Chapter 26

“I STILL can’t believe that you’re really alive, Casey,” Art told her without taking his eyes off her face. “And, what did they do to your face?” he brushed his shoulders. “It gives me chills.”

Casey rolled her eyes ceiling wards. “I told you, they thought I am Amara—”

“Then, why the fuck they didn’t perform a DNA test?” Art shook his head. “Look what they’ve done to your innocent face. You’re now the monster woman from Montefort Winery.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “That was also my question,” she said and stared out the window. “They’re rich and famous, yet so vulnerable.”

When Alexander told her to leave, Casey didn’t waste any time. She ran off and went to the nearest convenience store with a phone booth and called Art’s phone. It took the man almost half an hour to book her a room in a nearby apartelle because he can’t pick her up right away. Art was in Manila, and she was in Ilocos.

Casey knew that Alexander would be mad at her because of what she confessed to him. What she didn’t expect is that he’ll just let her go away. She thought the man would bring her to jail and file a legal case against her, that’s why she sent an e-mail to Art that she’s still alive and she might need his help if things go wrong with where she was. Casey thought Art didn’t believe her e-mail until she called him and noticed that he wasn’t even surprised.

“I haven’t told our team that you’re with me now,” he said, shaking his head. “Boss Miguel and Sara would be surprised to see you in that face. They might not accept you too.”

Casey glared at Art. “Why? What’s wrong with my face? It’s still me, Casey.” She leaned on her seat. After picking her up at the bus terminal, they went straight to his house because he’s afraid that people might recognize her as Amara. “I don’t use my face to write the news. And, besides, people don’t see me in the Speedy. No one knew that Casey Almario existed, except you and the whole Speedy team.”

“I know, but it’s hard to work with you in that controversial face,” he said with furrowed brows. “And what if they looked for you? Do you think that Alexander will just let you get away with what you’ve done? You fooled him and his family by claiming that you’re Amara—”

“I did not claim that I am Amara,” she corrected frustratingly. “They’re the one who thought that I am Amara. I woke up in their house in Ilocos, with Alexander lying beside me and calling me a different name. Then, I found out that they also changed my face—”

“But you didn’t tell them immediately that you’re a different person,” Art cut off, pouring beer on her glass. “You stayed in their house and played the role of Amara. Tell me, Casey, do you think that reasoning is acceptable in court?”

Casey pressed her lips together. “I got curious about what happened to me. And, I thought that it could be an opportunity to pursue my original plan…”

“I watched the news that Amara Montefort survived the plane accident,” Art told her, crossing his arms on his chest, “that Alexander is good-looking.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “And, in an instant, you became the wife of a wealthy, handsome man. Tell me, Casey, did you choose to stay a little longer in their hacienda because you started to have feelings for him?”

Casey lowered her head and took the dumplings on Art’s plate. “Let’s be thankful that I am alive,” she said and heaved a sigh. “My problem now is how I will save Alexander and Billie?” she said, changing the topic. “Did you open my e-mails?”

Art shook his head. “I just found out yesterday that you’re really alive. I haven’t much time to do the other things because I can’t get you out of my head.”

Casey snorted. “You sounded as if you like me,” she said and laughed. “You aren’t even surprised that I’m alive when I called you.”

“It’s because I’m still hoping that you’re not dead,” he said thoughtfully. “When I received your e-mail I know that it was really you. What bothers me is why it took you months before contacting us.”

“Now, you know,” she said and thought about Alexander and Billie. “But, I still have a lot of work to do. I didn’t expect that leaving the Montefort hacienda would be this easy. I have to get going.”

“Wait? You’re still up to your plan on exposing the dark sides of Montefort Winery?” Art caught his head. “Casey, did you know how we suffered at Speedy because of your loss? Boss Miguel was so devastated and often blamed himself because he let you flew to the Maldives just to get the scoop.”

Casey narrowed her eyes at Art. “That’s just because he lost his fearless scandal writer,” she said and blew her breath. “But, I’m glad that you didn’t post online about my death. Well, nobody will look for me anyway. I don’t have relatives.”

“So what do you think of the Speedy team and me? Your pets?” Art asked sarcastically that made Casey laughed. “We’re dead worried about you when we saw in the news that the plane you were in exploded.”

“I was dead worried too when I saw this face in the mirror,” she said and drank on her glass. “I thought my soul possessed Amara’s body.” She shook her head. “There weren’t even any gadgets there that I could use to get updates about Speedy.”

“We posted on our website that one of our writers was missing on the plane accident after the autopsy of the burnt body of a woman did not turn out to be you.” He took the envelope over the fridge. “This is the result of the autopsy report of the unidentified woman. She didn’t match on your Dentist Records.”

Casey took the envelope and looked at the documents. “When did you get it? Did Boss Miguel know about it?”

Art nodded. “The forensics gave it to us a month ago. That’s when we suspected that you’re maybe alive. We even asked the search team if there’s still unidentified body, but according to them, all casualties were identified, except to this woman.”

“Then, what did you do with this body?” she asked while looking at the documents. “It’s hard to identify a burnt body. The only way to know its identity is the dental records.”

“We didn’t claim the body because it’s not you. But the forensic team informed us that a family went to them and took responsibility of the body,” he said on a knotted forehead. “That’s kind of baffling. If all of the casualties were identified, then where are you?”

Casey drew her brows together. She’s sure that the unidentified body of a woman that her network thought was her is Amara. But who claimed the body? “Art, did the morgue also tell you who claimed the body?”

Art shook his head. “They refused to disclose such confidential information. But I have my ways,” he leaned on the table. “The morgue guard told me that the claimer looked like a businessman in a luxurious car.”

Casey’s brows furrowed. “Businessman?” She plopped her shoulders. “Fuck, I have two names in mind.”

***