Bitter sweet affair

Chapter 76 - Nerve

"Where is it?" He asked no one in particular while rummaging through the files on his shelf.
There was a knock at the door and he just answered the usual —come in.
"Sir, are you in need of assistance?" Karen, his secretary asked.
"Yes. Where are the employees' files?" He asked facing her. He watched her scroll through her tablet, which she held close to her. Impatient he tapped his foot on the floorboard.

"Right, sorry sir. It's in the archive room" she finally replied.
"Great," he said making haste to leave his office.
"Sir, may I ask what you need the files for?-
"Get back to work Karen and mind your business," he said before slamming his door.

He got to the archive room and expected the files to be in alphabetical order but he was so wrong. It was all disorganized. He slammed his fist on the wall nearby in annoyance. After letting all his frustration out, he began searching for Amelia's file. Thirty minutes had passed by and he hadn't found it yet. He was about to give it a rest when he spotted her file at the desk behind him. He grabbed it and barged into Karen's office.

"Sir-" Karen answered startled at his sudden appearance.
"Karen, tidy up the archive room and arrange the files orderly, in an alphabetical manner," he said and walked out. Poor Karen.

He sat down on his swivel chair holding her file in hand. He took a deep breath and remembered the decision he made the day before.

After finding out he had a daughter with Amelia/Reyna, all he could think of was how she looked like. Did she take some of his features? Why did Amelia hide his daughter away from him? He got a call from his driver that Amelia had been discharged from the hospital. It was good news, it meant she was okay. He wanted to see her, to see his daughter, and ask Amelia why she hid her from him.

He needed her file to seek out her address. He skimmed through her file and came to a stop at
The address form. She lived close by, 20 minutes drive from the office. He grabbed his coat, car keys and headed to the basement floor where his car was parked. As he drove, he thought of what he was going to say to Amelia, to his daughter.

He arrived at her porch and hit the doorbell. Jasmine rushed to get to the door. She stood there shocked.
"Ryan's uncle?" she said with a smile.
Andre stared at her, he remembered her, the little girl he spent a day with and dropped off. No wonder the place seemed familiar. So, Jasmine was his daughter? He crouched to her height and pulled her into a hug. Being the sweetheart Jasmine was, she hugged him back and gently patted his shoulder.

"Jasmine, who's at the door?" Amelia said from the living room.
"Ryan's uncle, Mommy"
"Come in," she said as she led him in holding his hand. He spotted Amelia laying on the couch with a cast on her right foot and a bandage wrapped around her head. She had minor bruises on her face.

"Reyna" he half-whispered, but she heard him.
She turned to him, and Annie did the same too.
"Wh-what are you doing here? You have some nerve showing up here" Amelia said trying to get up on her feet, but she still needed support.
Annie held her and stared at Andre.

"I-i'm sorry I failed to recognize you. I mean you deceived me by taking on another name and working under me"
"Excuse you?" Amelia said in utter shock.
"I deceived you? Funny coming from you. Why are you here Andre?" she said holding back her anger.

"To see my daughter and to get answers to my questions," he responded bluntly.
"Which daughter are you talking about?" she scoffed.
"Jasmine's my daughter, Amelia. Don't even think about lying any further. Why did you hide her from me?"
"Mommy, what's he talking about? Is he
My dad?"
"No sweety, he's -
"I'm your dad Jasmime. I'm sorry I'm just saying this now, I just recently found out"

"Mommy, is he saying the truth?"
"Sweety-
"You lied to me! You said Daddy was in the army. You lied! You scold me whenever I lie but you lied to me" Jasmine cried and ran into her room locking the door behind her.

"Leave. Get out, Andre! I owe you no explanation" she screamed.
"I think you should leave Andre" Annie backed her up.
Andre had no other choice but to leave. Amelia broke down into tears.
"Annie, what have I done?"
"Shh. It's gonna be okay. She was gonna find out sooner or later. She'll come around"

But she didn't.