Flash Marriage: Shrewd Wife, Devious Husband
Chapter 105: How Others Saw Her

Chapter 105: How Others Saw Her

"No need to be stressed, Marcella," John assured her just as they reached the shooting range.

At the gates, he was asked for identification and she was asked to sign her name and produce her ID. She did so with pleasure. At least, there would be a written document that she was there. Not that they can’t make it disappear in case this was an ambush. But still...

John let out a loud sigh.

"You’re not very convincing, Emerson. You and Hemmingway made my life hell back in high school," she said. "And your mighty organization is not very trustworthy either. A sitting President didn’t want to start a war; Somehow, he ended up dead and the guy who killed him ended up dead too before he said anything."

"Oh, come on, DeAngelo," John looked exasperated.

"What?" Marcella’s voice went high out of anxiousness. "Everyone’s saying it’s your people who killed the President!"

"Oh, please, DeAngelo. Please do not spout those conspiracy theories. You’d look like a fool," Emerson said. He looked a little angry.

"It’s Crawford, by the way. And you haven’t apologized for bullying me in the past," she said.

"Bullying you?" John scoffed. "You really are... Fine, I apologize. I was with my friends and thought it was cool to use certain words knowing that it hurt you," he said.

Marcella didn’t know how honest he was but she could sense that it took a lot for him to accept this much.

"Fine, I forgive you," she said.

"By the way, bullying you was not my intention. I was trying to get your sister’s attention," John said. "I know, I know... It was stupid and I was young and didn’t know better. If I bullied you, I got to see the lioness side of Mellissa and I liked it..."

Marcella held back her anger. She felt like he was giving excuses for his nasty behavior but seeing the smile on his face, she let out a deep breath.

He did love my sister very much...

"Ah, those feisty eyes as she cussed shedding the image of the lady..." John scoffed. "Those were the days, man... I miss those days..."

"Yeah, on my back," Marcella said.

"I apologized. I really didn’t mean it. I thought you were strong and didn’t care. Also, Tony got back at us in every way he could. He thinks we didn’t figure it out but... Man, it is what it is... We all were young and stupid. We cannot hold it against each other still... We are adults now... We ought to move on..."

"We ought to," Marcella said.

She wanted to say that he could move on because he was the one who bullied and as the one who got bullied it was hard for her to move on. But then she thought about it. Tony got back at them and so she can take it as she has gotten even.

The jeep stopped inside the range and that place was swarming with agents. Some of them were women and she was surprised to see the confidence in the way they walked.

John brought her in. There were almost ten of the agents; Two of them were women. John introduced Marcella to them. Marcella smiled as she didn’t have to correct him anymore. He introduced her as Marcella Crawford.

They were a friendly bunch. None of them looked like they were holding anything against her. Maybe she was the only one hiding an agenda. Or maybe they were trained to hide what their agenda was.

They are not recruited for no reason.

They offered her donuts and coffee. Marcella accepted them. They all had their coffee along with small talks.

"It’s been a while since I’ve touched a gun," Marcella lied with no hesitation.

It is true in a way. She hasn’t shot anyone for a long time.

They gave her earmuffs to cover her ear which she found weird. Her father never allowed that thing. He trained them to get used to the loud noise so that when the actual situation arrived, they would be able to handle it.

She shot the first round. She could feel all eyes on her. It didn’t make her nervous. On the other hand, she felt like she was in her zone. She grew up with this kind of stress. She was built up for this.

The sheet was brought and to everyone’s surprise, she had shot exactly in the center of the target. Not one shot was missed.

"Beginner’s luck," said one guy.

"Maybe I’ll try my luck once more," she winked.

Loading the gun, she went for the next round. It too was perfection. Five rounds. She went through five rounds and the results were the same—perfection.

Everyone was awed. John was the only one who appeared to have not been awed like the others.

"I told you, she’s good!" he said holding out his hands.

Everyone placed a twenty-dollar bill on his hand.

"You made a bet off me?" Marcella walked to him and got the wad of cash.

"Come on, Marcella. You cannot take it."

"Watch me, I just did!" Marcella folded the cash and stuffed it in her purse.

Everyone laughed.

"It’s my money," John was not too happy about losing his money.

"Are you allowed to gamble?" Marcella raised her brows. "Fine, don’t cry...Here..." Marcella returned half the money she got from him. "Since I worked, I get paid," she shrugged.

"I like you... I really like you. It’s such a shame you won’t get accepted," Manuel said.

"I won’t get accepted? But my father was never convicted of a crime," she said.

Wait... so, if a family member got indicted one cannot get accepted here? Why didn’t I know of this rule before?

She observed everyone and she noticed the subtle rebuke others gave Manuel. Marcella pretended she didn’t notice it.

Something is going on here, isn’t it?

"Do you want to get recruited?" John asked mostly to turn her attention towards him.

"No, I don’t have a college degree, right?" she said with a smile.

Everyone nodded and went about their way.

Ruby, one of the female agents walked to her. "It must have been tough to be the Don DeAngelo’s daughter. He was so fearsome," she said.

"Well, he was scary at times. But... It was not all bad," Marcella shrugged. "He was a good husband and a great father to us. I had no regrets with him."

"Until you ran away," Ruby said.

"That’s true," Marcella giggled. "I did run away. He was a little controlling and..."

"Was he controlling with your mother too? Did she have any restrictions? She never left the house, didn’t she?" Ruby asked.

"Because she didn’t find the need to. She was the kind who loved staying in and taking care of the garden and the house," Marcella shrugged.

"She must have suffered a lot with a controlling man with her opinions getting buried in the dark backyard of patriarchy," Ruby said.

Marcella by now had understood that Ruby had formed an opinion or she might have drawn a profile about her father. But how wrong is she?

"Oh, but my father gave into my mother’s wishes more than anything," Marcella said.

Her father is a very peculiar figure. He might not have gotten convicted, and the general public may believe that he was innocent, Marcella knew the law enforcement agencies never believed that her father was innocent. Her father indeed was not innocent.

Maybe her father is the subject of their studies. Her father might be one of the few gang lords who managed to capture the hearts of the people making it hard for the law to have their clutches on him.

No wonder they are intrigued by her father.

"He must have been manipulative," Ruby probed.

She was not even trying to hide her wishes anymore as Marcella was open with her. Marcella felt like Ruby might be borderline obsessed with her father.

"Maybe... Or he was too honest..." Marcella didn’t give a straight answer.

Ruby talked to her for some more time about Don DeAngelo. Marcella gave her some answers and left a lot unsaid. She had a feeling that Ruby might come in handy in the future. The more she talked to Ruby, she figured that Ruby would do anything to learn more about Don DeAngelo. She wanted to specialize in learning about manipulative cult leaders and she thought Don DeAngelo was one.

Marcella could only laugh in her heart.

Maybe some people never know what loyalty and honesty mean. That’s why when they see a man who had people who would die for them, they think that that man must have been manipulative and that was the reason they are willing to die for him; Not because those people loved him as he had helped them.

Whatever!

She didn’t mind talking about her father. She had an idea of how those who were educated in psychology and behavioral sciences see her. They saw her as a little lamb who was manipulated into a lifestyle of violence.

She didn’t agree with their assessment at all. But she didn’t refute them.

There are some benefits to being seen as an innocent victim. There is a certain power in victimhood.

Would it be wrong to not use it?

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