Butterfly and Flame - Alina and Evan

Foreboding

He stood just behind the tree line with the scope lined up to the second story of the home. He was using night vision but it couldn't help him look through tightly drawn curtains or shutters. There was a light rain coming down and the conditions were not yet ripe for snow. A few more weeks  though and that would be a different story. The forecast had announced the first snows and a possible heavy storm and that would be his opportunity. He knew she was there but hadn't seen her. He already knew the layout of the perimeter but he hadn't yet gained access to the grounds. The staff was light but they had four security guards on duty that knew their stuff. He wasn't going to take any chances. His only opportunity would be coming through the gates as a guest and he needed to do it to perfection. No theatrics, no unnecessary risks, and no anger.  He needed to be Michael and in order to do that Michael needed to be Kyle and Kyle needed to be dead.

Alina and Ashley were becoming closer than Ashley could hope for. She would catch herself staring at the young woman openly and twice Olivia had saved her from having to explain her outright stare. She had finally opened the documents that Andres had sent to her years before in an envelope she had never opened. She had not wanted to open up old wounds. She had made peace with her sister before she died and had nothing to forgive her brother for as he had been misled by Camila all those years ago. However when she had retrieved the envelope she couldn't bring herself to open it. To many hurts, too many tears and loss. She had thought then that she had buried her past but now it was in front of her in the very real and a living person of Alina Clarissa Salvatierra.

She sat at her desk and slid the envelope opener across the fold of the Manila envelope. She pulled out a folder and two letter sized envelopes. One was from Andres and the other from Camila. The folder she set aside with Andres' envelope and opened Camilas first. Inside there was a letter and a picture of baby Alina. She read the letter as tears fell from her eyes. It was Camilas long awaited apology and confession. She poured out her heart and told Ashley that she had acted out of jealousy and insecurity and that she regretted it her entire life. Her last act was to give Alina a piece of her heritage back. Ashley's heart broke at the efforts Camila had gone to be forgiven and to right a wrong that Ashley herself had been party to. Camila wrote that Andres had learned of Alina's adoption accidentally when the twins had been born to Emma but had not realized that Alina was a true Salvatierra until she was a teenager and her resemblance to Ashley was undeniable. Andres promised to keep it a secret but he would speak to Ashley before Alina turned twenty-five. Andres died of a sudden heart attack before that could ever happen.

After reading the letter Andres wrote to her she understood why Camila had made the call. Alina had been diagnosed with infertility due to fibroids. They had wanted any information regarding her mother in order to allow the doctors to better assist her with her treatment and care. They intended to tell Ashley then but once again circumstances prevented that meeting. Camila soon died thereafter and the only one who knew was Andres. He loved his granddaughter/grandniece and had no intention to tell her until she was at the age where she would receive her inheritance but he wanted to settle things with Ashley first. Life however didn't give him the chance. Through all of this Elliot had never been informed and he believed Alina's remarkable appearance to Ashley simply genetics. She was related and the genes ran strong. Alina set the letters aside and looked at the folder. It contained Picture of Alina as a baby, a toddler, first day of kindergarten, grade school, ballet, and so many more. It was Alina's life. The last picture was their family portrait. For the first time she saw Alina with her parents who were in reality her second cousins. Ashley looked at the beautiful faces of her grand niece and nephew and felt her chest contract at the life she would have had if she had simply forgiven and changed her course. She looked up a the portrait of Christian that hung on her wall and silently apologized to him for having failed him. She had protected him as a child because she had been fearful of Arthur's power and money but after he was dead she could have searched out Elliot and told him the truth and begun her life anew but by then, if she was honest with herself; she was no longer Ashley Alina Salvatierra Marooquin. She had become Ashley Malek. A businesswoman, independent and wealthy and free of the controlling manipulations of her husband. She had changed and not for the better. She blamed Elliot for not seeking her out and fighting for her. She turned her back on her past and moved forward. Today she looked at that Ashley and shook her head with regret. Would she now be able to make right the wrongs of the past? Would she be forgiven or be rejected as she probably deserved? She opened her safe and placed the letters and pictures inside. Soon she thought. When Evan came back, after Christmas. She closed her eyes and held her medal the hung from the chain around her neck. She prayed it wasn't too late but she had a terrible foreboding and she was old enough to know to listen to her gut instinct.