POV: Miguel
“Speak, Mom, what did you do?” I asked again, yelling at her as she wouldn’t stop crying. She turned back to me with her eyes reddened from crying so much. If this were any other thing, I would have hung up and handled the rest myself. But this involves my sister’s life and Claire’s as well.
If we don’t get this right, we could lose her again, and this time, it’ll be forever, no coming back. How can I live with myself if I ever let that happen? How can I forgive myself if I let Marisol die at the hands of that mad woman, Eloise?
“Mom, please tell me everything, it will help us save Marisol. Think of what might happen if Eloise finds out that you have discovered the truth. She will automatically think that you have told me everything and she will use it against us. She will come after us with everything she has, and we won’t be able to defend ourselves because we don’t know everything about her yet.
She knows everything about us, Mom; she has been keeping an eye on us from the first day she stole Marisol. How do you feel knowing that she can find us whenever she wants to, but we cannot find her? She is a dangerous mom; you have to believe me. You can’t hold back information to protect her; we have to take her down now, or else she is coming for us. And you know she has everything she needs to find us.” I told her sternly.
I could tell that she still thinks that this is all a mistake. She has this look on her face that tells me that she is hoping that it turns out to be a huge mistake. She just can’t believe that she has been communicating with the kidnapper all these years. She has been so close to Marisol and she never knew it. It hurts to think about it, I know. But as it stands, we have no choice in the matter. It’s either her or us.
“How could I have been so stupid?
I love Marisol with my life; why didn’t I feel her presence? Why did I let that woman get into my head?’ she sobbed again, throwing her face in Dad’s shoulder, hiding her face in shame.
“It’s not your fault, Mom; she played everyone, even the cops. She has been way ahead of everyone all along.” I told her, trying to cheer her up. She shook her head to the sides, refusing my words of encouragement,
“No son, you don’t understand. It’s my fault and I know it. Yes, the first time was no one’s fault, I didn’t even know her then. But this time it’s my fault, Miguel. I used my money to aid the kidnapping of my daughter; I helped that bitch escape with my daughter a second time. What was I thinking?” she asked tearfully, her eyes looking lost in thought as if she was thinking of her mistakes and what she could have done differently.
“What are you talking about, Mom? What did you do?” I asked again, a little louder this time because her words were making me more curious by the second. She looked at me and smiled sadly, her face filled with regret.
“I bought a few properties from her, Miguel, including the company.” She told me sadly. I laughed at her words because I didn’t believe that was the truth. How is that even possible, how can she make such a huge purchase without me?
“Stop pulling my legs, Mom!
Stop playing around and tell me what I need to know that could help me find the girls.,” I told her sternly, thinking that she was joking around as usual. But she kept a straight face as she glared at me. She did not move an inch; the only indication of her pain was the tears dropping down her cheeks as she glared at me furiously.
“How could you think that I would joke around with something so serious?” she scolded me.
“Eloise needed the money urgently. She told me she wanted to sell her company to someone she trusts, someone who can run the company as she did. Since I’m the only friend she has that can actually afford it without breaking the bank, she decided to come to me first before putting it out in the open market. I bought the company and a two estate building from her.
After that transaction, she still came to me and told me the money was still not enough to cater to her immediate needs, so I loaned her some more money, too. I trusted her like a sister, I thought she was my friend .” She sobbed hysterically, calling herself mean names and cursing out loudly.
I’m still trying to understand how she was able to handle this huge transaction in my absence. Something in me just refuses to believe that she is telling the truth. I still think she is holding back, and I don’t know why. I guess I don’t want to believe that she could be so stupid to fall for Eloise so hard.
I don’t even want to start imagining the repercussions of what she has done. If it’s true that she bout those things from Eloise and even gave her more money, then we are definitely in danger because Eloise can deny ever kidnapping Marisol if this case goes to trial.
She could walk free after all this because she has enough evidence to implicate my mom and accuse her of being her partner in crime. She has chats and messages going twenty-four years, and that is enough to convict my mom of being an accessory to kidnapping.
I don’t even know what they have been talking about all these years and how implicating it can be. Now, to crown it all, Mom decided to add a statement of account to the evidence Eloise has against her. Tell me, who in their right senses would see all this evidence and not believe that my mom is aiding Eloise to kidnap little babies?
“How did you authorize such transactions and transfer such a huge amount of money without me, Mom?
Why would you even do something like that without me?” I asked her angrily. As I yelled at her, I also opened my banking app to see if she moved such an amount of money from the company account without my knowledge. But she didn’t touch our money and I wondered how she did it. Did she take a loan from the bank to give to Eloise?
“I tried calling you a million times, Miguel. But you weren’t taking your calls, and I couldn’t wait for much longer because she was in haste; she desperately needed the money.” She told me.
“So what did you do to get that much money?
I never got alerted to such a huge transaction. The company found that our private funds were still safe in the bank. Where did the money come from so quickly, where did you find the money you gave to Eloise?” I asked again. She turned to my dad and he nodded in approval, telling her to speak.
“We never sold our companies and estate before leaving that city after Marisol was stolen. We stopped going there, and we cut off all contact with everyone there. But our businesses are still operating and we make huge profits from them every month.
We never had a reason to touch the money because our businesses over here are doing so great under your care too. We always saved the money, and we hoped that one day, when we found Marisol, it would all be hers. This is the first time I’m taking money out of that account. I can’t believe I’d used the money meant for my daughter to send her to her death!” she let out in a pained voice, sobbing deeply.
At this point, I was speechless because it was all so confusing to me. Now I understand why a lot of people have been mad at me for so long. Here I was, thinking that I had nothing to do with anyone in this city; I was even scolding and fighting with my PA for doing shady businesses over here without my knowledge.
I never knew that my parents knew their companies were still functional, and they said nothing to me, not one thing. They let me believe that all we had was here with us. I wonder if they know about the shady businesses being done under their noses. I wonder if they know that they have enemies in this city that they have never heard of or even spoken to before.
“You mean that you have businesses in this city and you kept it away from me for so long?
Why mom?
You don’t trust me enough to handle the family’s fortune?” I asked in anger.
“That is not the reason, sin. We trust you completely. We were only keeping our hopes up while waiting for your sister. Separating our wealth between you two and keeping hers separate was a way of reminding ourselves that she was still out there and that someday she would come back home and reclaim her inheritance. We love you, son; we love you two equally.” Dad chirped in, reassuring me of their love and trust.
“We hoped she would come home and take her inheritance, just like you did. I never gave up hope, I always thought that I would help her settle into the family business, just like your father helped you. It’s always been our plan that if she doesn’t show up after your twenty-fifth birthday, then everything would be handed over to you, Miguel.
Although we haven’t found her yet, I have plans to buy the company in her name. I haven’t received the documents for the things I bought from Eloise yet. She promised to send it over to the house tomorrow morning. I have plans to change the documents to your sister’s name because I believe she will come back to us soon. I never stopped believing.” She sobbed.