章節 23: Chapter 03 - Past
* 4 years ago *
I read all the letters inside the chest box and it was all from a certain Florent Denois. Then at the bottom part of it, there was a picture of my mom and a man, the same man that was on the other photo. Then I noticed a small rectangular thing, I picked it up and confirmed that it was a calling card. I frowned when I saw the address written in it was in London, England. I remembered my mom told me that if she died, I should find this man.
I took out my cellphone and dialed the number but unfortunately the number wasn't in use anymore. I inspect the card and saw the name if a company at the top part, Denois International. I began searching for it online. It was one if the biggest companies in Europe. Their numbers were written in their official website so I tried to dial it. A woman answered the phone after 4 attempts.
"Hello, this is Denois International. May I help you?" The woman said politely on the other end. I cleared my throat before speaking.
"Yes. This is Carina Westbay. I was just wondering if I could talk to Mr Florent Denois?" I asked reluctantly, unsure of what to say if she asked for my reason.
"Mr Denois is not here right now. I will inform him about you when he gets back and if he knows, he will call you back."
"No, he doesn't know me but I guess he knows my mom Anna Marie Westbay. Please tell him I need to talk to him. This is important." I said and she assured me to tell him. I wasn't sure yet but I already had an idea who Florent Denois was. I waited for his call for hours but I didn't receive any. I didn't want to go back to the penthouse to see Regan so I decided to stay in our house.
My phone has been ringing continuously but I didn't answer. He kept on calling me. He even texted me many times but I didn't read his texts. I just stared at our picture in the phone while crying. I felt like I would past out any minute because of too much crying. I'hv loved him so much that the pain was unbearable too. I closed my eyes, wanting to just drift off to sleep, hoping that when I woke up, I would realize that this was all just a dream.
Then my phone rang again. I picked it up and was about to turn it off when I saw that it wasn't Regan. My heartbeat became faster. I pressed the answer button reluctantly.
"H-Hello?" I said in an unsure small voice.
"Hello. This is Florent Denois. Anna, is it you?" His voice was expectant and seem kind. I heaved a sigh and answered.
"No Mr Denois. This is her daughter, Carina. I called you because my mom mentioned your name before she died. She told me to find you." I heard him gasped.
"A-Anna is dead?" His voice was suddenly became sad.
"Yes sir. She died three months ago. I just want to know who you were in my mom's life. Are you my father?" I asked reluctantly. I didn't have a choice. Maybe this was my first and last time talking to him so better ask him about the question that's been bugging me. He didn't answer for few seconds. My hand held the phone tightly as I waited for him to answer my question.
"I can't answer that but if you want, we can meet and talk about this." I felt relief washed over me. At least he was willing to discuss the matter with me.
"Yes sir. I would appreciate it very much but I don't know how to. I live in the US and from the information I got, you live in UK?"
"It's okay. I attended an important matter here in Canada and was about to go home but I guess I have to change my plans and drop by there. Let's meet tomorrow morning." I didn't know what to feel. Suddenly he was going to meet me. The events were too fast that I didn't have time to analyze it but I was glad that he wasn't a snob rich person I initially thought. I told him our meeting place and hang up the phone.
I tried to sleep but my mind was wondering somewhere. I turned off my phone because Regan had been calling and calling. I could imagine him panicking right now but I didn't have the guts to face him right now. I love him but I couldn't be his mistress. No matter how much I love him, I can't just turn a blind eye and be the cause to ruin his relationship with his wife. I recalled the events at the office this afternoon, his wife was so beautiful compared to the simple me. Why did Regan cheat on his wife? Why did he betray me? He was a good actor telling me that he loved me. I hate him!
...*...*...*...*...
At 8.00am, I was already infront of the restaurant. I entered and tried to search for the face of Mr Denois. The picture I saw was his younger self so I tried to search for an older version of him. Then, I saw a man in his early 50s, he has some visible white hair but he was still handsome. He was wearing a black tuxedo. He was drinking coffee and typing on his laptop. He was with two men that looked like his bodyguards. I approached his location slowly and when I reeached the table, I cleared my throat to get his attention. He looked up at me and the look of surprise was written all over his face like his mind travelled somewhere for a second.
"Are you Carina Westbay?"
"Yes Mr Denois." I said and he motioned me to sit down on the chair across him. He signaled his bodyguards to leave us.
After his bodyguards left, Mr Denois stormed me with questions about my mother. I told him everythings and he told me that he was my mom's ex-boyfriend. He also told me that he loved my mother very much.
"When you broke up, didn't it occur you that my mom was probably pregnant sir?" I questioned uncomfortably. The man infront of me was undeniable rich. I didn't know if he would accept me if I was really his daughter.
He looked at me and the sadness in his face was evident. He heaved a sigh.
"Your mom was the only woman I truly loved but unfortunately we didn't end up together. My parents forced me to marry someone else even though I didn't love her. I had a girlfriend then, your mom. I did everything to fight for our relationship but our family business was in difficult situation, it was on a verge of bankruptcy. My parents told me that I could save our company if I marry, Vivienne, a daughter of a powerful businessman and my childhood friend. Our family were closed friends. Vivienne was the only child so her family needed someone who could manage their business and her parents were eyeing on me, being the son of their friend and all. I told my parents that I would choose my girlfriend and marry her but my father begged me to save our family from falling. My mother was crying. My heart melted and chose my family. I broke up with your mom and I married my childhood friend."
While he was telling me their story, I was just staring and listening to him. My mom never mentioned anything about this to me and I understand why. She must have been hurt so bad that she didn't want to remembered the past anymore. I felt pain in my chest for my mom.
"Did you ever see her after that?"
"No. I cut off all my communications with her because my wife was always jealous of my relationship with your mom. She never liked your mom. But turning my back to your mom was like killing myself at the same time. I was living in the outside but deep inside me, I was already dead. I was always thinking about what could have been between us. When my wife died of an accident, I searched for your mom but she was already married." I could see the pain in his eyes as he said the last word. He must have really loved my mom. I could tell.
"My mom never mentioned anything about you or who my father was but before she died, she told me to find you."
"What happened to her?" His voice was laced with shock and agony.
"My stepfather killed her while she's trying to defend me." I said in a soft voice. My eyes watered as I recalled what happened but I didn't let the tears fall down. He just stayed quiet for a moment and just staring at me with mixed emotions in his eyes. His hands tightened and his jaw clenched. Then to my surprised, tears started to well down from his eyes.
"This is my fault. If I didn't abandoned her, these things would never happened to her. I was a coward and spineless." He said as he struggled to stop his tears. Regrets and sorrows was evident on his face. My heart bled for him and my mom. I could tell that they really loved each other.
"I saw this in my mom's room." I said and put the small chest on the table. He stared at it confusedly and opened it. Then he brought out the letters and pictures, astonished. He closed his eyes like he was in agony and smiled bitterly.
"I knew she loved me but I threw away her love for me. I didn't deserve to be with her. I couldn't even fight for our relationship back then. I was a useless spineless bastard." His eyes watered again. I didn't know what to say at that time. Infront of me was a grown man, crying. I stared at his face and I noticed that we looked slightly alike.
"Sir, if it was okay with you, I want us to take a DNA test. I want to know who my father is. It was always been a missing part of my life. Don't worry, if you don't want me in your life even if I was your daughter, I would accept it and not bothered you. I just want to complete my identification." I said with my eyes staring at him, pleading. He smiled at me fondly.
"No need to do that. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were mine." He said and held my hand.
"No. I insist sir. I want to be sure." I said with determination and he nodded afterwards.
He contacted someone after that and then went to a private clinic where we gave our DNA samples. They told us to wait for at least 2-3 days for the results.
"I need to go back to the UK today. I am thinking of you coming with me." I stared at him, surprised.
"But we don't know if I am really your daughter yet, sir." I said hesitantly. To my surprise, he hugged me tightly.
"No need for me to wait for the results, I know in my heart that you are my daughter. I can even see the visible resemblance between us."
I was reluctant at first but then I really wanted to get away from Regan as far as I could. I accepted his invitation and went to the UK with him. I was so shocked when I learnt how rich he was but the sad thing was he doesn't have any family. He didn't have any children with his wife too and his parents were already dead. Two days after we arrived in the UK, they emailed us about the DNA result and we were so happy.. POSITIVE!
As his only heir, he told me to get a master's degreevin business administration that I happily accepted. I tried to forget everything about my past and started on a new life with my father. It was the first day of school when I started feeling sick in the morning. When I woke up in the morning, I would go to the toilet and vomit all the food I ate last night. I suspected that I was pregnant so I brought a pregnancy test kit before I went home.
When I reached home, I went directly to the restroom and used the pregnancy test. While I was waiting for the result, my heart was beating erratically. I didn't know how to feel about it. When I saw the two red line marks on it, I smiled bitterly but for some reason, I felt happy. Tears welled in my eyes. If the situation was different, Regan would be so happy about it. I just knew he would be happy and my heart ached at the thought of it.
From that day on, I promised myself that I would be strong for my child. I would do anythings to make her happy and give her everythings he or she deserves.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票