There was something amiss to the details she uncovered so far. She didn't seem to understand why such a group targeted someone they once saw as the mistress of their boss, nor that the events from the last few years were affecting her clients' situation.
She suspected that this is not the only thing she needed to know. The price of not knowing the most important part may hold her back from doing this job. And, she doesn't seem to know why she felt unease, as peeling this was bigger than she initially thought. "Tell me," said Rubi as she frowned and then she tapped her fingernails on the desk.
"The Hags are targeting you, and you are running away from your lover," she pressed her lips as she straightened. "What more are you hiding, Miss Ji…?"
Selena was taken aback by her change of tone, and the way she used her legal last name. Her eyes locked on her, as jolted — gulping as she shook her head. "I don't know," she uttered, when she denied Rubi's claim that she has yet to reveal everything. "I don't know what you're talking about."
And that was not something Rubi wanted to hear. Time is ticking, and here she is — hiding more information, it may help save her and her daughter's life. "One more time, did you steal that treasure coin?" She inquired, her words firm and cold.
"No!" Selena said huffing, and onslaught. "I didn't, I may have gotten involved with a criminal but I am not a criminal myself!" She yelled, her voice hoarse and desperate as she defended herself.
There was silence, after that, her voice echoing like a broken glass, but Rubi's gaze remained firm and stoic, as she pressed her lips and sneered. "You," she pushed herself as she looked at Selena. "We don't have time, tell me, do you have it?"
"I said I don't have it!" Selena firmly responded as she kept on denying Rubi's claim.
Rubi watches her face twisted, one that tells a genuine response to the question at hand. It was not something that was found suspicious, but one thing she learned from her experience in this dark world is that the best cover lies at a perfect and genuine act.
If she wanted to be firm with her refusal, so does Rubi was determined to peel it, even if she had to take this more than just physical push. Her gaze on Selena slightly turned more cold, as she fixed her gaze on her.
It was obvious to Selena that Rubi did not believe her, and she knew by the look, that if she didn't prove her innocence, it was likely that this woman would not sign a contract with her.
Re contacting another agency wouldn't do her good as well. Most illegal agencies for mercenaries are all connected to the underground. If she loses this, she won't find anyone who could accept her job conditions.
She can't protect herself either, while protecting her child alone.
Selena breathed in as she looked at her. "Listen," she murmured. "I didn't run away because of that coin," she explained as she breathed in deeply.
"And…?" Rubi muttered coldly.
"I…" Selena held her breath, as she tried to speak, and despite having a hard time saying it. She spat. "I ran because I couldn't keep Denise's existence hidden forever."
At her admission, the woman, Rubi, frowned at slight surprise. She didn't expect this too much revelation from her, and Rubi knew she must be this desperate.
"Now, will you listen without judging me?" Selena firmly said, as she held Rubi's surprise gaze.
Rubi shifted, as she silently sneered off, and nodded. "This situation now is becoming odd," she said as she raised a hand, and laid it on her shoulder. "Alright, I am all ears."
"Six years ago, like I said," she began, her voice softening as she sat down on the chair with her shoulders softening down. "I met a man named Darwin at my workstation," she then leaned her back at the chair as she continued.
She told Rubi her hardship during that time, and her living incompetencies, including the danger she went through over racism and many more.
A few moments later. Selena grumbled heavily as she gazed at the picture of her, and the man she called Darwin. "He was a nice guy, and I fell for it."
Then she chuckled to herself. "He did his best to get through to me with his date invitation, and after a month of rejection every chance he got. I finally yielded."
Rubi listened silently as the woman told her story, and usually she doesn't care much about her clients past and present stories, all she cared about was succeeding the mission and getting paid. However, she listens to them, despite not caring at all.
"Such a cliche," she commented, with her heavily sighing.
Selena twitched a bit before she slightly giggled at her comment of her love life being cliche or to cringe. "It's not everyday you meet a romantic man that does his best to win your heart."
Not everyday you meet someone who does his best to win your heart. She looked down, as she held her breath. Selena knew her love life before wasn't as different as the love she felt from Darwin. It's more than that, and she knew, maybe it was a mistake — to love that man…
"We had few dates, until," she paused as she sighed. "One date turns into a passionate night of lovemaking."
Eventually, that also led to her getting pregnant, while they are still three months of dating. A child was made, and it was something she couldn't stop despite her taking birth control.
Rubi understands it quite clearly. For her, love was something, even she didn't understand and needed. She only knew one thing her entire life since that accident. That was survival, selfishness to own sake, discipline, lack of attachment therefore, and emotions get in the way.
So, the idea of love — one she has heard amongst her clients, was something she either doesn't care about, or that it ceases to exist in her mind.
"However," as Selena spoke. She completely shifted, her attention from her mind was stolen by Selena's rough guff. "I didn't tell him my pregnancy, I barely mentioned it…"
"A week after that night, he confessed something, about his life and about his involvement to illegal — cartels," she added, as she looked down, her hand clutching at each other as she blinked. "He took me to this mansion in California, and told me to stay there, and left. With those many bodyguards and high-ranking maids, I was able to make one of them talk."
That's right, she made caretaker talk, by begging and convincing her. According to that caretaker, the man who she dated was none other than Darwin Dale. "A man who is currently the big boss of a mafia group, The Hag," she murmured heavily as she recalled how many times she witnessed his cruelty, his violent tendencies, his obsessions and his insanity.
She didn't actually know that she fell for such a man, one that kills when he wanted, and one when he sells drugs just because it was a business to him, without any care for the victims of him distributing these drugs across the world.
"Then," she grumbled. "I wasn't able to hide my pregnancy, and that's when that caretaker helped me," she mentioned before she looked at Rubi.
"That coin I mentioned earlier, we attended an auction in which Darwin had his keen eyes locked on that coin, but before that, I had a year of vacation in Hawaii," said Selena, as she explained more.
Rubi shifted as she looked down. "You gave birth there?" She asked, her voice lowering as she said those words. It was obvious to be honest, given how she told her what happened six years to five years ago.
"Yeah, I had a hard time convincing Darwin, but he did agree to let me go home to China." Selena stated, her words huffing the sound of her voice. "However, that is under supervision, as he intended to have this man as my bodyguard."
She pointed at another picture, where Rubi slightly observed it in silence. It was a different man, and a young one, not much older than Selena, but just exactly the same age as Darwin. "Hold on," she said as she grabbed the picture, and slightly saw a marking on it, a date it was taken and a thumbprint. "His name is?"
"It's Jason," she murmured, as she looked at her in deep confusion. "Is something the matter?"
Jason…? She returned her gaze back at the picture, as she held her chin. This man was indeed familiar, and she can't mistake it? No one is as familiar as he is in Rubi's eye. So she does indeed know his features, but one thing she didn't notice, that style on his bracelet.
"Goddammit, it's echo," said Rubi as she pressed the tips of the photo, seemingly at her peak of realization.
The same man who keeps on emptying Weiss Shops job offers whenever Rubi was desperate for jobs, the same dude she keeps on wanting to smack since day one, when he joined. "Jason," she murmured as she slyly smirked. "Echo, you sly jackass."