*Alejandro*
The night has to be the longest night I have ever had. I looked back to the early hours of that day.
Things had gone well; we had all been happy. All I had to do was to divorce Nora and get back my life. Andrea and Austin.
But who would have thought that I would lose both of them that same day?
I would never have imagined. I did all I could to find them, but everything led to a roadblock. It was frustrating. But I had to put up with it. I wasn’t going to lose hope. I know I can find them.
I don’t care if I have to flip the earth over. I will find them.
I spent the night watching one footage or another, checking everywhere I could, and getting the police involved. Alison didn’t sleep either, and neither did Lucas.
The following day, when he left to get a few things for us, I stepped into one of the empty rooms, and for once, I felt tears gather in my eyes.
I didn’t allow them to fall, and I will accept that it may take longer to find them.
I was to meet with the inspector general later that day, and just as I was heading there, Dave called.
I didn’t even realize I had his number saved on my phone. “Come over to the hospital now,” he said immediately after the call connected.
“Why should I come to the hospital?” I was in no mood to receive orders from him.
“Austin is with me,” I stepped on my brakes immediately, and the car behind me honked.
Without wasting much time, I resumed driving and turned around, “Austin is fine; Austin has been found,” my head kept chanting until I got to the hospital. I called Lucas on my way to the hospital.
Austin was unconscious, “how did you find him?” I asked. A part of me sees him suspiciously; what if he was the one that took him away last night? But he has no reason to put Andrea in pain.
“He called me.” He said, “Something this big happened, and you didn’t think it was necessary to call me? You didn’t think I deserved to know.”
It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve to know; I forgot he existed at that moment. I was mainly concerned about finding Austin, not about announcing his disappearance.
“Why would Austin call you?” I asked
“Cause he knows my number off hand. When I went to pick him up, I was surprised to find him with an old couple. He collapsed immediately when he saw me, and I rushed him here.
The couple said they found him on an isolated road running barefoot alone. Now, pray tell me why my son would be running barefoot in a desolate place.” He sounded angry.
I was in no mood to deal with his nonsense. I wanted to meet the couple and thank them; most of all, I wanted to ask if they had seen Andrea.
But I didn’t ask him anything about this. I was more concerned about seeing the doctor who was inside Austin’s room. I want to know what was wrong.
“I thought you could be trusted. I am so disappointed. I left them for two days, and you have Austin hospitalized,” I couldn’t let him speak to me in that manner anymore. I wasn’t careless or anything.
When the doctor finally stepped out, Lucas was already here.
“Doctor, how is he?” I asked as we stepped around the doctor.
“He is still unconscious.”
“I think he just regained consciousness,” Alison’s voice resounded across the hall. We all stepped into the room immediately.
We gave the doctor space to do his job, “he needs a lot of rest, we’ll run some tests on him,” the doctor said and immediately left the room.
Alison was the first to be at his side; her hands traced his face, and then she held his hand in hers. “Are you okay? You must have been scared.” Austin’s eyes looked weak, and I knew he barely saw us.
“I was so worried about you.” He didn’t respond and just stared into her eyes. “Let’s go outside, the doctor said to allow him to have some rest,” it was Dave.
He stepped towards Alison and held her to him before leading her outside.
I went to the doctor’s office when I was informed that the tests were out. As I left, Lucas told me he would get something at home.
The doctor assured me that everything was fine with him. He just needed to get some rest. That’s what he required.
I was glad that Austin was already here with us; now, all that was left was to find Andrea. After seeing the doctor, I went to my initial appointment with the inspector.
But on my way, I couldn’t help but wish I’d received another call telling me they’d found Andrea, but I never got any.
.
.
.
*Lucas’s POV*
I left the hospital to get a few things. Alison decided to eat but would only eat whatever I made myself, so here I was in the kitchen cooking.
I had learned how to cook when I heard her ex was a chef. That was before I heard his stupid story.
But I never thought learning how to cook would help me now.
I was done cooking when she stepped into the house. Once again, there was something off about her, but I just couldn’t point my finger on it.
She had not noticed me. I packed the food and arranged it nicely in a pack. I didn’t know when she left the house.
I was in my car when I saw hers. I had pulled up outside, and so did she.
Her car was parked a short distance away from mine. I would not have had any issues with her car if I had not caught sight of the man driving it.
He looked nothing like any of the drivers that drove us in the family.
Fear seeped into me as I watched her car drive off. Without thinking much, I followed her car.
The man looked like a criminal. We are yet to find Andrea; I don’t want to add one more person to the list. I was scared Mom was being threatened.
The car took various turns. I tried calling Mom, but she wasn’t answering. I had a bad feeling about this. My fears were confirmed when the car took a turn and rode on an isolated road.
There were tall trees on both sides, and few cars drove here.
I maintained a distance. The plan was simple: call for backup if needed. When their car pulled up in front of a building that had a poster that said, ongoing repairs, I pulled mine farther.
Mom stepped out and walked into the building, the burly man behind her.
Looking at it now, it was more like the man was trying to protect her and not the other way around. I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
I decided to step inside with them. I wanted to see what was going on inside there.
The inside was so different from the exterior. It looked old inside. Dust and a stinking stretch smell hung heavily in the air.
I have lost them, so it took me a while to figure out which room had people. When I hear voices, I trace them. I may not be able to make out each word.
When I finally found the door, I was about to push it open, but my hand was left hanging in the air when I heard a voice I never expected to hear, “I didn’t take Alejandro away from you,” that was Andrea. Why was she here? I was puzzled.
“Oh no, you didn’t; I knew you would not agree easily. If you aren’t taking Alejandro away from me, why is he about to divorce me?” Mom? Why was she with Andrea?
“That’s because he doesn’t love you.” “And you think he loves you?”
“He does. And that’s because I’m sane; I’m not like some crazy woman who threatens people with a gun or kidnaps people just because she is obsessing over a man.” My leg grew weak as I heard Andrea speak.
“Keep running your mouth; your son may have escaped, but that doesn’t mean he’ll live; after I’m done with you, I’ll end him too.” My world came up and ended. This was too much for me to handle.
It all began to make sense now as to why she had been acting strange. And why I felt something was off about her.
“If you and your stupid son hadn’t returned to Alejandro’s life, I would still be his wife. And for taking Him away from me, you have to pay,” I tried to open the door, but it was locked.
My eyes surveyed the area, and I found a stone.
I hit the door lock with it, breaking it before I stepped into the room. To my biggest surprise, Andrea was inside the room. She had her hands tied, and so were her legs.
Mom?” I couldn’t hide the disappointment in my voice. I get the fact that she hates Andrea, but after all these years, she was still after her.
“Why are you doing this?”
Her eyes widened, and before I could decipher what was happening, I felt something hard hit my head; strokes of pain rushed up my vein, and slowly, everything shifted before it became blurry and then dark.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was tied beside Andrea.
I couldn’t wrap my head around this new revelation. My heart was torn to pieces as I tried to adjust my gaze to fit in the new environment I found myself.
I don’t understand why I am being tied. “You’ve finally regained consciousness.” Mom said.
She came into view, but the person before me suddenly became unrecognizable. She had a cigarette stick stuck between her fingers.
“Mom, why are you doing this? Andrea and Austin do not deserve this,” I asked.
“And why are you taking their side? Lucas, you are my son; you should be on my side. You should try to stop your dad from divorcing me, but instead, you opened your arms and embraced those who want to ruin our family.”
“They are not trying to ruin it, Mom. I know divorce is hard because this is the second time, but please, think about it, Mom. Think about Dad’s happiness; marriage is all about love. Love has to be mutual. Not one-sided…”
“Stop it, stop talking, Lucas. After all I’ve done for you, how can you be on her side? Huh? How can you even accept the fact that your father and I are getting divorced.”
“Well, that’s…” Andrea began, but she was cut short, “One more word, and I’ll blow off your skull. Andrea stopped speaking. From her gaze, that wasn’t an empty threat.
She returned her gaze to me.
“Alejandro is mine, and that stupid kid should not have been born.” she paused and gave an exhausted sigh, “Can’t you see Lucas? If she gets Alejandro, they will stay with everything. The love, Alejandro, and all his money. We won’t get a penny.”
So it boils down to be about the money, “if it’s about the money, then I promise I’ll keep taking care of you until you take your last breath. I’ll make sure you keep living your luxurious life.” I vowed.
If she accepts, I’ll take Andrea, and we can pretend like all of this never happened.
A loud laugh resounded in the room. “You are an idiot. Do you think that’s possible? Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble then, because you may not even get one penny, either. And why is that?” She began walking towards me.
She stopped when she was close to me and pretended to think, “That’s because you are not Alejandro’s biological son.”
“What?”
“You heard me right. Alejandro is not your father.”