“Come in” he heard and came inside the H. O. D’s office the closed the door behind him.
He walked closer to her table and she looked up at him from what she was doing then dropped her pen and placed her hand son her table as her eyes caught the envelope he was holding.
“Do you need something Mr. Lorenzo?” she asked and he nods his head then stretched out the envelope to her which she took while looking at him. “Resigning already?” she asked as she starts opening the envelope to check the content.
“No ma’am, I am taking a leave for two weeks. I need to attend to matters at home” he explained and she gestured that he sits which he declined with a shake of his head. “I’ll be on my way soon, so there wouldn’t be any need for that” he says and she nods then went through the letter before folding it and putting it back in the envelope.
“Is everything okay back home?” she asked.
“I do hope so ma’am that’s why I need to leave but I should be back when it has been resolved” he tells her and she nods her head.
“Okay then, take care and my regards to your family” she smiled and he returned it before turning around to leave.
He left her office and went to grab his bag from his office then closed the door and began his way to the stairs since the elevator wasn’t working at the moment.
One his way down the stairs, Nathan was coming up and saw him carry his bag.
“You’re leaving already?” he asked and Cade shook his head.
“Just took a leave, have to attend to something” he said to him and Nathan nods then placed his hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.
“Be careful and I will miss you” he smiled then continued his way up the stairs.
Cade frowned a bit as he watched him disappear when he turned to his left. That boy is quite strange, he thought. One time he is all stuck up and the next he is missing you as if you’re longtime friends.
He shook his head and continued down the stairs till he was at the ground floor and out of the building, he hailed down a taxi and went straight home.
…
“Your flight leaves in the evening” she said to him and he stood behind her to see what she was making him then he inhaled and kissed her neck before opening the fridge to take out some juice for them to take.
“Yes, the morning and afternoon were booked and either I booked one in the evening or I wait till the day after which I can’t” he told her and she turned to look at him.
“I hope that you will be okay” she turned off the stove and turned around to look at him as he sat on the kitchen counter. “I will miss you a lot Cade” she looked down then turned to take the pot that had fried rice chicken inside so that she could serve them both.
He got down from the counter and took out the plates so that she can serve them both. After she had done that, he took both plates to the living room and placed them on the small table in front of his couch, Michelle followed behind him with spoons and the juice he brought out for them.
They sat on the floor and prayed before they started eating. Cade took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles.
“I have to go and I will be okay. I will miss you too” he kissed her palm and smiled which she returned reluctantly. He noticed how disturbed she looked because she looked down at her food and her brows were furrowed. “Are you okay?” he asked and she sighed.
“I don’t really know Cade, I…” she looked up at him and let out another sigh “I have this feeling… its not a good one and… I feel like you shouldn’t go, I feel like it might be the last time we see, I– I don’t know Cade… it has been bugging me for a while now and I just have to say it” she said to him.
He held her face in his hand and wiped the tears that fell down her cheeks, then he made her look at him before he leaned in to kiss her.
“I will come back, just don’t worry too much. I will text, call and let you know what’s going on and all the progress so you really have nothing to worry about” his kissed her forehead and brought her in for a hug.
“Please be safe” she said.
“I will don’t worry,” they stayed like that in silence for about five minutes, just enjoying the warmth they were giving each other when Cade asked. “Have you heard anything from Pricilla yet?”
Michelle leaned away from the hug and looked at him with a small furrow on her brows then shook her head before standing up to grab her phone that was on the kitchen counter.
“I haven’t received any calls from her yet and it’s been over a day now but nothing, I tried to get a call across to her but I couldn’t get her. Sorry I would have told you, I was just worried about you” she apologized and came back to seat where she was seated before.
“It’s okay, try again and if she doesn’t pick up, then we have to go visit her tomorrow before we can file a missing person report or even file a kidnapping case against Daniella since she was the one putting both mother and child’s life at stake” he told her and she nods her head.
“Okay then, let me try again” she dialed her number and put her phone on loudspeaker, it rang but no one picked it up. She tried three more times but nothing. “I am really worried Cade, I hope we aren’t slow to act on it” she said with so much worry in her eyes.
“I hope so too,” he looked at the door and he remembered something. “I told my friend to look for Pricilla, let me check with him and know what he has found” he took his phone from his pocket and dialed Aiden’s number but it wasn’t going through.
He checked the message he sent him but there was no response from him either and it got him really bothered.
“This is so strange, Aiden didn’t pick his calls and I haven’t received any message from him yet” he said out loud.
“What if they already know and are occupied with all that is happening? Daniella would know where Pricilla is” she told him and he nods his head.
“Something is not right, I can feel it” his brows furrowed then he looked at Michelle who was looking at him too “I need to go home and see what’s wrong, I can’t just sit here and wonder what went wrong and what didn’t” he stood up and paced the living room while she stood up and watched him.
“I know that there are lot of things… crazy things happening now but you need not act irrationally, wait till your flight tomorrow night, we can try calling them again and be hopeful that they respond” she suggests to him and he stopped pacing then came to stand in front of her.
“I will need to see my mum before I leave” he told her and she nods.
…
“Dimitri, are you okay? Where is Pricilla and Daniella?” Aiden asked as he came rushing in with his parents behind.
Dimitri sat in the waiting room with his head buried in his palm and looked up when Aiden spoke. He sighed then buried his face back I his palm and his shoulder slouches.
“Dimitri dear, what’s going on? What happened?” Patricia came to sit beside him while rubbing his head in worry then she looked at her husband who sat at the other side of their son.
“She’s gone… they are… gone” he said and Patricia gasped.
“Gone? Like dead gone?” Aiden asked.
“Pricilla didn’t make it, she died during surgery and when I came outside here, I didn’t see Daniella again” he leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes as tears trickled down his cheek.
“We are so sorry to hear that, we are sorry for your loss but where could Daniella have gone to? She just lost her child too” Donald asked.
“I really don’t know dad, I really don’t know… I feel… betrayed, like why did she do this to me? What haven’t I don’t for her? Did I deserve this treatment from her after all I gave her was my true and genuine love, she could do this grave thing to me? Why?” he turned to his mum looking so pained and distressed.
“What did she do? Did she have anything to do with Pricilla’s death?” her mum asked in horror.
“I don’t know but when I went in to give my blood then I came back and didn’t see her after the surgery, the doctor came to announce Pricilla’s death and also informed me that I am not her father” he bows his head and sobbed as his mum drew him closer to herself for comfort.
“What in the world!” exclaimed Aiden. He had an unbelievable look on his face as he looks at both parents and his friend mourn.
He was aware that there was something about Daniella that seemed off but didn’t know she could even go to the extent of cheating on his friend and putting the pregnancy on him.
“I don’t know what to do” he muttered after a moment before releasing himself from his mum’s hold and standing up to his feet.
He felt a bit wobbly but his dad stood to keep him on his feet. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked up at the ceiling before looking at the elevator at the end of hallway.
“I want to go home” he said and slowly made his way to the elevator.
“Why would she do that to our son? And to all of us, to think that we accepted her even when we didn’t feel comfortable about her with our son, we treated her like family yet she did this hurtful thing to us” Patricia laments as she walked behind her son while her husband and Aiden stood still.
“You go ahead, I will make arrangements for Pricilla to be buried” Donald told him and Aiden nods then ran to the mother and son who were waiting for the elevator to open.
…
“Goodluck okay? Make sure you call me when you arrived okay?” Michelle said to him and he smiled then leaned in for a kiss before pecking her cheeks.
“I’ll wait around for a while before my flight, I still have hours to before it’s time” he said to her and she poked his chest.
“I know but I have to head to the hospital now, I just want to make sure that you are already at the airport before I go” she told him and he chuckled.
“Thank you, Milady,” he bows and she giggled then they got down and she helped him take his bags out of the trunk, they shared a hug before letting go and looking into each other’s eyes.
“Bye for now Cade, talk to you later” she said and he grinned.
“I will call you later, I will head to the restaurant there before heading inside” he said to her and she nods then he began his way there.
Michelle said a little prayer for him as she watches him enter the restaurant before entering her car and driving off to work.
Cade settled in the restaurant and ordered something light to eat as he tries contact Aiden again, this time he picked up the call.
“Hey man, what’s up? I tried to reach you for the past days now but I couldn’t, is everything fine back home? Mum, dad, Dimitri, everyone?” he asked and heard Aiden sigh.
“I really don’t know what to say, things are quite crazy here and I am just reading your message now… it giving me thoughts already” he said to him.
“What kind of thoughts?” he asked.
“Dimitri is in distress, Daniella told him he is the father of another baby and he got to know after the baby died during surgery, Daniella is nowhere to be found now and the information you sent to me… I think the baby is Pricilla” he told him.
Cade felt his heart leap as the chilling feeling of fear went through his system. The baby died, what was he going to tell the mother when they found her and Michelle, how would she react. She is so worried about both mother and child now this.
“How about the mother? Can you find her?”
“No need, her body was found just this morning and from the report we got, she had died for some day now” he explained to him “Now, we think Daniella killed her then took her baby to lie to us all” he tells him and Cade’s body shook in fear.
“How… could she do such? That’s cruel” he said and explained all that Michelle told him and what Pricilla had told her before they couldn’t get to her and how they didn’t find her in her apartment earlier in the day.
“We will file the charges against her, you know Caleb is in line with all these, he will take care of it”
“Okay, how is Dimitri? Where is he?”
“He left home yesterday night and I feel like he went to you guys hiding place to be alone because when I called, he said that you will know where he is so we shouldn’t worry, he just wanted to be alone”
“I am coming home” he said and Aiden paused “Maybe I’ll change plans and go meet him there then I can come back home probably with him if he wants to come with me” he said.
“Okay, I will let mum and dad know about your arrival” Aiden said.
“Okay, thank you Aiden, I really do appreciate”
“Its no problem brother, come home safe, okay?”
“Sure…” someone harshly brushed passed him and dropped a note on his way.
He looked at the person with a frown on his face as he watched the person walk in really quick steps. The person turned to look at him for a moment before quickly turning around and leaving the restaurant.
“You there?” Aiden asked.
“Uh… yes, I will talk to you later, bye” he said and disconnected the line then called one of the waiters to watch his bags then he went after the person but first he picked up the note and read what was written in it.
‘Big mistake!’ was written boldly on the paper and he wondered what the person meant by that, just as he was about to get to the door a blast erupted from the counter side.