“It won’t do you any good?” Earlene laughed over the phone as if she’d heard a joke.
Alvaro, who was on the sidelines, heard it all and became furious, “Brother, this woman is too unrestrained!”
Maybe the laughter stopped as he heard it and Earlene’s voice rang through the earpiece again, “Marcos, what can you do if you won’t let me go, do you have any proof that I did it?”.
Marcos’ knuckles on the phone were slowly hardening, the edges of his fingernails bruised as if he was holding back.
Earlene continued, “If I hadn’t said it was Earlene, you wouldn’t have found out who it was. You have no proof that I did what happened.”
It was true what she said; there was no proof that she had done it, except for the altered phone call.
Mark’s face sank like water and he looked at his mother, who was still tied to the chair.
He saw his mother shaking her head at him.
That meant he shouldn’t say yes to the other party.
She looked away and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, parting her thin lips, “I can promise you anything except divorce and to come back to you.”
“I’m sorry, those are the only two things I want you to do!”
“Earlene, don’t get ahead of yourself.”
Even through the earpiece, you could still hear the hidden anger in her voice.
Earlene raised her hand to muss her hair and said without panic, “I just want you to come back to me, what’s too much? And besides, it’s you who broke your promise, so it’s you who’s going overboard!
All right, I don’t want to say any more. I’m only giving you one day, and if you don’t do as I say, I can’t guarantee what will happen to Paulina’s mother.”
“Earlene!” bellowed Marcos angrily.
Earlene laughed, “I remember that Paulina’s mother is not well, and if something happens to her, it won’t be my fault.”
Alvaro couldn’t take it anymore and snatched the phone from Marcos’ hand and shouted, “Earlene, if anything happens to Auntie, we won’t forgive you or the Bartram family!”.
At that, Earlene instantly grimaced, “Well, we’ll see.”
With that, the phone hung up.
In a fit of rage, Alvaro slammed the phone to the floor and cursed, “La loca!”.
Then, turning to Marcos, he asked him, “Brother, what do we do now?”.
It was clear that Earlene, that crazy woman, was trying to use his sister-in-law’s mother to threaten his brother, and if he agreed to her, he would have to do his sister-in-law a disservice.
But with his brother’s feelings for his sister-in-law, there was no way he was going to accede to that crazy woman!
Marcos didn’t respond, but instead looked at the man standing next to his mother.
As soon as the man met his gaze, he turned his head to the little brother standing to the side and said, “Untie her.”
The little brother stepped forward and untied the ropes that were helping Ms. Gloria.
Gloria got up and ran to Marcos and the others.
But because she had been tied up for so long, her legs were a little weak.
She almost fell after a few steps.
“Mom!” Alvaro and Marcos rushed to help her.
“I’m fine.” Mrs. Gloria got up holding their hands and said anxiously, “Marcos, you have to find a way to save the mother of the family, her body can’t hold on!”
At that moment Eliazar arrived with his men.
“First Prince, Second Prince.” Eliazar ran to his side.
Marcos gave him a wink.
Eliazar understood and, with a wave of his hand, shouted, “Arrest them all.”
But as if they had expected it, they retreated so quickly that they did not give Eliazar a chance to catch them.
“Great Prince, they have all escaped.” Eliazar returned to Marcos’ side and lowered his head to report.
Marcos looked in the direction the men had retreated, his eyes narrowed, it seemed Eliazar just wanted to coax him out, so he didn’t make things difficult for them.
“Go home first.”
Marcos helped his mother take the lead and turned to walk out the door, the others followed.
…
Paulina, who waited anxiously at home, occasionally stepped out of the chalet to look in the distance.
“Sister-in-law, big brother and Alvaro will get mom and aunt back.” Bonita spoke reassuringly as she watched her come and go.
“Yes, Paulina, sit down and wait, it’s hard for me to watch when you walk around.” Mr. Juan interjected.
Paulina couldn’t sit still, she couldn’t sit still at all just thinking about what her mother and the girls might be going through.
“Dad, Bonita, do you think mom and the girls will be okay?”. She asked.
Sister John sighed helplessly, “Paulina, trust Marcos, everything will be fine.”
“But, I’m so upset inside.” Paulina pressed her lips tightly together, her eyes slowly reddening.
“Sister-in-law, everything is going to be fine.” Bonita walked over to her and slipped her arm around her shoulders, whispering something soothing.
Paulina turned her head to look out the floor-to-ceiling window, her heart growing more and more anxious.
It was almost eleven o’clock when Marcos and the others returned.
Hearing the sound of a car outside, Paulina and Bonita got up and ran out immediately.
Several cars stopped in front of the door, followed by Marcos and Alvaro and Mrs. Gloria getting out.
“Mom!” Paulina and Bonita rushed out to greet them.
When Mrs. Gloria saw them, an apologetic smile appeared on her face, “I’m sorry I worried you.”
“Mom, I’m glad you’re back safe and sound.” Bonita smiled at her.
And Paulina looked at the people getting out of the other cars, turned her head toward Marcos and asked, “Where’s my mother?”
At her question, silence fell around them.
With thin eyebrows scrunched, Paulina repeated the question, “Where is my mother?”.
“Sister-in-law, relax, I’m going to tell you slowly.” Alvaro looked at Marcos, who had not made a sound, and continued, “Auntie is not in that factory, they have hidden her.”
Paulina’s face went white and her body swayed.
“Paulina,” Marcos said, hastily reaching out his hand to help her.
“It’s Earlene, isn’t it?” asked Paulina, looking him straight in the eyes.
Marcos nodded.
“She’s very angry!” Paulina suddenly became excited, “How could she hide my mother, how could she do that?”
“Paulina, Paulina, calm down!” Marcos hugged her tightly, “I’ll find a way to get mom out.”
“Marcos, my mom is not well … in case something happens to her, I won’t be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life.” Paulina clutched her lapels with both hands and cried so hard she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Her sobs fell in her ears as if someone was plunging a knife into her heart one by one.
It hurt.
Marcos closed his eyes to hide the pain and remorse in them.
If he hadn’t been so worried about protecting his wife and children that he would have neglected the others around him.
He would not have put his mother and the girls in such danger.
In the end, it was all his fault.