"I don't blame her, Roland, else I won't ask them to save her, " Carla replied, "But I need to know what happened. When did Shelley get you?"
"You arranged to meet Diane and Mr. Srudem, but you didn't turn out in the end. Mr. Srudem waited at the hotel for days before he finally went back to his factory in Yavawi while Diane stayed back to wait for you, " Roland said, "I told her to go back first, but she refused to listen to me. She said you must've something important to want to see her. She said something must've come up and delayed you."
Carla finally started to connect the dots as she listened to Roland.
"She said if she went back, it would take time for her to get from Yavawi to meet you again when you reach, so she waited for half a month at the hotel. One day, I walked in on someone trying to kidnap her when I visited her at the hotel. I tried to fight them off but to no avail. I bet they're professional assassins. I tried to buy time for Diane so she could flee and inform you, but they ended up catching me and blackmailing her."
"I think Shelley initially wanted to kidnap Diane to threaten you." Zayn finally broke the silence.
"But Roland intervened and they lost Diane, so they realized both of them must be really close. They decided to make the best out of the situation and used Roland to blackmail her."
"Yes. That's what they wanted. They video called Diane when they were beating me up… That's why I said it's all my fault. I failed to protect her."
Carla was thrown into a quandary.
She knew Roland was Diane's only support throughout the two years she went missing. They had grown closer over time.
When they used Roland as bait to coerce Diane, Diane was caught in a dilIlali. She refused to budge at first, but she could not bring herself to watch Roland being beaten over and over again, so she decided to approach Carla and help the other side abduct Venus in order to save Roland.
Carla could understand how much she loved Roland. Diane had a difficult childhood. Her mother fell ill just when she got to Aymo City.
She thought they could have a good life together, but she ended up spending all her money to cure her mother's sickness.
This cultivated her independence and grit, but this also made her vulnerable. She was someone who would put her whole heart into a relationship when someone showed her kindness because she lacked love growing up.
This was the case between her and Carla too. Carla only helped her once, but Diane remembered her kindness and did everything she could to reciprocate that kindness.
When she found out what happened to Carla, she refused to receive a single penny from the Giblo family and even severed all ties with them. She would rather live a frugal life than betray their friendship.
Roland was like a godsend to her. He brought warmth and love to her life and had become a part of her.
With her mother passing and Carla missing, Roland was her only pillar of support.
This was why all she could think about was saving him when danger arose.
She would even turn her back against Carla just to save him.
Carla hated Diane after Venus was kidnapped, but when she arrived at the spot and saw from the car how Diane put her life at stake just to protect the child, she was moved.
Diane was ultimately still a gentle soul. She may have made a mistake, but her heart was kind.
Besides, they managed to save Venus.
Carla had already moved on from this little hiccup in their relationship. All she wanted now was for them to survive this.
"Stop it, Roland, " Zayn said, helping him up, "That's all in the past now. All we can do now is to pray for their recovery."
Roland got on his feet and heaved a sigh of relief, but he quickly directed his worried gaze at Carla.
"I don't blame her, but I want you to be a man and protect her with your life in the future."
"Rest assured I will do that, " Roland promised.
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