger of further harassment from Jason. Even though she wished they would file another restraining order against Jason, she just realized it wouldn't stop him. The first restraining order didn't stop him from using Sam for his revenge, and neither will the second work. Since his Bigshot will surely save him again from ending up in jail. It's now up to her to bring an end to that guy and make sure he will never be a threat in Rhea's life for as long as they live.

On the other hand, Rhea also woke up early but chose to stay in bed in extreme panic. She barely slept last night as the flashes of the accident and Tom's face soaked in blood as he was being dragged into the emergency room kept playing in her mind.

Rhea took out her phone to check the internet for the latest updates on Tom's condition since she wasn't confident enough to call her friends and ask, which might raise some suspicions about her whereabouts the entire time the incident took place.

"White Entertainment CEO's son in critical condition"

"Police investigation on the attempted murder of Tom Carter was proven to be premeditated."

"A Brake Failure? Who wants the CEO's kid dead??"

"All the perpetrators of this heinous crime will be brought to justice."

Rhea shivered from fear as she read all the latest news headlines on Tom's accident. She wrapped her legs in a tight hug as she cried her eyes out, about how her future will be ruined the instant it gets out. She was sure Jason will dump everything on her and she will have to take the fall since the evidence he showed her seemed strong and obviously made her the real culprit.

All her dream of becoming a doctor will be crushed, with her dad disappointed, her sister might end up blaming herself and her mom will get depressed once she ended up in jail.

Whilst Kristine prepared herself to go out on her mission to track down Rhea's perpetrators, the sweet aroma from all the freshly cooked meals prepared by their Mother filled their entire home.

Rachel Sanders, their mom, prepared all her girls' favorite dishes and decorated an entire table with different kinds of other mouthwatering snacks and desserts. It was like a Royal feast in a grand Palace!

"Mom!.... What's the occasion? When did you prepare all these?" Kristine's mouth was already watery, and she couldn't wait to taste all the food on the large table. She placed her handbag on the seat next to her and sat down to devour her Mother's dishes. The delicious taste of her Mom's cooking could distract anyone from his aim...Her included.

Ooh...the aroma!

Kristine suddenly remembered her sister Rhea... and ran off to her room to check up on her. She knocked on the door before she held the door knob to open it. Luckily, it was unlocked, and Kristine was overwhelmed with relief. It could only mean that Rhea might now be prepared to open up to her, about what happened to her since she didn't lock her door and preferred solitude.

Kristine's anticipation of her sister opening up to her made her hopeful, but it got crushed when she entered Rhea's room but unfortunately found her crying!

Rhea heard her sister's presence from the door click and hastily wiped her tears. This left Kristine wondering from Rhea's continuous tears, whether the boys really hurt her so brutally, or was Rhea simply heartbroken from losing Sam.

The truth was, Rhea unconditionally loved Sam! She always talked about him, with her face glowing with happiness. Sam this, Sam that...

Even though Kristine could understand why Rhea would keep her in the dark about what actually happened, she couldn't help but felt disappointed too.

Nevertheless, She was determined to find out on her own. That was her top priority right now, and it was one of the main reasons she had to go out today and make the best out of her day off. For now, she had a lead to follow up on for her thorough investigations.

However, from Rhea's reactions and pieces to what she confessed to last night, It seemed like a well-planned plot against her by Jason. Rhea wasn't a girl who would easily fall into a trap. So there was more to this scheme than Rhea was ready to let on. But whatever that might be, she was ready to find out everything, and avenge her sister's pain. She won't let this go! She planned to do the investigation, all by herself. It was why she discreetly escaped promising Rhea otherwise...To wait and do it together.

If they continue to waste more time, the trails her perpetrators left behind would be too weak to track. Kristine needed to find out all the people involved in this scheme, from the beginning. How it all came about, and where it all started. Her sister said something about 'Jason's plan from the start.. those were her exact words. So it all started with Sam asking her out... Right now, she needed to start from Sam Wilby, then all the way to the mastermind.

Rhea turned her eyes away from her sister as she wiped her tears, but Kristine already noticed it.

"Why don't you tell me exactly what happened?..It's going to help if you let it out!." Kristine tried once more to get Rhea to open up as she hugged her in consolation, but Rhea burst into more uncontrollable tears.

"Shhhhh...Rhea! Mom is right outside, and she might hear you. How would you explain anything to her when you couldn't even tell me? You couldn't even confide in your only Sister! Stop crying! and wipe your tears. You need to appear before Mom because she prepared a feast on the table. I wouldn't want her to get upset after all her efforts, so try hard and don't let her notice your current condition!" Kristine talked Rhea into coming out of her room even though she knew Rhea preferred to be behind closed doors, to prevent their Mom from worrying.

"Come on..up! Go freshen up. I will wait for you at the table...Don't take too long!" Kristine left Rhea inside the bathroom and joined her Mom at the table.

"Is Rhea still sleeping?" Rachel asked when she saw Kristine come out of Rhea's room.

"No! she is taking her shower and would join us in a few minutes." was Kristine's reply as she took her seat.

Rachel smiled to hide her worried expression from her daughter. She had cried herself to sleep last night worried about her daughter's predicaments. But she wouldn't want her daughters to know by confessing to eavesdropping on their conversations last night. At least, not until they were ready to talk to her about it, and she knew she wouldn't have to wait long for that.

Rhea came out of her room minutes later, with her usual bright smile. She kissed her Mom on her cheeks greeting her and hugged her tightly in a comforting embrace.

"Rhea dear...Are you okay?" Rachel hugged her daughter so warmly in return, to indirectly console her.

"I am fine Mom...Just missed you!" Rhea let go of her Mother and smiled brightly to hide her pain.

The family of three finally sat down at the breakfast table to enjoy a hearty meal since their dad went on an undercover mission to track down a notorious drug lord. Rhea tried her best to overcome her tragedy and enjoy the meals as best as she could.

As they enjoyed their meal, Kristine talked on various interesting topics which liven up the atmosphere, and Rhea sincerely enjoyed the discussions and even joined in...She let go of all her pain and worries, even for a short time and everything went smoothly. Both girls were happy their Mother didn't catch onto anything about their sour moods. She didn't even suspect a thing!

After Kristine was done with her food, she ran off to leave before her mother called out to her.

"At what time will you be back? What about dinner!" Rachel asked Kristine who opened the door and was ready to rush off.

"Probably very late, so I would have dinner outside. Bye, Mom!..Bye, Sis!" Kristine rushed back to the table and kissed her Mother and Sister goodbye.

She whispered something into Rhea's ears, about taking care not to give into her emotions and get their mother concerned about what was going on, before she rushed out of the house and waved for a taxi, got inside and the driver drove off. She had already tracked down Jason's location from his social media account last night. He was still in Riley State for God knows what, and that's where she would begin her investigation.

After Kristine left, Rhea stood up from her seat to go back to her room.

"Mom, I think I am still tired from last night's party and I need to sleep more. So I would retire back to my room." Rhea's excuse to go into solitude didn't escape her mother's questionable eyes.

Although Rachel already knew the reason for Rhea wanting some privacy, she decided to stall her instead. Since she didn't want Rhea feeling depressed and lonely inside her room, so she asked Rhea to help her clear the table and do the dishes. Rachel hoped it would help take her mind off her depression even for a while, and she was glad Rhea happily complied.

Both Mother and daughter cleared the table, washed all the dishes, and cleaned the entire place before Rhea was excused to enter her room.

Although Rhea was careful enough to prevent her Mother from noticing the deep sadness within her, Rachel already knew. She wanted her daughter to clear her thoughts while she helped her around the house. Rhea would only continue to dwell on her painful experience once she was all alone in her room. So Rachel thought about doing something to get Rhea outside, for some fresh air...It will surely help her.

But for now, She would allow her daughter to sleep in a little, because it's true Rhea barely slept last night, judging by her dark circles and gloomy mood. She would just find another time later to take Rhea out. "All in due time!" Rachel whispered.

Kristine on the other hand was currently in a taxi fidgeting with her phone. She needed to gather some information about Sam, his background, and whether everything he told Rhea about being an orphan was actually true, before she could plan something.

Kristine's mind wandered to some simple ways to get a person's entire background details on the spot...without any stress. Then her mind clicked on something... Yes!_Social Media! She could have what she wanted there. Name, address, family, friends, with even pictures. How cool and easy! She could trace Sam through it.

So Kristine went into Sam Wilby's Social Media account and easily noticed a mutual friend of theirs...Jason Taylor. As she scrolled down Sam's timeline, a recent photo popped up. It was a photo of Sam, Jason, and the well-known Superstar...Eric Kurt and his girlfriend actress...Sophia Pentson. And in another photo was Jason, Sam, Eric, and Jason's two lapdogs Kyle and Josh with a location tagged on the Pic...written #currently at the Superstar's Mansion for a party.

The five of them were smiling so brightly in the photo, then suddenly, Kristine's mind was working on a riddle she kept pondering on for quite some time now. About Jason's powerful and influential Bigshot...Was it Eric Kurt? And the shocked expression on Kristine's face when she stared at the photo posted mere seconds ago, rendered her speechless.

"Eric Kurt.. the famous Superstar was friends with Jason? Was he the Bigshot behind Jason? Was he also into drugs and that's why he was friends with Jason? Now, it's all beginning to make sense.

How shocking! This was getting more interesting than she thought and more complicated too.