Chasing Dreams (Book 2)

Forty Three

SANDRO's POV

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

The atmosphere in the room changed. All of the sudden, I feel tense.

Marcus: She's the youngest of the Fortalejo Clan.

He started while staring at me and then he paused for a moment. He opened a bottle of wine and poured some on two glasses. He handed me one and that makes me feel more nervous. I took a sip and swallowed. Why does it feel like he knows that I needed this?

He is playing the glass on his hand while he talks.

Marcus: She's my cousin but like a little sister to me and my whole family treats her like a princess.

This man is her cousin? I thought Marcus is the name of her brother? Well, technically, kuya pa rin naman pero hindi naman pala sila magkapatid.

Marcus: She's gone missing more than a year ago....... after her parents died.

So she was right. It's not just on her dreams. Her parents are already dead.

Sandro: What happened?

Marcus: Sabotage. Well, I know you know that some people are doing dirty tricks. Especially on business and politics. So there. But that's not what she thinks. She refused to believe that and thought everything was planned. And it's really hard for her to accept it. Lalo na, she saw how her parents died.

She witnessed how her parents died?! That was too much to handle. I can't even imagine how she felt that time.

Marcus: She's the only child of tito Romano and tita Margarita. I bet you saw those names somewhere on some of our contracts.

Right. Those names sounds familiar.

Sandro: How did she went missing? I mean, I bet you guys have some kind of securities too.

Marcus: To tell you honestly, my cousin is a smart lady and she know how to trick her bodyguards. In short, she escaped from her securities. She studied abroad but always wanted and hoped to have a normal life. But after she graduated college, no one knows what her plans are. She's not interested in running nor inheriting this company. Our grandfather had faith in her and it comes with high expectations. So our Lolo Dad gave orders na pauwiin sya dito sa Pilipinas to start her training. Labag man sa loob nya, wala syang nagawa kundi ang sumunod.

He faces his back at me and looked at the window. Para bang inaaalala nya yung mga pangyayari bago nawala ang pinsan nya.

Marcus: Everything goes smoothly as planned paguwi nya dito. But not until our company merges with the De la Vegas. It was my grandfather's plan. And we were all surprised ng ipagkasundo ang pinsan ko sa anak ng business partner namin. Our Lolo never ever done this kind of thing before. Kahit kailan ay hindi naman sya nangielam sa personal na buhay namin. So there's a bit of misunderstanding between my cousin's parents and my Lolo. And maybe, that intel was heard by our rivals and they took advantage of it. Sabi nga nila, may pakpak ang balita. That's when the incident happened.

He went back to his seat and rested his big body on the swivel chair, then he continued.

Marcus: The funeral was held in private. We paid whatever amount para lang wag lumabas sa media ang nangyari. After that, hindi na namin alam kung saan nagpunta ang pinsan ko. No history of travels, even her credit cards were left unused. We tried contacting her but her phone was out of coverage. And she never uses her car. My grandfather already hired the best and famous private investigators and detectives, and searched for her in every country but they can't find her. Halos halughugin na namin ang bawat sulok ng mundo, pati na rin ang Pilipinas but still nothing. Bigla na lang syang naglaho ng parang bula. We don't know if she was abducted by our rivals or what, to use her against us. But we never receive any phone call asking for any ransom. And so my family started to lose hope na mahanap sya dahil isang taon mahigit na rin ang nakalipas.