Carlo veered towards the door, his chest rising and falling in fury. He was angry that Olivia had left home since yesterday afternoon without telling him where she was going. And when he insisted on stopping her from leaving the house, she didn’t hesitate to push him off and walk away, without sparing him a single glance.
He stormed towards her and grabbed her hands tightly, raising them. “Where the hell are you coming back from?” he groaned, trying to keep his voice and temper in control.
“Let go of me!” she yelled, trying to pull her hand away, only to realize that his grip was getting tighter.
“Carlo… you’re hurting me,” she snapped, her gaze fixed on him, getting pissed off already.
“I won’t let you go, not until you tell me where you’re coming from,” he spat out, fuming angrily.
Olivia’s gaze roamed from his head down to his toes with a long scowl on her face. She couldn’t believe that she was already regretting her decision to settle down with Carlo, whom she didn’t have any feelings for, all because she was obsessed with becoming a member of the REYES.
Now Carlo was so bent on knowing every detail of her movements, which she wasn’t used to. She was always like a free bird in her father’s house and wouldn’t let anyone monitor and interrogate her like Carlo was doing now.
However, sensing how Carlo tightened his grip around her waist and was glaring at her, she wouldn’t dare expose that she was coming back from the club. Otherwise, hell would break loose, judging from the fact that she lied about being pregnant. No one would take her side, even if they wanted to.
She was already praying silently that Mr. REYES would come out and save her. She already knew that Marcus didn’t like her from the onset and wasn’t in support of the whole thing; her only hope now depended on Javier’s father.
She sighed, and her shoulders dropped. “I went to see my father,” she lied smoothly, rolling her eyes. She tried to pull her hands away, but Carlo roughly pulled her closer.
“Lies! Olivia lies,” he yelled out, feeling more pissed off that she lied about her whereabouts.
“Why will I lie to you, Carlo?” Her voice trembled as fake tears began to tickle at the corner of her eyes.
Carlo scoffed. “Well… for your information, I called your father when I couldn’t reach you on the phone. However, he said you were never at his mansion .” He disclosed, staring at her more intensively and suspiciously.
Olivia’s gaze widened in shock, and her jaw dropped with her eyes blinking rapidly. ‘Dad could’ve covered up for me,’ her mind reeled, as she bit her lower lip. Her fist clenched at the thought that her father could set her up like that.
But she was quick to replace her shocked expression with a nervous smile. “My dad said that?” she asked with narrowed eyebrows. She was already cracking her brain to come up with a reasonable excuse.
“Don’t you dare lie to me, because I will-”
“Why are you disturbing the peace of my house?” Mr. Reyes’ voice cut in, as he strode down the stairs, still clothed in his nightwear. He finally got down and walked closer to them.
“Carlo, why do you want to pull down my roof?” he demanded.
Helen signaled Marcus with her hand to come closer, which he did immediately. “Call Ronnie. Tell him he’s needed at the REYES mansion,” she leaned closer and whispered into his ear.
Marcus nodded, urging Kate to help him carry Elvis to the room, which she did. All this while, Reyes never spared them a glance, as all his attention was on Carlo and Olivia. And Marcus never uttered a word to draw his attention to what was happening to Elvis.
They succeeded in taking Elvis inside, while Helen and Kate stayed behind to take care of him. Marcus held back in his room to give Dr. Ronnie a call.
****
There was a minute of silence between Carlo and Olivia, as they kept glaring at each other in hostility.
“Am I not asking a question?” he demanded again, his gaze now fixed on Olivia.
Instantly, an idea hit her, and she didn’t want to let go of the opportunity. She forcefully pulled away and ran and stood beside Mr. Reyes, gripping his arm.
“Uncle Reyes, yesterday I went to my father’s mansion to spend some quality time with my family… I lost track of time, and Jesley and my dad suggested I spend the night at home.” She lied smoothly, as fake tears streamed down her face.
“Lies! Uncle, she’s telling lies! I called her dad, and he told me she was never at the mansion,” Carlo spat.
“You can ask Jesley,” she retorted confidently, knowing her sister would always have her back.
“You–”
“That’s enough!” Mr. Reyes interrupted, bringing out his phone from his pant pocket. “Let me call her dad and ask again.” He muttered and dialed Olivia’s father’s line. After a few rings, he picked up.
“Hey Reyes!” Mr. Alverdo’s voice boomed on the phone speaker.
“Sorry for the early call,” Reyes quickly apologized.
“You are my friend. Call anytime, and I will answer,” he replied jokingly, and they both laughed.
“Uhm… I called to ask, did Olivia stop by at the house yesterday and leave in the morning?” Reyes inquired in the most polite manner.
“Yes, she did. She was with Jesley all through, and I had to tell her to spend the night. Sorry I didn’t call to inform you guys,” he apologized amidst laughter.
Carlo’s brows furrowed in confusion, as he couldn’t comprehend what Mr. Alverdo said. Did it mean that Alverdo lied to him? Because he just couldn’t wrap his head around it to figure it out. Yesterday, he had been calling Olivia but wasn’t reaching her, so he decided to call her father, who bluntly told him that his daughter wasn’t at his mansion. Why was he lying? was he covering for her?
“That’s okay. Take care.” With that, Reyes ended the call and turned to Carlo with a deep frown.
“Are you scolding her because she went to visit her family and spend the night there?” he raised his voice.
“Uncle… I-I,” Carlo sputtered, as he couldn’t find the right way to say. He was still puzzled about the whole thing.
“She was even trying to explain to you, and you didn’t believe her?” he further scolded, his face stern.
“You even called her a liar?” he pressed on.
Carlo was mute, while Olivia was trying hard to hold herself back from giggling out of excitement, as everything turned out in her favor.
“Now apologize to her,” Reyes commanded, pointing at Olivia.
Carlo sharply raised his head. “What?” His jaws dropped.
“You disrespected her and called her a liar, which was so uncalled for,” Reyes yelled angrily.
Never wanting to argue with him, Carlo turned his gaze to Olivia. “Sorry,” he muttered inaudibly, however clear enough for her to hear. He angrily ran upstairs, leaving just Reyes and Olivia.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang out, and they both turned to the door. Soon, the door slid open, revealing Dr. Ronnie, who held his briefcase in his right hand.
Olivia’s eyes widened, as she felt like the ground should open and swallow her up.