Chapter 27

ALEXANDER stared at the adjoining door that connects his room to Amara’s. He imagined the woman peeking behind it and checking if he’s already awake or if he’s in his bed. A smile formed on Alexander’s lips, but it quickly faded when he remembered that the woman he’d been with for months wasn’t his wife.

All this time, Alexander thought that Amara really has changed. That the accident became the reason why she transformed into a good mother to Billie and an ideal wife to him. But it was all fake… All of the things that the woman showed to them were just part of her plans. Whatever it is, he’s sure that it has something to do with his stepmom’s plans on destroying him and the winery.

He stood and went to the window that overlooked the garden. Alexander’s gaze reverted to the coffee table where the new Amara often spent her afternoon with Billie or alone. She was really a different woman, and Alexander felt that. But, still, he chose to believe that she was his wife. That the woman he’s starting to fall in love with again was the same woman that he married eight years ago.

Alexander clenched his jaw as the memories of her kept on flashing in his mind. It was as if everywhere he looked, he can see her, standing on the corner and looking at him with a warm smile on her face. He looked in his bed and the steamy moments that they’ve shared replayed in his mind. He can still feel how tight and warm she was… How she felt pleasurably different on his cock. Now, Alexander knew why, and it’s because she wasn’t Amara.

He can’t believe that he let himself be fooled by her, by the woman he doesn’t know. “But why she’s sitting beside Billie?” Alexander’s brows furrowed. “It should be Amara sitting next to Billie.”

A low knock from the adjoining door interrupted Alexander’s thoughts. He shifted his gaze towards the door and waited for it to open. “Who’s that?”

The door slowly opened, and Billie’s head poked. The chagrinned expression on her face caught Alexander’s attention. “Daddy…?”

“Baby…” Alexander quickly went to his daughter and carried her to the couch beside the window. “Is there something that you need?”

“Where’s mommy?” she asked. “I’ve been looking for her yesterday. She promised that she’ll teach me to speak in Korean so I could understand the K-pop groups that I like.”

Alexander pressed his lips together. “Ah, Billie…”

“Thelma told me that she hasn’t seen mommy since yesterday, even Aunt Georgia don’t know where she is…” she said and lowered her head. “I tried to call her, but she’s not returning my calls…”

Alexander caressed his daughter’s hair. “Billie, I don’t know how I am going to say this…”

“Did she leave?” she asked, tears shone from the corner of her eyes. “Did she remember it all now?”

Alexander heaved a sigh. He doesn’t know how he will tell his daughter that the woman they’re with for months wasn’t her real mother. Billie was just a five-year-old kid. She shouldn’t be experiencing this kind of family problem. As much as he can, Alexander wanted his daughter to have a normal family life. That’s why he’s not filing an annulment for his marriage to Amara even he knew that she’s cheating on him with different other men. He doesn’t want Billie to suffer, but he guessed what he does just made it worse.

“Did mommy remember all her memories, daddy?” Billie started to cry. “Is it why she’s not here?”

“Billie…” Alexander held her shoulders. “Billie, listened to daddy, okay?”

Billie gave him the phone that he gave to Amara. “I saw this in her room…” she said in between tears. “She left without her phone. How will I be able to reach her?”

Alexander took the phone from Billie and looked at it. His brows furrowed when he noticed that the phone has been reset. All its features went back to its initial state. “She left this on purpose…” he said. “Maybe she doesn’t want to bring anything that came from me.”

“Mommy loves you very much, daddy…” Billie told him. “I can see that she really loves you.”

He looked at his daughter and smiled sadly. “But she left us…”

Billie’s lips twitched, then she cried again. “I want her back!” she shouted and kicked her feet. “I want my mommy back! Tell her to go home, daddy. Please!”

Alexander hugged his daughter tightly. “I wish I can, baby…” he murmured. “But I can’t. She has to leave our house.”

“Why?” Billie pulled back from him. “She’s kind, and she loves us both. Even Thelma and Aura knew that she really cared for us.”

He looked into his daughter’s eyes. It hurts him to see his daughter in this kind of situation. She has developed a mother and daughter bond with the fake Amara because she thought she was really her mother. Even the hacienda workers have learned to like her because of the kindness and sincerity that she showed them… But she’s an imposter. And, he knew that she has plans.

“Daddy, please bring my mommy back?” Billie begged for him on trembling lips. “I miss her so much that I can’t sleep at night. I miss her bedtime stories, the things that she wanted to teach me, and her hugs and kisses.” She cried again. “Daddy, don’t you miss mommy?”

Alexander looked at the phone in his hand. The woman hasn’t left his mind since yesterday. “I miss her… But, Billie…” He hesitated. His daughter deserved to know the truth. “Your mommy… She wasn’t your real mommy.”

Billie stopped crying and looked into his eyes. “She wasn’t my real mommy?”

Alexander nodded and took her little hands. “There’s a mistaken identity that happened in the accident. We assumed that the woman seated beside you and protected you from the explosion was Amara… But, she’s not… She’s not your mommy, Billie.”

It took seconds before Billie spoke. She was just looking at him as if she doesn’t understand what he’s talking about. “I know, daddy…” she said with slightly furrowed brows. “I know that she’s not my mommy.”

Alexander’s hands dropped on her side. He couldn’t believe what he has heard from his five-year-old daughter. “Y-You already know that she’s not your mom?”

Billie nodded. “I thought you’ve noticed it, daddy…” she said in between sniffs. “I found out that she wasn’t my mommy when you told me that she saved me from the plane accident…” She looked up at him as tears streamed down her rosy cheeks, “because Mommy Amara didn’t sit beside me on the plane. There was another woman between us, and she’s the one who saved me.”

Alexander’s jaw dropped in shock. “W-why you didn’t tell me about it, baby?”

“I thought you already know,” she said innocently. “It’s not hard to tell, daddy…”

Before Alexander could speak again, his phone’s notifications beeped. Still surprised with Billie’s revelation, he took out his phone and looked at the screen. His brows suddenly furrowed at the JPEG image sent to him. It was a screenshot of an online news website, and their latest article was about the Montefort Winery…

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