To Love and Avenge

chapter 55

Being left alone, I can't help but remember how bad my previous encounter with him was.

He was boisterous and he loved pestering me around whenever he got the chance, so I wonder how our cat-dog relationship ended as intimate as this.

Love is really mysterious. It even taught you how to forget and forgive. And it heals.

And talking about healing, I remember Mang Kanor about it, and so, I dialed his number to ask for a few more updates.

“Hi…” I greeted him the moment he picked up his phone.

“Hello, so how are you?” He asked from the other line delightfully.

“I’m doing great,” I said and smiled on my phone as if he saw me on it.

“That's absolutely good to know. So, what’s up now?"

“I would like to ask for any developments?” I asked, my back as I sat excitedly looking for any news. I have been away for quite some time now. And I wanted to get my hands back on it as I wanted to finish whatever I had started so we could live harmoniously and peacefully.

I badly wanted it done as earlier as possible it can be.

“For now, the group is lying low. And I'm still looking at any possible connections with the group that we last encountered. Hoping that I am on the right track,” he quickly responded.

“Okay, please update me soon. We need this to be done now that they are here.”

“Ale, let me do it." He suggested after a long silence. "I'm old and I don't have a family, to begin with, so I have nothing to lose, whatever may happen, when you have just started a life. And I need you to focus on it,” he later advised.

“But we can’t change the fact that I am into this. It's for my mother,” I said, starting to get furious.

How can he advise me about such a thing as when, in the first place, he always knew that it has always been my goal, and now he is extracting me from this mission? How did he come up with it?

“It’s on me, okay? Trust me, you will get whatever your mom deserves and I promise that to you. No matter what, I need to protect you too, Ale.”

“You can’t expect me to stay out of it, right?” I said, starting to get mad at him. How can he? Did he and Roldan have planned all this behind my back?

"Ale, listen up here, you are pregnant, and just like the doctor said, that you have to keep away from any stress, more likely to some extreme activities. And now, I won't allow you to do anything that can either harm you or the baby. Besides, as I said, you are building a family now. What do you think will happen when the worst comes?”

“I don’t know, but mind you, Mang Kanor, you can’t just say that to me.”

“Ale, I know. I have always known you since you were young and up until now, that is why I am helping. You don't have to be angry at me given your situation, I will be of help and will inform you all the way to it.” he explained.

Indeed, he is a good man doing nothing other than dedicating himself to helping me through my revenge, establishing a kind of relationship which I didn't get from my dad.

Because dad never understands this way of me.

I thought about it in the meantime and finally came to realize that he was right after all. He never let me down and taught me things I needed to know, while dad only taught me how to rely only upon him and pamper me as much as he can. But it is not what I need. I needed more than just to be treated like a princess.

“Okay, but promise me to always update.” I, later on, agreed with him.

“Don't worry, I always will.” then he hung up the phone after informing me that he had sent some more information via email. So I hurried to my email address to check for it.

Ale,

Head- female, for further confirmation.

Subordinate- 3, unidentified

Op- recently stopped but 5 ops are on the way.

Loc- 90 degrees north of Luzon.

Note: 2 suspected insiders.

Caving- unknown

Please beware that they are very vigilant.

That’s it.

I have to have faith, nothing more compromising than compromising my baby and my family. But after this and things worsen, I should start having a backup plan.

I was decoding some of the messages from Roldan when my phone buzzed.

“Hello, Maria?” I answered without leaving my eyes on the monitor. I have to run some data as fast as I can so it’ll all be done on time.

“Monica. Can I come over?” she asked anxiously.

I wonder what it is to hear today that she exceptionally made a call out of nowhere and asked to be here. It is so not her.

Because she always waits for me to call and invite her over, not the other way round.

Besides, she still regarded me as Monica, as Ale was still oblivious to her.

“I’m going out for my pre-natal with my husband. I will just drop by when I have time.” I said to her, which made her silent for a couple of seconds before she said,

“Okay, I will look forward to it,” then hung up the phone.

I can’t help but stare at the now-hung-up call.

It seemed to me lately that Maria was hiding something from me. Something that I can't quite pinpoint for now. So, I made a mental note to find some time to dig through her past, that I should know about her more.

I was at it before but the person in charge of her and any other officials who work with mom are very adamant about providing me with the details that I needed to know.

They just said that mom has these very strict instructions on destroying all the details that connect to her. So, I always wonder what it is to her that they are very careful of what needs to be hidden. And, her time span living in the safe was extraordinary.

We were at Sta Luisa’s when she was unintentionally unaware of the mention of the word children. But then, when I asked her, she quickly avoided the topic by pretending to have a headache and left. I suspect that she has already gained her memories but kept them away from me.

I must know that somewhere, something is not right. Maybe I will just take her back to my safe. And she sure won't complain about it as long as I say so.

On the other hand, Maria, after hearing Monica's words, brought her phone close to her heart, as if it was Monica that she was having in her embrace.

Only she understands the radical love I have for her. Only if I can tell her everything so she would understand.

But she can't. She can't for those thousand reasons.

But Monica would surely hate her for the rest of her life for that. And she can't afford to lose her for just the mere truth that has long been forgotten.

She then took a picture of a newborn child and lay down with it still in her hands and silently shed tears.

"I'm sorry, I lost you, and all your siblings. I am a very bad mother."

She was taken away from her family a very long time ago, but all her memories from them are so fresh that it looks like it was just yesterday when, in fact, it had almost been half of her life.

She heard a little more news about them from her early years in safety and turned her world crashing down.