A Chance at Love (completed)

Chapter 21

I was really nervous when I got inside the car. We drove for who knows how long. It’s been the longest trip I felt, even longer than my trip from the States. James parked in front of a house. The house was big and they have a really vast garden. “Is this Monique’s house?”

“Ready?” I nodded and James rang the door bell.

An old lady opened the gates. She let us inside the house and led us to the living room. We were greeted by a middle-age couple. “You must be Arabella. I’m Kristine Castillo and this is my husband, Nick. We’re Monique’s parents.”

Before I was able to speak, a tear fell from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I acted recklessly. If only I could turn back time,” I said while more tears came out from my eyes.

“It’s okay now, Arabella.” Mrs. Castillo said and hugged me. “It was an accident. Monique is in a happy place now. She has forgiven you even before you ask for forgiveness.”

 I nodded and we break away from the hug. “I just have a few questions.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you decide to drop the case?”

Mrs. Castillo looked at her husband asking if they should tell me. “I’ll tell her.” Mr Castillo said and took a deep breath. He started, “Our Company was nearing bankruptcy when the accident happened. Nonetheless, we were ready to risk everything just to give justice to our daughter. Then James came to us and told us about you. We realized that if we pursue that case, we would also be ruining another future, your future. It was a hard decision for the family so we told James, no. And during the funeral, a young man came begging us to drop the case. But we ignored him. And that’s when George Angeles personally came to our office and wanted to invest in our company. He told us that he’ll help our company rebuild its state and credibility if we decide to drop the case against you. We thought that it would be the best decision for you and for us. So we decided to accept his offer.”

“George Angeles?” I asked. His name sounds familiar.

“Yes. We asked him how he was related to you, but he never answered our question. We just guessed that he is your grandfather.”

Grandfather? George Angeles. Angeles. Angeles. Finally, the idea came to my mind. How can I be so stupid? “Is George Angeles the former CEO and president of Angeles Group of Companies?”

“Yes. Is he related to you?” Mrs. Castillo asked.

“My ex-boyfriend is.”

“You mean the reason why you…?”

I didn’t let her finish her question. I just nodded. Did Mico know about my accident? But how? “I think I have to go now Ma’am, Sir. I have to know everything. I’m really sorry. I’ll just go back some other time.”

“Alright. We understand. You should come next week. You too James. We need you to meet someone.” She said while smiling.

“Okay, Tita, Tito. We’ll go ahead.”

“Wait!” Mrs. Castillo said. “I have to give you something.” She went to the cupboard under the stairs and got something red. It was a big red umbrella. I used to have one but I gave it away. I remembered Mico writing my name with his surname on one side. “This was left behind by that young man we mentioned earlier. And we think this umbrella belongs to you. This is also why we thought you were George’s granddaughter.” She gave me the red umbrella. The umbrella was actually familiar. If it was really my umbrella, it should be old and I should be able to find the name. I opened the umbrella and it was there, the name, Arabella Angeles. Tears began to flow down my cheeks. Mico really knew about everything.

We left the house after thanking them again. “That’s why he’s so familiar.” James said out of the blue.

“Who?” I asked.

“Mico. I saw him in Monique’s funeral. Why didn’t I figure out before? That should have answered all your questions.”

After that, nobody was talking in the car. I was too absorbed about what I found out.