Chapter 598 - Exposed (5) - Oliver’s POV (1/2)

After visiting the club room, I walked to visit Rika's new storage room. Charles was busy with placing more barriers around the room while Jules was desperate to fortify them. I didn't understand why they were making it more secure than the school barrier. At first, I knew it was due to trying to hide from Luke, but spending a month on it was insane. I wanted to talk to Charles to get more information about Rika's situation since they spent three months together in the mansion.

I never knew Rika was engaged to Luke in elementary school. Rika was laid back, relaxing to be with. She never judged any of my actions nor had any other intentions when approaching me. The aspect of politics and fractions were never brought up, focusing on using the karaoke machine instead. Rika always addressed me using my first name, eventually switching to calling me by my nickname that only family members used with me.

On the other hand, Jules was sneakier. Rather than enjoying the secret room, he mostly went with Rika's actions. In the past, I wondered why he was interested in Rika, finding no connections between each other. However, everything came to light during the charity ball, finding Luke introducing himself and his partner. My mind went blank, shocked to figure out Rika's true identity.

”Hurry up and come inside,” Jules urged me, interrupting my thoughts.

”We're dead if Luke finds any traces of it,” Charles widely opened the door.

I walked inside the room, discovering more identification features added. Maybe both of them knew the whole truth the entire time, fearing Luke behind their masks. Most of the items inside Rika's storage room were harmless, various entertainment and clothes mixed with junk food. I pitied Rika, having a strict partner that burned all her possessions. When Rika revealed it to me last year, I tried to persuade Charles to give her a storage room in exchange for joining our fraction.

”Why is Luke so strict with Rika?” I wondered.

”Luke raised Rika for over ten years. You have to be careful around Luke when it comes to Rika,” Jules gestured to me to sit down on the couch.

”He tries to control everything about her,” I found it to be extreme.

”You figured out?” Charles seemed to know everything.

”What happened during the time you spent together in the mansion?” I wanted to know more.

”I'm telling you this since you seem to mostly know everything. If this spreads to everyone else, Luke won't have to hide it anymore,” Charles equally pitied Rika.

”How much worse could it get?” I leaned back into the couch.

”Rika can't do anything without Luke's permission. Since Luke got rid of most of the entertainment, we made an excuse we were seeing documentaries. The next day, they banned them from Rika since they didn't approve of her seeing them,” he revealed.

”It's gotten worse,” Jules agreed.