Once Upon a Time

Forty-one...

***

"So you knew all along?" Clarissa asked.

"I knew that you liked him. What can I say? He's quite the lady's man but I didn't know that you were in love with him and I never knew that he secretly had feelings for you."

Kara gave her a sad smile. Everything Clarissa thought she kept to herself was never a secret. Maybe she really did a bad job at hiding how she felt. Darius was right.

"I was so focused on getting your cousin married to my son for her reputation and for my son's happiness that I didn't look at what it would result to. When I found out that things were turning out bad, I tried to get your husband to divorce you."

Clarissa frowned. "Why would you want to separate us?"

"That was what I thought myself. I was definitely meeting a dead end trying to separate two people that are madly in love with each other. But then, do you also know what I thought? I thought getting you two divorced will leave you out of everything. If Jack wanted a ransom, the best bait to use was you and with Nicholas involved he could accomplish it. He could take the money and hand you over to him." She sighed.

"So you never gave him the papers?" Clarissa asked.

"I did give him the papers, but I took them out on Wednesday night after I did alot of thinking. Selling my family off wasn't the best option after all. I thought Roberto would accept the money again and forget about it but I underestimated him. He held both the money and me, captive."

She continued. "When Becky brought in the files on Wednesday afternoon, I figured out that was my only chance to take it out before I did something irreversible."

"You did the right thing." Clarissa told her and Kara smiled resting her head on the wall.

"I never did know why I never liked you from the start my dear. You're nice, unique and pretty but the important thing is that, my son loves you and I need you to Keep him happy."

Clarissa smiled at her. "I will mom."

Kara turned away from her to wallow on her own thoughts leaving Clarissa to stare after her. She didn't know what to say and so, she leaned further into the wall and stared into space.

---

"Yes, he made a telephone call from around the area and I happened to know it is a busy area. Surely someone should have seen them if they were brought there."

Darius signed.

"Don't get disappointed yet, take a look at ....here." He pointed at the road.

"What is so important about the road? It's a road." He stated.

"Not just a road lieutenant," Gabriel said. "But a lonely road that leads to an abandoned warehouse and..."

"...that is the only possible place he could have them!" Darius completed.

--

"You know she's hungry." Clarissa spoke out of nowhere and Jack turned to her.

"What did you say?"

"I said, my mom is hungry." Even the woman had to stare at her in surprise.

Yes, she was hungry but how'd she find out.

"And that's your problem." Nick replied.

"It's time for my important meeting and I'll be back. Don't wait up for me." He told Nick. "Do get her something from yesterday, will you?"

With that, he smiled and walked out of the building. Nick only put on a sly smile as he brought before her some soured pottage and Kara couldn't help but want to puke.