Ice and Fire novel Chapter 217

Cherry thought for a while as she looked into Elsa's eyes, but still didn't tell her the truth. She said, "Mom, I'm not lying to you. I told you that Jackson has a bad temper and that he's cold to everyone, and you can understand that some disagreements inevitably come up sometimes living together with him. There's no need to worry about me."

Looking at her stubborn daughter, Elsa asked with dubitation, "Really?"

"Mom, don't you believe your daughter?" Cherry spoke to Elsa like a kid.

When Elsa saw that she couldn't get anything out of her daughter, she said, "It's okay as long as you're fine. Take care of Joe."

Cherry nodded, and said, "Mom, how about you go to the next room to accompany Joe? I have some business to discuss with my brother."

"Okay, I haven't played with my grandson for a long time, " said Elsa with a smile on her lips.

Cherry walked her mother to Joe's room, and Elsa stayed to play with Joe. Cherry and Wilson then left the room.

"Brother, let's go to the study; I'll have a word with you." said Cherry.

"Okay, " said Wilson.

Immediately after they entered the study, Wilson asked his sister, "Cherry, what happened? Why won't Jackson let you out of the house?"

Cherry then looked at Wilson, and seriously said, "Brother, I found out some things about Jackson's past; he doesn't want me to know about them, so he imprisoned me here in the house, and won't allow me to even go outside the door's threshold."

"What did you find out?" asked Wilson. He was somehow nervous, and thought, 'People who are so mysterious like Jackson must have plenty of secrets.'

Cherry didn't plan to lie to Wilson, because she believed him. She asked, "Do you know Sally He?"

Wilson nodded.

"Something seemed to have happened between her, Stephen and Jackson, something related to their families, " said Cherry.

Wilson felt a little confused, but he didn't utter a word and listened to Cherry.

"I think that the key to this whole puzzle is in neither one of these three, but a mysterious man. Sally and Stephen must surely know him, and so must Jackson, " said Cherry, in an uncertain tone.

"How do you know that Jackson knows him?" asked Wilson.

"I found pictures in our previous apartment of Stephen standing together next to him, taken by Jackson probably while he was following them. I also discovered that Sally knew the man as well five years ago, " said Cherry.

"Have you also met him?" asked Wilson.

Cherry shook her head, and replied, "I've seen him from a distance. I didn't see his face, but I couldn't forget his silhouette and back."

Wilson thought for a while, and asked Cherry, "Did Jackson imprison you in the house because you know this man?"

Cherry shook her head, and said, "Not only because of this. Yesterday, I went to Stephen to ask him who the man actually is. What's his relationship with him? What's the relationship between him and Sally? Why had Jackson followed the man and Stephen and photographed them? I want to find the answers to all of these questions."

Cherry stopped for a moment, and then continued to say, "But when I went to Stephen, I found him and Sally sitting together and quietly chatting. He was afraid that Sally would do something to me, so he took me to the hotel across the street. I got to ask him all of these questions, but Jackson rushed in before he had the chance to tell me the story."